Translator: Silver Editor: Namorax

「Moment of Rest」

The majority of elves on the Northern Continent lived in the Great Canada Forest.

Even though monsters bordered the immense forest, it acted as a natural barrier that divided elven territory from the human territory.

I was a bit surprised when I learned that the vast Canada Forest had been created artificially by the first elven chieftain.

Maple was built in the center of the forest, far from human civilization, yet the city had more of an urban atmosphere than any of the human cities I’ve visited.

Mysterious, natural trees and artificial, fused high-rises lined the cities streets, with aerial walkways connecting some of the larger buildings, and I could even see a lot of people making use of them.

The city’s streets were well-maintained, with streetlamps set at equal intervals along both sides, multiple craftsmen and other people were already out and going about their business.

The landscape of the city which I lived in flashed through my mind as I took in the bustling valley of high-rises.

It hadn’t been that long since I set foot in this world, perhaps a few months had passed at best.

However, the vague feeling that I would never be able to return home made my heart ache.

The first generation Chieftain who built this large city, the first Hanzo who brought together the cat beastmen, fighting the Empire’s persecution of beastmen, and the first King who built the Beastmen Kingdom on the Southern Continent.... there was no doubt that they had come from the same world as me.

I wonder if they left behind any regrets in the former world.... it’s not like I knew any of them, but to the best of my knowledge, their bones were all buried here.

What is the purpose of all this.... it wasn’t something I thought about often.

It could be considered a blessing that being in my skeletal form prevented me from feeling negative emotions, allowing me to maintain a positive outlook.

Although it was a bit inconvenient, the form allowed me to get by with few problems.... However, the Dragon King’s spring water broke the curse and allowed my emotions to return.

Once this war was over, I needed to think about my future and acclimate myself to my body and emotions.

.... I had to prepare myself to live in this world.

As I pondered such things, Ariane, who’d been guiding me through the crowded streets, turned around with a confused look on her face.

“Hey, what’s the matter, Arc? You said that you wanted to see Maple, Arc, so where would you like to go, what do you want to see? The city is rather large, so you can’t see everything in a day or two.

“Kyun! Kyun!”

Ariane gave me a doubtful look and reproved my absentmindedness, even Ponta chimed in from atop my head.

I pushed those unnecessary thoughts from my head and focused on why I was here.

“Oh, sorry Ariane-dono. I was taking in the big city with what little time I had, and I was reminded of a place I visited some time ago. Do you know of any good shops where I can buy elven magical tools?”

“A magic tool shop? There are a few of them, but where were they?”

She seemed a little confused by my question.... when Ivana, who’d been silent till now, noticed, she opened her mouth.

“Then, Ari-chan why don’t we go to the shop we used to visit?”

The same time Ivana voiced her proposal, Ariane clapped her hands once and made the same suggestion with a smile.

“Oh, yeah. There’s the shop I visited with Ivana-neesan. That’s it.”

She ventured into the crowd with Ivana and I following behind her.

My armor gathered a lot of attention from the pedestrians as I passed the people on the street.

I was moving at a quick pace as to not lose sight of Ariane’s back, but an unexpected intense stare drew my attention.

I turned towards its source.... only to find Ivana sending a sharp glace in my direction.

“Kyun?”

Ponta picked up on the atmospheric shift and confusedly looked at her.

“Is something wrong, Ivana-dono?”

She averted her gaze at my straightforward question.

I tried to clear the uncomfortable air between the two of us, but Ivana opened her mouth and spoke in a series tone before I could.

“...... I confirmed you have a suitable sword arm. However, if you do anything to hurt Ari-chan I will never forgive you.”

She pointed her finger at me as she made that declaration and released an aura of pressure that urged me to reply

I got caught up in her momentum, nodded my head along as I replied.

“Yeah, understood. Ivana-dono. I’ll protect Ariane-dono even if I lose my life.”

The upcoming battle would be the most dangerous one, but she was feeling anxious about not being able to be there to protect Ariane.

While I said that, Ariane was a highly-skilled warrior in her own right, and I was well aware that declaring 「I’ll protect her.」based solely on my physical abilities was extremely presumptuous.

However, it would probably a bit silly to discuss those things here.

It was her elder sister’s job to protect Ariane.... since it had been demonstrated that I had enough power to take on important roles, she was in entrusting that duty to me.

It was a situation where I had to put spirit behind making that promise.

In response to my answer, Ivana raised an eyebrow as she made a complex expression and let out a small sight.

“Don’t forget that promise.”

Ivana gave that last piece of advance before she stopped poking me and chased after Ariane.

....I need to raise my fighting spirit further for the upcoming war.

With my determination renewed, I followed after the two sisters.

The shop that Ariane recommended was off the main streets, located in the entryway of a quiet alleyway.

The signboard didn’t stand out all that much, and you couldn’t tell it was a shop at first glance.

Ariane opened the creaky door in a practiced manner and entered with Ivana, Ponta and myself following her.

It was slightly dim inside, the room was filled with shelves lined with various items. Even though it was a bit tight, this place wasn’t dirty in the slightest.

The shelves reached the ceiling and the way the items were arranged on them made the place seem like a museum for mysterious tools.

I recognized several of the items as magic tools, so all of them were probably magic tools.

A number of tools displayed on a waist-high counter in the center of the room caught my interest.

A bit of admiration leaked out as I looked around the store, in the back I noticed a slightly elevated workshop.

After a while, an old man came out of the workshop.... a man who was the exact opposite of slender and tall.

He was no taller than a hundred and forty centimeters, but his muscular limbs were a thick as logs and his upper body was hidden behind a full, grey beard.

Deep wrinkles where set above his eyebrows, yet a craftsman spirit continued to shine in his eyes.

“Dwarf.”

The old dwarf raised his head when that word slipped from my lips.

Though they used to live all across the Northern Continent, their metallurgy knowledge made them the targets of humanity, the persecution they faced forced them to flee into Canada with the elves.

Humans believed that they went extinct long ago, but they lived together with the elves in Maple.

I often saw them in the city, and there was even a dwarven representative among the great elders.

“Well, it’s been a long time, Jō-chan. So, who’s the fella in the flashy armor?”

The old man, who seemed to be the shopkeeper and craftsmen of this place, raised a thick white eyebrow and gave me a stern look.

“My name is Arc Raratoia. I recently became the newest member of our village.”

“Kyun! Kyun!”

When I took a step forward and introduced myself, Ponta cried out from atop my head and vigorously shook her tail.

“Well, a fluffy fox is riding atop a pretentious bugger’s head.... He an elf?”

“For the time being....”

When the dwarf asked about the strange man with an animal on his head, Ariane lowered her head and replied with a vague answer.

Well, it was true that I was considered an elf of some kind when I wasn’t a skeleton, so she was correct in that regard. However, since I wasn’t exactly a dark elf as well, the dwarf was left confused by her non-answer.

However, he quickly pushed the matter aside and asked what business had brought us to his shop.

“So what brings you here today?”

Ivana glanced back at me and Ariane turned towards me at his question.

“What are you planning to buy here anyway?”

Under Ariane gaze, I picked up one of the nearby magic tools and brought it up to eye level.

“Once this affair is settled I’m planning to fix up the compound.... ?there seem to be many useful items in this city. I thought I’d examine a few things before I buy them later.”

Ariane nodded several times in understanding and began to scan through commodities that lined the store.

“Certainly, there isn’t anything but a hot spring over there....”

“Let’s start with some the magic cooking tools that Glenys-dono uses in the kitchen.”

I conveyed my wishes to Ariane as I picked up and examined several interesting magic tools.

The compound had traces of a ceramic grill. There were many difficulties involved with cooking with firewood, and people would naturally gravitate towards a more convenient tool.

“Since there aren’t any lights there, you should think about buying large crystal lights as well, right? It’ll be pitch black at night otherwise....”

Ariane placed her finger on her chin and began glancing over light-emitting crystals of various shapes and sizes after making her proposal.

I agreed with here.

There were no streetlights in an uninhabited area, there was only moonlight to rely on at night, but with the huge Dragon King’s tree and it also would block most of the sun.

The dwarven shopkeeper could only scratch his head as he watched the exchange between Ariane and me.

“....Choosing new household items for a new home. I guess Jō-chan is at that age as well....”

Ariane ears pricked up and turned a bright shade of red when she heard that.

“W-Wait, it’s not like that!! I’m just accompanying the buyer, Ivana-oneesan was the one that recommended this place!!”

“Aw, Ari-chan properly called me onee-san?”

Although Ariane refuted the shop owner’s assessment with a shriek, Ivana fixated on the way she had been called.... Ariane tried to push her off with an annoyed expression.

The play-fighting of the two sisters was rather heartwarming to watch.

I suddenly locked eyes with the shopkeeper and while we didn’t say anything, the fact that we were of the same mind was transmitted.

I silently shrugged my shoulders and left the two sisters alone as I asked the shopkeeper about an unknown magic tool.

I didn’t have much time to spare after all....

“Shopkeeper, what does this thing do?”

You wouldn’t have expected it from him, but he answered in an official, customer-service-like manner as he stroked his impressive beard.

It was gonna be quite fun to redecorate the compound in the future.... I started planning ahead while listening to the lively discussion in the background.