Elves sometimes don't get jokes, right?

"Even so, I left Solasidor the same day I was drinking with you, Karikari, and came all the way here… When did you have time to go to Véraldo and meet an elf?"

"Ahh. I got my hands on a super fast vehicle. We went from Solasidor to Karkassa in five days."

"What, twice as fast as a normal carriage? With something like that, you could go drink your way around the whole world…!"

"It's too fast, so there are some safety issues. And the fuel economy? It supposedly guzzles Magic Stones for golems like crazy — that's the cover story, anyway — so without a patron you'd never make your money back. Oh, and it shakes like mad."

"Ahh, yeah… that's rough."

By the way, it was supposed to guzzle magic stones according to the cover story, but in practice, the radial engine's fuel efficiency means even an Orc's magic stone is enough to hit that speed. Terrifying technological innovation. Right now we're researching speed control using an accelerator and gears.

Oh, and I culled a bunch of Orcs, so we've got a huge stockpile of Orc magic stones. In other words, I've got a lot of Orc cores on han—… yeah, never mind.

"Are dwarves and elves on bad terms or anything?"

"Ahh, you hear that sometimes. It's like, dwarf women look young, right?"

"Yeah, Sati-tan is super cute, for example."

"I've actually got a kid, you know."

What!?

"Eh, a married woman… I love that…!"

"Mm, that's a first for that reaction. I was lying though. But I am at the age where it wouldn't be strange if I did have children."

"Eh, it was a lie? I still love you either way."

"Ahaha, I love you too, Karikari. Anyway. From other races' perspectives, all dwarf men get treated like they're lolicons. Especially to elves, I guess even same-age couples can look like 'an old man making a move on a little girl'. Elves don't really grow beards until they're quite old."

Ahh, I see.

"So someone shot back with, 'From a dwarf's perspective, elves look more like mature women making a move on little boys,' you know?"

"So, 'Operation Turn Every Elf Into An Onee-Shota Couple'…!?"

"Mmm, that's a new reaction too. It was just drunken joking around, but elves aren't great with jokes, you know? It ended up causing some real friction."

Ahh, Dea-kun does seem like the serious type too.

"Don't worry, our elf is a cute kid who does get jokes!"

"Well, he's in Karikari's party, so… So how'd you meet?"

Whoops, how should I explain this.

To talk about how I met Dea-kun, I'd have to bring up Great Mage Karina-chan… so I'll just gloss over that part.

"I bought an alchemy textbook at a Magic Tool shop in Véraldo, and we hit it off talking about alchemy."

"Heeh, alchemy. I can at least make potions. They taste good mixed with alcohol."

"Ah, mine's more the Magic Tool side of things. I am interested in potions too, though."

"If you're fine with secondhand, want me to sell you my old potion textbook? Normally one gold coin, but now for a special limited-time offer, ten silver."

"Sold! Ah, I'll pay in cash. My Merchants' Guild card doesn't have enough balance."

"… Karikari, you really need to be careful you don't get scammed, you know? It's fine, I'll just give it to you. Consider it a referral fee for the elf."

"Really? In that case, I'll gratefully accept."

"In exchange, no socks."

"Ugh… Don't say that after I've already accepted."

I took the textbook Sati-tan pulled out of her luggage and put it away in my own backpack.

… Incidentally, ten silver wouldn't actually have been much of a bargain.

"Well, you know. Alchemia went under, right? Stuff like this might go up in value."

"Wouldn't people just freely copy and sell the books instead, now that there's no rights holder?"

"… You could look at it that way too, yeah?"

So when official supply dries up but demand remains, pirated editions pop up, huh…

Hand-copied books were always a thing anyway. Guess that's how it goes.

Chatting like that, we swayed along in the bird-drawn carriage until we reached the inn district.

Judging by what I sensed with Spatial Magic, Dea-kun and the others are… oh, Dea-kun's probably at that inn over there. Aishia seems to be somewhere else. Maybe she's out doing some research.

"Hmm. Not a bad inn."

"Alright, wait here a bit. I'll go talk to Dea-kun."

"Ahh, if you're staying here, I might make this my inn too this time. I'll go park the carriage."

"Got it. I'll go on ahead then."

I got down from Sati-tan's carriage and headed into the inn… Dea-kun spotted!

"Ah, Onee-san. I booked our room for one week."

"Ooh, thanks, Dea-kun. Ah, here's your allowance. Half of the delivery reward, split among the members of our adventurer party 'Fakers'! By the way, where's Aishia?"

"She's checking out the restaurants around here. She said she wants you to eat something delicious and was really fired up about it."

Ugh, so cute! But I won't be swayed — okay, that's a lie, I am a little swayed!

But I'm still not freeing her… oh, right, Aishia's a half-dwarf.

I wonder if Sati-tan will be okay with a half-dwarf slave. I don't really know how half-bloods are treated to begin with. You do hear stories about half-bloods being persecuted sometimes… Sati-tan, you're not going to bully my girl, right?

Hmm. Well, she's technically my property, so I want to believe it'll be fine, but…

On the flip side, it's possible she'll hate me for owning a half-dwarf slave, too…

Well, no time to worry about that now; I'll just think about it later.

"Dea-kun. There's a dwarf who wants to go to the Elflands; can I introduce her to you?"

"If you're introducing her, Onee-san, I don't mind at least meeting her. I can't say whether I can get her permission to enter until I see her myself, though."

"That's fine. Ah, and keep Spatial Magic a secret, okay? I'll go get her and—oh, looks like she's here already."

Just as I was talking with Dea-kun, Sati-tan came into the inn, spotted me, and waved.