The Elf Is a Freeloader

─ ─ ─ I was scared.

I've been scared ever since I broke up with a good friend.

There were no humans around me right now who noticed me.

There were no humans who could understand me.

That's why I've been alone all this time in this dark, cold place.

Believe me, one day, a human will show up who knows about me.

And then finally, a human being came right up to me...

"The Lantis Tribute? Is that the name of someone Elle admires?

"Yes, Mr. Yastaka. The Lantis Tribute is an adventurer who is both my longing and my goal."

There are naturally several celebrities in the world where Elle was.

Some of them are unclear whether they are real or fictional, as they appear in Miga.

"Speaking of famous adventurers, no matter what you say, you're Atenza Vitz of 'Dragon Killer' first. This person, as its street name suggests, is a great hero who has exorcised many dragons by himself. Speaking of other heroes, he is famous around here as one of the characters of" King Thunder God "Uyseek Azamild Canoldos or" Warcraftsman "Lyoto Glalan, later" Healing Princess "Arcia Misenal...... I don't know if it ever existed. But after all, it's the Lantis Tribute that's special to me."

"Heh. Is there a reason?

Of course! And Elle grinned.

"The Lantis Tribute is famous as an awesome swordsman as a result of its unparalleled talent and relaxation, but at the same time it is equally powerful as a spiritual user. It is said that in all of the earth, water, fire, wind, illusion, life and thunder, he signed contracts with as many as seven spirits at the same time and was freely in service. By the way, the only person I have a contract with is Pi, the Spirit of Water."

At the end of the day, Elle shows her tongue as she clasps her shoulders.

"One day... I will be a spiritual user who can make covenants with many more spirits. That's my goal as an adventurer."

That was a conversation between Yasushi and Elle in the Akasaki family's living room about a few months ago now.

"We are in the world of El...? Oh, there's such a stupid thing..."

"'Cause otherwise, it can't be!? I can't believe there's such a monster... and my phone doesn't even work!?"

While checking the radio status of his smartphone, Ryu shivers his body remembering the appearance of a skeletal monster he saw earlier.

Aye, too, the fear of the skeleton must have risen. He points the flashlight towards the trail behind him, making sure he doesn't look like it.

"... no, I think it's too early to decide that"

So he shrugged, and Ryu and Aoi looked back at him at the same time.

"Look, look, look."

That's what Yasushi lit up with a flashlight, the trees growing around the mansion in front of him.

"Growing trees are all you've ever seen, aren't they? If this is El's world, there can't be all these trees that are familiar with cucumbers and konaras."

If you ask me, you're right, indeed, the trees that grow around me have always been the ones that are native to Japan.

If this is El's world - a different world - it would be stranger if there were not a few plants that I had never seen.

"So, what the hell was that skeleton earlier or a mansion like the western hall in front of you?

"I don't even know that far. But..."

A flashlight from Yasushi turns to a western-style mansion in front of you.

"I wonder if El is in this mansion."

The two open doors, which appeared to be the entrance to and exit from the mansion illuminated by Yasushi, were left flat open by one of them.

"With that said, what happened to that skeleton?

Yasushi points the light behind the flashlight that was illuminating the door. But that skeleton doesn't show up from there.

"Earlier, that skeleton stayed away from this mansion... you said something like that, didn't you?

If that skeleton is the "guard" of this mansion, it should follow you all this way.

But that skeleton doesn't show up from behind.

"I don't know, you've never crossed without showing up, have you? Than that...... what do we do?

Ryu points to the open door of the mansion in front of him.

Yasushi walked out silently, not answering Ryu's question. Of course, towards the mansion that exists in front of you.

If you have a girlfriend in there.

The choice to turn back here is unlikely to Yasushi. I can't choose.

The exterior of the mansion is a bungalow on the ground floor only. Still quite large compared to typical single-family homes in Japan.

When Yasushi came to the door that was open, he turned his flashlight to see what was going on without stepping inside.

Be careful not to touch doors or walls when doing so.

It is still someone else's house, no matter how suspicious it is. I'm hesitant to go in on my own, and I feel guilty.

For this reason, I decided in my heart to try not to touch anything in the mansion.

That's how I peeked inside, and it looks like it's a small hall right through the front door.

Front and left and right doors are visible from the front door.

"... From what I've seen, it doesn't seem dangerous..."

Around the corner, Yasushi tries to get inside the mansion. At this point, there's nothing like an alarm or an intruder repellent trap activated.

Yasushi slowly enters the back of the entrance hall carefully, as Elle has told me that traps are set in places like this.

Just coming to the center of the hall, Yasushi looks back and instructs Aye and Ryu to go inside as well.

Both of them, like Yasushi, walked into the mansion surprised to avoid touching doors and walls.

"The front door, what do we do? You want me to keep it closed?

"No, let's keep it that way. If we have to get out of this mansion, it's better to keep it open to prevent a little loss of time."

"Huh? If I were you, I'd say a lot of serious stuff, right?

"It's all for sale from El."

There's finally a grin on the faces of the three of us. Too many unexpected things had happened, such as Elle's sudden disappearance, and her encounter with the mysterious skeleton, and the Yasushi had completely lost their room.

That's how we got inside the building, which allowed us to regain just a little extra space.

Of course, there is no guarantee that even inside this mansion is safe. Still, it seemed to you that it was better than being suddenly attacked by monsters in the open air.

"Well... and. What are we gonna do now?

"Find Elle"

"It's nice to look for Elle... from where?

Aye looked around the front hall like trouble.

After consulting the three of us, we decided to explore through the front door first.

"Steady... I didn't know you were going to come and try your liver and do something like an adventurer this way... too bad you don't have a real adventurer, Elle"

"You don't have a choice, do you? I'm doing this to find that El."

Beyond the front door. That was the dining room. The dining room has a long table for a few people in the center, and although the dishes are not lined up, a beautiful pure white cloth is laid on the table with no wrinkles.

Speaking of other things on the table, they are placed with three silver candlesticks and a candle set. Exactly. There was no fire on the candle.

And there's yet another door in the corner of the dining room.

"Probably over here in the kitchen"

That's what Ryu said. Yasushi and Aoi are just like Ryu.

I tried to look inside just in case, and when Yasushi tried to put his hand on the handle of the door, for some reason, the door softly opens without making any noise of its own.

"Again... so was the door when we entered the dining room... no way, there's no such thing as an automatic door, is there?

"Exactly. I don't think so. But it's like someone's watching me. It's creepy."

Ask what's going on around you. Hey. It's not her, but she does seem to be being watched by someone in this, Yasushi also felt.

Still, once we checked across the door, that was the kitchen as expected.

Although the ingredients are not there, it is as if someone had been there until just now, such as a well-organized and cleaned cookware or a well-cleaned piece of dust that has not fallen off.

And the kitchen equipment, such as the bamboo, was so primitive from a modern kitchen that it was still telling the story that this mansion was not of this world - at least not of modern times.

Once back to the entrance hall, Yasushi will now look through the entrance and head to the door on the left.

Beyond the door, which was still opened automatically, a hallway stretched straight out. The walls were lined with about three doors at equal intervals.

I took a peek at one of them, and there are two beds inside, a side table, and a candlestick.

The conditioning in this room is also just as classic from you as from the kitchen.

"This feels more like a guest room than a servant's room."

Says Ryu, who peered inside the room.

"My house is a commoner, so I've never hired a servant, so I'm not sure. In the first place, servants... it's about Ryu's house to have a housekeeper, isn't it?

The Hagano family, the birthplace of Ryu, is known locally as an ancient famous family. I hire a couple of housekeepers to come by, although I don't exactly live there.

"When my great-grandfather was young, he said some people lived in it. Look, my house is a long way from home, right? They say that was where the housekeeper who lived would wake up. Now it's my father's collection room."

Takashi's father, the mayor of Hagano Nikken-shi, who collects Western antiques.

I remember that Yasushi and Aoi were shown only a few times, but all kinds of Western antiques were arranged neatly in the collection room, including archaic swords, western armor and other martial artefacts, daily items such as lamps and dishes, and mysterious objects that had no idea what to use them for.

Then I also looked into the two remaining rooms - the doors still opened automatically - but they were all unmanned rooms of the same construction.

Without any gains, the three return to the entrance hall again.

But the three of them back in the front hall stopped unexpectedly. Because one man stood there loosely.

The man illuminated by the light of a flashlight. Is he in his forties? He's about the same height as Ryu, so he'd be around 180cm. But the physique is a disappointingly broad one, unlike the slim Ryu, which must greatly outweigh the Ryu in weight.

Shortly pruned smoked blonde hair and bi eyes. The deep face of red copper skin and carving is, no matter how you look at it, far removed from the Japanese.

When it comes to what you're wearing, it's like a fantasy-based game or cartoon character, like leather armor that reinforces everything with metal. Besides, on his hips, a sword about a meter across the blade hung in his sheath.

"So who... Huh!?"

Unexpectedly, what words come out of Aye's mouth?

Did you respond accordingly, the man replied?

My name is Lantis. Lantis Tribute, a rare swordsman and spiritual user, a little well-known adventurer.