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Upon hearing Tatsumi’s story, Nana’u, who was sitting next to Barse during a break from work, looked surprised.

“Huh? There are no demi-humans in Tatsumi’s hometown? None at all?”
“W-wait, does that mean there are no elves, dwarves, goblins, or catsiths either? Wow, I can’t believe it…”

Still wearing expressions of surprise, Barse and Nana’u exchanged glances.

“I’m not very familiar with my husband’s hometown either, but I do recall there definitely weren’t any demi-humans there.”

Calcedonia’s knowledge of Japan is extremely limited. All she knows about Japan is Tatsumi, his family, and the immediate surroundings of the house where they lived.

Just then, Eru, who was passing by carrying their ordered dishes, confirmed what Tatsumi and the others had said.

“It might be hard to believe, but it’s true. There are only humans in Tatsumi-san’s hometown.”
“Come to think of it, you also used to live in Tatsumi’s hometown, hostess.”
“Yes. Japan, which is Tatsumi-san’s hometown, has become my hometown as well.”

Watching Eru’s retreating figure as she walked away, Barse recalled something Eru had told him before.

That Eru’s late husband was from the same hometown as Tatsumi. After being caught up in an accident and left with nowhere to go, Eru had been taken in by her husband—who was still just a boy at the time—and he had looked after her in every way.

And that connection led to their marriage. As an elf with a lifespan longer than that of humans, and having never had children, Eru set out on a journey after her husband’s death and opened a tavern in this royal capital a few years ago.

That was the past of Eru that Barse knew.

Barse shifted his gaze from Eru’s back back to Tatsumi and grinned smugly.

“So, Tatsumi, you probably don’t know about the Six Demi Humans either, right?”
“The Six Demi Humans…? U-uh, no, I don’t know about them. Do you know, Calcie?”

When Tatsumi asked Calcedonia, who was sitting next to him, she gave her usual gentle smile.

“Yes. If you’d like, shall I explain?”
“Yeah. Please do.”

Perhaps pleased that Tatsumi was relying on her, Calcedonia cheerfully began her explanation.

.

The Six Demi Humans.

This term refers to the six representative demi human races that have deep connections with the six major lineages of magic.

Dwarves, closely associated with Fire.
Elves, who are closely associated with Water.
Catsiths, allies of Wind
Goblins, considered the servants of Earth
Sprites, the chosen children of Light
Shades, nurtured by Darkness.

Of course, there are many other types of demi-humans besides these, but these six are the most famous races.

Tatsumi recognizes dwarves and elves. However, while the dwarves and elves of this continent look almost identical to those Tatsumi knows, their characteristics differ slightly.

The dwarves Tatsumi knew were associated with earth spirits, but in this world, they are deeply connected to fire spirits.

As a result, one of their defining traits is that they are completely immune to the effects of fire and heat. Leveraging this racial trait, they boast highly advanced skills in blacksmithing and craftsmanship that utilize high temperatures—techniques other races cannot handle. In particular, the production of glass and pottery is a closely guarded secret known only to them.

As for the elves, the elves of this continent live underwater rather than in the forest. Of course, they have no trouble at all coming ashore.

What particularly surprised Tatsumi about the elves’ way of life was that—perhaps because they live mainly underwater—they have no custom of wearing clothes.

That said, when they come ashore and appear before other races, they do, of course, wear clothes in accordance with those races’ customs.

Conversely, when visiting their underwater settlements, it is considered proper etiquette for members of other races to remove their clothes.

Incidentally, Eru is said to be from a clan known as “Water Elves” in his home world. Apparently, however, they cannot live entirely underwater like the elves here.

As for the goblins, Tatsumi had just been surprised by them a moment ago.

They have brown skin, golden eyes, and silver hair. It’s said that these colors come from the blessing of the earth spirits, and they possess advanced farming techniques—apparently, there are even crops that only they can grow.

They’re also known as a race with large families; twins and triplets are commonplace. It’s not uncommon for quintuplets or sextuplets to be born, either.

In fact, Nana’u reportedly has two older sisters, an older brother, three younger sisters, and one younger brother. Of these, the older sister and brother are twins, while Nana’u, her younger sisters, and her younger brother are triplets.

As for the remaining races—the Catsiths, Sprites, and Shades—Tatsumi knows absolutely nothing about them.

According to Calcedonia’s explanation, the Catsiths are a race that appear to be upright-walking cats about one meter tall.

As a racial ability, they possess the power to walk on air. They also prefer to wander from place to place rather than settle in one location. Some sages claim that this custom of theirs is also influenced by the wind spirits.

Sprites are supposedly a small race, standing about 30 to 40 centimeters tall, with dragonfly-like wings on their backs.

The reason for the phrasing supposedly is that Sprites are skilled at creating illusions by manipulating the refraction of light, and they can also render themselves invisible. Using this power of invisibility, they rarely reveal themselves to other races.

They are also known as a mischievous race; they sometimes vanish and approach members of other races to play various pranks on them.

However, since their pranks are all harmless and innocent, members of other races rarely get angry even when they are the targets of such pranks.

Shades, who are closely related to the Dark Spirits, are a race with grayish-brown skin, slender, tall, and supple physiques, and both black hair and black eyes.

However, their most distinctive feature is likely their four eyes and two pairs of arms—four arms in total.

Their four eyes provide excellent vision; not only can they see distant objects, but they can also “see heat”—detecting temperature differences much like a thermograph.

They are also known as exceptional warriors. After all, with four arms, they can simply launch more attacks than members of other races.

In particular, they are said to excel at a fighting style where they wield four weapons with their four arms, slicing through enemies like a whirlwind.

Many of them are calm, composed, and highly principled; it is said they would never break a promise once made.

These six races were the most famous demi-human races on this continent.

.

After listening to Calcedonia’s explanation, Tatsumi exhaled slowly.

He had been so engrossed in what she was saying that he had unconsciously held his breath.

“Huh… So there are that many demi-humans.”
“Yes. Some scholars even claim that demi-humans are the result of humans being influenced by the power of spirits, which led them to split into their respective races.”
“So that means demi-humans and humans are that closely related?”
“Yes. Demi-humans are close neighbors to humans.”

Calcedonia gave a gentle smile.

Just then, as if waiting for the conversation to pause, Eru approached Tatsumi and the others.

“Can I have a moment, Tatsumi-san? Don’t you think it’s about time you accepted a commission as a mabeast hunter?”

At Eru’s words, Tatsumi’s expression grew serious.

He had visited this shop countless times since his first visit, but he had never accepted a commission.

There were various reasons for this, but one major factor was that it was the height of winter, and the number of small mabeasts and wild animals—the kinds typically targeted by novices—was low.

The mabeasts and wild animals active during this season tended to be large specimens, which were beyond the capabilities of a novice.

Another reason was that Tatsumi still hadn’t found the right teammates to form a hunting party with.

After all, it’s more efficient to form a team with a few companions rather than going it alone.

The first person who comes to mind as Tatsumi’s teammate is, of course, Calcedonia.

However, at this point, Calcedonia is several levels above Tatsumi in terms of ability. For that reason, Eru had ruled Calcedonia out as a candidate for Tatsumi’s teammate.

Forming a team with someone of equal skill level. While there’s no explicit rule, it’s one of the unspoken understandings among mabeast hunters.

“You have a job for me… does that mean you’ve found a potential partner for me?”
“No, well… a new recruit who could team up with Tatsumi-san hasn’t shown up yet…”

Eru looked apologetic.

The regulars who frequent this shop are all either already part of a team or work solo. So, they can’t just force Tatsumi into one of them.

That’s because slipping an outsider into an established team could throw off their hunting dynamics.

Occasionally, some hunters look for temporary partners, but among the mabeast hunters who frequent this shop, no one has been seeking temporary partners lately.

As a result, the current situation was that Tatsumi’s teammates were waiting for a new recruit to show up.

“…So, here’s a request that you can take on by yourself, Tatsumi-san”

Saying this, Eru handed him a commission slip.

The commission listed on it was to gather a certain amount of medicinal herbs.

“Gathering medicinal herbs at this time of year is tough, but you should be able to manage it, right, Tatsumi-san?”

Faced with this request, Tatsumi had no choice but to accept.

Even though he hadn’t revealed his specific methods, Tatsumi had already proven that he could gather medicinal herbs in a short amount of time.

“Since the harvest inevitably decreases at this time of year, the reward for this job is actually better than in other seasons. What do you say? Will you take it on?”
“Got it. Should I get started right away?”
“Yes. That would be a big help. Alright, I’ll show you what the herbs look like, just like last time.”

Eru used an illusion spell to show Tatsumi the appearance of several herbs, and Tatsumi photographed them with his phone camera.

“Hey, Tatsumi. What is that?”

Barse, seeing Tatsumi’s cell phone for the first time, asked with a look of curiosity.

“This is… well, it’s a kind of magic-sealing apparatus. I brought it with me when I came here from my hometown.”

It would be impossible to explain a cell phone to Barse, a native of this world. So Tatsumi glossed over it by calling the cell phone a magic-sealing apparatus—a magic item.

“Alright then, Eru-san. I’m going to head home to get ready, and then I’ll go gather some medicinal herbs.”

Tatsumi stood up, said a quick word to Eru, and made to leave the Elf’s Restful Pavilion.

Naturally, Calcedonia silently followed Tatsumi, and Barse, perhaps deciding the time was right, also stood up from his seat.

“See you later, Nana’u. I’m heading back to the temple too—work hard, okay?”
“Okay!! You do your best at work too, Barse!!”

Nana’u flashed an innocent smile and stood up to return to her work.

Barse ruffled Nana’u’s hair a bit roughly.

“Oh, come on. What are you doing? Stop it!”

Even as she complained, a happy smile spread across Nana’s face.

Watching their exchange, Tatsumi and Calcedonia exchanged glances and whispered to each other.

“They have such a nice chemistry.”
“Yes. I’m sure they’ll make a great couple.”

Calcedonia looked up at Tatsumi with a beaming smile, then wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing him close to her ample bosom.

“Say, darling. Let’s make sure we don’t fall behind Barse and her beloved, okay?”
“Ah, uh… Y-you’re right, y-yeah.”

Feeling Chalcedonia’s comforting warmth against his arm, Tatsumi blushed.

Lately, although Calcedonia occasionally caught him off guard, it was still more often that Tatsumi’s heart would race at her straightforward words.

“I wonder if this is just the composure that comes with being older,” Tatsumi mused, gazing off into the distance.

.

Tatsumi, Calcedonia, and Barse had just left the Elf’s Restful Pavilion.

It was a little while after they’d left that a person who appeared to be a first-time visitor showed up at the first-floor tavern, where the regular mabeast hunters were hanging out.

Nana’u, who was attending to customers near the entrance, looked up when she noticed the new guest.

“Welcome! Welcome to the Elf’s Restful Pavilion!! What brings you here today?”

The person who had been addressed looked around the interior of the tavern with curiosity, then tilted their head slightly at Nana’u standing before them and asked.

“────’scuse me dear, I have a quick question. How does one become a mabeast hunter?”