Chapter 609 – Machine Assimilation and Leaving the Nest

000

Smart. When there was a knock on the door, Kanon, who had been sleeping in a cold sweat, opened his eyes and lifted his upper body.

“Haaaaah!?”

Released from the nightmare she was having while screaming, she glanced around her.

A cluttered room, piled trash. And a decrepit, outdated house made of wood, and a window frame without glass.

It really didn’t take long before he remembered that this place he missed so much, and that he was so sick of, was his home.

“…Dream…?”

And naturally, I will put that word in my mouth.

Obviously, a little while ago.

Recalling that she was forced to come out about her secret hobbies that she could not tell anyone about, and the shame came to her right before her death, and the situation in which her head was almost done-

The cold sweat on his back said that the experience was not a mere illusion.

“What, what~ is it a dream… Everything, I’m glad…”

“Ha,” He sighed, wiping the sweat from his forehead beneath his long bangs with the back of his hand—

Once again, there was a ‘smart’ knock on the door.

“Canon! How long are you going to sleep! I told you this year is our house’s tribute day!”

“Hee!”

At the sound of a woman’s voice from outside, Kanon screamed while cringing like an owl that terrified her whole body.

But before long, Kanon remembered the owner of the voice and cautiously got up from his seat and went closer to the door to open it.

Then there stood—a woman with the same hair color as her own, long ears like her own, but unlike her own, dressed in a white cloth that exposed most of her flesh.

“I really didn’t think I was sleeping all this time… I didn’t even change my clothes… Besides… The smell! When did you take a bath?”

As she frowned and grabbed her nose at her words, Kanon seemed to choke her a bit, but then called her name.

“Ka, Kanan, uh, sister…”

Really, really Kanan was a little speechless at her face, as if he hadn’t seen him in a thousand years.

It was just one night, I woke up from a nightmare, but why?

“You can’t look at me with those troubled eyes. If you fall in again, the elders will really kick you out of this town. Have you prepared the tribute?”

“Ah, that… Tribute…”

At her sister’s words to urge herself on, Kanan went into her room and picked up the steel-covered book that was on her desk.

Obviously, the reason why she had such a nightmare was because she was late last night preparing her tribute… Huh.

Convincing herself thus, as Kanan moved closer to her waiting door, Kanan twitched his eyebrows and looked at the book she had brought with him.

“Is this a tribute?”

“Yeah… That’s right… If you open it like this…”

While she was saying that, she pressed the button on the cover of the book, and the cover clicked open to reveal the ‘moving children’s book’ hidden inside.

It moves while making the chirping sound of springs, and at the same time as the ‘dragon model’ that pretends to howl toward the sky with all its might while flapping its wings made of steel and wires, it is a mysterious figure in which letters dance automatically. It was a thing.

The dragon moves on top of the book, striking illusions of lightning at the human figures that appear.

Then, the sight of the humans running away in disarray seemed to represent the elves’ past.

“Uh, how are you…? Mmm, cool… This, I made it myself. In particular, a fairy tale in which this dragon exterminates bad people…”

Ehehe, while watching Kanon scratching her head, her older sister looks at the book in silence for a moment, then sighs, saying ‘Haa’.

“Who the hell would give you a piece of a wind-up as a gift to a dragon… You should have gone hunting or picking fruit!”

The object the two of them will pay tribute to today is a small dragon that protects the elven village in the mountains where they live.

She doesn’t ask for much, but she would have been helpless if it hadn’t been for her help, when the elves were abducted by humans years ago.

It was a big deal lately that guys who advocated human supremacy tried to invade these places, but the situation in the elven village they lived in was a bit better.

In any case, at her sister’s pressing words, Kanon lowered her head and looked at the mechanical dragon she was holding in her hand.

“Ha, but I don’t know how to shoot a bow… And, when I try to pick fruits, I always pick only those that are underripe or not…”

“You have to practice the bow, and you just have to try to listen to the voice of nature with the fruit… Ha ha. I don’t know? Even if the dragon gets angry after giving it as a gift. I might turn you into a whole roast.”

It was Kanan who pretended to be like a dragon to scare her, but at her words Kanon lowered his head as if he was even more depressed.

“Mi, sorry… Me, if that happens, bury me in a sunny place…”

“W-what are you talking about! Just kidding, kidding! I’ll explain it well, so don’t be so scared, huh?”

Of course, since Kanan was talking about her social inadequacy and her elf sister, she didn’t really despise or scare her.

However–she also vaguely thought that she couldn’t live like this forever, so she just wanted to be able to stand on her own as an ‘one elf’ as soon as possible.

And the first step as such an elf is, after all, to pay tribute and be recognized by the dragon.

The cycle of giving tribute by a family of only two people comes around every 20 years.

It was already the third time that Kanon had participated in the custom of paying tribute to a dragon, which doubled as a kind of coming-of-age ceremony.

The first time, he failed because he failed to prepare a proper offering in time, so he tried to offer a roughly made crown of flowers and broke it.

The second time, they said they would offer meat, but it failed because they tried to offer grilled meat instead of raw meat.

And even though this is the third time, she finally sees her sister for not preparing a proper offering, and Kanan can’t help but sigh.

“I can’t help it… Today, let’s offer the offering I prepared because I said I prepared it together.”

“Uh, sister… The best…”

While saying that, when Kanan tries to hug her, she pushes Kanon away while talking.

“Hey, take a bath first! You can’t go in front of Dragon-sama like that! Change your clothes too!”

“Ah, uh, yes…!”

Nodding her head hurriedly at her sister’s words, dropping her body, she returned the mechanical dragon she had made to her desk and, as her sister had said, to wipe off the dirt on her body. It was on her way to the bathroom.

001

After washing away the things accumulated on her body in warm water, changing into her neat clothes, and fixing her bangs up using the tiara given to her by her sister.

Her topaz-like golden eyes are revealed.

Although she herself was darker than her sister in her hair color, her aura was dull, and she was not as confident in her body style as her sister.

As for the color of her eyes, the fact that she was the same as her was the only thing Kanon could be proud of.

“There, take the fruit basket.”

“Ah, yes…!”

Saying so, Kanan had already finished her treatment and lifted up a huge wild boar that was perfect for offering with her magic.

And Kanon, who walked in front of her, followed her, and Kanon naturally met the wild boar’s open eyes and gaze.

She asked Kanan with a slightly frightened expression.

“This… Did you catch it alone?”

“Huh? Ah, yes that’s right It was a little weak, so I was able to catch it easily, so I was lucky. Since he was a guy with quite a lot of mana, he might have become a witch if he left it as is.”

When Kanan says that, Kanon says “Ohh…” And admires her older sister’s skills.

Her older sister Kanan was a master of bows that would make her second best even in this village.

She possessed such skill with a bow that there was no answer to shooting one hundred and one hundred shots, and even with a wooden bow, she was able to accurately hit her prey in the eye at a distance that would be invisible unless a telescope was used. .

An older sister like that, Kanon is so proud of…

“…Look over there…”

“Ah. Is it Kanan-sama’s younger sister… That… I haven’t seen her in years, but she’s completely different from her older sister…”

Then, a muffled sound came from around.

Hearing the voices of the villagers talking as if they were to be heard, Kanon lowered his head and tightened his grip on the handle of the fruit basket.

“…Canon.”

And to such Kanon, Kanan spoke cautiously.

“Don’t be intimidated by the evaluation of the people around you. Straighten your back confidently and look forward. Understand?”

“…Huh…”

At her sister’s words, Kanon managed to straighten his back somehow, but he still couldn’t lift his head.

If you look ahead, you can easily imagine what kind of eyes the villagers who naturally enter are looking at you.

In response to her sister’s behavior, Kanan let out a small sigh, but did not force her to raise her head.

And the place we arrived at was a huge altar in the village.

The elders, who had already completed preparations for the offering ceremony, let out a sigh of relief when they confirmed the arrival of the sisters.

“You have prepared a proper tribute this time. Canon.”

When the most grown-up female elf said that, Kanon silently nodded her head.

She was the leader of the elders, the elders of this village, a woman called the supreme elder, and an elf who also served as the village chief.

It looked like a woman in her late 30s.

And at the same time, she was also the mother of Kanon and Kanan’s sister.

After becoming the highest elder, she escaped the frame of her family and lived as a village leader, away from her sisters, so the relationship between them, which had faded over hundreds of years, was on the verge of disappearing.

Confirming that both of them have arrived, she turns her head to Kanan, meets her eyes, and nods her head.

“Then, I will inform the dragon that the offering is ready. Both of you, put the offering you brought on the altar.”

Following the supreme elder’s instructions, Kanan placed the wild boar that Kanon had magically lifted first onto the altar, and she then placed the fruit basket Kanon had next to it.

Kanon, who was worried that he would hear something else, let out a sigh of relief when the elders didn’t say anything until the moment he put the basket down.

“I’m glad I didn’t do anything stupid. Next time, prepare yourself.”

“Aww…”

However, at the unforgiving word that came right after that, he groaned as if he was despondent, stepped back as if he would fall off the altar, and stood behind his sister as if to hide.

Tzu-tzu… The elder, who clicked his tongue, instructs the other elders standing next to them to light a small beacon placed next to the altar.

Hwareuk! The moment the fire was lit, black smoke began to rise rapidly toward the sky.

When both Kanan and Kanon stood in front of the altar with nervous expressions, the moment the smoke reached the clouds in the sky-

Flash! The moment after thinking that an intense light had covered her eyes, she was standing in front of them.

A figure in the form of a young girl elf with long silver hair.

However, on her cheeks and the back of her hands, something like the scales of a lizard was exposed, and on her head, she had horns that stretched out straight, and large wings growing from her back.

And the silver tail, which was long enough to touch the ground, said that she was neither a ‘human’ nor an ‘elf’.

One beat slower than her appearance, a ‘rumble thump…’, And a low rumble of thunder breaks out-

The elder and Kanan, who were there at the same time, got down on one knee and bowed their heads.

Kanon, too, looked at the other people like that and hurriedly lowered her knees and head, and the girl who appeared slowly opened her eyes.

The vertically slit pupils looked around at the elves gathered there with intense eyes.

“Raise your head.”

It was her little girl’s voice, but when she said that in her dignified tone more than anyone else, her elves in her place raised her head at the same time and looked up at her.

“This year’s tribute. I remember you. ‘Kanan’. Yes? In this town, the kid who handles the bow the best.”

“…Go, thank you. Dragon.”

In response to the fact that she had remembered her name, Kanan stuttered her words, as if she was a little nervous.

And Kanon, who also thinks that her sister is great, just wants this time to pass quietly and without incident.

Anyway, thinking that the elders and the dragon’s attention would be towards her sister, she blankly stared at the dragon-

Her gaze turned and turned toward herself.

“And- Kanon. Also about you. Obviously, 40 years ago I was going to offer a coffin made of flowers… And 20 years ago I was going to offer you grilled meat.”

“Ah, ah…”

In response to her words digging into the past she wanted to forget, Kanon responded with a strange sound after receiving mental damage.

“Canon…!”

When her older sister stopped making small noises, as if to bring her back to her senses, Kanon lowered her head as she regained consciousness with a ‘hot’ sound.

“Sorry, sorry! Rice, a trivial tribute to make the Dragon-sama feel good!”

“Why are you apologizing? I just remember that your tribute is unique compared to other elves.”

“…”

When the awkward air flows between them, enough to hear the elders gasping, the dragon places his hand on the offerings the two have brought.

“…A wild boar that has grown to the point of becoming a monster. This guy’s soul will return to the flow of the spirit vein and be reborn with new possibilities. And- these fruits, too, are in very good condition. This tribute, obviously accepted. Our contract has been renewed here.”

At the words of the dragon who declared accepting the offerings of the elves, the elves let out a sigh of relief.

“However-“

But then. Her voice of her dragon opening her mouth as if to bring out something of hers that she had forgotten, her elves looked at her nervously once more.

Then, she said this to Kanon once again.

“This time, you prepared an ordinary offering.”

“Ah- that, that, that, that-“

Kanon, who was very agitated and began to stutter, had an expression that he did not know how to explain as his breath was choked.

Seeing that, the dragon tilted its head, and Kanan himself placed his hand on her chest and took the place of her sister.

“That, that. I thought the offerings so far were too disrespectful to the Dragon-sama… This time, my sister and I worked hard to prepare a proper offering.”

“…Is it. If that’s the case, I won’t care.”

‘…What?’

Somewhere, Kanon did not miss that brief moment of the dragon showing a slightly disappointed expression.

Even after she shut her mouth for a moment, she jumped up from her seat as if she had made up her mind on something.

“Canon…? What’s going on? Since Dragon-sama is still here, sit down—”

If the highest elder said so, Kanon would say this to the dragon.

“—I’m sorry, Dragon-sama. Actually, me. I have prepared another offering.”

“Canon!?”

When Kanan raised his voice in embarrassment at his sister’s words, the dragon shut his mouth for a moment while watching Kanon.

“…Well, I’ll go and get it right away! Please wait here for a moment!”

Then he turned around and saw Kanon running from the altar to his house, while the dragons and elves just watched.

002

After a while, the appearance of Kanon who returned in front of the altar was unreasonable.

His white clothes were soiled with dirt because he had fallen while running with all his might after a long time.

Perhaps it had fallen then, his tiara came off, and his bangs came down to cover his face.

Besides, the situation where his knee was cut and even blood was flowing out.

Even so, as much as the book he was holding in his hand, he said that he would absolutely protect it, and returned with his arms tightly held.

Seeing that, the elders lament as one, but the dragon watches her approach without saying anything.

“Is this the offering you originally prepared?”

“Yes…”

For some reason, my body moved on its own, and I ended up throwing it away like this.

If you think about it, maybe you’re doing something absurd right now.

While thinking that, the moment she pressed the button on her cover.

Click! The book opens with the sound of a boom, and the mechanical dragon hidden inside appears once again, roaring with a ‘click click’ sound.

And as the letters of the fairy tale flow, again, the contents of the book unfold before your eyes.

“…!”

Kanon didn’t miss the dragon’s eyes that saw it twinkled for a moment.

“Canon!”

However, the supreme elder approached as if to intimidate Kanon’s conduct.

She looked at Kanon, then raised her hand and slapped Kanon on the cheek.

“It is a great sin for an elf to secretly bring a mechanical device into the village, but to offer it to the dragon! What are you thinking!”

“Ahhh. That, sin, sorry, sorry, I…”

Kanon repeated the words of apology with a blank face, unable to even put his hand on his cheek.

When the dragon saw the two of them, his sparkling eyes went cold again.

“Sorry, Dragon. We will destroy this tribute… And punish Kanon accordingly.”

“For a moment.”

And the dragon stopped the supreme elder from continuing to speak as if making excuses.

She looked back at the Supreme Elder and Kanan for a moment, then opened her mouth to talk.

“I made a contract to protect you, but I did not become your leader. It would be right for you guys to live by the laws you have established.”

“…”

Then she reached out her hand and caressed Kanon’s swollen red cheek.

A weak healing magic flows out and heals the cheek, erasing the pain.

“I have never decided ‘what’ the tribute to be paid to me. If you guys receive my protection, I just told you to pay for it.”

“However- such a mechanical device would be worthy of its price-“

When the supreme elder said so, the dragon turned to her and spoke.

“Just as I am not your leader, you cannot judge me by your standards. Who said you only get fruit and game? Have I ever said that mechanical devices are impossible?”

“…”

At the dragon’s words, the elder elf could see that the blood was draining from his expression.

Her voice was clearly angry.

But then, after she sighed, the dragon looked at her canon once more and accepted the book she was holding.

“I will accept this tribute. You’ve done a great job, Kanon. Especially this story… It’s about when I defeated the humans to protect you guys. You have a talent for creating sentences.”

“——! Go, thank you…!”

“When you do what you really want to do. You mortals are so shiny.”

For the first time, when Kanon, being praised for what he has created, cries with emotion, the dragon takes a step or two back with his book in his hand.

At the same time, thinking that her body was enveloped in a strong light, before she knew it, a beautiful dragon shining in silver was reflected there.

She received a boar as a tribute, a basket of fruit, and— sure. It was to lift the book of Kanon up with magic.

“My relationship with you will continue into the future. As long as you guys don’t walk the ‘wrong path’.]

After that, she flapped her huge wings and rose into the sky.

And- it was flying far away, beyond the sky.

“…”

Kanon, Kanan, and the elves looked up at the sky as they silently watched the departing dragon.

“Canon.”

At that time, when Kanon said “Hmm?” To the voice of the highest elder calling her name, and turned to her, there was the highest elder talking to her as if she had made up her mind about something.

“You are an outcast in our village.”

“To?”

003

“Huh!?”

Suddenly, Kanon’s body rose from the floor again.
In the dark surroundings, wearing familiar and smelly sweatshirts.

And Cleon and Leila on either side of her, looking at her with her worried eyes.

“Uh, uh… I was kicked out of my hometown…”

“What is he talking about again? The shock to the head is still…”

Lyla thought Kanon was talking nonsense, so she put her hand on her forehead.

“Oh, no… Gwa, it’s okay. After all, it must have been a dream…”

But as if Lila’s words had calmed her down, she shook her head and pulled herself up.

“When I fell, I fell quite loudly… Didn’t I hit my head somewhere?”

“I’m really fine… Rather, I remembered the past I had forgotten… To be precise, the past I wanted to forget…”

Responding to Cleon’s concern about her, she scratched her cheek as if it was a little embarrassing.

Okay.

Then she was eventually ordered exiled for bringing into the village an item forbidden by the elders herself.

To be honest, when she first heard about it, she was so dizzy that she passed out on the spot.

The story behind it is that even though her sister Kanan desperately defended herself, the will of the elders and high-ranking elves did not break.

In fact, even that was unavoidable, since the war between elves and dwarves hadn’t ended 500 years ago.

To the older elves, who still had feelings for the dwarves who used mechanical civilization to massacre their compatriots, Kanon was an incomprehensible heretic in the village itself.

—But maybe Kanon, if you think about it now.

Chief Elder – Her mother may have thought that as long as Kanon was in the elven village, he would not be able to use his talents properly.

That you will never live a happy life doing what you really want to do and making what you really want to make.

To the end – though it’s a poor self-interpretation.

Somewhere, along with a feeling of lightness, my heart becomes lighter –

“Hey – if Kanon happened, can I play the video again now?”

“Ah.”

And when Artis said that, Kanon turned his head toward the screen with a giggling sound.

There, the video of Raksha and Nayuta that Artis was playing earlier was like that.

“—Keew.”

“No! I can’t fall asleep now!”

“Artis! Turn to another video! Hurry!”

While Lyla and Cleon were desperately blocking Kanon, Artis had no choice but to switch the screen to find another video.

004

“Looking at it, I mean. Letty.”

Thanks to her help, Ruti finished her work faster than she thought. While enjoying tea lightly, she looked at the book she was reading as if she had suddenly thought of her.

No matter how you look at it, it’s an ordinary novel, but Letios was reading it with a little interest.

“When I was very young, didn’t Letty read me some strange children’s books? A mechanical book…”

“…Ah. There was.”

Rettios lifts her head as if missing her, looking at Luti.

“Now that I think about it, isn’t that a pretty dangerous guy? Rather than dwarves, they are closer to the technology of the primordial world…”

“Maybe. For me, though, it was one of the precious treasures.”

“Okay?”

At her words, Luti hummed and leaned back against her back while blowing her nose.

“I really miss the way Letty showed it in the nest- no matter how much, it won’t be there right now, right? It was already hundreds of years ago.”

“Still there.”

“Eh!?”

When Luti looks back at her as if she was surprised by Rettios’ words, Rettios speaks without changing her expression.

“Still, I have it on display in my treasury. If you want to read it, you can come back to the nest later and read it.”

“Oh, no, that’s it! I’m not that old anymore.”

Luti blushed as if embarrassed and waved her hand at Rettios, but Rettios nodded her head at her sister’s words.

“Is it. Are you old enough to leave the nest?”

“…No, I already left a long time ago?”

As if asking what she was talking about, her Luti made her expression of displeasure, and Letty looked back at her expressionlessly and spoke.

“Not in any real sense.”

“… Are you kidding me?”

“No. It’s just a literal meaning.”

“You’re just kidding!”

Rettios just looks at Luti with her quiet eyes as she screams and squeals.

The corners of her mouth were raised at a subtle angle, as if she was having fun somewhere.