Chapter 65 : Chapter 65

Chapter 65. A Marmot? A Bear?

Having worked until now, Eli rubbed at his throbbing temples.

He pushed aside the final draft concerning profit shares from the trading post in Lucerne City.

“Finally...”

BANG!

With a deafening crash, the sturdy oak door flew inward and slammed hard against the wall.

The moment Eli had begun to relax, his nerves snapped tight again. His right hand clamped onto the hilt of “Silver” at his waist as he sprang to his feet.

A yellow-brown blur shot past his feet so fast it almost left an afterimage behind.

The thing had a clear target in mind. With a few quick bounds, it leaped onto the wide oak desk, knocking scattered documents, the ink bottle, and the quill pen into complete disarray.

Only then did Eli finally get a clear look at this uninvited guest.

A... marmot?

It was absurdly fat, round as a leather sack stuffed full of grain. Its yellow-brown short fur gleamed smooth and glossy, while its little black bead-like eyes spun restlessly.

There was something in them utterly at odds with its foolishly adorable appearance...arrogance?

It spread its two hind legs, stood upright, planted its forepaws on its hips, puffed out its furry round belly, and glared straight at Eli.

Before Eli could bark out a single question, the plump marmot suddenly lunged forward.

Its fluffy little head slammed squarely into Eli’s forehead.

Thunk!

A dull thud rang out.

Caught completely off guard by that sudden headbutt, Eli rocked back slightly. He froze on the spot, his hand still on the sword hilt, forgetting even to draw it.

His mind went blank.

Only absurdity remained.

How had this thing broken through layer after layer of guards and found his study with such precision?

And on top of that... it had actually hit him?

“Eli! What happened?” Startled by the loud crash, Aila hurried in from the adjoining room.

Her violet eyes first swept over the wrecked desk and Eli himself.

Then her gaze locked firmly onto the round little yellow-brown creature on the desk.

“Wow!” Aila’s eyes lit up instantly. Her worry vanished at once, replaced by delight.

“What a cute little mouse!”

“A mouse?!”

Those two words were like a torch to a powder keg.

The marmot on the desk instantly exploded in fury. Every strand of its short fur stood on end, turning it into a furious ball of fluff.

It whipped its head around and fixed Aila with a blazing stare, then shrieked in a sharp voice that nearly pierced the eardrums.

“Bullshit! You’re the mouse! Your whole family are mice! This lady is a bear! A mighty, majestic bear!

Do you understand?! You blind woman!”

A... talking animal?

Eli’s blue eyes narrowed instantly. He stared fixedly at the plump marmot spitting out human words.

Every muscle in his body tensed at once, and the battle aura long still within him began to stir.

The intelligence system had given no warning at all, and the personal guards standing outside had shown no reaction either.

This thing...

Was it friend or foe?

Aila had also been startled by that sudden roar, but the light in her violet eyes did not dim in the slightest.

If anything, they shone with even more wonder, along with a kind of indulgent fondness.

“All right, all right,” she said, unable to help laughing.

“A bear, then. A bear. A mighty little bear.” As she spoke, she naturally picked up a small piece of cheese biscuit.

Tentatively, she held it out toward the furious furball. “You’re hungry, aren’t you? Would you like this?”

“Hmph! That’s more like it!” The marmot’s anger came quickly, and left just as quickly.

It twitched its pink little nose, eyed the biscuit in Aila’s hand suspiciously with its black bead-like eyes, then cast a wary glance at Eli as if evaluating the danger level.

In the end, the temptation of food won out over caution.

Stretching out its two tiny forepaws, it snatched up the biscuit—which was scarcely smaller than its paws—and hugged it tightly.

Crunch.

It took a small, tentative bite.

In the next second, time itself seemed to freeze.

The marmot’s little paws holding the biscuit stopped in midair. Its black bead-like eyes widened into perfect circles.

Then—

“AAAAAH—!!!”

An even sharper scream exploded through the room!

“It’s good! It’s so good! It’s unbelievably good—Aaaah!!!”

Clutching the cheese biscuit, it began rolling wildly across the smooth oak desktop.

Its round little body twisted with astonishing agility, all four paws flailing in the air as it exposed its soft belly.

It rolled and rolled while letting out a series of meaningless little squeaks and hums brimming with pure delight.

Eli: “...”

Confirmed. It was an idiot.

He watched the utterly preposterous sight before him with a blank expression.

“Ado,” Eli said in a low voice.

The study door opened, and the guard on watch, Ado, poked his head in.

“My lord? I thought I heard a huge noise just now...”

His gaze swept over the wrecked desk. The moment he spotted the yellow-brown furball still rolling about in ecstatic delight, his expression froze. His mouth fell open.

“Th-this mouse... My lord, how did it get in here?

I was standing outside the whole time! Not even a fly got through!”

“A mouse?!”

The marmot on the desk stopped rolling at once, sprang upright, and shot a blazing glare at Ado.

With startling speed, it snatched up a quill lying on the desk and hurled it viciously at him.

“I said it’s a bear, you idiot!”

The quill, trailing flecks of ink, drew a crooked arc through the air.

Eli did not even raise an eyelid. With a casual flick of the scabbard in his left hand, he neatly knocked the flying quill to the floor.

“Go to the kitchen,” Eli said, his voice restored to its usual composure.

“Bring food. Meat, bread, cheese, fruit... bring more than a little. Quickly.”

“...Yes! My lord!” Ado looked at the ink-stained quill on the floor, then at the so-called “bear” on the desk standing there with its paws on its hips, glaring furiously at him.

He felt as though his understanding of the world had just suffered an unprecedented blow.

Swallowing hard, he gave a stiff salute and backed out of the room almost moving both feet on the same side.

Only one thought remained in his head.

The world had truly gone mad.

Eli’s gaze fell once more upon the marmot, which had finally settled down.

Pulling out his chair, he sat down again.

“All right.” Eli’s voice was not loud, but the marmot, which had resumed nibbling at its biscuit, instantly stopped and looked at him with wary eyes.

“So then, this... ‘bear.’” He deliberately emphasized the word.

“The farce ends here. Now introduce yourself. Who are you? Where did you come from?

How were you able to enter my study without a sound? And why... are you looking for me?”

The marmot licked the biscuit crumbs from its tiny paws with lingering reluctance.

Its little eyes darted between Eli’s serious face and Aila’s gentle smile, as if judging which of the two was easier to deal with.

In the end, it puffed out its round chest.

“Listen well, human lord!

I am the most beloved and most trusted companion of Her Highness the Princess! The great Lord Gulu!”

Her Highness the Princess?

Eli’s heart gave a sudden jolt.

Aila?

Suppressing the surge of thoughts within him, he carefully pressed on, “Her Highness the Princess? Which princess might that be? Forgive my ignorance, but I do not believe I have heard of her.”

“Hah! Hah! Hah!” Gulu laughed as though she had just heard the greatest joke in the world.

Her tiny paws slapped dramatically against the tabletop, her little black eyes full of contempt and disbelief.

“You! You’re one with elf blood, and yet you’ve never heard of our most noble, incomparably beautiful, and supremely wise and powerful elf princess?!”

She tilted her little head as if she had just thought of something.

“Where are your elven relatives, then? Didn’t they tell you? Don’t tell me you sprang out of a crack in a rock or something?”

One with elf blood?

Eli understood at once.

So that was it. Because of the Moonlight Spring, she had mistaken him for one with elf blood.

That was an unexpected gain. Perhaps it could become an opening for contact.

“I have no elven relatives,” Eli said calmly. “I have never met any.”

“Uh...” Gulu’s imposing arrogance deflated at once like a punctured balloon.

Her little paws awkwardly scratched at her round belly, while her black bead-like eyes darted about guiltily.

Even her voice dropped, taking on an embarrassed note.

“Th-that so...? Then maybe... maybe this great lady got it wrong? Mm... probably... Sorry...”

Apparently feeling somewhat humiliated, she muttered under her breath, “I knew it. Why would Her Highness the Princess suddenly take an interest in some human half-blood...”

That quiet muttering, however, was like thunder exploding in Eli’s ears.

The elf princess was interested in him.

Just then, Aila’s gentle voice sounded. Her finger lightly tapped Gulu’s moist little nose.

“Lord Gulu, why does your princess want to see Eli? And where is he supposed to meet her?”

Her violet eyes were bright and sparkling, as though she were listening to a particularly fascinating fairy tale.

“Why?” The moment Aila asked, Gulu’s attention shifted at once. She tried hard to straighten herself up, one tiny paw propping up her fluffy chin.

“Mm... Her Highness the Princess’s thoughts are unfathomably profound! Probably because...”

Her small eyes flicked toward Eli, then quickly darted away again.

“She finds you pleasing to the eye? Or... mm... maybe she thinks this place of yours... isn’t bad?”

She spoke vaguely, clearly not understanding the reason herself.

“As for where you’re supposed to meet...” Gulu pondered for less than three seconds.

Right on cue, her little belly let out a loud grrrrgle.

“Oh no!” She suddenly clutched her stomach with both little paws, and the bit of dignity she had been trying so hard to maintain collapsed on the spot.

“I forgot, I forgot! It’s all your fault! Asking question after question! This great lady came all this way to deliver a message, and now I’m starving flat!

Quick! Food! That biscuit from before! And meat! I need to eat before I can think! I’m starving to death!”

She squealed while bouncing anxiously across the desktop, her round body bobbing like a little ball.

Aila covered her mouth and laughed softly at the sight, her eyes curving warmly.

Eli, on the other hand, closed his eyes in weary resignation, and a vein seemed to twitch faintly at his temple.

An elf princess? An invitation?

And the envoy she had sent...

Was this ridiculous little creature?

For a time, the only sounds left in the study were the hungry cries of Lord Gulu the marmot, and Aila’s soft laughter.

And in the shadowed corner of the study, the air seemed to warp ever so slightly for a single instant.

It was like a tiny pebble dropped into a still pond, creating a ripple too faint to notice.

Then, just as quickly, all was calm again.