Chapter 131: Autonomous Region

With Sera taking the lead, Abel and Ryo passed through the gate of the 『Autonomous Region』 and entered the courtyard.

As they saw from the front, the courtyard was surrounded by buildings on all sides.

As though it was designed for training and mock combat …

They saw people walking toward them from the end of the courtyard.

One was a woman in her mid-thirties. Behind her, a man around 20 years old.

Both had slightly pointed ears … indicating that they were elves.

And both were beautiful.

Elves generally had the appearances of beautiful men and women.

That was a fact.

“Welcome home, Sera.”

The woman smiled and called out.

“Baba-sama? The elder who came to the royal capital is Baba-sama?”

Then Sera bowed deeply.

Seeing that, Abel and Ryo also bowed in a hurry.

“Baba-sama, this is Abel, an adventurer of Rune.”

“Abel … Sir?”

Baba looked a little suspicious of Sera’s introduction.

“It is 『Adventurer Abel』.”

Sera once again emphasized 『Adventurer』 and 『Abel』.

“I-I see. Welcome Abel, the Autonomous Region.”

Baba-sama understood something and greeted him with a slight smile.

Ryo seemed to be dealing with his overturned concept that 『Elves are reclusive』 from his light novel knowledge.

Of course, the root of such light novel knowledge on Earth was probably the Elves made by JRR Tolkien …

He’s definitely a person who had reincarnated from another world to Earth.

(There are facts and mistakes in all stories …)

Ryo thought deeply.

After Abel’s introduction, Baba-sama’s eyes firmly caught Ryo’s body.

As though she was drawn to Ryo, tightly …

“This is Ryo, also an adventurer from the City of Rune.”

Sera introduces Ryo as usual.

“I’m Ryo.”

Even after Ryo greeted her, Baba-sama didn’t react. She remained frozen.

The young man behind Baba-sama looked at Baba-sama and called out to her.

“Baba-sama?”

Baba reacted as if she felt a jolt.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I was captivated.”

Hearing a woman in her mid-thirties speak like an old woman made Ryo feel uncomfortable but … no one else seemed to be reacting to it so he wondered was it just him?

“Captivated?”

Sera’s eyes narrowed a little and asked Baba-sama.

“Yeah. No, rather than being captivated by him … I was captivated by the robe that Ryo is wearing. It is an unexpected joy to be able to see it again while I still live.”

Baba-sama looked at Ryo’s robe from top to bottom many times.

“Baba-sama … I understand your feelings, but that is probably unpleasant for Ryo.”

Sera finally raised her voice and obstructed her.

“Muu …. It’s been 2,000 years since I encountered the fairy king’s robe. I can’t help but get a little excited …”

Baba-sama puffed her cheeks a little and argued with Sera.

(For the first time in 2,000 years … Baba-sama, how old are you …)

Ryo did not directly ask the honest question that rose in his heart.

However, Abel’s mouth, standing next to Ryo, was a little loose.

“2000 years …”

“That … can I call you Baba-sama …?”

Ryo asked cautiously.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’ve been a little too impolite.”

Then, Baba-sama looked at Ryo’s face.

And she froze once again.

“E-eh?”

Ryo was a little taken aback. He turned to look at Sera.

The message ‘help’ was written in his gaze.

“Ryo, don’t worry. Baba-sama just realized Ryo’s true value. She’ll return to herself after a little while.”

But it wasn’t just Ryo who was startled.

The young man behind Baba was also startled by Baba-sama’s unusual appearance.

Then, following Baba-sama’s line of sight, he ended up on Ryo’s face.

And he understood that Baba-sama’s condition was due to Ryo.

He was generally right, but … there were many different ways to interpret matters in this world.

“You! What did you do to Baba-sama!”

The young man’s anger began to rise like a fiery fire.

(Th-this is a light novel-like template development where a young man gets angry and slashes at me! So far, many template developments failed to come to fruition, but will it finally happen!?)

Ryo was thinking in his heart.

And so, he laughed a little … Of course, that resulted in fanning the youth’s anger.

“What are you laughing at!”

Then, the young man pulled out his sword and slashed at Ryo … he couldn’t.

Of course, Sera wouldn’t allow that.

The moment the young man started running toward Ryo, she thrust from the side and slammed her right fist against the young man’s right hand, which clenched his sword.

The bones of his index finger, middle finger, and ring finger that were sandwiched between Sera’s fist and the sword broke.

Before the young man made a sound, she hooked his right foot and tripped the young man.

The young man who was now on the ground held his right hand and moaned in pain.

There was no expression on Sera’s face as she stared at him.

That scuffle caused Baba-sama to return to herself.

She was surprised to see the young man rolling on the ground, tilted her head once when she saw Sera, saw the sword he had dropped, and seemed to understand what had happened.

“Roxley … this fool. Ryo, my youngster has been rude to you.”

Then Baba-sama bowed deeply.

Ryo, who was expecting a template development, was disappointed that it didn’t happen.

And he looked pitifully at the young man Roxley, who was struck down by Sera.

And then he was apologized to by Baba-sama, so he was a little flustered.

“Oh no, don’t worry about it.”

“Roxley is still too young … he can’t feel Ryo’s splendor.”

Baba-sama shook her head and said.

“Ryo’s splendor…”

“Abel, depending on what you say next, you may have to say goodbye to the world.”

“No, I’m wasn’t going to say anything else …”

While saying that, Abel’s eyes behaved suspiciously.

“Thank you, Sera.”

The three of them and Baba-sama were on their way from the courtyard to the reception room.

Roxley, the young man who was struck by Sera, was taken to a first aid room by another Elf.

“I brought Ryo here but you were met with danger. I’m sorry.”

On the contrary, Sera bowed and apologized in response to Ryo’s words of gratitude.

“No, it’s strange that Sera is apologizing for helping me.”

Ryo smiled when he said that.

When she saw that, her expression that had sunk in the courtyard, bloomed into a smile like a flower.

(Yeah, Sera looks best with a smile)

Ryo nodded in his heart.

The reception room was well furnished.

It was about two ranks higher than Hugh’s, the guild master of Rune, reception room, which he’s been to several times … Ryo thought to himself.

All four of them sat down, tea was served, and after a break, Sera spoke.

“Baba-sama, why did you come to the royal capital?”

Sera had been skeptical since she received the letter.

The timing was too coincidental as it coincides with Sera’s trip to the royal capital.

However, Baba-sama’s answer was surprising.

“I came because of divination. There is a sign of turmoil in the royal capital. And that if I go, I would have a wonderful encounter. That wonderful encounter would be Ryo. It certainly was a wonderful encounter.”

Of the four, Abel was the least talkative.

That was because it is not possible for humans to feel the 『Nourishment source』 from Ryo’s 『Fairy factor』 and because he had little knowledge of the 『Fairy king’s robe』.

However, he could not overlook Baba-sama’s words.

“Did you say that the royal capital is facing turmoil now?”

Ryo didn’t know, but Abel was the second son of the King.

Sera was actually aware.

And Baba-sama, who once saw Abel at the royal palace, was aware of that too.

Therefore, she expected Abel’s question.

“Yes. Of course, it was divination. I don’t know the details. But no matter what is happening, there are only a few Elves out of the forest in the royal capital. I came because I thought it would be easier to deal with various things if I was here.”

According to Baba-sama, there were currently more than fifty Elves in the royal capital.

Considering that there was only one Elf in the City of Rune, that was comparatively quite a number.

It was simply due to the expansion of the Autonomous Region.

In the past, some joined the Knights of the Kingdom, but now there were none, and it seemed that about 20 Elves were studying at the Magic University.

The others worked and trained within the Autonomous Region.

“No one joined the Knights Order …”

“Unfortunately, it seems that the core is not so good.”

Baba-sama answered Abel’s question with a frown.

The Elves also knew that the Knights Order was in a hopeless state.

“Well, for that reason, if Sera is in the royal capital, I was wondering if you could train the Elves while you remain here. Isn’t the Rune Knights Order Sera is instructing said to be the elite? I wonder if you could show my children even a part of that.”

Baba-sama turned to Sera and said.

“Looking at Roxley, I think it’s better to train their minds first …”

Sera’s words were harsh.

It seemed that his attack on Ryo came to mind.

“Ye-yes … I’m sorry. That’s what I’m thinking about too …”

Baba-sama answered while scratching her cheek.

“Well, for the sake of argument, if Ryo was slashed by that sword … Baba-sama, what were you going to do?”

“I can’t answer that even if you ask.”

“Even if it would cause the collapse of the world?”

(Eh? What kind of position do I have … in this world?)

Sera said something immense with a straight face.

And Ryo was confused.

“So Ryo … is someone who supports the world …”

“No, I don’t think that is the case …”

Both Abel and Ryo couldn’t understand the conversation about the world at all.

In the end, Sera agreed to train the Elven Autonomous Region for about three days.

“First, I must drill perseverance into their brains …”

Ryo and Abel, who heard Sera’s mutter, prayed for those who were to be trained.

Ryo and Abel split up with Sera and went home.

“Does Ryo have a place to stay?”

“Yes. I was told that I was free to use the annex of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Ju for about a week. I could inform the embassy if I wanted to extend beyond that.”

Ryo answered Abel’s question, thinking of Prince Willy’s face.

“Kingdom of Ju? You have another connection with a rare place. That’s a country further east from where Ryo was, the Inbury Duchy. How did you form that kind of connection …”

Abel shook his head many times and said.

“A lot of things happened. Really, a lot of things …”

Ryo remembered the journey from the Inbury Duchy to the royal capital as he replied.

“Shit!”

Suddenly Ryo shouted.

“W-what’s wrong?”

Abel was surprised by the sudden cry and asked.

“I forgot to ask that elder Baba-sama about the floating continent.”

Ryo said with a very depressed look.

“Oh … I see, it’s okay.”

Abel placed his hand on Ryo’s shoulder and sighed as if he was tired.

Author’s note:

*Whisper* The collapse of (Sera’s) world …