Let’s just pretend I don’t see that straw doll.
“You’ve been away from us ever since we got here, right? I wanted to see how you were doing.”
“I’m good, as you can see. There’s no reason for your concern.”
Noel snorts and looks away. I can see a bit of her ears, which are red and twitching.
If I could borrow Durandal’s word, I’d call her a tsundere elf. She’s never frank about herself.
“That’s nice to hear.”
I say with a smile, and she snickers, but her twitching ears make her very easy to understand.
Unlike back when we met, she shows her feelings in her ears and overall attitude, so I can understand her. Well then, with the greetings out of the way, I should ask something I have in mind.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Me? I hope it’s worth it.”
She seems to have no idea.
I can’t help but wonder, but I guess it’s not a big deal for her.
“What is that on your hand?”
She snorts a little.
“I wouldn’t expect an average person like you to understand. This is a charm.”
“Charm?”
“Yes. A charm implement.”
It just looks like a straw doll. If anything, it looks more like a curse.
“I know what a charm is, but what are you doing?”
“That’s my business, isn’t it?”
“I guess so. I’m just curious.”
“Fine. Like I said, I’m just placing a charm. There is this female kitten I’m not too fond of.”
“Kitten?”
“Yes. A thieving kitten who put her hands on what is mine.”
Her eyes twitch upward. She’s clearly angry. I can’t imagine she’s talking about me, but I shouldn’t press any further. Kitten? A kitten took something from her? Food?
I feel like it’d be bad if I asked, so I won’t.
“I see. I don’t know much about charms, so I wouldn’t understand even if you told me.”
“I told you that from the start. You don’t get it.”
“And yet you still answered. Thanks, Noel.”
“Whatever. I’ll accept your gratitude. And I also have a question, so listen.”
Ah, she’s not even waiting for me to respond. It’s like she’ll ask, and I’ll just respond. I get it.
“Have you come across any useful information in the seven days we spent here?”
“To be honest, I haven’t found what we’re looking for yet.”
I did discover things I can’t talk about. All of them bad for my stomach.
One of my friends is royalty and half demon, one of them is the demon king, Tora is a woman…
Well, I could talk about that last one.
There have been some developments. I know where the demon king is, I just don’t know who it is.
But since I can’t say that, I’ll be honest. I’ve made zero progress. Noel looks at me with an exasperated expression and sighs.
“In that case, I can assume the others are the same.”
I can’t tell if she’s speaking highly of me or the opposite, but I can tell I don’t measure up to her.
Well then, do I have anything I can tell her to redeem myself?
There’s what that man said in the inn when we first got there. But that was just something a drunk man said. I guess it’s better than nothing.
“I have one thing. The only problem is the quality of the source of this information.”
“Hn? Just say it. I will be the judge of whether or not it’s valuable. I’m much more accurate than an ordinary person like you.”
“Okay I get it.”
But yes, I guess I can leave that up to her. Although I don’t put much faith in information coming from a drunkard.
“I heard from one of the patrons at the inn, who was drunk, so I don’t know if it’s true or not…”
“Skip the introduction and stop wasting time.”
“Sorry. He said there has been a demon sighting in the forest at the foot of the Degeh mountain range. It seemed to be half dragon, so it could be one of the four generals that is talked about in fairy tales.”
How’s that? Nice, right? Gahahaha. He said and then cackled, and I bought him a drink.
He was pretty drunk, and he stumbled his way to his room on the first floor, so I don’t know how credible this is.
If it’s true, it’s useful… But it doesn’t seem to be. Thank you very much.
Noel frowns, clearly displeased, and I regret telling her.
“Here’s my judgment. It’s useless. Complete trash.”
“Ah, yes.”
“I assume you know, but the Degeh mountain range is on the border with the country of Telma. That sort of information would have reached the church faster and with more accuracy than you.”
“True.”
“It’s a waste of time, so say no more.”
So basically, this information didn’t reach the church, meaning it’s just a spooky tale told by a drunk man.
Like Noel said, the Degeh mountain range is on the border with the country of Telma. For safety’s sake, the country puts considerable effort into intelligence surrounding that region.
The enemies of elves are demons, but they’ve had skirmishes with humans too. We’re not fully allies.
Most of the church is composed of elves, and Noel has the important position of high priestess in it.
Her web of information is much more reliable than a drunkard. Like she said, my information is useless to her.
Let’s elaborate on that.
There are seven tiers in the church. Pope, archbishop, archpriest, bishop, priest, deacon, and acolyte.
Noel is third from the top. That’s pretty important. To the point where one might wonder why she joined us.
I’m probably wondering that now because of my conversation with Durandal this morning, but while I didn’t have it in me to think about it at the time because of the stomachache it gave me, shouldn’t that have become an international incident?
An elven high priestess struck a noble of Arcadia. That’s a big deal.
It could have turned into a conflict not just with the church, but with Telma as a whole.
Did Count Eldo smooth things over because he didn’t want to start a conflict? His face pops into my mind… No, that man is just good down to the core. My stomach hurts a little.
But I’d like to ask the church one thing. Is this girl really someone you want to have as an arch priestess?
Well, Noel really is excellent. It’s just that her hatred of humans is a problem.
I’ll ask again, is this really all right?
“Are you thinking something rude about me?”
“Nope. I would… Never…”
“Why that tone then? You regular people…”
Noel sighs, a sight I’m used to.
“So do you have information?”
“I’m not like you people. Of course I have.”
She looks smug down to the core.
Excuse me for getting annoyed. And forgive her, she’s always been like this.
She’s full of confidence, and has the tendency to look down on those lower than her. I can’t say she’s a good person.
But she does have the heart to care for her companions. And the way she panics and looks like she’ll cry when she makes a mistake is really cute.
Anyway, it seems she has information.
“I know where a certain demon is.”
“Demon?”
“Clovicus.”
I sense something bubble up as she says that name
Slight anger, not fury. But still, she says it with clear anger.
The one-winged Clovicus.
The one who slaughtered the family of the kind demon Berial.
<<Previous Chapter Index Next Chapter>>
