ch41-ch60 · 047-ch41

Chapter 41

Sai's nephew, Asai Kenji, was starting to wonder if this situation was a dream or an illusion.

Right now, Kenji was living with his parents and his maternal grandparents.

Those grandparents had said, "Sai-kun is bringing his wife over to greet us," and were dressed up more formally than usual for a change. As for his parents — his father was in his usual casual clothes, but his mother had dressed up differently from normal.

They were ready to face what was coming.

To Kenji, Sai — his uncle Saito — was a hero.

A senior at his school, and the most popular person there. A high school girl adventurer. Saving Ichijō Hiyori and Kuri Mio — his seniors — had been the talk of the school.

On top of that, his uncle was the first person to reach the eighteenth floor in a solo conquest of Shinjuku Tower, making him an adventurer who drew attention even at the high school Kenji attended.

Lately he'd even been doing media interviews, becoming a full-blown celebrity.

For his nephew Kenji, he was an uncle to be proud of.

Now then, that uncle Sai had said he was introducing his wife.

An uncle who had recently become a celebrity as an adventurer, too.

What kind of person was he bringing as his wife?

The woman his uncle brought was the High Elf who was currently the talk of the entire world.

Her existence had been revealed on TV and the internet a few days ago, but whether due to information control or something else, no further details were circulating in the media. Only a handful of photos obtained from some unknown source had been released.

Every single one was either a sneaked shot or from a surveillance camera.

But even from those photos alone, her beauty was unmistakable, and combined with her distinctive long ears and stunning figure, she had become a sensation.

Furthermore, she was from another world, and was said to be giving lectures on magical power.

Back when Shinjuku Tower first appeared, there was a saying that became popular.

"The world of video games has arrived."

Even Kenji, a high school student, was well familiar with this old catchphrase.

Looking at the High Elf named Hexaria, Kenji remembered those words.

Her beauty was so otherworldly that he couldn't help but stare in awe.

A woman who looked like she had stepped right out of a game world was right here in front of his eyes.

Hexaria, sitting beside Sai, was beautiful and graceful.

Age-wise, she looked to be only in her twenties — she just looked like a pretty older sister.

And yet, she fit so naturally beside a middle-aged man in his forties that it seemed only natural.

Suddenly, Kenji glanced at his family.

He was curious about their reactions.

Grandpa is more smitten than he's ever been in his life! Wait, Grandma is too!?

Dad and Mom both have heart-shaped eyes!?

Incidentally, Kenji hadn't noticed that his own face was equally lovestruck.

The only ones in the room right now who weren't swooning were Sai and Hexaria.

Kenji thought to himself.

For the past few days, social media had been full of speculation about whether the High Elf might be a terrifying existence — but it was all lies, wasn't it?

Sure, she could be a bit condescending in how she spoke, but he could also tell she was being considerate toward them.

Just the usual hauteur, he guessed.

That was how he rationalized it.

By the way, the matter of having a High Elf as a wife was, naturally, not something he could talk about to people around him.

Having made that mistake in the past, Kenji had been firmly sworn to secrecy.

He'd gained yet another big secret he couldn't share with his friends.

One thing that bothered him was that Sai had looked apologetic about it.

"She's come here, and I might go public about having been to the other world too. I'll make sure it doesn't cause you any trouble, but if something does happen despite that... I'm sorry."

That was what he'd said to apologize.

He said that, but Kenji was sure it would be fine.

After all, his uncle was a hero.

◇

While a pure-hearted high school boy was squirming with excitement.

Over in the Kasumigaseki area of Chiyoda Ward, the bureaucrats were also enduring days of agitation.

It was about Hexaria — the High Elf from another world.

The debates were endless. Even summarizing them would be pointless.

Hexaria's only request was "I want to enter Shinjuku Tower. In exchange, I will provide the basics of magical engineering technology." And yet, people were saying things like: treat her as a special envoy from another world, invite her to the National Diet, what is an elf's body like — despite her being an unknown entity, so many people were making all sorts of demands.

On top of that, from overseas — wherever they'd gotten the information — several countries had sent opinions along the lines of: by all means, bring her to our country, and it's unacceptable for Japan to keep her.

It hadn't even been two weeks since Hexaria had made contact with the government, and it was already this chaotic from top to bottom.

They were supposed to have information controls in place, but information was leaking steadily.

What would happen once her lectures actually began?

The people of Kasumigaseki could only hold their heads in their hands.

◇

And then, at that time.

At Sai's house.

Sai and Hexaria were relaxing over tea in front of a suspicious-looking monitor.

There were multiple monitors, and pressing a button would switch the display.

These were monitors that used a Far Sight enchantment formula to quickly check distant situations.

In other words, a magical-engineering surveillance device... something like spy cameras.

Through Kaga and Yoshimura, whom they had previously greeted, they had released Hexaria's personal surveillance spirits and were verifying information.

"Indeed. Humans are the same no matter which world they inhabit."

"No kidding. Somehow they'd even sniffed out our address."

Honestly, how did they even find it?

During the Ichijō family meeting, there hadn't been anyone snooping around like this.

But after a week, then two weeks passed — through whatever routes — foreign government officials and people claiming to be from the media had started sniffing around Sai's neighborhood.

But neither Sai nor Hexaria were the type to quietly look the other way.

"Their movements are exactly as expected, so it should be fine. We got security set up at Dad and Mom's place, my sister's family, and that house too."

The other day, Sai had introduced Hexaria to his parents and sister's family, but visiting their homes hadn't been the only purpose.

While greeting them, he had secretly laid security enchantment formulas in the background.

It was a defensive measure to minimize any harm to his family.

"If they can't reach me or you, they'll target the outer perimeter further out. All within the predictable range..."

"People trying to sneak photos, people making inquiries in the neighborhood... there really are a lot of them."

"From their perspective, I am an unknown entity with unknown technology. Why do they act so brazenly without any hesitation?"

"Same as that noble what's-his-name back in Tuare. Y'know, the one who tried to bring out gold coins and negotiate with the Soul-Devouring Demon King..."

"Hmph. In that case, they simply deserved to be wiped out."

As they talked, both of them held photographs in their hands.

People trying to photograph the area around Sai's house. Or people making inquiries.

They were images captured via the Far Sight enchantment formula, but every single one of these people — unable to get an interview with Sai or Hexaria — had escalated to aggressively questioning the surrounding area.

Their reasoning was... they wanted to get whatever good material they could. They had a right to report.

They just wanted to deliver an invitation to come visit their place... or so they claimed.

They didn't care if it made the target uncomfortable.

No — they didn't even think that far.

A mere two weeks. And yet, over three hundred hours.

The existence of a High Elf from another world had spread like wildfire and become a hot topic.

It was shocking just how much news it generated.

But Sai had anticipated the current situation.

In any era, rare information always gets spread.

If it can become material for something, it will spread without fail.

Sai himself had experienced it.

He remembered clearly when his magic control training video had been clipped and caused a massive buzz on video streaming sites.

And so he had prepared countermeasures.

Once Hexaria's existence became known, there would inevitably be people plotting no good.

Looking back, it had been the same in the other world.

Somehow making the High Elf's beautiful princess their own. Getting the products she developed into their own hands.

How many times had he dealt with people harboring such ambitions?

It was a story that had played out countless times since Sai met Hexaria and they began working together.

He understood their motives.

If so, all he needed to do was lay traps as usual.

Just like a dungeon laying traps for adventurers.

Whether in the other world or in Japan, what needed to be done didn't change.

What happens when you greedily reach for an unknown entity?

What happens when you lay hands on Sai's partner?

It was simply that. Nothing more.

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Thank you for reading.