The place said to be the high elves’ village is actually not that far. Reina and I even reached it while strolling the other day.
“Come to think of it, how come I’ve never come here?”
I’ve been on this island for a while, and met a lot of people. I’ve had a lot of busy days too, but it’s not like I’ve been busy all the time. How come I haven’t visited a place that’s so close…
“It’s probably because of the high elves’ barrier.”
“Doesn’t it just hide the village?”
“No, it’s more like it creates a space in another dimension…”
Says Edinburgh while we walk through the forest, until she suddenly stops talking.
I look at her, and she stops walking and shakes her head.
“Don’t worry, I’m just not used to these things suddenly popping into my mind.”
“Ah, right. Because of the memory loss.”
“Yes. It’s weird, but I just suddenly knew about the high elves’ village.”
She also managed to use magic pretty quickly after thinking about it, so it’s like what’s been ingrained in her body comes to her naturally.
“What do you mean a space in another dimension?”
Ceres asks the same question.
“It changes spatial conditions freely to a certain extent. If Arata wasn’t thinking about approaching the forest this time, rather than stop intruders, it would make it so they wouldn’t get close in the first place.”
“What do you mean?”
“I guess the easier way to put it, is that it would add the condition of driving people away.”
I kind of get it. That sort of thing pops up in manga sometimes. It’s like a barrier that makes people unconsciously stay away.
So Edinburgh is assuming the high elves’ barrier is like that too.
“A barrier that messes with people’s awareness and makes them move a certain way unconsciously is a frightening level of magic. It works the spirit.”
“It’s difficult for you too, Edinburgh?”
“In my case…”
She thinks about it for a moment, trying to remember how much she can do.
“I could probably do it. Apparently my title of strongest mage in the continent was no exaggeration.”
“And you were Reina’s master too.”
I say, and it looks like she has mixed feelings about that.
She doesn’t remember, but she probably has some thoughts about what she heard she did to Reina in the past.
But why?
Edinburgh doesn’t feel like a bad person to me.
Not only did Snow take to her right away, but it feels like she’s always acting while watching everyone closely.
“But this one doesn’t just mess with awareness, it also shifts space, and protects against attacks, so it’s not a simple one.”
“Really?”
Could I do it?
I couldn’t copy Miss Sheryl’s gate, but that’s a kind of magic humans can’t use at all, so I feel like I could do this.
In fact, in terms of difficulty, Wil’s god killing magic spear Gungnir is probably still above it…
That secret technique that once killed a god has enough power that it might kill even me.
If I copied that, I think it’s safe to say I can copy this too. And I can probably use it to protect the house from monsters.
I used magic to reinforce the walls, but if I can make it so monsters don’t approach it at all, that’s even better.
“Maybe the high elves will show it to you.”
“Mister Arata, are you sure you are not a god?”
“Daddy’s daddy.”
Ceres is misunderstanding again, but Snow is right.
I’m just me, so don’t look at me like that.
◇ ◇ ◇
We keep walking, until we reach the place where I felt something was off.
“Ah, I think it’s here.”
“…I don’t feel anything, but if you say so, it must be.”
It does feel like space is kind of distorted. I feel like it’s clearer than the last time I was here.
That awareness obstruction is probably not perfect.
I guess if it was, Tiltue wouldn’t have found her way here.
It’s probably hard to hide it completely from beings that strong.
“So what now?”
“Well, we’re not their enemies. They’re probably watching us, so let’s wait for a bit.”
High elves aren’t warlike, but there probably are exceptions.
We need to show that we’re not harmful, so we lay down a sheet, and start getting ready to have lunch.
“Hum, are you sure about this?”
“Well, we’ll think of something else if this doesn’t work.”
Ceres is bewildered because it feels like we’re on a picnic.
We’ll get away if I feel any signs of an attack, but I feel nothing for the time being.
“…Snow?”
Snow is staring at one certain point for some reason.
She tilts her head here and there and reaches out. And then she suddenly stops. It’s strange.
“Hn… Yah!”
“…!?”
She suddenly moves forward and grabs something, the space in front of her trembles, and a girl appears.
“Daddy! Got her!”
“Ah, yes…”
“Shouldn’t you praise her?”
“Should I?”
She’s bragging like she caught a bug, but what she caught is an elf girl that looks to be about her age.
Should I praise her? I really don’t know.
“…”
“A-au…”
She approaches me and looks up like she really wants it.
And the girl she caught is next to her, with tears in her eyes.
“That was great, Snow.”
“Ehehe!”
She looks happy when I say that and pat her head.
But I can’t ignore the elf girl, so I turn to her.
“Can you let this girl go?”
“Yes.”
She does, and the girl runs away.
The space right in front twists, and the elf disappears.
“Oh…”
Snow is surprised, as the space ripples like I threw a stone into a lake.
“So that’s the entrance.”
“Can we go in?”
“…Probably? Ah.”
Ceres and I are indecisive, while Edinburgh walks forward with no worries.
She puts out her hand, and after seeing there’s no problem, she disappears into that space.
“Snow too!”
“Ah, wait!”
Snow ignores me and runs into it too.
I can’t hesitate anymore, so I go after her.
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