.....What is this?
I knew Elsi had drawn a mask, but I had no choice but to ask. It was because I couldn't tell if what Elsi had drawn should even be called a mask. Her drawing skills were just that hopeless. The crookedly drawn mask looked less like a mask and more like an avant-garde mother's portrait drawn by a seven-year-old.
"It's a mask. She was wearing a mask that looked like this."
"She was really wearing a mask that looked like this?"
I had no choice but to check the picture once more. Compared to this picture, Picasso's Weeping Woman could be called hyperrealism. The eyes, nose, and mouth were scattered all over the place as if imitating Guernica, and the most important shape of the mask wasn't even properly defined.
On top of that, the scattered features were sared with a strange combination of colors, as if a child had played with their mother's makeup. I wondered if Elsi was the type to have problems with color blindness or spatial perception.
"What color is this?"
"Red."
She wasn't color blind. Then that ans she really wore a mask of this color, but what kind of mask is it? It was covered in red, with only the parts presud to be the eyes, nose, and mouth painted black or yellow.
The thought 'Could she have really been wearing a mask like this?' had to be erased from my mind. Because if I were to wear a mask to hide my face, I wouldn't wear one this morable. It was more reasonable to see this as a tragedy born from Elsi's hands being furry like she was wearing cat gloves, and her having no talent for drawing.
"...Alright, I understand for now."
I carefully folded the picture and put it in the bottom of a drawer. Thanks to Elsi, I had now obtained the two most important clues about Evangeline. First, Evangeline claid she was 'in the middle of a magic experint'. However, in my opinion, the probability of Evangeline actually being a mage was very low. Judging by her whereabouts so far, she acted far too conspicuously for soone with the position of a mage.
Besides, according to Elsi's testimony, she had co to buy slaves recently. With talk about Evangeline already circulating throughout the royal palace, it was hard to believe a mage would go around dressed like that.
Because mages operate under a national registration system. Next to the southwestern Dwarf Kingdom, a Magic Tower City was built for mages. All mages had to register their nas in the Magic Tower City and have a laboratory in the Magic Tower. Wearing such a strange mask in a place like that?
According to my guess, the probability was high that Evangeline was an unregistered mage. But this was just a guess. For now, I mimicked Elsi's drawing to make a few copies, then sent one to the Magic Tower City next to the Dwarf Kingdom, and the other to the Aberdeen Territory. And I decided to keep the original.
"Elsi. Then you can stay in this mansion and work as a guard. Understood?"
"Got it. So where do I stay?"
I had Aira guide Elsi to her room. There were still many empty rooms in the mansion, so I was able to give her a spacious one. And then I took the picture and went outside. Eve and Cellu were in the middle of a conversation. Hiding the picture behind my back, I slowly approached and asked.
"What are you talking about?"
"Heh... We were just having so chatter. You want in?"
Neither Cellu nor Eve showed any flustered expression as they deflected my question. I asked.
"What were you talking about?"
"What kind of child would be born if you and Eve had one?"
Surprisingly, it was a question I was also quite curious about. A quarter-elf, quarter-rmaid, half-human... what in the world would co out? Basically, if a child was born between a half-elf and a human, or a half-elf and an elf, they were just considered an elf or a human. This was because a quarter- had almost no distinct traits.
If there was any difference, a quarter-elf lived a little longer and was prettier than a normal human, and a quarter-human died a little sooner than a normal elf. But if the blood is mixed like this, what the hell cos out? Roughly guessing, it would probably be a human with pointed ears who was a little good at swimming and lived long, and thinking about it like that, it seed pretty good. As I was seriously contemplating it, Eve shouted.
"What are you imagining? Just state your business."
"Ah, right. Eve. Cellu. Do you know what this is?"
Cellu and Eve looked at the picture together. The two of them looked back and forth between the picture and
with very strange expressions. After staring at the picture for a while, Cellu asked .
"Are you having a hard ti these days?"
"What?"
"Isn't this one of those things? The kind you draw when you're struggling ntally. When we were on the ship, a few crew mbers drew pictures like this on drawing paper."
"What happened to those crew mbers?"
"I killed them. Our ship isn't a psychiatric hospital. Heh...."
Truly the actions of a psychopathic rmaid. I clicked my tongue and shook my head. Then I held the paper forward so Eve and Cellu could see it more clearly and said.
"It's supposedly Evangeline's mask. Cellu. Think carefully. Have you ever seen a mask that looks like this?"
"......This is supposed to be that? For real?"
Both Cellu and Eve had expressions of disbelief. Both of them were talking about the mask, but the prohibition hadn't activated yet. Eve said.
"No. Evangeline's mask is more... I can't say it. Fuck!"
Eve stopped talking, let out a stream of profane language, and kicked the water. A spray of water shot high into the sky and fell. I quickly pulled the picture away to keep it from getting wet, then showed it again. As expected, the prohibition was still activating. Cellu dodged the water by ducking into it, then popped back out and said.
"Right...... I can't say it."
Cellu also got annoyed, as if the prohibition was unpleasant. The way she scowled and puffed up her cheeks looked just like a hamster. I asked again.
"Is it completely different?"
Eve and Cellu looked at each other and tilted their heads. It was a very ambiguous reaction. Seeing that Eve and Cellu didn't recognize it at a glance, it was clear that either Elsi drew it like complete shit, or Evangeline carries around multiple masks.
For now, I had no choice but to send letters to the Magic Tower and the Aberdeen Territory and wait for a reply. I felt a bit self-conscious about wandering around myself since I'd left the territory too often recently. Evangeline or not, it was too ambiguous to be a solid clue, so I planned to decide my course of action once the replies ca in.
Personally, I felt a strong desire to investigate in the direction of the relatively quiet southwestern Dwarf Kingdom rather than the Eastern Aberdeen Territory, which was crawling with beastfolk. The quest objective available at the Magic Tower was one of the Four Heavenly Kings, [Flowing Falkios], and he had been split in two and killed by the hero during the Demon King's subjugation. Therefore, there were currently no annoying elents for
in the direction of the Magic Tower.
While waiting regarding the prohibition, I was also preparing to make a move in another direction. The plan to take Elsi. No matter how much of an idiot the beastfolk tribe was, I couldn't just rape her outright. Because they were a race with very strong self-assertion, I had to persuade her.
So I called Aira, Eve, and Cellu all to my office. At this ti, Elsi was leisurely enjoying her free ti in her room. The three, suddenly called to the office, were focusing their gazes on , curious about what I was going to say.
Since Sieri had to go to work at the church, I planned to call her separately to talk. I looked around at my surroundings, then lowered my voice and said.
"Alright, everyone. From now on, I'll need your cooperation in seducing Elsi."
"What a fucking beast in heat."
Eve said as if she'd been waiting. It was clear she had been roughly expecting this. She was staring at
with a frown. Cellu, finding Eve's reaction amusing, chid in from the side.
"A handso man naturally attracts a beautiful woman, Eve. Are you jealous?"
"No, Mom. He says 'seduce,' but will this human even do it properly? It'd be a relief if he doesn't just drug and fuck her."
"Eve. I told you to use elegant words as the Lord's Wife, didn't I?"
"Fuck, try acting a little elegant as a Lord! What kind of Southern High Priest of the Archdeity Church calls his wife over just to talk about fucking other won!"
Eve shouted. I started to gently soothe Eve.
"Eve. I won't use such a low-class thod. Through persuasion by words alone, I will make Elsi voluntarily offer her body to ."
"Hearing that makes you sound even more vicious."
Still, hearing that I'd make Elsi offer it 'voluntarily' seed to pique Eve's interest a little. Even if Eve pretended otherwise, she was fundantally a psycho murderer. She couldn't help but be interested in strange deeds.
"You know that no matter what I do, Eve is the best to , right? I'll really make you feel amazing today."
"...You really are a complete son of a bitch. So, what are you going to do?"
I called Aira, Eve, and Cellu all closer and began to speak in a smaller voice. Eve, who had heard the plan to the end, was looking at
with a strange expression. Cellu was amused, but her expression also showed that she found this plan quite untrustworthy. Aira, for her part, had an attitude of 'I'll do it because you're telling
to'.
Cellu said.
"Heh... Still, I wonder if a beastfolk would be that stupid."
"Right. In the first place, does a plan like that even work on soone you can converse with? Fuck, are there really idiots that stupid in the world?"
Putting aside everything else, to be a different race and yet look down on beastfolk—I could not tolerate such illogical and discriminatory speech and behavior. I politely warned Eve and Cellu.
"That's beastfolk hatred. Do you understand?"
"What the fuck are you saying. The mont you made a plan like that, you're the one who hates beastfolk."
Of course, it was a warning that had no effect on Eve. Since Eve was reacting this way, I had nothing to say and changed the subject.
"Then you must do as I've instructed. Understood?"
"Yes! I understand!"
Aira shouted first. Her being full of enthusiasm was a great sight to see. If I were a battalion commander, I would have given Aira three bonus points.
Eve had a reluctant expression, but she nodded for now. Cellu had a face that said she didn't care either way. Eve asked.
"But did you tell Sieri too?"
"She's at the church, so I have to call her separately later to talk. Then, please do as I said."
When I gave the order to disperse, Eve disappeared with Cellu, and Aira hesitated before asking .
"My Lord. Do you have a mont?"
As she said that, Aira slightly lifted the hem of her skirt. If she's going to do that, I have to make ti even if I don't have any.
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