Chapter 124 (Self Edited) – Receiving a Welcome
Soma spat out a sigh in front of an unknown scene.
Strictly speaking, it was more of being puzzled than a sigh. He was led by Joseph, and came all the way here, but–…
“Hmm… this is unexpected…” (Soma)
That was an honest impression. It might be also a matter of course. If people got into the same situation as Soma, n.o.body would be able to stay calm. Anyhow, Soma hadn’t been told why he was brought here and why he was seated.
What lied beyond Soma’s eyes was a strange sight mentioned earlier. It was a forest. In the surrounding area, there were so many big trees that people couldn’t even look up and saw their tops. Since he couldn’t see the deeper part and it sunk in the darkness, it looked like a fairly deep forest.
Soma was sitting like an open place in the forest. It may be called a plaza or something. The distance from the place where he was to the trees was about thirty meters, but now, there was something else that filled the s.p.a.ce.
It sounded strange, cheerful, and lively. It was people voice.
When he looked at it, there were tens of human figures in the area. By the way, they all had the same characteristics–…
“Oh, what’s wrong, Mr Gues? You have such a depressing face! It’s a fitting seat today, and it would be a lie if you are not enjoying this, right!?” (??)
And then, when he was observing the surroundings, he was suddenly entangled. The other party was a man, and he naturally had the same characteristics as other people.
That was long ears with pointy tip, so beautiful and yet so cold, and more importantly, their hair and eyes were golden. Yes, these people were the Elves.
“Hmm… Even if you say so… Because I was brought in without knowing anything, I do not even know what to enjoy.” (Soma)
“Haa? Is that so? I’m not sure who guided you, but that was a very broad response. Well, don’t worry about it today, alright!?” (Elf)
The man, who laughed while saying so, was in such a state that made Soma instinctively doubted whether he was really an Elf. If he closed his eyes, he would think of him nothing but a mere drunk middle-aged man. Soma imagined that the Elves were quieter, or intelligent, but it felt like all that were destroyed.
Moreover, it wasn’t only limited to the man before him. All of the Elves in the area, even those who he could see in the distance, were laughing loudly and happily.
It felt like he came to the cherry blossom viewing, but of course, it wasn’t like that. At least, it was different in Soma’s eyes since he couldn’t see even a single flower.
However, instead of being asked what was going on, Soma would rather asked them the same question. He wasn’t really told anything. He was told that the circ.u.mstances would be explained later because of the lack of time. Soma didn’t know why the Elves were so noisy.
No, to begin with… Soma didn’t know where he was at the moment. Of course, he could guess. Given the situation, this place was probably the Elves Forest.
Anything else was impossible. That was because there were no other Elves other than the ones in the Elves Forest.
Well, it was good that he was able to make a guess at the time of Joseph’s appearance, but… the problem was this situation, wasn’t it? It was also true that he didn’t know the reason why they were making noises. More importantly, the Elves were originally an exclusive race.
What kind of reason would lead them to such a situation?
They gave an impression of something was going to happen.
“Gahaha… my bad. So, what do you want to ask?” (??)
“Well… why are people making noises?” (Soma)
“What… if you asked that, clearly this is… how should I say it… to be honest, we are purposely making noises. Nevertheless, if I have to say it, this festival is to give thanks and prayers to the Forest G.o.d… No, it’s the preliminary step of it, I think? It hasn’t started yet though.” (??)
“The Forest G.o.d, is it…?” (Soma)
That was the name he heard for the first time.
However, as it had been mentioned before, there were people who worshipped the indigenous existence. It seemed that Elves were originally spirits, and it would not be strange to be in awe of the place where they lived.
But…
“Is it because of that? It seems no one knows except us. But, if the Forest G.o.d is here, it will lend us a hand, you know? Thanks to that, we are more powerful than usual in this forest.” (??)
“Hou…?” (Soma)
It must be the truth if they affirmed it that much. Soma wouldn’t deny that.
It was just that… that shouldn’t be a real G.o.d. In this world, there were only two G.o.ds, the G.o.ddess, and the G.o.d who had become the Evil G.o.d. It should be no doubt that Hildegard said that she had actually met the G.o.ddess.
If it was so, there was a possibility that the Forest G.o.d was either self-proclaimed or other name. However, since it seemed to be giving powerful strength to the Elves, it was also true that it is the existence of a proper level. Perhaps, it was just an Illusion species.
However, it didn’t matter to Soma whether it was real or not. What he concerned more about was–…
“Hmm……. By the way, is this done regularly or not?” (Soma)
“Haa? Of course, no. If that’s the case, everyone won’t be fooling around.” (??)
“I see… it’s been a long time, isn’t it? So, when was the last time you did it?” (Soma)
“Aah, I wonder when it was… my bad, it was before I was born, so I am not sure. I think it happened during the time of my grandfather, and that was probably hundred years ago or something like that…” (??)
He said it wasn’t long time ago. No, that might be true for the Elves, but at least, it wasn’t the same for Soma.
But when that happened… Soma thought that he would have come up with a decision.
Felicia was probably summoned because of something related to this. It was too unreasonable to think that there was no relation.
“Well, if that’s the case, is that the reason why people are making this much of noise? Rather than I was able to come here, I was able to be here. I was told that the Elves was an exclusive race.” (Soma)
“Well, that’s the truth. In fact, you wouldn’t have been called here if it wasn’t at this time. If there were any circ.u.mstances, it would have been the end of being thrown out outside the forest. So, I don’t know why you came here.” (??)
“Hmm… I suppose that I was lucky.” (Soma)
This couldn’t be said in general when Soma and Felicia would still be in the Witch Forest if it wasn’t because of this situation, but… considering how easy they got here, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that they were lucky.
And…
“…Hmm?” (Soma)
“Oh, the leading actor is finally coming out.” (??)
Momentarily, the surrounding noise increased, and the consciousness was turned in the same direction all at once. The man was also the same, and it seemed that Soma understood the situation accurately from the murmur.
But there was no need to ask for that explanation. It was because Soma immediately knew what was happening.
No, to be more precise…… Should it be said who showed up?
Yes, new people had appeared in the direction that everyone turned their mind. There were two of them.
One of them was Joseph. He walked from the depth of the forest slowly, just as he did when he left Soma and Felicia last time, to lead a person from behind.
The one who walks behind Josef is, of course, another figure…… the person was a stranger to Soma.
No. Should he say that the person looked like a stranger for a moment?
It was because…
“…Felicia?” (Soma)
It was undoubtedly Felicia, but unlike the clothes she had ever seen, she gave a totally different impression.
On the upper half of the body, they wear what is called white Kosode, and they are worn from waist to bottom, which is called scarlet Hakama. The one who was there was a girl who wore something called the attire of shrine maiden.