Nope, that's not it.

"Karikari, that elf kid's someone you know, right?"

"Yeah. This is Dea-kun. Dea-kun, this is Sati-tan, a booze merchant friend of mine."

"Nice to meet you. Please call me Dea… Sati-tan-san?"

"Just Sati is fine～, nice to meet you, Dea-san."

Sati-tan gave a polite little bow with a peko.

"What's wrong, Sati-tan!? Did you eat something bad or what!? You're acting super normal!"

"Even I can pull myself together when I need to～. Besides, I'm the one asking for a favor here, so I can't afford to be rude, right?"

"Ah, you can relax. You seem to be Onee-san's friend, after all."

Dea-kun said that with a gentle smile, but Sati-tan didn't drop her serious mode just yet.

So this is Sati-tan when she's doing business negotiations… So gallant. I love it!

"Anyway, standing around talking isn't great, so shall we go up to our room?"

"Ah, then I'll go ahead and book a room here too. Okay, shall we?"

"Do you need an escort?"

"I'm fine, thank you for the concern."

… Dea-kun's being kind of serious too!? Hey, am I the only one out of the loop here!?

At any rate, when we went into our room, it turned out to be a cramped little room with only one bed.

"You said standing around talking isn't great, but the only place to sit is the bed."

"… That's true. It would've been nice if there were at least some chairs."

"Ah, um, don't worry about me?"

Sati-tan glanced at the two pillows laid out on the single bed as she said that.

Those pillows are probably meant for me and Dea-kun.

Huh? That means they think I'm going to share a bed with Dea-kun!?

"It's not like that, Sati-tan! Dea-kun's just for looking at! I'm more into girls, you know!?"

"Eh? Ah, yeah. I know that."

"Hold on a sec, I'll go borrow a chair! — Okay, borrowed!"

"So fast!"

Incidentally, I just stepped out into the hallway and pulled a chair out of my storage space.

In the cramped room, we sat down — me on the chair — and resumed our talk.

"So then, what business do you have in the Elflands?"

"Well, the truth is, I'm looking for my older sister."

"Eh, I thought you were traveling the world as a peddler in search of booze, Sati-tan!?"

"… That's part of it too, but actually I'm looking for my sister who went missing. If you think I'm lying, you can ask at the Adventurers' Guild — I've put in a request for information gathering."

No way! So those silver coins she handed back to the receptionist-san were probably the finder's fee for that request.

"Come on, you should've told me. Don't be such a stranger. If it's your big sister, Sati-tan, I'd totally help look for her."

"Mm, thanks, Karikari. She's my half-sister — from a different father — and she's a half-dwarf."

"Hmm, half-dwarf."

"She was working as a bard, but three years ago she suddenly stopped contacting us."

"A bard, huh… Hm?"

"Her name's Ardisura… Aishia."

… Talk about coincidence, huh? As it so happens, there's a girl in my party who's a former bard, a half-dwarf, and a slave — and her name is Aishia.

"I figure she's probably dead by now. But I just can't give up… Maybe she's alive in the Elflands somewhere, so I want to cling to that faint hope."

"Uh, y-yeah. I see… your sister, Sati-tan…"

"Dea-san. Could you possibly arrange entry permission into the Elflands so I can search for my sister?"

Sati-tan bowed her head with a serious expression.

"… Um, Karina Onee-san."

"Hang on a second. I'll go check."

"Ah, okay."

I left the room.

Most inns have a little household altar — a simple shrine. There's one. All right, time to pray.

— O Goddess, o Goddess? Is this what you'd call divine guidance?

"Nope. It's, like, completely just coincidence."

As if I'd believe thaaaat!!!