"Celestine, Seras, are you both prepared?"
Lyutillis nodded slightly upon seeing this, her expression indifferent as she gave instructions.
"Once Sylpha brings back the elven tribes scattered outside, you'll be able to set off for the Savior's world."
"After you get there, just follow Aegis's orders. You must protect the Savior, even if it means clashing with other factions coveting the Savior."
Although she hadn't stated that she would go serve their elven Savior, the Savior's importance went without saying. Even if it meant going to war with other races, they had to protect the Savior.
Just the Awakening Miasma that could awaken bloodlines and enhance strength was enough to make their elven race glorious once more, and the powerful ability to let human girls change class into Magical Girls was even more formidable.
If the elven Savior were taken by humans, the elven Savior would become the elves' destroyer.
"Ready, Your Majesty the Queen. Princess, Seras Ashrain is willing to accept the Savior's aid alongside you."
Seras Ashrain replied seriously and solemnly, then turned to look at Aegis, placing her right fist over her left chest and bowing her head slightly.
"Lady Aegis, I hope our journey goes smoothly."
Celestine, standing on Aegis's other side, gave Aegis a gentle smile.
"Don't worry, the Savior is easy to get along with. There's no need to be formal over there either, just interact with the Savior the way you usually do. But I didn't expect you to volunteer for aid so soon after arriving at the Elven Forest, Seras, without even settling in. It seems fate guided us to meet."
Aegis looked at Seras and Celestine, who were about to be sent to the Savior's bed. The earlier awkwardness had vanished without a trace, and her smile was sweet and radiant.
Celestine Lucullus, a suspected reincarnation of the goddess Larentia, was admired, respected, and beloved by the people.
Although Aegis was the most popular elven princess, there were some areas where she couldn't compare to Celestine. The name of Celestine, who loved peace, had spread even to many human kingdoms.
However, Celestine being chosen as an aid target had been decided back when Nina went to the Savior's side, so Aegis wasn't surprised.
By the time Lumilia and Nina were about to become pregnant, and Celestine's progress reached halfway, they could probably send the next batch of aid targets.
No matter how beautiful and numerous elven beauties were, they could still become tiresome. Besides, the Savior already had all sorts of beautiful girls around him who could satisfy him anytime, so their elven race would also need regular rotations to keep the Savior's interest in their aid targets fresh.
What truly surprised Aegis was Seras, who was in no way inferior to the goddess-reincarnated Celestine.
Seras Ashrain, a high elf.
Bound by contract with the lost wind spirit Sifseia, she possessed the elven art [Spirit Armament], and was suspected to have come from a high elven kingdom hidden somewhere.
Because Seras herself had lost her memory, no one could confirm Seras's identity. They could only judge her origins based on records kept within the elven race.
However, even if they couldn't confirm Seras's identity, her strength and aptitude were both at the high elf level.
Plus, Seras possessed a beauty as clear as honey and a figure that naturally aroused male instincts, rivaling even the goddess-reincarnated Celestine. No one would believe she wasn't an elven princess.
Originally, Seras hadn't been in the Elven Forest. She had been working in the human kingdom of Neia, serving as the personal guard of the Nea Sanctan princess and concurrently as the captain of the Holy Knights.
However, when Neia was invaded by another human kingdom, Bakuos, Seras, a former Holy Knight captain, had to go into hiding and flee.
While fleeing, Seras happened to encounter Aegis, Aegis's companions, and other elves who had just returned to this world.
So Aegis and her companions helped deal with the Sacred Guards pursuing Seras and brought her back to the Elven Forest.
Aegis had thought she'd need to wait for an opportunity to persuade Seras, but unexpectedly, as soon as Seras returned to the Elven Forest, she volunteered to become an aid target, offering her body to restore the elven race's glory.
A high elf suspected to be a reincarnated goddess, and a guardian knight suspected to be an elven princess.
Before receiving the Savior's aid, even she, as an elven princess, and the knight Aegis probably couldn't match these two high elves.
Sending them as aid targets for the Savior would be no slight to the Savior.
Still, although Aegis was very satisfied with this batch of aid targets, Seras and Celestine, high elves of peerless beauty, would surely win the Savior's favor, her main purpose in returning, Elven Queen Lyutillis, remained unresolved.
Aegis couldn't understand Elven Queen Lyutillis's hesitation.
It was Her Majesty the Queen who had originally agreed to, or rather, supported, her going to another world to find the Savior.
Although the elven prophecy said the Savior was in another world, on the other side of the passage, quite a few among the elves disagreed with her going to seek the Savior, thinking the prophecy was wrong.
In the end, the Elven Queen overruled all objections and helped her and Aegis make the crossing.
Now she and Aegis had returned with so many fruits of their aid, yet Queen Lyutillis remained indifferent and unmoved.
Every elf they'd sent to aid the Savior so far was exceptionally beautiful, like this batch's Seras and Celestine, both possessing a beauty capable of driving people mad and toppling nations.
But no matter how many or how good they were, none could show the elves' sincerity as well as Queen Lyutillis herself could.
Given the Savior's feelings for them, he certainly wouldn't abandon them, but who knew if other factions might win the Savior's favor more than they could?
If it were human financial conglomerates like the Nanatsukusa or Yotsuba families, that was fine, with Kaede, Suzu, Tsubaki, and Komachi around, no human faction could outdo them.
But what about the human kingdoms of this world?
There were many human kingdoms, and plenty of beautiful girls too. If they encountered a human kingdom desperate enough to offer their entire kingdom to the Savior, all the advantages they'd built up so far could be wiped out in an instant.
The Savior could only aid a limited number of people on a regular basis. Only the prettiest few could truly reach his side.
Unless they were lucky enough to catch the Savior's eye on a whim, anyone not beautiful enough wasn't qualified to serve the Savior.
The elven race's advantage, that every elf was a beautiful girl, wasn't even usable...
You could say that while the elves seemed to have all the advantages, they were actually in a precarious position, easily overtaken by human forces and other demi-human races.
Otherwise, why would she have gone to so much effort, bringing so many stunningly beautiful elven girls to serve the Savior, and still specifically return to ask the Elven Queen to come in person?
Just the Dragon Lord Urusla was enough of a headache, constantly stirring up trouble trying to topple the elves' leading position, though Urusla never wanted to return to this world and preferred to stay over there playing around, so all her scheming was somewhat playful in nature.
This time, Urusla had come back to this world with her, and would probably get serious and seek aid from other dragons.
"Aegis, say no more. I have my own plans. Go back and prepare now, make sure everything is in order. Once Sylpha and the others return, I'll see you off."
Seeing Aegis about to speak again, Elven Queen Lyutillis didn't wait for her to say anything and directly told them to leave.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Aegis was helpless inside and could only withdraw with Celestine and Seras.
Lyutillis had better come around on her own... don't make her resort to violence.
As a peace-loving elven princess, she didn't want to be violent.
But if it really came down to it, she and Aegis could just tie up the Elven Queen and deliver her to the Savior.
The Elven Queen's strength wasn't weak, but with her and Aegis's current power, the Elven Queen probably couldn't handle them, especially two against one.
If they were polite, she was the Elven Queen. If not, she was the Elven Fury.
Making the Elven Queen play master-slave games with the Savior wouldn't be a bad choice either.
It was all for the sake of the elves. She was sure Her Majesty would understand.
Gazing at the closed door for a long while, Lyutillis finally looked down at the teacup on the table.
There was still a bit of liquid left in the bottom of the cup, not yet dried. Her jade-white finger lightly traced across it, gathering a single droplet on her fingertip.
Lyutillis parted her cherry lips slightly, her pink tongue curling around it, then slowly closed her eyes, quietly savoring the lingering aftertaste on her tongue.
The prophecy hadn't been wrong. Aegis had indeed found a way to save the elves in that world.
The abilities the Savior displayed also far exceeded their expectations, which was why she continued to support Aegis. They truly needed to protect their elven Savior.
But... a race as numerous as the elves, how could they rely on just the Savior alone?
Aegis and her companions had already grown strong enough to protect the elves, and there were many outstanding elves willing to become aid targets for the Savior.
So what difference would it make whether she went to receive the Savior's aid or not?
After all, compared to the long-lived elves, human lifespans were extremely short. If one day the Savior no longer favored their elven race, wouldn't the elves decline again?
What she truly wanted was to fill the dried-up Elven Spring once more, and make the withered Elven Mother Tree bloom again.
Only then could their elven race become great again.
'Mmm... the black tea specialty Aegis brought back is really quite good...'
'Perhaps I can secretly visit the Savior's world with royal guards...'
Though she didn't necessarily have to serve the Savior, she could at least observe how Aegis and the others got along with him.
———
[In the Same World, Somewhere in an Underground City Ruin]
A rumbling echoed from beneath the ruins, along with dragon roars, and the ground trembled incessantly.
The monsters that had been in the ruins fled in panic from the exit.
After they desperately escaped the underground ruins, the city could no longer withstand the tremors below. The ground collapsed, and the entire ruin crumbled.
Immediately after, two massive dragons burst out from the rubble and debris.
They flapped their wings to shake off the broken stones as they clawed, tail-whipped, and bit at each other.
Neither dragon used magic, just close-quarters brawling. They fought from the desert where the underground ruins lay to the plains, then to the mountains, leaving a trail of devastation everywhere.
Still, though the fight looked back-and-forth, one side was covered in wounds while the other was thick-skinned and largely unharmed.
The bulkier dragon, whose scales were pitch-black and dark red, let out roars full of frustration and agitation, while the slightly smaller dragon seemed far more excited.
After less than two hours of fighting, the losing crimson-black dragon suddenly recoiled.
"Enough! Enough! I surrender!"
"Urusla, you bastard! You've gotten so strong! And you hit so hard! With injuries this bad, how long will it take me to recover?"
The larger crimson-black dragon touched her nearly broken dark-red horn, her swollen and bloodied eyes, and her aching tail, chest, and rear, wincing in pain.
At the start, she'd said she'd go easy on her, but she hadn't held back at all.
Even with healing magic, these injuries would take a long time to recover from. She almost wanted to start another fight with Urusla.
But she only thought about it, two hours had nearly beaten her to death. Another round and she didn't know how many years she'd need to heal.
"If you'd said that earlier, this wouldn't have happened. Here, I came prepared. Drink this, you should feel much better."
Seeing her opponent surrender, the smaller dragon transformed into Urusla, white-haired, red-eyed dragon with horns atop her head.
She pulled out four pouches of strategic reserves and tossed two toward the crimson-black dragon, then opened the other two for herself.
After returning to this world, she'd gone to find her kin, just like Aegis.
The crimson-black dragon before her was the magic dragon Wridra, possessing deep wisdom and a strong interest in entertainment and foreign cultures.
Though Wridra had a different personality from hers, she also liked human alcohol, food, and such. Urusla figured she'd enjoy the modern world over there.
However, dragons and elves handled things a bit differently.
Though she was asking Wridra to come serve Hachiman with her, Urusla didn't negotiate much, she simply laid out her requests and conditions, then started fighting. The loser had to obey the winner.
Over in that world, she'd been domineering even toward dragons with declining bloodlines, canceling engagements with betrothed dragons whenever she felt like it. In this world, as the Dragon Lord, she'd be even less lenient with her kin. If they didn't listen, she'd beat them until they did.
"What's this? Elven Spring water? Mm..."
The crimson-black dragon raised her claw to catch the pouches Urusla threw, squinting at the tiny bag, practically a toothpick compared to her size, bit it open, tilted her head back and gulped it down, then smacked her lips involuntarily.
"I drank from the Elven Spring before it dried up. It didn't taste like this. But the effect seems even stronger than the Elven Spring's water..."
"Urusla, give me two more pouches. I didn't quite catch the flavor."
"Don't play dumb, Wridra. I did the hitting, I know exactly how well you're healing."
Seeing Wridra still wanted more, Urusla rolled her eyes. Instead of explaining what the post-fight supplement was, she just pulled out one more pouch and tossed it over.
"This is the last one. I'm not giving you any more after this. And the supply is so scarce, can't you just turn into human form before drinking?"
If she actually explained it, she'd end up fighting Wridra again.
Though she wasn't the one getting beaten this time, this was still the first time she'd fought so freely after her rapid power increase. She was also afraid of accidentally going too far and killing Wridra, that would be a huge loss if she couldn't be saved.
Anyway, once they got to Hachiman's place, Wridra would find out everything. She couldn't be bothered explaining so much.
It wasn't like she was hurting Wridra. If Wridra said anything ungrateful, she'd make her pay back double.
Don't be fooled by the small number of pouches, she wasn't some blonde elven princess. These few pouches already accounted for over half of what she'd managed to get from the Service Club before coming back.
Normally, this stuff was both delicious and strength-enhancing, and once it hit your tongue, hardly anyone could hold back from swallowing.
Yotsuya Miko, who'd sat on Hachiman and wet herself from a ghost scare, could be counted as an exception, but she wanted to wear it on her body.
In the Service Club, most of the strategic reserves were collected on the spot from what landed on faces or bodies during service games. Only a tiny portion was prepared in advance as prizes for service games.
Though the Service Club had many small groups, most of them didn't even think to stockpile, and had no reserves at all.
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