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240 – Experiencing Elven Culture

 

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Translator: SFBaka

Editor: Thor’s Stone

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There weren’t any wild brothers-in-law suddenly demanding a duel so far, and we smoothly proceeded to enjoy our tour of an elven village, which was actually a tourist facility built near the Theta Integrated Port Facility.

We first went to our lodging, which was a large one-story inn with an atmosphere similar to that of those well-established traditional Japanese inns I’ve seen on TV. There was probably a more appropriate description for it, but I had no idea about those sorts of things. I didn’t really like traveling around after all. Since I wasn’t interested, I didn’t bother to check up on anything related to travel. And most of all, I was a fully devoted gamer.

“It’s a really wonderful place.”

“That’s right. It sure calms you down, doesn’t it?”

“It’s got a unique charm or something.”

“It’s that aesthetics of transience[1] thing, right, big sis?”

“The service quality is not bad either.”

The ladies seem to be really digging the traditional inn-style accommodation. It looks like they also had natural hot springs welling up in the area, so the inn was also equipped with both indoor and open-air baths. Our room itself was even furnished with a moderately sized open-air bath. The largest baths were, of course, separated by gender, but we can freely use the bath outside our room instead. I’m really looking forward to tonight.

After leaving most of our things in our room, we proceeded with touring around the nearby facilities.

“What kind of tourist facilities are available?”

“Let’s see. There’s an archeological and historical museum that showcases the culture of the elves and products found on Theta, an art gallery that displays various elven art pieces, and a natural museum that displays the flora and fauna of Theta.”

The female elven guide from the Rose clan, Lilium-san, introduced each of the facilities to us. Fumu. They all sound pretty interesting. But among the three, I was most interested in the natural museum.

“I’m curious about the museums.”

“I’ll be fine with anything.”

“I’m interested in the art gallery.”

“I’ll be okay with anything as well.”

In situations like this, Mei always refrains from voicing her opinion. Well, it was probably because maidroids found it proper to leave the decision to their masters in times like these or something like that.

“Where can we buy souvenirs by the way?”

“You can buy elven handicrafts at the art gallery. You can also buy souvenirs at the archeological and natural museums. However, each museum is administered by a different elven clan, and you can taste each clan’s local specialties exclusively at the museum they are managing.”

“I see. In that case, we can head to the archeological museum first and have a meal there and then proceed to the art gallery, and if we still have time afterward, we can go to the natural museum as well. How about it?”

My proposal was unanimously accepted, and it was decided that we would head to the archeological museum first. It was about time for lunch too, so it was perfect.

“You’ll be coming with us too huh.”

“Yes. I and Hiishi were given the task of guiding you by the clan leaders, so we will accompany you during your tour.”

Lilium-san replied while displaying a graceful smile.

Hiishi was the name of the young elven male who served as our bus driver. He was from the Minfa clan like Nect who I saved from that pirate ship and was a quiet and taciturn person. Even so, he does his job quite well, so I guess there’s no problem. Well, he’d be on standby in the bus and won’t be joining us inside the museums later anyway.

“You may not think much of it Hiro-sama, but we really are thankful to you for rescuing our people and bringing those pirates to justice. On top of killing a lot of our people, the pirates also burned down the forest. The ritual hall was also partially destroyed and even the sacred tree was damaged in the attack. It’s only natural for us to give our utmost gratitude to our benefactors who avenged both our people and the sacred tree.”

“I see.”

Although I wasn’t familiar with the ritual hall and the sacred tree she mentioned, they were probably places of great religious significance to the elves or even objects of worship. So during the raid, the pirates damaged them and incurred the wrath of the elves.

Even so, for us, we merely rescued captives from a pirate ship we coincidentally encountered on a whim. That’s why it felt kinda awkward to be the target of such adoration like this.

As I kept thinking about such things, we finally managed to arrive at the archeological museum. The contents of the exhibition were pretty interesting but not particularly noteworthy. The exhibits are comprised of dioramas depicting how the Thetan elves lived their lives since ancient times, what tools they used, and what changed due to the arrival of the empire.

“It looks like the lifestyle of the Thetan elves hasn’t changed very much even after being annexed by the empire huh.”

“It seems like it. Though it looks like things such as advanced medical care and other technologies were introduced.”

It seems they actively incorporated medical and infrastructure technology in some areas, but the traditional lifestyle of residing in the forests and worshipping the spirits while subsisting on hunting and farming was largely unchanged.

“Hmm. Their hunting techniques using bows and knives also seem kinda primitive.”

“They also use traps to hunt their prey, but…… yeah, it does seem kinda primitive huh sis.”

Don’t you dare make the mistake of calling them savages okay, Whisker.

“For elves, hunting isn’t about exterminating harmful animals. It’s more about challenging their limits within the forests they worship and a sacred act of partaking in its blessings. Don’t you think using modern weapons and autonomous drones or combat robots would be boorish when you look at it from that aspect?”

“Yeah, I guess. But it’s still a bit hard to understand for us. Isn’t it more efficient to use that stuff instead of bows and knives?”

“It’s not really about being efficient, I’m sure. Uh, let’s see. It’s kinda like the sense of romance and adventure you feel when you restore and fully tune a classic machine so it would be comparable to the latest models. The elves chose their current lifestyle today due to a sense of passion similar to that, I think.”

“I see. I kinda get it a little now.”

It looks like the dwarven sisters were finally convinced by my explanation. The dwarves generally have a great fondness for anything new and cutting edge. It seems their race in general accepts new things easily, and loved making and developing better and better stuff, so they would find it difficult to understand the elven mentality of valuing tradition and all the perceived inefficiency coupled with it.

“Hiro-sama, it looks like we can try shooting traditional elven bows over there.”

“Hee, bows huh. I haven’t tried shooting stuff with a bow and arrow yet.”

I remember one being displayed in the lodge we stayed at when we visited that resort planet a while back, but I never even touched it. It looks a bit interesting, so why not try it?

“If you really want to try it, then you’re going to have to wear a breastplate, Mimi. It hurts when you accidentally hit your chest with the string after all.”

“Let’s try it together, Elma-san.”

“We’re gonna try it too!”

Everyone gathered at the bow and arrow experience corner and proceeded to play with the bows and arrows. The arrowheads were made of something resembling rolled-up cloth so it had almost no killing power, but they will still be dangerous when fired directly at a person, so it wasn’t advisable to just carelessly play around with them. The museum staff member in charge of the bow and arrow experience corner explained and taught us how to safely fire the bows together with Lilium.

“I can’t make it fly straight!”

“This is really difficult.”

“Ah! I missed!”

It seems Mimi, Tina, and Whisker just couldn’t make the arrows hit their targets. I wonder if Mimi’s chest assets really are getting in the way. As for Tina and Whisker, the size of the bows wasn’t compatible with the two’s heights. It would be better if they got bows that were more catered to their small statures.

“Well, it’s not like I have a lot of experience using these myself. So this is how it feels huh.”

Elma, on the other hand, was hitting her target at a reasonable rate. I guess those with modest chests really do have an easier time handling a bow huh.

“You’re very good at this, Hiro-sama.”

“I’m kinda cheating after all.”

Whenever I held my breath, my surroundings would slow down and it would feel like time had also slowed to a crawl. In such a state, I would be able to freely adjust my aim before shooting my arrows, so as a result, my accuracy was very high. It somehow felt similar to how I fired my laser gun. Both this ability to seemingly achieve bullet time whenever I held my breath and my unnaturally high marksmanship skills were things that someone like me should normally be unrelated to, and their origin was a complete mystery.

When I underwent a detailed check-up in the Alein system, I was slapped with a clean bill of health, so I guess there’s no need to be so concerned, but you really can’t help but be curious due to just how weird it all seemed. Then there’s the fact that I apparently don’t have a universal translator implant inside my brain, but so far, I haven’t had any trouble understanding any language I encountered in this dimension.

We shot arrows in the bow and arrow experience corner until we were satisfied and had our lunch in the museum’s cafeteria afterward. We then proceeded to the art gallery. Elven traditional handicrafts huh. I wonder what they’re like. I’m looking forward to seeing them.

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[1] TL Notes: Wabi-sabi – In traditional Japanese aesthetics, wabi-sabi (侘寂) is a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of appreciating beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete” in nature. (Source: Wikipedia)

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