Using Anna's Support Group's intimidating reputation, the elf girl finally showed signs of submission.
"Your name?"
"Sigrdrífa."
"Age."
"42."
"...Aunt Sigrdrífa?"
"Converted to your human years, I'm only 17, okay?!"
So she's the same age as me? Judging from her behavior and demeanor, I completely can't tell that she's lived 25 years longer than me.
Questions about gender and race would be meaningless, so there's no need to ask. The most important thing is...
"What are you doing here?"
"..."
Upon hearing my inquiry, Sigrdrífa once again returned to her expression of deep resentment.
"You're asking the obvious! You should know perfectly well in your heart, shouldn't you?"
"...So you really are an assassin?"
"Assassin? What are you talking about?"
Sigrdrífa's eyebrows furrowed slightly, seemingly not quite understanding what I was saying.
"I came here to retrieve the sacred beast's remains, not as an assassin."
Sacred beast? Remains?
I'm not entirely without clues here. There are many racial divisions within the elven species, with moon elves being just one of them, but the unicorn is a sacred beast worshipped by all of them, regardless of which group they belong to.
"You mean this?"
I took out the [Unicorn Crystal Shoes] from my storage space.
Sigrdrífa's face immediately filled with grief, nearly bringing tears to her eyes as her nose began to sting.
"You're even specifically taking it out to flaunt it in front of me... Are you a demon wearing human skin?"
"No, what I'm trying to say is, if you came for this, I can give it to you."
"Huh?" Sigrdrífa simply refused to believe it. "Don't think you can just trick me because I look easily fooled."
So you do have that self-awareness.
"I don't have a habit of regifting. But the unicorn is indeed your sacred beast, so this could be considered returning it to its rightful owner." I paused briefly. "However, that's only after I believe you. The elven homeland is the distant Midgard, so why would you come to the Kingdom of Michel? Tell me your entire story, and if I discover you're hiding anything..."
A gleaming dagger pierced into the floor right next to Sigrdrífa's delicate cheek.
Sigrdrífa's gaze wavered between the sharp blade reflecting her face, me, and the [Unicorn Crystal Shoes] placed beside her. After weighing her options, she chose to speak.
"Tch... Fine, you win. Do you know about Elf King Oberon VII?"
"Even without having been to Midgard, no one wouldn't know about the Elf King."
I casually placed my hand on Sigrdrífa's pulse.
"Throughout the generations of our elven race, every Elf King has been named after Oberon, the founding emperor of Midgard. We've always maintained principles of peaceful coexistence, not wanting outsiders to disturb our sacred land, and we would never become aggressors ourselves. But that's all in the past now. After Oberon VII was crowned Elf King, Midgard has been plunged into prolonged warfare."
Very different from the Kingdom of Michel's hereditary system, Midgard practices citizen elections, coordinated by a senate. When the previous Elf King is about to return to the embrace of the nature goddess, citizens from across the nation select a new Elf King from within the elven race.
Because the elven race claims to be peaceful, every previous Elf King has died peacefully in Midgard, allowing this absurd system—where there's no temporary successor if an Elf King suddenly dies—to continue to this day. Furthermore, elves live longer than humans, beastkin, and merfolk. As Sigrdrífa said, when each Elf King is crowned, they abandon their original name and take the title "Elf King Oberon." The current Elf King Oberon VII is only the seventh king of the elven race.
"Yes, I've heard about that. Not long after his election, the Elf King began sweeping reforms throughout the country."
"Exactly... Midgard erupted in unprecedented rebellions, but without exception, they were all suppressed by Oberon VII, and the senate's power was also crushed by him. Midgard is no longer the dreamlike utopia it was once called. Living there has become unbearably oppressive, and many elves who couldn't stand that atmosphere chose to leave Midgard."
Originally, the elven race disliked outsider visits, and they themselves didn't like leaving their homeland. Due to Oberon VII's rule, the number of elves leaving Midgard has been increasing daily.
"I'm one of them. As for why I came to the Kingdom of Michel, it's to recover the sacred beast's remains. The Kingdom of Michel has always been hostile toward Midgard, and sacred beast horns are popular among the royal nobles within the Kingdom of Michel. I want to recover them all and bring peace to Midgard."
"Sacred beast horns can bring peace?"
"Of course." Sigrdrífa answered without hesitation. "This is a belief that has been passed down among our elven race for a thousand years. It's precisely because we failed to protect the sacred beasts that the nature goddess is punishing us..."
Hmm, is that so?
I personally think that since unicorns are purely auspicious creatures, how the unicorn population fares and how the elven race fares are completely unrelated matters. But this is ultimately a matter of elven faith, so there's no need for me to interfere too much.
I only need to know the reason why an elf traveled all this way to the Kingdom of Michel. From this perspective, Sigrdrífa came here tracking the [Unicorn Crystal Shoes], and it has nothing to do with Lily.
Her explanation is convincing enough, but for Lily's safety, it's necessary to confirm this further.