Chapter 54 - Mochi

As I accepted the mochi that Aeris-sama offered, I realized something.

Aren’t these only eaten during New Year?

…

Well, who cares~ at least I can eat it.

I disregarded that minor worry and slowly moved the mochi closer to my mouth. However, Carlos suddenly ran toward the tatami and slammed his hands on it.

“Oi! What are you doing?”

I looked at him for a moment and snorted.

“How the hell can you guys understand each other? The two of you are speaking in different languages!”

“Eh? We’re speaking in different languages?”

I gave Aeris-sama a questioning gaze. He made a wry smile and spoke to me in a calm voice.

“Yes, this tatami floor is actually a magic device that allows people to understand one another, even if they belong to different races or speak different languages.”

“Oh, I see. This tatami is quite an invention.”

Understanding the reason, I considered whether to inform Carlos about it. I noticed Emilia had a curious expression, clearly wanting to know how we communicated. Deciding to clarify, I said:

“According to him, this tatami is a magical device that lets me communicate with him.”

Hearing my explanation, Emilia nodded in understanding.

“Is that so!? Then, let me go in!”

Carlos, having heard my explanation, stepped onto the tatami. As his foot touched the edge, a strong gale blew him off the tatami.

“Is he your companion? If he is, please tell him to remove his footwear before entering this place.”

Knowing that no matter what I said or did, Carlos would force his way in, I resigned myself to the situation. If he continued to act this way, Aeris-sama might reconsider his stance and declare war instead of peace. So, I told Carlos what Aeris-sama had said.

Carlos grudgingly removed his shoes and stepped onto the tatami. Observing how I sat, he mimicked my position. As he examined the green tea and sweets, I resumed my attempt to eat the mochi, thinking I would be undisturbed.

However, I was naïve.

Just as the mochi was about to touch my lips, a sudden shockwave shook the tatami. The shock threw me off balance, and the mochi fell from my hand. Time seemed to slow as I tried to save it, but my efforts were in vain. The mochi hit the ground and became dirty.

Ahh~ the mochi…

Tears formed at the edges of my eyes as I mourned the loss.

“Is this the place? Eclara, are you sure that the elves have invaded the borders here? I don’t see any fighting though.”

“I’m pretty sure. According to rumors from the villagers, they saw a group of elves marching towards the fortress near the borders.”

“Hmmm… Ahhh! There they are!”

As I lamented over the lost mochi, I heard a voice mentioning a familiar name. I turned toward the source of the voices and saw three people approaching us. One was a girl with shoulder-length blonde hair, wearing a green dress suited for movement. The second was a boy with black hair and eyes, clad in light armor. The last was a girl with light brown hair, dressed in witch’s attire.

“““““Ehhhh?”””””

The four of us froze in shock as our eyes met. I recognized two of them: Shin, the boy with black hair, and Eclara, the girl with light brown hair. The blonde girl was unfamiliar to me.

“You again!”

From my side, Carlos, on his hands and knees, glared at the three newcomers.

“Aaaah!!!”

“L-Lumina-sama?”

“What are you doing here?”

The three of them reacted differently as Carlos broke their frozen state. Meanwhile, Aeris-sama offered me another mochi, distracting me from the sudden reunion.

Having learned from my earlier mishap, I quickly bit into the mochi.

“Thank you very much, Aeris-sama.”

“It’s nothing.”

“If you’d like, I also brought some mont blancs. Would you like some?”

“Hoho, sweets made by humans? Yes, I’d gladly accept them.”

I signaled Emilia to approach. When she arrived, I instructed her to retrieve the mont blancs.

“Bon appétit.”

Aeris-sama took the mont blanc and slowly moved it closer to his mouth.

Don’t move it slowly! If you do, you’ll...

Before I could complete the thought, another shockwave erupted. This one was so strong it spilled the tea I held onto the floor and caused Aeris-sama to drop his mont blanc. He faced the same unfortunate fate I had earlier. I looked at him with sympathy and offered him another piece.

“Why are you here with Lumina!?”

“Why would I explain it to some third-rate trash, huh?”

“What did you say?”

“You’re not needed here, trash. Why don’t you be a good little garbage and go away?”

“You piece of shit!”

As Carlos and Shin argued, I sipped my tea and enjoyed the mochi. Aeris-sama did the same.

“I guess it’s about time we start discussing the conditions for forging a peace treaty with your race. However…”

Aeris-sama followed my gaze and sighed when he saw Carlos and Shin arguing loudly. The noise was quite annoying. We raised our hands and ordered our servants to handle the situation. Emilia and three boys approached Carlos and dragged him away, while some elves used magic to blow Shin away.

The blonde girl quickly ran to Shin, fanning him, while Eclara approached Emilia and began asking her questions.

“That takes care of them.”

“Yes.”

“So, where were we?”

“….”

“….”

The two of us pondered for a moment before taking another bite of mochi or mont blanc.

“Ah, that’s right. We were going to discuss the conditions for forming a peace treaty.”

“I see.”

“So, what do we need to offer?”

“Hmmm…”

Aeris-sama thought for a while and said:

“We haven’t really decided yet. When I came here, I didn’t expect to become an envoy of peace.”

“Why?”

“It’s because we expected humans to be uncultured and barbaric. However, we had some doubts. So, our leaders decided to test your race’s culture.”

“And that test is this tea ceremony?”

“Yes.”

I covered my mouth to avoid shouting, ‘Are you idiots!?’ at them.

Taking a few deep breaths, I managed to calm myself.

“Cough* I think this test is flawed in various ways, Aeris-sama.”

“Why do you say so?”

“It’s because the way we have tea is very different.”

“Hmmm?”

“We humans don’t normally sit like this nor bow to our guests during tea time.”

Aeris-sama remained silent, urging me to continue.

“I’m only able to do this because I’m copying you. Normal nobles, like him, don’t bow to others.”

“So you’re saying you’re different from him?”

“Yes. His social status is higher than mine.”

“Really? I thought he was your servant or something.”

“Him? My servant? Please don’t make jokes like that. I would never accept him as a servant.”

“Then why is such a barbaric person with you?”

“Complex reasons.”

I drank the green tea to clear my throat.

“Then would it be okay to tell Gen. Mayers about our conversation?”

“He’s the adult you were talking about, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then it’s fine.”

I explained our conversation to Gen. Mayers. He looked quite surprised as he listened. Afterward, I asked him how the royal court would react.

“Hmmm… those nobles from the court are narrow-minded. I’m sure they won’t readily accept making peace with them.”

“Why?”

“Well, for one, none of them believed us when we reported the state of the relic projecting the barrier. Because of that, Amethyst-sama hastened his plans, aggressively bribing some nobles to join his camp and kidnapping Duke Mearess’ daughter to gain his support. Additionally, Prime Minister Ginsburg has repeatedly advised the King on this matter, but his words were disregarded.”

“Are these the reasons why you wanted a coup d’état?”

“I have many reasons, but let’s discuss them another time.”

“Is that so? Then how should I respond to Aeris-sama?”

Gen. Mayers looked thoughtful.

“How about asking for some time?”

“Time? Why?”

“We’ll need time to change the government to proceed with the talks.”

“How long will it take?”

“It depends on how smoothly the plans go.”

“Will it require force?”

“Probably.”

“Then how about asking them for help? They might be useful.”

“I’m not sure. Can we trust them?”

“Yes, if they weren’t serious about peace, we wouldn’t be discussing this, right?”

“That is true.”

“Then it’s decided. I’ll ask him for help, and if he agrees, our peace talks will happen sooner.”

Gen. Mayers nodded. I then turned back to Aeris-sama, who was happily eating mont blancs.

“Aeris-sama, regarding the peace talks, there may be some difficulties. Could we ask for cooperation from your side?”

“Sure, why not. The only reason we wanted to go to war with your race was out of boredom.”

What? Is that the reason!? Just how bored are you elves!?

“Cough* I thank you for your cooperation.”

“Our help may come a bit late, though.”

“Why?”

“I still need to report the results to my father and the council. I will then receive the conditions for the peace treaty from them.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes.”

As we finished our discussion, I took a piece of mochi while Aer

is-sama ate a mont blanc.

“Are you going to leave right after our tea party?”

“Yes, I’ve grown quite fond of these sweets you’ve offered, Lumina. I think I’ll hasten my talk with my father so I can come back and enjoy more.”

“Thank you for the compliment. If you wish, the next time you visit, I’ll prepare lots more sweets for you.”

“I’ll do my best to come back quickly.”

We continued our tea party while Shin and Carlos were restrained by our servants. When we ran out of sweets, we decided to end the tea party and went our separate ways.