Pioneering the Apocalyptic World - Chapter 34
Chapter 04: The encounter with the elf girl
“Mu……”
“Uru, what happened?”
Uru, who was leading the way, suddenly raised her voice out and stopped in place. Has she discovered yet another Silent Killer’s nest?
However, that didn’t seem to be the case, she began to rub her arms while tilting her head in wonder.
“I suddenly felt a little chilly…”
“Eh, are you okay? Could it be that you have a cold?”
Because the forest is deep and it is difficult for the sun to penetrate, the temperature is slightly lower, and because it contains a lot of humidity the air is a little cold.
Uru was walking in sleeveless clothes, so she might have gotten sick.
“No… it’s not that much. Let’s move on.”
“If Uru says so… If you feel sick, don’t be stubborn and say it, okay?”
“Umu.”
Walking about 10 minutes after our talk occurred. We discovered an unnaturally wide open space in the middle of the forest.
The width is about 50 meters in diameter. Flowers are growing everywhere, but there is no stumps of trees, it’s clearly a place where human hands are involved.
The best proof of that is… The central part.
There was an altar that enshrined a statue of the creator god.
A circular stone pavement. Columns with decorative carvings built at equal intervals around the circle.
The central part is made high and the outside parts are stairs made so that you can go up from any direction.
Of course, the one enshrined in the center is the god of creation’s… That’s a stone statue, probably.
And in front of it, one person.
There was a person in a praying posture.
“??Who are you?”
“……Oops”
While I stared at it dumbfounded, I heard a high-pitched but calm, cool voice.
It seems that the prayer time was over, it noticed us and while standing up, it looking back at us.
As this person turned around, naturally we were able to also see his face as well.
… It’s an elf! And she’s a beautiful girl too!
Compared to Uru which one is more beautiful? Their types are different, so it’s hard to decide which one is best, so I guess it depends on the taste of seer.
……Cough~, but let’s put that aside.
I wonder if she a just a little older than I (my appearance). Elves live long lives like a classical fantasy, so her actual age is unknown.
A leaf green waist-length hair and eyes of the same color. And with the elf’s biggest feature that is her long pointed ears.
In overall, her skin is white and she has a thin body, while she looked a little unhealthy to me, but from an elf’s point of view, that was the standard. By the way, being beautiful is also a standard.
She was dressed in loose-fitting clothing and wore some accessories that were probably made from plants.
While observing such things, I responded as brightly as possible to show that there was no hostility.……It looks ok, right? It doesn’t sound fishy, does it?
“Nice to meet you. I’m sorry if I disturbed your prayer. I’m Rion. The girl next to me is Uru.”
In line with my introduction Uru bows her head. She is mostly quiet at times like this. I wonder if she’s not good at it.
Perhaps it was because I honestly said my name when she was asked “Who are you?”. Her caution… I don’t think she had that much to begin with, In any case, without showing something like that, the girl walks towards us.
“Hello thank you for your polite greeting…? I’m… Kyaaa!?”
“”Ah??””
And then… She fell down from the stairs.
The mysterious beautiful girl fell down just like a skit and made me became open-mouthed, but the groans that I heard made me rush back to my senses.
“A-Are you okay…!?”
“It hurts……”
Right? You made a full spin around… How did that happen?
“Um, I’ll use a potion on you.”
After saying a few words, I sprinkled the LP potion on the teary-eyed elf girl.
As an aside, the potion is liquid while it’s in the container, but it evaporates as soon as it’s used and sprinkled to take effect. So I can’t make a wet beautiful girl with it.
Also, it’s harmless to drink, but it taste like medicine so it doesn’t taste good. Can it be sweetened? I thought about it, but I didn’t need to drink it in the first place, so I didn’t put my hands in that part yet.
“Ah, um, such a precious thing…”
“I have more than 100 pieces in stock, so is it okay?”
“……Eh”
Oh, She froze up.
Certainly, it may be a lot to say more than 100 pieces, but after all, it’s just a beginner’s class potion.
Besides, elves are good at handling plants, so I thought potions with grass-based materials would be a normal item for them. Even in the game, potions were always lined up as items that could be traded with the elves.
…… Maybe the technology inheritance has been stopped ……? But to say that’s “precious” then there must be some of them around. Hmm?
Leaving aside the questions, I held out my hand to the girl who was still not moving.
“Um… The wound should have healed… How is it? Can you stand up?”
“… Ah, yes… I’m healed. Thank you very much.”
The girl’s eyes widened as she touched various parts of her body and realized that the pain had really subsided.
Then, while hesitating, she put her thin hand on the hand I held out.
Even though she’s done it, instead of standing up the girl tilted her head……And in surprise her eyes widened.
“This is… The God of Creation’s…?…No way?”
“Hyee!?”
The girl’s movements, which had been slow, for some reason, suddenly changed into something quicker, my hands were firmly grasped and I was pulled in, my face was suddenly peered at close range and she started to touching me.
This girl’s eyelashes are long! …I misspoke, you are close, too close!
I unintentionally turned my gaze to Uru, who was quietly beside me, saying “Help me” with my eyes, but the only response I got was something like “???”. Gununu. I wonder if this is normal for the people of Asteria…
“… As I thought, I feel the presence of The Creator God… Could you be… A miko-sama?”
“Yes, that’s right, I’m a miko.”
T-That’s something that Uru said to me before, but I wonder if that presence are a type of thing that people who understand can easily feel?
I don’t know when it’s about myself, but… I wonder if it’s like being used to smelling the scent of my house and became insensitive to it…
Knowing or not knowing that I was flustered inside, the girl finally let go of me. I secretly gave out a sight at that, and wiped the sweat that I don’t remember sweating inside my heart*.
“I’m sorry, but… Would it be possible for you to show me the proof that you’re a Miko-sama?”
Oh yeah, you are right. You can say that you are anything with just words as proof. So you don’t have to look so apologetic about it.
“Okay. What I have to make?”
“…?”
“It would be hard to convince someone if I just give a random thing and just insisted that I used “creation(making)” to make It, right?”
“I see…Then, it doesn’t matter if it’s small, please give me a statue of the Creator God.”
Yes, yes, it may be a standard for a miko.
I took out a workbench and one stone block, and activate the creation(making) skill as usual.
It’s a familiar sight to me, and Uru seems to have finally gotten used to it, but most people are surprised to see this process. The elf girl is also staring hard at it.
Well, if a hard-looking stone starts to shine and changes its shape like clay, it’s not unreasonable to react like that.
“Well, it’s done. Would you like to inspect it?”
I pointed to the stone statue of the Creator God smaller than usual with about 40 centimeters, and asked, but the elf girl shook her head.
“No, that’s enough. You are definitely a miko-sama.”
Then she put her hand on her chest and kneeled down.
“Sorry for the delay, I am Fricka the priestess. Welcome to the land of elves. We have been waiting for your visit.”
H-Hmm, I wonder if more stiff development will continue from here again? I was sighing in my heart, but.
The elf girl, Fricka-san… Immediately after this, began to say something a little, no, quite crazy.
“By the way… I know it’s an impolite question, but please forgive me…. Are you a woman, right?”
“Yes? That’s right, but… Perhaps I don’t look like one?”
My hair is cut short and I am not dressed in a girly clothes, but It’s my first time being asked that.
Or is there a story saying that Miko = a man being passed down from generation to generation among the elves? I wonder if I’ll be denounced as a fake? But I have just been recognized as a real one…
“No, you look like a woman. I mean… The elders have been saying to me since I was a little child ‘You will become the bride of the miko-sama, become her shadow and you will support him’ and was raised like that, so I was wondering if in this case I would be married to a woman.”
“………………………WHAT?”
*Translator note: It’s a japanese expression to basically say that she was nervous.