She let out an airy chuckle. “I cannot commune with them as extensively as Lady Elnea can, but they will tell me things like tomorrow’s weather, what plants and nuts we can expect to find in the forest this year, if there are any threats nearby... That sort of thing,” she explained.
As a priestess, it was her job to then relay these pieces of information to the other elves in the village. A bit like a weather forecaster, I thought.
“The mythical beasts and the village’s children often come to spend time with me when I’m sitting here,” she said, petting the air above her lap as if there were a small critter curled up there.
I’d felt eyes on us for a while now, and I was pretty sure it must have been the children who usually came to play with Rorona. They must’ve been hesitating to approach due to Teto’s and my presence.
“On clear nights, the villagers sing and play instruments around the campfire,” Rorona continued. “They are always a pleasure to listen to.”
“Really? What kind of instruments?” I asked.
“Mostly lyres and flutes. Sometimes I join in with my little drum,” she said, this time mimicking the action of beating the drum with her hand.
I could tell by her words and her mannerisms just how much she enjoyed those nights. As far as indoor activities went, the elves liked to play board games. Rorona also participated, although she had to rely on others’ assistance.
When she was done telling us about how she spent her days, she asked what we did in our free time.
“Let’s see... I mostly read books, I suppose,” I replied.
“Books?!” Rorona exclaimed. “I can’t read, so I can’t say I know much about such things, but may I know what kind of books you enjoy reading?”
She seemed really interested in the topic. I took a couple of easy reads out of my magic bag.
“This one is a folktale, and this one is a popular adventure novel called The Legend of the Heroes. We have some time on our hands; would you like for me to read it to you?” I offered.
She nodded excitedly. “Y-Yes, please!”
“All right,” I said, and began to read The Legend of the Heroes to her.
I had already read it several times, so I was more than familiar with the book at this point and could read it smoothly without stumbling. Judging by Rorona’s expression, she seemed to enjoy my reading. My voice resounded through the settlement, and soon the elven children who had been watching us from afar approached us timidly.
“Come listen to Lady Witch’s story, everyone,” Teto said when I took a short break to breathe, beckoning the children over with a sign of the hand.
The children sat on the ground in front of us, looking up at me with expectant eyes, eager to hear the rest of the story. I chuckled inwardly and resumed reading.
“‘And thus, the heroes and their companions succeeded in defeating the colossal monster and restoring peace in the town. However, their adventures were far from over.’” I closed the book. “There, this is the end of the first volume.”
Rorona and the kids clapped enthusiastically when I was done.
Each volume of The Legend of the Heroes was pretty short as far as novels went, but reading it out loud had taken me a couple of hours. Nevertheless, the kids had listened attentively without losing focus until the very end.
“It was so fun, Miss Human!”
“Read it again!”
“The heroes are so cool!”
“Do you have another story?”
The kids were babbling over each other, some reacting to the story, while others were already requesting another one. Unfortunately, we were out of time.
“We have returned, Chise,” Elnea announced, heading our way.
She must have been done inspecting the World Trees, and it was time for us to head back to her palace.
“Sorry, everyone,” I said after explaining the situation to the kids.
As expected, they weren’t happy, whining in disappointment.
Rorona, on the other hand, smiled warmly at me. “Thank you so much for the wonderful story, Miss Chise,” she said.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. Here, take these books with you if you’d like.” I produced a few folktales, picture books, and popular fiction novels from my magic bag and gave them to Rorona.
A troubled expression formed on her face. “I appreciate the feeling, Miss Chise, but aren’t books very expensive?” she asked.
“Most recent books are made with paper—a plant-based writing material—so they are not as expensive as they used to be,” I told her.
Paper was not only much cheaper to produce than parchment, but it was also lighter and easier to transport, meaning books were much more affordable now.
“Also...I can’t read the books myself,” Rorona mumbled.
“But you have Fauzard, don’t you? He could read the letter Althea sent us, so he should be able to read the novels to you, right?” I suggested.
“Me?! You are asking me to read the books to Rorona?” Fauzard’s surprised voice echoed from the spirit lantern.
He hadn’t said anything the entire time we had been there, but the shock of my proposition was so great that he couldn’t stay silent.
“I am a spirit; I have never read a book to a human,” he muttered.
“Who cares if you’re bad at it? Rorona and the kids would love it. Can’t you make an effort for them?” I asked.
“Please, Lord Fauzard,” Rorona said, clasping her hands in front of her chest.
The flame inside the lantern started wavering.
“V-Very well. However, I refuse to start reading books to the children right away; I shall need to practice first. Rorona, you shall be my practice subject.”
“Sure!” she replied, her face breaking into a bright smile. She was so cute; the sight warmed both Teto’s and my heart, while Fauzard groaned in embarrassment.
Elnea had been standing off to the side the entire time, watching us with a warm smile. While our first visit to Rorona’s village had been brief, it marked the beginning of a long-lasting partnership between our forest and this settlement, as this place would become a breeding ground for mythical beasts in the future.
Meanwhile, Althea seemed to be deep in thought. “The children seemed to like The Legend of the Heroes. Perhaps I should advise the traveling merchants to add more fiction to their stock,” she muttered.
It was a well-known fact that the elves’ forest had very little to offer in terms of entertainment, especially in the smaller settlements. It seemed that Althea was considering authorizing the distribution of her favorite novel series to address this issue.
At that time, none of us could have anticipated the consequences of such a seemingly simple decision.