I open my eyes, and can’t believe what I see.
“What is that…!?”
It’s… A giant tree.
And not just a giant tree. It’s pretty far, but I can’t see it in its entirety without moving my neck. It’s really tall.
It’s probably bigger in diameter than a small town or village. And it’s faintly glowing.
It goes without saying that I’ve never seen this tree.
“Surprised? That’s Yggdrasil. Anheim’s ‘everything’, that’s protected by the fairy king.”
Says Zinnia, who is next to me, proudly.
“Yggdrasil…?”
I’m sorry, but that name doesn’t ring a bell.
“Maybe it would be appropriate to call it a magic tree.
We use Yggdrasil’s power in our daily lives. That also goes for the walls covering Anheim, and the magic that brought you here. It’s also thanks to its power that you can’t see it from the outside.”
“…I see.”
Transportation magic is pretty high level stuff. It’s normally not something a single being can perform on its own, and it takes a lot of time and set-up.
But Zinnia here did it in a second, and without any preparation. That should be impossible even for a magic being like a fairy. But if it’s using that magic tree’s magic energy, that makes sense.
“Where are we…? Wah, big tree!”
Ririi rubs her eyes and is surprised when she sees Yggdrasil. Zinnia looks happy and smiles at her reaction.
“Good reaction, thank you very much. Well then, my job here is done. Call my name when you are ready to leave, and I will come right away.”
He says goodbye, and vanishes. That fairy comes and goes like a storm passing through.
“All right… Let’s go!”
“Oh!”
There’s a city nestled up against the foot of Yggdrasil, and we just happen to be right by its entrance.
I chase after Ririi after she takes off running, and that begins our visit here in Anheim.
◆
Seeing the streets of Anheim for the first time is odd to me, and I’ve traveled through several countries and towns.
It’s not like the capital where a lot of buildings are made of stone, everything here is made of wood.
But this is Anheim, a place that specializes in magic, so there are magic stones all over the streets and buildings, so it doesn’t really look rustic even though it’s all made of wood.
It actually feels fancier than the main streets in the capital.
Fancy magic item stores in the top spots of the main street like Bitne and Franchet use magic stones in their exterior, and they draw a lot of attention because of it, but they’re all like that here in Anheim.
I knew that this is a magic country, but I didn’t expect it to go that far.
But that alone wouldn’t be enough to strike me as odd.
That oddness I feel actually comes from the small buildings I see here and there.
They’re not built on the ground like normal buildings. Some are on top of other buildings, some on top of roadside trees, and some are just floating in the air. It’s like the rules don’t matter for these miniature buildings. I’m sure they’re used by fairies.
A lot are high up, which probably makes them more convenient for fairies that fly around.
…I was curious about how fairies and elves live together, since there’s such a big size difference, but I didn’t expect them to be mashed together like this. I figured their living spaces would be separate.
Still…
“It really is just elves and fairies…”
We pass by a lot of the townspeople while walking down the main street, but I haven’t seen a single person that isn’t an elf or a fairy.
There aren’t that many fairies in the world, but it makes sense that they’re floating around all over the place here in the fairy country. Because of this, I almost hit a few fairies with my face as I walk.
How do people here avoid that problem of banging their faces against fairies?
“…”
A slender and tall elf looks at us as he passes by. But he doesn’t say anything, and keeps walking.
I noticed right after we got here that people are looking this way like they’re seeing something odd.
At first I thought it was because I have a high elf with me. A blue haired elf attracts some attention even in the capital, so people often look at her this way. It’d be one thing if it was an adult, but I guess it’s strange to dye a kid’s hair like that.
Speaking of which, I haven’t seen a high elf here either.
But now that I’m getting a better look, I see that people are looking at me, not Ririi. I start checking my clothes, looking for anything weird… But don’t find anything, and get confused.
But then…
“Hum…”
I hear someone calling out to me, and when I turn around, I see a young elf girl with gentle looking eyes, who is looking at me with a nervous expression on her face. Suffice to say, I don’t know her.
“What?”
Did I break some sort of Anheim taboo without realizing it? Is that why people are looking at me like that?
Those worries rush through my mind, before she continues.
“Is there a problem? You keep looking around so much…”
“Ah…”
I feel the tension leaving my body.
I guess this kind looking elf saw me looking around trying to figure out why people are looking at me, and thought that maybe I was lost or something.
I’m glad to hear it’s not because I did anything wrong, but that also means I still don’t know why people are looking.
“Not rea… Wait.”
I’m in a place I’m not familiar with, so the first thing to do… Is gather information.
And the best place to get said information is…
“I’m looking for a bar. Do you know of any lively bars around here?”
The girl squints and smiles.
I don’t know why she’s smiling, but it’s a very charming smile.
Girls’ smiles really are nice. I don’t know why, but that makes me think of the thing that’s furthest away from a smile, Sieglinde’s sour face.
…She has a nice face, so she really should smile more. When I got back to the capital after ten years and learned she was still single, I was surprised but also felt it made sense.
She’s pretty nice, despite how she looks. She’s caring, and can be cute too. I think she’s a nice woman, but I guess men prefer women with nice smiles.
“Then… How about you come to our place? That’s said, I’m sad to say we are not open yet.”
“Our place?”
“I own a bar. I’m not so sure about it being lively though…”
She says with a self-deprecating smile.
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Thanks for the chapter Hidamarisou! Wonder if a human is that rare here.