Chapter 10: Stop Stalling!

Altair woke up in the storage room, curled in the corner where a few bags made a makeshift pillow. His body was sticky with sweat, especially his face. He wiped it with his right hand, but something felt different.

“Hmm?”

Mixed with the sweat was some kind of stiff residue, unlike any other sweat on his body. He glanced down at his hand, it looked like some sort of clear liquid that had already dried.

Before he could think too much about it, an appetizing smell drifted in from the dining room. He quickly wiped himself clean with a nearby cloth, stood, and opened the door.

““Ah!””

Altair and Sei both yelped at the same time. She must’ve been about to open the door too. They froze in awkward silence for a few seconds before she spoke first.

“Morning, Altair…No… Al-kun.”

The nickname surprised him. Usually, back home, they just used each other’s names. But ever since Sei had become the Saint and joined the Hero’s party, she’d started using honorifics with everyone, even him. It had been a while since he’d even heard her say his name so casually. So why suddenly… a nickname?

“M-Morning, Sei-”

Altair tried to keep his composure and distance from her, but before he could even finish, she took his arm and pulled him toward the dining table.

There were two plates on the table. One of them was filled to the brim with food compared to the other. She sat him down in front of it and took the seat beside him.

“Here, Al-kun- your breakfast.”

“Sei, this…”

“Please eat.”

It was rare for him to sit with Sei at the same table anymore. Kestrel, Elira, and Serah all refused to share a room, let alone a meal, with him, the “mule,” the “burden.” Aside from last night’s dinner, this was the first time in a long while he’d eaten together with Sei like people, and this time, it was just the two of them.

“Al-kun, there’s something I have to say…” She placed her right hand on his left, and with her other hand, gently tilted his face toward her.

“S-Sei, this is…”

His heart was about to burst. What was going to happen between them?

Then something indeed burst, something else.

BANG!

The inn’s door didn’t just open, it exploded inward with a deafening blast. Smoke and dust rolled through the room like a theatrical curtain. splinters should have been everywhere, but the hinges held, the door didn’t break. Reinforced metal gleamed where wood would have been shredded.

“EY, DONKEY! DID YA MISS ME!?”

The voice was unmistakable. Elaister stepped out of the haze, one hand on her hip, the other casually brushing away soot as if she’d only sneezed. She paused, eyes scanning the abused door with the delighted curiosity, admiring their own handiwork.

After humming with satisfaction, her visor swung toward the far corner where Altair and Sei sat, awkwardly close over untouched breakfast. Elaister let out a gasp, a grin audible in her tone. “Ah. Did I ruin the moment? Sorry not sorry!”

The smoke cleared as the rest of the party filed in behind her. Hiroto led the way, radiating that practiced, self-satisfied hero glow. Serah and Elira followed, both looking a little disheveled from the night before, and Kestrel slung over the hero’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

When Hiroto’s eyes landed on Altair, seated beside Sei, something small and sharp flickered behind his perfect smile. Elaister noticed it instantly. A pulse of green shimmered in Serah’s and Elira’s eyes.

The two standing girls marched toward the couple.

“W-Wait Se-Serah-san, I can expla-” Altair began, but Serah didn’t wait.

Serah’s hand slammed onto his shoulder with iron certainty. “Who said you could sit there, Mule?”

CRASH!

“Ghak…”

He flew across the room and struck the wooden wall hard enough to crack it. A choked noise escaped him.

Elira didn’t even bother. With a motion that was almost casual in its cruelty, she plucked the steaming plate from the table and set it before Hiroto with a smile. “For you, Hiroto-sama.”

“Thank you, Elira. Could you check it with your magic, if he touched it or not? If he did, just throw it out. We wouldn’t want to eat what he touched, right?” Hiroto asked, his voice conversational.

“That’s true,” Elira replied.

Sei shot up from her chair. “That’s too far!” She protested, something hotter, angrier. She stepped toward Altair, reaching out for him-

“Sei.” Hiroto’s tone sliced through the room, calm, and unbothered. “Could you prepare more plates for everyone? We’ve worked up an appetite.”

For a heartbeat, Sei’s face was a battleground, pain, confusion, resistance flickered across it. She pressed a hand to her temple as if fighting something unseen, then, with a slow, pained nod, at least what seemed like it, said, “...Of course.”

“S-Sei? W-Wait…” Altair tried to move, to follow, but his body betrayed him. Sei turned away and vanished into the kitchen.

From the sidelines, Elaister whistled long and low. “Well,” she said, voice smeared with glee and mockery. “Now this is some ridiculous webnovel-tier drama.”

Her mask hid most of her face, but her eyes didn’t miss the faint grin on the Hero’s lips, the saint’s faltering retreat, or the green gleam that had flashed in the knight’s and mage’s eyes. She watched, cataloguing.

Elaister spotted the blond knight approaching the wounded boy. The boy saw him too and tried to shrink back into the wall.

“P-Please don’t. I-I’m sorry,” he stammered.

“You don’t get it, do you…” Serah cracked her arm like a coiled threat, clearly ready to lay into him.

“What a waste, right, hero?” Elaister’s voice cut through, suddenly sharp.

“Hmm? What do you mean?” Hiroto tilted his head, feigning bafflement.

“Punishing him by beating him down, I mean. He’s the porter, if he gets injured it’ll be annoying. If the saint heals him, that’s just a waste of mana, no?” Elaister drew the words out, considering the alignment of inconvenience and efficiency.

“So, what are you proposing?” Hiroto asked.

“Well...” He looked down upon the mule, unseen grin radiating behind that mouthpiece of hers.

The morning sunlight bled through the windows, warm and golden, catching in the thin veil of smoke that still clung to the air from Elaister’s dramatic entrance earlier.

The Hero Party was having breakfast. The table was alive with noise. Plates clattered, forks scraped, and chairs creaked in rhythm. Hiroto sat between Serah and Elira, though the two were more occupied with bickering between themselves and the resident scientist, again. While Kestrel looked half-asleep, still recovering from last night’s… intense activity.

Sei sat beside Elaister, silent. Her knife cut through a slice of bread, though her eyes occasionally glance at Serah whenver she about to cut the breads.

It all looked normal. Sounded normal. Almost convincing, until one noticed what didn’t fit.

Because for once, the “porter” wasn’t locked in the storage room or sent off to fetch water.

No, Altair was there too. Improvement?

…Sort of.

The mule was on all fours beside the table, his back serving as Elaister’s makeshift chair.

“Isn’t this nice, donkey?!” Elaister cackled, rocking back and forth atop him, her left boot tapping rhythmically against his arm as though he were a stool. “You’re properly part of the party now! Gahahaha!”

“Mere mule is not on par with us,” Serah remarked coolly between bites.

“Heh.” Hiroto chuckled, setting his fork down with a grin. “But you know, Serah, I actually like how Elaister does it.”

“Eh? H-Hiroto-sama?”

“She knows he’s not on the same level as us,” Hiroto continued casually, his tone light but his words sharp, “but she still makes use of him. Puts him in his place properly. Her punishment also won't trouble us later on.”

“Ah, you get it, you get it!” Elaister beamed, snapping her fingers like a proud teacher discovering a bright student. “For a genius like me, every tool has to be used efficiently.”

Kestrel looked up, deadpan. “And what exactly is efficient about sitting on people?”

“Ego boost,” Elaister replied without missing a beat, completely unapologetic.

Reactions varied. Hiroto chuckled, Serah smirked faintly. Even Elira let out a muffled laugh behind her teacup.

Elaister waved a hand dismissively. “But hey, he’s also a porter, right? So this counts as multitasking! Boosting my mood and his endurance training, two birds, one donkey!”

She rocked back and forth as if to emphasize the point, her laughter filling the room.

Altair didn’t answer. He just sighed inwardly.

Truth be told, she wasn’t even heavy. Annoying, yes, but surprisingly light, like a particularly smug pile of feathers considering her metal arm and all. Still, she made it hard for him by constantly shifting and pressing her boots against his arm.

He couldn’t help but think ‘Had she just saved him?’ Because honestly… this was still better than being pummeled by Serah.

Elaister tilted her visor toward Hiroto. “Now then, hero, where are we headed next? Yesterday you were about to go somewhere before, you know,” she gestured grandly to herself, “a certain genius made the day interesting.”

Serah shot her a glare sharp enough to cut steel. “If not for a certain madwoman, we’d already be there.”

Elaister smirked, leaning forward with her signature toothy grin.
“Oh, blondie,” she said, voice dripping with mock sweetness, “you’d never forgive yourself if you ever missed me.”

“As if that will-” Elira started, but Hiroto’s laugh cut her off.

“Yeah,” he said, smiling that perfect smile. “I’d regret that.”

“Hiroto-sama…”

Then Hiroto’s eyes narrowed despite his pleasant smile, his gaze fixed on Elaister’s visor. “Now,” he said evenly, “can you open your mask?”

“Nope.”

“I have no problem with you hiding something from us,” Hiroto continued, still smiling, “but now that you’re officially part of our party, it’s only etiquette for you to properly introduce yourself. I might need to know what kind of person, or race, you are to protect you accordingly.”

“Sigh… Hiroto-sama…” Elira exhaled, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“I understand your sentiment, Hiroto-sama,” Serah added, her tone polite but stiff. “But you’d make yourself an enemy of the kingdom if you do that. Especially if you’re protecting a demon, or an elf.”

“And what exactly could the kingdom do about it?” Hiroto tilted his head, voice dripping with amusement. “Are you doubting me? Or maybe…” He leaned down and whispered into her ear, “you just don’t want to share your ‘hero’ with more girls?”

“A-Ah! Hiroto-sama, don’t tease me like that.” Serah stammered, face flushing.

“Well, that makes sense,” Elaister said breezily. “I just hope you can handle your end of the deal, alright?”

“Of course,” Hiroto replied smoothly.

Elaister sighed, then unfastened her mask, piece by piece.

First, the mouthpiece split down the middle with a hiss and folded aside, revealing her mouth.
Then, the lower sections detached from her jaw and ears, leaving only the upper frame in place.
The visor still covered her eyes, and a small plate remained over her nose and forehead, but compared to before, she was practically barefaced, almost delicate.

That’s when everyone saw them.

Her ears.

Long. Tapered. Unmistakably elven.

She was still handling the detached pieces when-

SHNK!

A knife spun through the air, Kestrel’s, not aimed at Elaister, but at Serah. Serah caught it mid-flight, twisting with frightening speed, her arm sideways to drive it straight into Elaister’s neck.

Elaister’s automatic mana shield flared to life in a burst of light, but Kestrel’s special knife on top of Serah’s raw strength might have been enough to penetrate it, especially with the scientist caught off guard, her pandora not ready if her shield were to break.

But before the blade could land, Hiroto’s hand shot out, grabbing Serah’s wrist and yanking her back.

“Hiroto, let me go!” Serah snarled, struggling against his grip.

“Now, now,” Hiroto said calmly while taking the knife away from her hand, his tone as smooth as ever.

“She’s an elf!” Serah spat as she pushed away from the hero slightly, before glaring the scientist. “You! Are they trying to plant an elf spy in the Hero Party?!”

“Spy?” Elaister tilted her head, voice light, almost teasing, the accusation amused her more than it offended. “Now that’s flattering. I didn’t think I was that important to the elves anymore.”.

“Do you know how much suffering the elves caused?!” Serah’s voice rose. “Even some demons are tamer than your kind! My younger brother-”

Elaister’s laughter busted through Serah’s words. “GAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, wow! So, the elves are the monsters now? That’s your narrative?” Her laughter rolled through the room, raw and unrestrained, bouncing off the wooden walls and scattering the tension into sharper fragments. She leaned back slightly her grin, now visible, was wide, unhinged, and mocking.

“Tell me, oh righteous knight, do you even know why the elves started their so-called expansion fifty years ago?”

Serah froze mid-breath. The fury in her eyes faltered, just a flicker of uncertainty breaking through her glare.

“It wasn’t conquest,” Elaister went on, her tone half-playful, half-cutting, like a teacher lecturing a slow student. “Well, not at first. It was retaliation. The Sacred Tree burned fifty years ago. Once it was gone, the barrier that kept them hidden, that nurtured their peaceful nature collapsed. And what did humanity do? Did they send help? Comfort? Aid?”

Her smile sharpened into a sneer. “No. What came first were those with knives and chains. They carved open elves to steal their mana organs, hoping to boost their own pathetic magic. They dissected their blood, their bodies, chasing the secret of long life. And the women and men who survived? They were sold. Enslaved. Because of their beauty. Because to humans, they were not just people. But wonders to own.”

Serah retaliated, “That’s not humanity’s fault, we’ve dealt with those people. The Empire executed the traffickers and burned their black markets to the ground. The Church cleansed the corruption-”

“-And yet, here you are, ready to stab someone for having different ears.” Elaister clapped her hand in amusement. “Sounds like the cleansing didn’t go that deep.”

Even so, Serah’s mouth opened, “What those people did was not an excuse to keep up this war, they are making enemy of everyone, they are the one who’s trying to cleanse non elves!”

Elaister sighed, “Whatever. I don’t really care about your moral gymnastics anyway.” She reached up, tapping the side of her visor with a metallic clink. “There’s a reason I wear this thing, and it’s not just because it’s the coolest damn mask in the world. It’s because I have my own goal to achieve. I’m a wanted criminal in the Elf Regime anyway.”

Hiroto’s eyes focused on the elf. He watched her with that same pleasant smile, eyes unreadable, as if the conversation were nothing more than background noise.

Serah’s glare hardened again, her knuckles whitening around the knife still in her grasp. “I thought I hated you,” she hissed. “Now I despise you.”

Elaister tilted her head slightly, unbothered, lips curling into a grin that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Don’t worry,” she said softly. “You’re not the first, and you sure as hell won’t be the last. And frankly, I do not care.”

Kestrel had already returned to her seat, face blank, gaze distant. A tool returning to standby. She had been the kingdom’s weapon and elves was Kingdom’s enemy, that why she acted. But she’s hero’s, since Hiroto had chosen to let Elaister live, her interest in the situation had evaporated completely.

Elira, on the other hand, didn’t even pretend to care. She quietly sipped her tea, her focus elsewhere entirely. Magical improvement far more compelling than politics or bloodlines.

“Let me guess,” Hiroto’s suddenly said, his tone light, almost playful, though his gaze never left her face. “Was your great crime related to terrorism? With all your explosions and flashy entrances, Elaister~?”

Hiroto’s eyes glinted, sharp and hungry behind his pleasant smile. ‘Finally,’ he thought. watching her. ‘A demi-human. It took forever to find one. I won’t let this one go.’

“…Yeah.”

Her reply came after a pause. There was something in her voice, faint but undeniable. Altair, still serving as her unwilling chair, was the only one who caught it.

‘What was that?’ Altair thought

Elaister stretched her arms, the motion casual, almost bored. “Now that I’ve revealed my identity, can we go already? Stop stalling. I need materials, materials, materials, materials!” She started reattaching the pieces of her mask with practiced precision

Click, Snap, Hiss.

Until only the final segment remained.

That was when Hiroto moved.

He rose from his seat, smooth and deliberate, and stepped to her side. Without warning, his hand reached out, fingers gripping her chin, tilting it upward until her half-exposed face caught the sunlight.

“Hiroto-sama…” Kestrel’s eyes followed him warily.

“This guy really does want me to share with more girls…” Serah shook her head, but with a smile.

“Hmph. I’ll still be the best,” Elira murmured into her teacup, though her tone had an edge of challenge.

“Elaister,” Hiroto said, his smile widening, face lean in closer. “You can cover your ears if you want. But at least let me see those lips of yours, alright?”

Inside his head, his thoughts purred like poison. ‘It must be her mask that’s blocking my [Outlander’s Privilege]. But now… she’s defenseless. You’re mine.’

Elaister blinked once. For a moment, she heard that faint a choir, distant and melodic, threading through her ears. Some kind of charm, maybe. But it washed over her harmlessly, leaving nothing but mild annoyance.

‘It’s no coincidence then. He must have some kind of spell for flirting, huh?’ she mused, lips curling beneath the half-mask. ‘Make sense, being the hero and this weird harem. Cute. But it doesn’t work on me.’

She tilted her head, smirk evident even through the remaining plate of metal. “Not convincing enough, heroboy.”

That word made something in Hiroto twitch. His fingers tightened slightly on her chin before he forced a laugh, stepping back with feigned ease

For him, the harder it was to make them yield, the more he wanted to own them. Just like Serah, Elira, even Kestrel. Now he only had two difficult girls, Sei and Elaister. It made him really excited.

But for now, he let it go.

“You must not cover your mouth,” he said, walking back to his seat. “Or I’ll kick you out of the party.”

Elaister flinched dramatically, throwing up her hands. “F-Fine! Fine! Just don’t kick me!” she said in mock panic, though her grin was pure mischief.

つづく