Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: Rice Water Diplomacy
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Benedikta watched Erika, who was turning her head this way and that as if searching for somewhere to fix her gaze.
"[Human. Say it again.]"
"[...His name is Victor.]"
Benedikta, who had been staring right through her,
"[Do you understand me?]"
"[Yes...]"
"[Good.]"
flashed a brief, inscrutable grin.
"...Miss Erika. What conversation are you having?"
"Ah! Well... [This man is in charge of the imperial army. I'll handle the interpreting.] I just answered when she asked for your name, Sir Victor, and told her I'd take over as interpreter."
"Well done."
Thankfully, Erika snapped back to attention at Anna's question.
"[Whatever. Just tell me what this is.]"
"[Yes.] Sir Victor, Lady Benedikta is asking what this rice water is."
At last, communication with the high elf began, complete with an interpreter.
I tried to dive into the conversation while observing what info I could glean from Benedikta and Erika's reactions.
"Well, do the elves even have a word for rice water?"
"Uh... no."
"Ha, should have established diplomatic ties sooner."
Perhaps because they didn't farm and had zero exchange with humans or other races.
Before we could even break ground, we hit the absurd snag of them not having a term for rice water.
"[How long do I have to wait?]"
"Uh, let me explain it in more detail! [First, thank you for stepping forward to talk with us.]"
"[...Fine, human.]"
Erika hurriedly offered to elaborate, but her explanation dragged on far longer than I'd expected.
"[...After washing the grain humans mainly eat,] no. [After cleaning and filtering it...]"
"[Filtering? It needs filtering?]"
What should have taken seconds stretched past dozens.
Benedikta's expression soured as she stood with arms crossed, tapping her arm with her fingers.
This wasn't heading toward a good end,
"Miss Erika."
"[The nutrients inside...] Yes?"
I stepped up beside Erika and cut her off for a moment.
"Having trouble? Your explanation's getting a bit long."
"...Yes. She's such an exalted figure, and if I make even a tiny mistake..."
"You're choosing your words carefully and starting with polite greetings. That's what you did, right?"
"...Yes."
She fidgeted with her neatly clasped hands.
With a high elf who ripped hundreds of orcs apart right in front of her, it was understandable to be tense. And it was an approach that usually worked well on those of high status and advanced age.
"Skip the flowery language or fancy phrasing. Just get to the point, short and simple."
At least for Benedikta, who had straight-up asked my name and what the rice water was right off the bat, such embellishments probably weren't the priority.
"But my elvish isn't perfect, and if she takes it as disrespectful..."
"If it's stressing you out, let's do it this way. From now on, interpret what I say word for word, and relay Benedikta's words exactly. Keep the tone and phrasing as close to the original as possible."
I figured blunt and direct would be better right now.
"..."
"If you're worried, blame me. Say I told you to talk like that."
"That... alright. I'll do it."
My last bit seemed to help; she stopped fidgeting, nodded, and stilled her hands.
"[...Done talking?]"
Fortunately, Benedikta seemed more pleased with the rice water we'd supplied her over the past week than I'd hoped, only speaking up after our exchange ended.
Her expression looked annoyed, but it meant we still had a shot.
"She says, 'Done talking?'"
"Doesn't sound very polite."
"...'Done talking?' exactly."
Erika relayed Benedikta's words, then widened her eyes briefly at my response before translating it back in perfectly high-elf fashion.
"Tell her, 'Conversation's over, so I'll explain the main point quickly.' No need to be formal."
"Yes. Sigh... [Conversation's over, so I'll explain the main point quickly.]"
Erika took a deep breath at my instruction, then spoke in crisp, natural elvish—much shorter.
"..."
Benedikta stopped tapping her fingers.
"[Good. Quick.]"
And spat out equally terse words.
Erika's face lit up the instant she heard them.
"'Good. Quick.'"
"...Phew."
I let out a relieved sigh too once I heard the content.
"Tell her, 'It's water from the fruit humans use as a staple.'"
With the tone confirmed not to be an issue, I jumped right in.
Of course, I wasn't spilling everything, so it wasn't fully precise,
"Yes! [This is water from the fruit humans mainly eat.]"
"[Fruit? Got any now?]"
"'Fruit? Got any now?'"
Maybe because it was the topic she'd brought up first, Benedikta's eyes sharpened with interest.
I couldn't be sure since she wasn't human, but she definitely looked intrigued to me.
Everyone knew high elves were rare, so the other elves must be pulling out all the stops too.
Yet her reaction was this clear, meaning they probably hadn't prepared anything on par with or better than rice water.
And without mingling with humans—who nearly monopolized rice—it wouldn't be easy to acquire or grow.
"[How much do you need?]"
"She asks how much you need..."
"Not a lot, but hard to get. Tell her that."
The initiative had subtly shifted my way.
From there, our exchanges stayed concise and to-the-point, a straight-shooting success.
"Enough rice stock?"
"Yes."
"Bring it tomorrow then."
"[Tomorrow...]"
"Wait! Hold on. That was to Anna."
"Ah, sorry!"
Erika had a minor slip, auto-translating everything like a chatbot,
"[Go. I'll be back tomorrow.]"
"...Come back tomorrow, she says."
"No need for a reply..."
Her parting words as she turned proved our success.
-Splash. Splash. Splash.
"..."
Erika stared blankly at Benedikta's retreating figure, buckets in hand.
"Congratulations. Legends say they just converse on their own, so you might be the first to interpret for a high elf, Miss Erika."
"Write it in the log. Miss Erika's contribution was huge."
"...I really thought I was gonna die, for real."
"Better get used to it. You'll probably be interpreting tomorrow—and ongoing."
"Ugh..."
Erika, who had slumped to the ground, let out a weird groan and sprawled out fully. Anna sighed softly in familiarity, helping her up.
"Let's head back. More prep ahead."
"Got it."
I returned to the barracks with them.
The road was still long, but it might not be as far as I'd thought.
-Thud.
Benedikta carefully set down the three buckets she'd carried on her arm.
"Save one for tomorrow morning."
She hid one inside, then went to soak her feet in another—but paused.
"Argh, argh."
She rubbed the orc blood off her feet on the ground, then dipped one into the bucket.
"...Yeah, that's the stuff."
She savored the subtle sweetness for a moment,
"...Haa."
-Splat!
After much hesitation, she slammed her other foot into the dirt.
"Ugh, tastes awful."
A bit later.
She yanked her feet from the ground, shook them off, face twisted in disgust after absorbing the remaining orc blood in her territory.
She'd mindlessly absorbed orc blood before, content with its decent nutrients.
But after two buckets of rice water yesterday, today's orc blood reeked too much of guts and fishiness—she'd even skipped absorbing it.
"Maybe 'cause I haven't eaten it lately..."
This attempt aimed to offset it with rice water.
"Better separately. Yeah."
But the rice water's flavor got overwhelmed by the blood's heaviness; one bucket sacrificed, experiment failed.
"..."
Her foul mood emptied the double-foot soak bucket in seconds.
She ended up pulling out the one for tomorrow, dipping her feet back in.
"Haa... Can't they bring dozens at a time?"
She relished the oddly soothing sensation, eyes closed, imagining a world where rice water rained down.
"...They're crushing all the fruit?"
"Yes. Right at the edge of the high elf's territory."
"Hmm..."
Were they finally getting serious about countering our strategic weapon, or did it just make them look foolish for taking so long?
Reports came in: elves hauling fruit, smashing it in Benedikta's domain.
"Doesn't this mean we've failed?"
"Let's watch more. If they'd just handed it over, maybe, but this isn't a threat to us."
"..."
"Plus, a high elf's surely tried fruit before. Not as novel as rice water, honestly."
"That's... true."
Anna called it failure, but my take—having heard what fruit juice does to plants—differed.
"[Brought it?]"
"Asking if you brought it?"
"Yes."
"Say yes."
"[Brought it.]"
"[Hand it over. Now.]"
That night.
Ignoring the elves' efforts, Benedikta appeared before me again, her face oddly flushed.