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“One of the staff rooms is open!”
“Now that you mention it, Finis, would you like to stay there?”
“Are you sure?”

It wasn’t necessary, but it was still better for me to stay in a proper place where people around me wouldn’t get some strange ideas. Besides, I still had things I wanted to ask the staff.

I looked around and noticed people with long ears like mine, unusually short individuals, and even some with animal ears. I was curious to learn more about them.

Since there were no races besides humans in the castle, I didn’t know whether different races were oppressed in this kingdom. It was also possible that this was a practice reserved for the upper class and did not concern those at the normal citizen level.

I needed to learn some of this place’s common sense. Although I could probably create an AI assistant if I gathered all of the world’s technology, I didn’t particularly need it.

There were probably things like golems and homunculi that used this kind of technology already. However, I had to admit that I wanted someone to talk to.

Although I’d traveled all this distance alone, not once did I feel lonely. This led to the idea of a slave popping into my head. I could either buy a slave or create a homunculus.

The latter seemed less troublesome, but a slave could offer valuable knowledge about the world. I wasn’t quite sure what to do.

“Finis, Finis?!”
“Ah, yes. Excuse me. I was lost in my thoughts.”
“Do not worry. It was quite sudden for me, too. Please wait until I finish up my receptionist duties, and I’ll show you to your room. I won’t be long.”
“Great. I’ll wait over there.”

After our conversation, I settled into a chair at the edge of the waiting room. The chairs, designed for adults, were a bit too big for me, and my feet dangled above the ground.

I had no choice but to let my legs swing, and for some reason, I started gathering a lot of attention.

◇◇◇

Since I didn’t mind being watched, I let my legs dangle freely. Additionally, since I wore a long skirt, one wouldn’t be able to see underneath no matter how much I kicked my legs.

However, the inside of the skirt wasn’t pitch black, so if I were to climb up a tree and someone from below looked straight up, they’d see what was inside.

Though even if someone did see it, I’d likely just laugh it off and tell them that luck must have smiled upon them.

Around the time the sun had almost completely set and only faint rays could be seen inside the Collegium, the receptionist finished her work. Every person on the staff had a kind of lamp with them to help them see. Although I could see perfectly well in the dark, that was not the case for everyone.

“Hey, I’m done. Are you ready?”
“You speak differently now.”

The receptionist lady who had been assisting me today approached, and I couldn’t help but notice the change in the way she spoke, so I decided to bring it up while we were still on this topic.

She blinked once, a bit surprised, and then chucked.

“Well yeah, work’s over. I’m sorry if I offended you.”
“No worries. I was just surprised, that’s all. Can I ask you a few questions as we walk?”
“Of course. Do you have a lamp, Fini?”
“Don’t worry. I have good night vision. I can easily navigate through a forest at night.”
“I guess that’s not surprising given you’re traveling alone at your age. You must have some special traits to do that.”

As we talked, I was gradually led away from the Collegium.

◇◇◇

The lady’s name was Oliva. Her age was a secret. (It was 23.) And she’d been working as an employee in this village’s Collegium for about three years.

After she introduced herself, I asked her about the demi-humans of this world, but I was met with a strange look.

So I did what any normal person would do and began introducing myself as the 14-year-old Finis, clarifying that I was unfamiliar with this world’s affairs. After that, she normally shared the information with me.

In this world, the races that interacted with people included Forest Fairies, Rock Fairies, Sea Fairies, Sky Fairies, Beastmen, and the Demon Tribe. The Forest Fairies were also known as Elves, the Rock Fairies as Dwarves, the Sea Fairies as Mermaids, and the Sky Fairies as the Winged. All of them looked like what you’d see in fantasy works, so it was quite easy for me to imagine them. For the record, Humans were considered ordinary people.

She also informed me that, when on land, Mermaids would have legs rather than remain in their half-fish form.

It was also possible for them to just stay on land and thrive here, as long as they drank enough water. Which also meant that this species was particularly vulnerable to dehydration.

When it came to the Demons, I was told that their appearance wasn’t drastically different from that of humans. They typically had dark skin and red eyes. However, it wasn’t uncommon to also see a person with dark skin, and some humans even looked a lot like Demons.

However, the difference was that Demons were known for their combative nature and prowess in battle. The leader of the Demons was known as the Demon Lord. The heroes’ primary target.

The Beastmen and Demons were said to have originated from the human race, but the various Fairy Tribes’ origins were a mystery. Additionally, they were also referred to as the Other Races and not demi-humans. They apparently found demi-humans offensive.

Oliva didn’t touch up a lot on each of the species’ characteristics, so I didn’t know many details. After all, it would’ve taken quite some time for her to explain every single detail.

Additionally, it appeared that each kingdom treated each species differently, but she only told me about how things were in this kingdom.

Firstly, the Fraus Kingdom was governed by humans. The upper class, including the royal family, consisted entirely of humans. It was no surprise that there were no other species in the castle.

The Demons were universally seen as malevolent, both by the upper and lower classes.

This view was influenced in part by the fact that the Nigel Kingdom, the demon kingdom located north of Fraus, and the Fraus Kingdom had regularly engaged in combat. However, there was also a little element of the belief that a real Demon Lord had formerly influenced the Demons.

And the Fraus Kingdom, which could summon heroes, despised the Demon Lord.

It was thought that there were no purebred races that were born and raised in the Fraus Kingdom and that the other races only functioned as Adventurers or merchants.

The commoners did not concern themselves much with the different races. However, upon setting foot inside the royal capital, the Other Races would be discriminated against or shunned, creating a sense of distance.

It was akin to how foreigners felt when they came to Japan.

As one climbed the social ladder to the upper class, the disdain for the Other Races would only grow. The Other Races couldn’t, or rather, weren’t allowed to even set foot in the noble district in the royal capital.

And although there weren’t any clear distinctions when it came to human rights, discrimination persisted. Additionally, Other Races made up a significant number of the slaves.

From a non-human perspective, it was fine to interact with the Fraus Kingdom at the basic commoner level, but it remained a place where social advancement was challenging. It wasn’t an ideal place to reside.

However, Oliva also explained that this was the same for the other kingdoms as well. The elves were highly regarded in elf-dominated kingdoms, and similarly, dwarves in dwarf-dominated kingdoms.

It wasn’t that Fraus Kingdom was unique in its treatment of the Other Races. Thus, I realized that concealing my ears until now hadn’t been entirely meaningless, yet it also hadn’t been particularly meaningful.

However, it also meant that hiding them became exceedingly more significant the closer I got to the royal capital. So I was glad I’d gotten this information.