After a brief silence in the shop, Shulim slowly raised her head. “...Um, is the ‘World Tree’ some kind of new plant species?”
“Oh my~, playing dumb won't work~! There's only one tree in the world that can be called the World Tree, right~?”
...No, no, no, no! That's not right! It's precisely because I know what the World Tree is that this feels so weird!? Why would you even have that! Is that kind of thing something you can just casually use to brew tea? How on earth did you get it! Ah, now that I think about it, she did bring out the Hadra Stygian Fish and Dragon's Dream Fruit so easily before—
Could you be some kind of legendary mysterious merchant?
“Haha~, sorry, sorry~! Your mind is way too active right now. I can't read you just from your eyes anymore. Why don't you just say it out loud~?”
The elf shopkeeper said quite cheerfully.
“...”
Shulim silently picked up her teacup, took another sip, set it down, and said in a very serious tone, “That’s enough. I came here to pay you back—!”
...
After a long while, she seemed to realize that Shulim was actually getting a little angry.
The elf shopkeeper changed her attitude and apologized to her.
For the sake of the excellent tea, Shulim decided to forgive the other party for teasing her.
“So, come to think of it, though we've talked quite a bit, it seems we haven't introduced ourselves to each other yet, have we?”
The elf shopkeeper said, before introducing herself with a surprisingly solemn look on her face.
“I'll go first. My name is Ilus Emeraldstar Phil, from the elven kingdom of Ravenrim—”
What a strange name. It was just as incomprehensible as Semilis's full name, but that middle name sounded pretty cool. Emeraldstar? Was there actually a star by that name...?
Shulim thought to herself.
Besides, the elven kingdom of Ravenrim she mentioned was one of the strongest nations in the world. Its capital, in particular, was said to be built directly beneath the World Tree and was revered as a holy city.
“Even though I'm running a potion shop here now, I used to love traveling. I've been to many places in Shimulir and witnessed lots of interesting things. If you honestly tell me what you did at the docks, I can share some of those stories with you~!”
Ilus said, attempting to entice Shulim.
Not interested. I won't fall for that.
After grumbling inwardly, Shulim introduced herself as well.
“My background is nothing compared to yours. It's very ordinary—I'm just the youngest daughter of a regular country noble family in the empire.”
“Ah, an ordinary country noble, is it—?”
Ilus said in a deadpan voice, looking as if she had some objections to the phrase "country noble."
“What's with that tone? You don't believe me?”
“No, no, no! Um... anyway, please continue?”
Shulim gave Ilus a dissatisfied look before continuing. “My name is Shulim Hayeral. I've just recently entered Manacos—”
“Wait a moment—!”
Ilus suddenly cut Shulim off.
“What is it?”
Shulim looked at her in confusion.
“You...” Ilus stared intently at Shulim. “...What did you say your name was?”
“?”
“Shulim Hayeral? Is there a problem with my name?”
Ilus did not answer immediately. Instead, she sized Shulim up from head to toe before asking, “—Who is Orubet Hayeral to you?”
...
...An unexpected name, spoken in an entirely unexpected place, from the mouth of someone she would never have anticipated.
“...He is my ancestor.”
“As expected! Indeed...”
Ilus nodded to herself as if she had suddenly figured something out.
“?”
What was she talking about? What exactly was "as expected"?
“—As expected, you were talking absolute nonsense just now!”
Shulim: “???”
“When did I ever—”
“Did you not? You're clearly a descendant of the Guardian Knight's family, yet you call yourself a country noble. For me to almost believe you earlier, I was truly being exceptionally foolish~!”
Huh—? No, what was this elf talking about? Their family was indeed as shabby as a noble family could possibly get, with only a few villages as their fief!
“Oh my, look at that face. It practically screams 'what is this person talking about'~!”
Ilus suddenly stood up, leaning her face close to Shulim's as she stared at her with a smile.
“Little sister Shulim, do you really know what your family name represents in the empire~?”
“...What does it represent?”
Meeting Ilus's gaze, Shulim lost some of her confidence, her voice unconsciously growing a bit softer.
“Hmph~!”
Ilus sat back down.
“Though I don't know what your family has gone through lately, you can walk out this door right now, ask any random resident of the royal capital, and see if they know the name Hayeral~.”
“The name Hayeral, for the Pasara Empire, is an existence placed on the very top row of the Imperial Hall of Heroes~! Do you know how many people are in that top row, and what kind of people they are?”
“...”
Shulim shook her head.
“There are only six of them~! And except for the Hayeral clan, all the others are founding fathers!”
“!”
“For the imperial royal family, the Hayeral surname is something they must learn about from a young age. And it's not just the royal family—any noble, or even common resident active in Langard, knows of this name. After all, every large-scale festival and celebration has a segment to commemorate the heroic spirits. It's impossible for people not to know.”
“I don't know why you think of yourself as some country noble, but I must remind you—in Langard, the name Hayeral carries that much significance!”
“...”
“Oh my, what's wrong, Shulim? You look completely dazed. You've been in the royal capital for some time now, right? Don't tell me you haven't visited the Imperial Monument yet? Orubet's statue is in a very prominent spot right up there~!”
...The empire really is vast.
This was what Shulim was feeling right now. She knew of her ancestor's achievements, but the Hayeral family's current decline was also an undeniable fact.
The empire was simply too large. A place like Mente Town had long forgotten who the imperial heroes from three hundred years ago were, which was why it made people feel like this family name had completely faded into obscurity. Collette's arrival had only made Shulim think she was researching her ancestor out of scholarly interest.
However, thinking about it now, there must have been some clues.
More likely, it was because the surname carried extraordinary significance in Langard to begin with, which was why Collette had chosen to research it.
Ah... Speaking of which, could that also be why Delgette invited her to a tea party filled entirely with middle-to-upper-class nobles? The other party probably never even considered her a low-class noble to begin with.
Was this what people meant when they said a prestigious family, even in decline, was still considered a prestigious family among nobles...?
Just as Shulim was still pondering how large the cognitive gap was between herself and the residents of the royal capital, Ilus suddenly spoke up again.
“Alas, that's why the short lifespan of humans can really be a problem sometimes. It's only been three hundred years, and yet the descendants have fallen into such a state. To think he was an S-Class powerhouse, it's truly lamentable!”
Shulim: “..................................................Eh?”
“S... Class?”
“Eh—?”
Ilus was equally stunned.
“...”
“...”
Two pairs of eyes locked onto each other as an awkward silence filled the air.
“Could it be... you didn't know?”
Rate on N.U.
