"Um… Princess, may I ask why you wanted so badly to take me out with you?" I asked.
The two of us had already stepped outside the building, and I stopped for a moment to ask her that question.
Of course, I still didn't understand the reason why she invited me.
It was true that Lancer-san had said the princess wanted to meet a man who was part of the hero's party.
And that man's task was to build a relationship with the princess, one that would allow her to create a barrier for the elf race.
But when I thought about it again, there was still Luke—so why did she choose me instead? Luke was stronger than me, and he probably had far better skills at dealing with girls than I did.
The princess stopped walking as well, turned around, and looked at me.
"Well… maybe this is just my guess… or maybe it really is true…"
"I think I have an obligation to invite you out. Maybe… this is just my selfishness?"
"Oh, and one more thing—please don't call me 'princess' like that. It feels way too awkward."
So she invited me out just because she wanted to? I didn't think she was just a gentle and naïve princess.
"Valmarich-san—" Before I could continue my sentence, she cut me off.
She raised her hand in a gesture, as if telling me not to say that again.
"I want you to call me by my first name, Yuusha," she said.
…It seemed I had no choice if I wanted our task here to be completed more quickly.
But still… calling a girl I had just met by her first name… made me feel a little embarrassed.
"I-Iris…" I said quietly, not wanting her to see my slightly reddened face.
"That's better~ Come on, let's keep walking~" she said.
——
She took me around to see the houses and buildings in this elf village, which, if I had to say, wasn't all that different from an ordinary town.
The most noticeable difference was probably the sheer number of trees, along with the cool atmosphere that made my heart feel at ease.
The wind that passed through the leaves of the trees brushed gently against my skin.
As we walked along the streets, I could feel various gazes directed at Iris and me.
Earlier, they looked fearful or hostile toward me because I was from the human race.
But with Iris by my side, they stopped staring at us so often.
Some of them even greeted us and approached Iris to talk to her.
If they treated Iris so warmly, that meant Iris treated them the same way as well.
Come to think of it… as I looked at Iris's appearance, I was reminded of the person whose soul partially resided within my body.
Cyve must be seeing what I was doing right now, but I couldn't deny that it felt like I was experiencing déjà vu.
Even so, the person in front of me right now was Iris, not Cyve—but still—
"By the way, Yuusha, you didn't introduce yourselves back in that room earlier," Iris said, sounding curious about me.
I answered her question while continuing to walk beside her.
"Sahiko Yukito. The three of them call me Yukito, but you can call me whatever you like," I replied.
"The long black-haired guy is named Luke. You could say he's the newest member of our party."
Yosh, I hadn't given her an answer that satisfied her—I could see from her expression that she wanted to hear more.
"Then, the brown-haired girl is Yuu-chan. She was the first person who was with me."
"And the one with short black hair is named Hime. She's gentle and really easy to talk to," I added.
When I mentioned Hime's name, I caught a brief glimpse of Iris reacting in surprise, but it was only for a moment.
So I couldn't tell whether it was just a coincidence, or if there really was something behind her reaction to hearing Hime's name.
"I see… but even so, I think I prefer calling you Yuusha~ You don't mind, right?" Iris asked after hearing my explanation.
I simply smiled at her question, since I felt quite comfortable with that nickname too.
"Heh, I don't mind at all. Oh yeah, are we in a marketplace right now? It feels like there are a lot of people selling things here," I said, changing the topic.
I couldn't just let her be the only one carrying the conversation—I had to do the same so things wouldn't get awkward between us.
"Marketplace? Well, you could say that. Actually, we usually just call it a place for trading."
"And most of the people selling things here are those who frequently come and go from this place," she said.
"Are they elves who also trade on other continents? I feel like there's some kind of difference about them," I said.
"You're right. The elf race is spread widely across the world, and only about half of the elves still alive originate from Riruyo."
"Most of them are descendants of elves who left Riruyo and chose to settle down and start families with other races, such as humans or beast-men," Iris replied.
I see… so the elves I had met before coming here weren't completely from this place.
They were only descendants. If that was the case, were there elves in Abbys as well? I asked this to satisfy my curiosity.
"In the past, we elves all came from a single lineage, originally created through relationships among elves. That's why we were supposed to share the same blood and walk the same path," she answered.
"However, a few hundred years ago, elves who left this village began having children with other races, and we call them Half-elves."
Half-elves… I felt like I'd heard of them before, a long time ago. Maybe back when I was still playing online games in another world?
"Half-elves born from elves and humans are usually born looking like ordinary humans, but they possess magical abilities equal to pure elves," she continued.
"Then—" Once again, she cut me off. Well, she was very serious about explaining this to me.
"And one more thing—the descendants of elves and demons are the most different from us."
Hearing those words made my eyes widen in shock, unable to believe what she had just said.
"Don't tell me there are a lot of elves in Abbys?" I asked.
"Of course. We call them Dark Elves. Their skin is darker than ours, and that's why we call them that," she replied.
"But… I don't hate Half-elves or Dark Elves. They come from the same ancestors as me, so I don't think of them as being all that different from myself," she added.
I see… I had learned something new—that there were several types of elves besides pure or ordinary elves.
And Iris respected those differences, even though elves were fundamentally connected to humans. Weren't elves generally said to hate humans?
"Iris, don't elves hate humans?" I asked.
"I knew you'd ask that. The answer is only some of them do. They believe humans are filthy beings, because of their frequent involvement with demons," she replied.
"Well, I don't really want to go too deeply into that. I don't harbor hatred toward anyone—especially since there's a human right next to me," she added.
Ah, she was obviously talking about me.
"But you still accept humans who have good intentions and certain status, right?" I asked.
"Yes. That's why we live alongside humans here, after accepting those we believe have good intentions and genuinely wish to build a relationship with us," she said.
I see… well, I think all my questions had been answered. I felt quite satisfied with this.
Suddenly, Iris stopped and pointed toward a small shop. I didn't know why.
"Yuusha, let's go there," she said.