I finally ended my explanation of games by saying, "–These are fun games to play, no doubt. But to be honest, these are games for humans. If they were to be played by the all Humanoid Races as a whole, the rules would need to be modified."
"Well… Reyd, I couldn't have imagined that there were that many games handed down by humans."
"No, no, even I'm not familiar with them… Where are they played?" (Reyd)
"I don't know either. But the source of my knowledge is our own Layla. She is someone from the Sheep-Horn race." (Yuki)
The Elf Queen looked impressed as I said this in a deceptive manner.
"Oh! You also know someone from the Sheep-Horn race. Some of the elves who are called wise among the elves have learned their knowledge from the Sheep-Horn Village. I see… from there huh…" (Elf Queen)
"Hmm, is that a Demon Race?" (Reyd)
I answered Reyd's question, "Yes, they are a race of scholars, a curious species. And the one at home is one of my wives. If you think you have people who have a good grasp in research, you should send them to their village. You will definitely get something out of it. They never refused anyone who came to visit them."
Besides, it was just plain fun there.
Their museums and other facilities were really on the level of the modern world, and some things even seemed to be more advanced than in my previous world.
They were using their work as a tourist attraction, and they did a good job of showing it off.
I would love to go back and visit that place again.
Elf Queen added, "Among the humanoid races, the most advanced in knowledge would definitely be that race. Right now, it won't be that difficult to visit their land, and as the Demon Lord said, I think it will be a good idea if you send prospective candidates that are researchers to that village. It might prove valuable for further development of your nation."
"If the two of you say so…well, we should really consider it."
After a brief conversation, we returned to our main subject.
"We've gotten off track. Anyway, that's the general gist of it… what do you think?"
"Just by listening to the description, rugby or football sounds like a good choice. They seem exciting and easy to get into. I think they fit well with the purpose of a competition and a proxy battle."
"Yes, I agree with you. I think it's going to be a lot of fun."
"Yeah, I'm not so certain about the details on how we should proceed. But I guarantee that It's definitely going to be a lot of fun. …And well even if there is a difference in physical ability, I think the only way to compensate for this is to use magic. But I don't know how to balance them. You guys probably have more wisdom about that kind of thing."
Whatever we did, the important thing was to make the game fair. For that, we needed to have a thorough discussion about it and identify the possible problems to make sure that no particular race would have an advantage. This would be the most difficult part.
And, while we're at it, it would be a good idea to consider the use of protective gear in regard to any competition. To be frank, I got the feeling that it would be more extreme than in the previous life.
There's such a thing as recovery magic present in this world, so as long as they didn't get seriously injured, they could recover on the spot right away.
"…It's a difficult point, but we should gather experts from various countries to determine the detailed rules. That will be a subject for the future."
"No matter which competitions are held, we won't know until we actually try them out. –Hey, you're recording this conversation, right? Make sure it's documented, so we can review it."
"Yes, sir."
"You'll take care of ours, too, right?"
"Yes, I'll take care of it."
The elf and the human, both of whom seem to be standing by the wall and taking notes of the meeting, reply respectively.
"If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I'm not a professional in this field myself, so I may have left something out in my explanation."
I bowed my head to them before going back to my story.
"Also, as for the people who will be competing, I think it would be a good idea to have the Royal Guards of each country be the first to learn the rules. They are probably the most physically gifted and the smartest, and it would be easier for soldiers to tactically move in groups of a dozen or more."
"Yes, that would be good. I also thought that if anyone was to be the first to compete, it would be soldiers."
"I agree with you. But if it is going to be a big festival, it would be more exciting to have not one but several competitions on different days. I would like the festival to be held for at least a week in order to attract as many people as possible and get their attention."
"That's a good point. We want to make it as spectacular as possible. The Rogard Empire would be a good place to hold it. We'll need your help, the Demon Lord."
"Sure. Alright, we're only in the planning stages, but it's already starting to sound like fun. If we're going to do this, we'll have to split up and form teams from different countries, right?"
"Yes, that's what will happen."
"Well, I'm only a decoration emperor, but I'll have my Rogard Empire team up and beat the rest of you even if you team up against me!"
The King and Queen grinned as I said this, and then laughed as well.
"Well, you said it, Demon Lord. As the representative of the elves, I will accept that challenge!"
"As King of Allysia Kingdom, I cannot be outdone. I will show the strength of our people to humans and non-humans alike."
"Yes, let's play!"
I never thought of myself as the emperor of a country…but in a game like this, it would be a different story.
I, the emperor, would like to train my team personally and make the name of my country known to the world!
"Good one, Oni-san! What you just said about the competition…I think it's very good!" (Nell)
Nell looked a little excited beside me. She was also listening to our meeting until we finished, and now we're heading home.
After our discussion regarding the different sports we could try out, our main topic ended and after some mild discussions of other topics, the meeting was concluded.
Well, maybe I was the one with all the free time, because I doubt those two would have been so free to continue the off-topic discussions.
The question of what competition we were going to choose in the end was to be discussed with the other Leaders, especially with Finar. So, it was decided that we would talk about it at a later date.
For now, only the direction of the meeting was decided.
If we took it easy, there was a possibility that the event would be held several years in the future. In order to avoid that, we were planning to hold another meeting of the Leaders at Rogard Empire in about a month's time.
They also hoped to use this opportunity to hold such meetings at regular intervals.
In other words, it would be something like an international conference.
It was exciting to see that a framework for all the races to move forward was steadily beginning to be established.
Of course, there would be various problems, but… well, I guess the world still had a long way to go before we could overcome those problems.
As for this competition, I was super motivated, and I intend to fully cooperate.
I was thinking that perhaps it would also take a while for me to get things into the right track…
Oh, right, I had to bring a doctor to our house once before I thought about that plan.
Layla, who brought back some medical books when we had a trip to her village and was rapidly improving her knowledge regarding pregnancy and care, and was the one taking care of Lefi at the moment, but well, I couldn't just leave it to her forever and would need the help of an actual specialist.
I've got some things going on for that, as well, and I was making a lot of progress… so with the competition thing added on my plate, it was going to keep me busy for a while.
"Ah, it's a very exciting discussion that I'm really looking forward to ahead of time. I think this kind of thing is a good move. I believe that if we can advance the exchange of races and mutual understanding in this way, the world as a whole could take a step forward. I think this kind of competition is important to move the times."
At my words, Nell looked happy as she stared at me.
"? What?" (Yuki)
"Hmmm, nothing. I just thought that you're actually an expert." (Nell)
"What do you mean by that 'actually'? I exude intelligence from the outside, don't I?" (Yuki)
"Well, no, you exude silliness instead." (Nell)
"Nell, that's a pretty terrible thing to say, you know?" (Yuki)
"Haha, sorry."
Nell laughed.
"…Well, in all seriousness, I'm not that smart. I'm far from an intellectual. Illuna may be much smarter than me." (Yuki)
I just, you know, have some knowledge that was out of this world.
I have neither the intelligence nor the experience to put all of it to use.
"But I think you're a pretty quick-witted guy, Oni-san, you know? Though, you have little self-esteem in that regard." (Nell)
"Really? But I fail at a lot of things. If I had any tact, I'd do better, wouldn't I?" (Yuki)
"Oh, well, I guess it's just a classic trend of you getting carried away and making a mistake." (Nell)
"Don't call it a trend." (Yuki)
My lovely wife giggled at my protests and continued.
"As one of your wives, I would like you to be careful about it. And though you make a lot of mistakes like that, I don't think you have repeated the mistakes you made. I think you learn from your mistakes, make the most of the experience, and take precautions for the next time. That's a pretty good attitude, don't you think?" (Nell)
"…I see." (Yuki)
I couldn't say anything to her motherly expression, like a parent praising a child, so I just replied without thinking.
"…By the way, Oni-san, are you free later today?" (Nell)
"Hmm… I think so. There's nothing going on after this." (Yuki)
"Right. Then…do you want to hang out with me afterward? Well, you see, I've been in charge of entertaining Oni-san for the day… I mean, His Majesty has taken care of things, and I don't have any more work to do for today. So, it's just the two of us for the first time in a while." (Nell)
I looked at Nell's face as she said this with a slight smirk on her face.
"Nell?"
"What?"
"Why are you so cute?"
"Wha, what, you're suddenly…"
"Well, my wife is so cute, I thought I was going to fall in love again. I feel like screaming this emotion out loud right now."
"Don't do that."
Nell chuckled and then took my hand.
We intertwined our fingers in a cuddly manner and held hands.
"So you're okay staying with me?"
"Of course I am. And even if I was busy, If you told me to stay with you, even if people told me that a war was about to break out, I would ignore it and go on a date with you."
"Well, you really can't ignore something like that, okay?"
And so after that, Nell and I spent some time together, strolling around the city.
Incidentally, I had forgotten about Rir and neglected him completely, and we both apologized to my pet, who later said, "I've been waiting for you for a long time…".
The fact that the owner apologized was actually not so strange in our family.