「I am sorry about earlier. I was just testing you to see what kind of a person you were.」

Matvey-san said while making tea. It was a flower tea, with flower buds in the tea cup.

I was simply blinking my eyes, not sure what to make of the sudden development.

「No need to be so alert. If you are worried about poison, you can replace it with my cup.」

「Ah.. no, it’s okay.」

Although I was surprised at his sudden change, I decided to sit down and have a cup of tea with him. 【World Ruler】informed me that this tea was not only harmless, but also has a “calming effect” and a “weak detoxification effect”.

A sweet fragrance entered my nostrils. This is good tea (Not that I know the difference between good and bad tea).

「This is a good drink. Even as a failure, I am renowned for my tea brewing.」

「..Umm, Matvey, uh,-sama, I..」

「Wait. You can just call me Matvey. You’re already calling Asha by her nickname, right?」

「Err....」

..I can’t call you with such over-familiarity.

「..Matvey-san..」

「Well, that’s fine.」

「Matvey-san, I came to talk to Asha. If she wants to stay here, I won’t stop her.」

「What if she wants to escape?」

「Well....」

「Will you help her escape with all your might? Even if it means turning all the elves in the Third Forest into enemies?」

「........」

Of course I intend to do that, but I still don’t know this person well enough to answer “yes”.

「Well, that’s fine. But maybe you’ll change your mind after listening to my story.」

Matvey-san prefaced as such and took a sip of his own brewed tea. And while praising his own brewing, he started speaking.

「Asha was treated way worse than a failure like me. The trees in the forest hate fire. But Asha was an existence who manifested fire.. so her voice was sealed off. By none other than our father, the King.」

「Isn’t the public reason a “curse by an evil wizard”? Are you sure you can you reveal such important secret to me?」

「Of course. You are the one who restored Asha’s throat, right?」

「Yes, but it was mostly Asha’s own effort.」

「It’s still amazing what you did. All the healers in this forest gave up on curing the sickness..」

..Ah, I see. The royal family did not seal off Asha’s throat and neglected her. They tried to solve Asha’s fire problem. But they were fundamentally wrong.

「That is not a sickness. It is Asha’s innate constitution.」

「Innate constitution?」

「The same way we breathe out air when we speak, Asha had a constitution in which【Fire Magic】was invoked with her voice. You can say that she has an extremely high affinity with【Fire Magic】.」

「..No, wait, wait, you’re saying that so casually. But it’s the same as an illness, right?」

「It is not. For an illness, it ends when you cut off the root of the cause, but for an innate constitution, you have to deal with it for the rest of your life. I had Asha train in controlling her mana. She had talent for it from the start. At first, flames appeared whenever she spoke, but gradually the flames became smaller, and now it only appears when her emotions are running high.」

「........」

「What’s wrong?」

「Ah, no.」

Matvey-san staring at me felt uncomfortable.

It is not good for the body to be stared at by a handsome man.

「..I thought she didn’t like speaking.」

「Hmm.. I wonder. I didn’t get that feeling from her.」I said.

「Whenever she spoke, fire manifested and caused panic for the people around her. Because of that reason, her voice was sealed. It would be natural if she disliked speaking after that.」

That sounds logical, but as I said to Matvey-san, that was not the feeling I got from her.

「To me, I felt as if Asha wanted to speak so badly.」I said.

「..Hmm, I see what it is now.」

「?」

「In other words, Asha was dying to talk.. with you.」

Matvey-san said, grinning at me. How unfair. Good-looking guys still look good even with a sly smile.

「Hmm, so that’s why she has grown skilled in speaking. I see now.」

「....?」

「But the person in question herself hasn’t told you the most important thing. I am shocked by my late bloomer sister.」

「Uh, Matvey-san?」

「No, it’s nothing. I am talking to myself.」

Matvey-san seemed as if he had reached some sort of understanding.

「By the way, how much do you know about us?」I asked.

「You were transported away with Asha by transfer magic, right? I haven’t seen it myself, but it actually exists, huh. I also know that Asha released【Fire Magic】before that. Then, about a month later, you guys returned.」

I see.. Information regarding the “Back World” isn’t known, huh.

No, I suppose you normally wouldn’t think about connecting the Red Gate and the “Back World” without sufficient knowledge.

「Where is Asha now?」

「She is probably at the King’s place by now. Most likely discussing the future – if she would remain here in the forest, or if she will return to the Lev Magic Empire. Oh, just to be clear, I called them lizards earlier, but I have no discriminatory thoughts against them. Lev’s technology is insane. If Asha says it’s okay, I’d rather go to the Empire instead.」

「Oh..」

Isn’t this person being a bit too frank? He is closing the distance between us much more pushily than Asha.

「But Asha doesn’t know that you’re coming.」

「Ah, yes.」

「Well then, shall we go?」

「Where?」

「Haha, where else..」

Matvey-san stood up while saying so, and activated【Flower Magic】.

I felt mana being concentrated, and then this small house started to move.

「To the High Elf residence, of course.」

「EHH!?」

It was insane. It was the second time I was surprised by a High Elf after Asha.

To think magic could be used in such a way—the trees themselves started moving together with the house.