Do You Like the Tall, Expressionless Elf Witch, Mom?
After the storm had passed, the chaos had at last been settled. Histira undid Fresia's restraints, which meant Fresia could now sit comfortably beside us on a chair. As for Histira, she took her place beside the Elf King with elegant poise, as if her earlier frenzy had never happened at all.
"And why are you sitting over there? You're a princess too, aren't you? Shouldn't you be standing over there with the others?"
"Ehh~ I'm the Hero's and Valerie's companion now, though!"
I never agreed to that...
"Now then~ let us return to the matter at hand. Heh heh heh."
"Yes, of course."
"You said you required the aid of a mage. I take it that has to do with the completion of the Holy Sword you mentioned?"
"Yes... that's right..."
"How strange. I already received a report from the Definie Order's elves stating that the Holy Sword ritual was completed."
"W-well, you see, the ritual was indeed completed, but there was a bit of an accident partway through. So the Goddess's power that was supposed to enter the sword... went somewhere else... instead."
"Ohh~ so such a thing occurred. And when you say it went somewhere else, where exactly would that be?"
"Ah! It went into the Hero's—"
Smack.
The moment Fresia tried to blurt out the truth, Valerie's hand shot out and clamped over her mouth with a crisp, satisfying sound.
"The power has taken residence in the Hero's body!"
Valerie answered slowly, easing her hand away from Fresia's mouth. Fresia stroked her stinging lips with trembling fingers.
"That's right! That power is currently inside my body!"
"Ohh~ what a truly peculiar situation indeed. I am hardly well-versed in magic, but if a power meant for a sword resides in flesh instead... that could well prove to be a problem."
"Yes, exactly. That is precisely why we have come to make an earnest request of Your Majesty!"
Valerie bowed before the Elf King with practiced grace.
"Heh heh heh. But of course I shall help. You are the Hero, after all — and the companion of my darling daughter!"
Still... haven't agreed to that...
"Then I shall introduce you to the mage at once."
"Thank you!" "Thank you!"
While we beamed with delight, Histira lingered hesitantly before approaching the Elf King.
"Mother? Might that mage perhaps be—"
"Heh heh heh. Yes, that's right. There's nothing to hide. The mage I shall introduce you to is the finest mage in this forest—
—the Queen Consort herself."
Guided by Histira, Valerie, Fresia, and I followed the path winding between the colossal trees. The elegant structures built into the trunks grew sparser as we walked toward the outskirts of the Elf Village.
According to the Elf King, the mage we sought was the Queen Consort of this place — in other words, Histira and Fresia's mother. The Queen herself had renounced her royal life in pursuit of magical research, and for many long years she had lived in a cabin on the edge of the Elf Village.
"What manner of person is Her Majesty the Queen Consort?"
Valerie spoke up as we followed Histira.
"Hmm... I hardly know how to describe her, I do not. She is unquestionably a remarkable woman, but I fear an audience with her may prove... rather difficult."
Histira's words were thick with worry. Like Valerie, who tilted her head in puzzlement, I found myself unsettled by them too.
"Our mom is super cool! I have no idea what you mean by 'difficult'?"
Fresia said it with utter innocence.
"Of course I too think Her Majesty is magnificent! It is only that... unlike the way she treats us, her daughters, she can be terribly cold toward others, she does."
Though Histira and Fresia were different from each other in a hundred ways, they shared the same bouncy, exuberant personality — their mother, by all accounts, seemed to possess a considerably more frigid disposition.
Praying this conversation goes well and we actually get her cooperation...
Before long, we spotted a lone cabin deep in the quiet forest. Unlike the other elven dwellings, it was built plainly on the ground itself. A few elven soldiers stood along the path leading up to it.
"Your Highnesses."
The elf who appeared to be in charge stepped forward and bowed to Histira and Fresia.
"Thank you for your service, I do. These are the Hero and his companions — we may all pass through together, yes?"
"Forgive us for not recognizing you. Of course. Accompanying Princess Histira, you are most welcome."
With that confirmation, Histira led us toward the cabin.
"Though Her Majesty insisted until the very end that she wanted none, these are the guards Mother stationed around the cabin for her safety, they are. Deep in the forest as this is, hardly anyone would come looking — but precautions are necessary all the same."
When Histira's explanation ended, we came to a stop before the cabin's entrance. It looked sturdy, though quite old, with firewood and unidentifiable sacks and crates scattered around it. The window beside the door stood open, but a curtain inside blocked any view of the interior, and smoke kept curling up from the chimney.
"Ahem."
Histira cleared her throat and opened her mouth to speak—
"Enter."
But a voice from within the cabin — impossibly calm, and hard as stone — reached us first.
"Ah—! Yes, Mother!"
After a moment of flustered surprise, Fresia — who had been standing beside Histira — flung the door open and slipped inside first.
"Moooom~"
Fresia dove into the dim cabin, and we followed her in. Every window was curtained, leaving the interior nearly pitch-black. In one corner of the surprisingly spacious cabin, the only light source was the fire beneath a bubbling cauldron.
"Fresia?"
"Yep, it's me! Mom!"
Fresia wove between stacks of books and strange objects and threw herself into someone's arms. As we made our way deeper inside, that someone came into view for us as well.
Skin paler even than Histira's, sharp, piercing eyes — her jet-black hair somehow made the gloomy cabin feel all the more atmospheric. Though she sat in a tall chair, her folded knees made it plain that she stood far taller than Fresia. Where other elves favored cloth or leather garments, and Fresia wore her full-body suit, she alone was dressed in something unmistakably witch-like.
So Fresia's and Histira's hair takes after the Elf King, huh.
In the middle of that thought, my eyes met the Elf Queen Consort's.
"G-greetings, Your Majesty...!"
Those sharp, fathomless eyes made me tense up without meaning to as I bowed.
"So you are the Hero, I take it."
"Mother, how did you—"
"I could hear your conversation."
The window was open, sure, but we weren't nearly close enough for her to have heard all that... was she?
"Forgive us, we do... for being so noisy."
In stark contrast to the confidence she'd shown before the Elf King, Histira seemed to shrink considerably in front of her mother, the Queen Consort. Fresia, by comparison, wrapped her arms around the Queen Consort's waist and nuzzled her face against her legs. The Queen Consort rested one hand gently atop Fresia's head, her other hand never letting go of her book.
"No need to apologize. I've grown used to having those two around lately. They make fine errand-runners."
Having said that to Histira, the Queen Consort's gaze slid past me and settled on Valerie.
"I am Valerie Gius, in service to the Hero!"
Valerie, wound tight as a bowstring, introduced herself at the top of her lungs. I understood exactly how she felt. A cold voice empty of emotion yet somehow radiating undeniable authority, an unreadable expressionless face, and a towering height to complete the picture. The sheer presence of her made it impossible not to be nervous.
"I am Anaris, mistress of this cabin. What is your name, Hero?"
"Ah, I, um..."
"If you'd rather not give it, that's fine."
"N-no, it's not that! It's just... I don't have a name here yet. Everyone just calls me the Hero, so I haven't really settled on one."
Oh no. I never told anyone I'm from another world!
"So you are not, it seems, a being of this world originally."
Queen Anaris's razor-sharp deduction left me frozen solid. Valerie beside me threw out a question on my behalf.
"H-how could you possibly know that?!"
"It merely reminded me of something I once read in an old text. If the legend of a Hero who appears suddenly, unbidden, is true — I thought there might be a connection."
This Queen Consort — no, this mage is NOT ordinary!
"So then..."
Still stroking Fresia's cheek as the girl clung to her and cooed, Anaris looked down at her without raising her head — and turned those terrifying eyes on the rest of us.
"What is it you want from me?"
"Uhh... something went wrong during the Holy Sword ritual. The power that was supposed to go into the sword went somewhere else... directly into my body, actually. Is there any way to transfer this power into the sword?"
"There is not."
"Excuse me?"
The conclusion came so fast I panicked.
"That is merely conjecture, of course. But from the standpoint of one who studies magic — there is no error in how a god bestows power. If a power truly granted by a god entered your body, then that is that god's intent."
A god deliberately put the Holy Sword's power into my dick? If it's that cursed Goddess... yeah, actually, that's exactly the kind of thing she'd do...!
"But how did you know the power entered your body? Did something change?"
"Ah, well... when I swung a sword unconsciously, an incredible amount of force came out."
"It wasn't so much a sword strike as it was destruction on a scale that could only be called magic — in both power and range!"
Valerie supplemented the explanation from beside me. The Queen Consort listened, then seemed to sink briefly into thought, resting her chin on her hand.
"But that means the power manifested from the sword, doesn't it? That doesn't square with the claim that it went into your body."
Even though I wasn't lying, that cold, authoritative voice made me feel like a liar caught red-handed.
"When the Goddess's light descended upon me, the sword was far away. And, and..."
Damn it! Do I actually have to say this part?!
While Valerie and I hemmed and hawed—
"The light came out of the Hero's cock!"
Fresia went and did it again.