The Agricultural Elves #5
“Haaah…….”
Helena let out a long, slender breath and set down her wineglass.
The liquid that had once swirled with the deep red of pigeon’s blood was gone, leaving only scattered stains along the crystal.
The nobles held their breath at the astonishing sight.
Any thought that even a Krauser might be being a touch discourteous had long since flown out the window.
She had proven with her own body that she was not mocking them—how could anyone raise a complaint after that?
Besides, the fragrance rising from the wine teased their noses.
It was a complex, refreshing aroma so refined it was hard to believe this was the first wine to emerge from its aging casks.
The way those two contradictory qualities had been woven together was remarkable.
Truly, a duke was a duke.
Albert Varkan, reflecting on the day he had once tried to bind his house to Helena through marriage, raised his glass as if following her lead.
For a noble of ordinary sensibilities, it was no small resolve.
These were Dark Elves, treated as little better than filth; the grapes they harvested would be just as unclean.
He could almost feel the dirt that no amount of washing would ever scrub away—and still, as though shoved from behind, he tasted the thick red liquid.
It was astonishing.
He could not hide his admiration; the flavor was nothing short of extraordinary.
If something this good had only just finished aging, how magnificent would it become once it reached its peak?
Just imagining it made his heart race.
He felt ashamed of his own pettiness for having shunned this superb masterpiece simply because Dark Elves had made it.
The other nobles watched Count Varkan, then—awkwardly, as though trailing after Helena—brought their own glasses to their lips.
When a duke pressed them this far, even pretending to taste it was simple courtesy.
“Heavens… oh my…!”
Every last one of them voiced the same wonder as Count Varkan.
In that moment they finally understood the old saying: no matter how filthy the hands that made a thing, if the thing itself is excellent, you use it.
It was living proof of Krauser meritocracy—and, to stretch the point a little, proof of an eye that could leap even over ideas rooted deep in history.
“Well? The flavor is rather fine, isn’t it?”
“W-well… yes, it is.”
“Ahem. It still feels… unclean, but it is as Your Grace said.”
The nobles cleared their throats and wore sour faces under Helena’s probing question.
In the end her words had been proven right, yet their aversion to Dark Elves would not vanish overnight.
It was unquestionably a taste that ranked among the finest.
Unquestionably—and yet the single fact that Dark Elves had made it counted as a massive demerit.
The years they had lived clinging to common sense were too deep and too hard for them to judge purely by quality alone.
A little unsatisfying… but I suppose I’ve opened the door.
Helena knew one could not be filled by the first sip of liquor, so she decided to be content for now.
If she were greedy she would have wanted every mouth demanding to buy the wine on the spot, but reality was what it was.
Simply hearing them say it tasted good was already a major victory.
The banquet continued afterward, yet a subdued air hung over everything.
Wonder, awkwardness, and the lingering shock of Helena’s remarks had not yet faded.
“……And that is how it went. Nothing will change overnight, but I believe we have seen the first green shoot.”
After the banquet ended I stopped by the Dark Elves’ lodging and told them about the days of festivities that had just concluded.
My listener was of course Ellen, yet the other Dark Elves had gathered in a cluster as well, ears pricked.
We sat inside a spacious log house where warm embers glowed in a hearth set into one wall.
The windows were wooden, so there was no view outside, which was a pity—but from what I had seen outdoors, this place surely recreated a scene straight out of a fairy tale.
“Is that so? I’m truly grateful. And a little amazed.”
Ellen nodded while chewing thoughtfully on the vegetable skewer in front of her.
I had made the dish myself, both to express my thanks and to give them a modest little banquet of their own.
Seasoning and grilling vegetables was not difficult, though it did take a knack for controlling the fire.
“You didn’t feel any greed?”
“It might sound like an act, but not at all. Like I’ve always said, humans have always been the ones who look at us with discomfort. We simply chose to live mixed among them. At least they never rejected us as harshly as the elves did, and if it came down to force, we could always push back.”
She leaned back in her chair with the air of someone who truly possessed no ambition.
Judging by their identical reactions, the other elves had not expected anything either.
“So I heard.”
“Yeah. That’s how it was. So even this situation alone feels luxurious enough. We have actual land we can stand on, trees and plants we can cultivate. It started as wasteland, but… as you can see, it isn’t anymore. Right?”
“Yes. It’s wonderful. Almost like a carefully tended garden.”
“Isn’t that a bit much? It can’t compare to a noble’s garden. Still… to our eyes it’s finer than any garden in the world.”
As if simply having a small plot of land to farm was already a blessing, the Dark Elves’ faces shone brightly.
Whether one has land or not makes an enormous difference, so their joy was only natural.
Especially since they had spent more than half a century wandering the continent as mercenaries.
“Oh—come to think of it, is it all right to leave the duke alone? She hates being apart from you. When there’s actual work she puts up with it, but today wasn’t like that.”
“I told her I would drop by to offer my regards, so she reluctantly gave permission.”
“Really? Is that honestly all?”
Ellen slanted her eyes at me, clearly unconvinced.
The slight upward curl of her lips said she was expecting some dramatic answer.
She had probably gotten a feel for the kind of person Helena was.
As proof, the other Dark Elves were tilting their heads, unable to follow the conversation.
Ellen alone handled face-to-face business with Helena, so that made sense.
“Yes. No other particular reason.”
“Feels like you’re hiding something…….”
I broke into a cold sweat inside, but on the surface I acted as if nothing were wrong.
If my mental fortitude had not been solid I might have cracked under her words, yet because it was, I could keep my seat with perfect calm.
In truth, Helena had objected.
She had wanted to send someone else with a few tokens of goodwill and leave it at that, but that felt far too rude, so I had stopped her.
Giving them land and helping them clear a place to live was not the whole of what we owed them, I thought.
—I don’t want to. You don’t have to go yourself.
The opposition continued. There was no special reason; it was opposition for opposition’s sake.
She simply did not like me leaving her side to spend time with them.
In the end I had no choice but to break that stubbornness through various… intensive methods.
Helena still had no resistance to my particular brand of assault, so for all I knew she was still sitting in her office chair, completely dazed.
“…Fine. Digging too deeply into someone’s private affairs is rude, so I’ll stop here.”
Fortunately, once I simply kept my mouth shut, Ellen seemed to give up prying, though she made her disappointment very plain.
“Yes. I’d appreciate that.”
“I will. Anyway, it’s a relationship I really envy.”
“If you envy it, why not find a man of your own, Ellen?”
“Me? You’re joking, right? Even humans I meet purely for commissions or official business make their disgust obvious. Do you really think there’s a man in this world who would put his hands on this body?”
Ellen’s eyes sharpened and strength entered her voice.
It was faint, but the displeasure was unmistakable. She surely knew I was not trying to provoke her, yet the unpleasant feeling rose all the same.
Taken only by the words, it did not sound so different from a deliberate jab.
I felt I had committed a serious error and prepared to bow my head deeply in penance. But then—
“Or what, want to take me yourself? I know perfectly well you’re engaged to the duke, so I won’t try to chain you down. Nobles sleep around even after marriage, right? So how about treating it as practice and coming at me?”
“Ellen?! That’s far too—!”
“Quiet. I’m asking Zion Altram right now.”
A provocation far beyond anything I expected flew at me. Ellen cut off Dana—whose face was pure panic—and her eyes gleamed.
It looked as if, depending on my answer, she might actually do something drastic.
To think this good atmosphere could be ruined by one careless remark of mine. Even though we had grown closer, I had crossed a line that should have been kept, and I felt sorry.
Without meaning to, I had poked at an old wound.
It was also a moment that reminded me anew: the one who does the harm may think little of it, but the one who receives it never does.
What should I do?
I considered whether there was a way to push straight through rather than resort to tricks.
I was not clever enough for clever tricks, and just imagining the headache of trying them made me want to throw up my hands.
“Haaah──.”
All right. Full send.
Since I had already botched things, I decided I might as well try everything possible. I firmly took Ellen’s hand where it rested on the table.
“What are you doing all of a sudden…?”
“I don’t know if this will serve as an answer, but if I had met you before Helena… I’m certain I would have confessed first. You are that charming in my eyes.”
“…Ugh?!”
Her cold eyes filled with fluster; the sharp gaze turned round and rabbit-like.
The other women listening looked just as startled, though none quite as much as the principal herself.
It might have looked like I was trying to seduce her, but I was not lying in the slightest.
Her body was not quite Helena’s, yet that smooth, mysterious ash-gray skin was genuinely attractive.
In terms of firmness alone it was superb.
“Aren’t you… just throwing that out there?”
“I mean every word. I’m not lying to get out of this moment. But I cannot betray Helena. Everyone knows nobles live loosely both before and after marriage, yet I at least have no desire to do the same.”
Nobles were promiscuous after marriage and before it as well. They were allowed to be.
That was common sense on this continent, yet I had no wish to be bound by that common sense. I could not afford to be.
Whether I betrayed Helena or not, I could easily imagine what would happen if I ever tried such a thing.
“…Haaah. I’ve never met a man like you. At your age… or maybe it’s because you’re young.”
“That might be it. In any case, I sincerely apologize for the careless words I spoke.”
Seizing the moment, I bowed my head and begged forgiveness—without becoming too abject, keeping just enough dignity.
“I get it. I’ve properly understood how you feel, and I’ll forgive you… so let go already. It’s embarrassing.”
Thankfully my sincerity had gotten through; a softened Ellen tried to free her hand from mine, face flushed.
Her voice had grown small as well, making it clear she was every bit as embarrassed as she claimed.
“Yes. Thank you for understanding.”
When I truly looked relieved and released her hand while wiping imaginary sweat from my chest, Ellen shot me a resentful glare.
There was no real malice in it—just the face of a child throwing a light tantrum.