Book 5: Volume 2 Chapter 3, The Current Situation in Sewri Forest Village

Translator: Kazumi

Editor: Silavin

 

Seeing Kousuke and Collete exchange glances, Romana let out a deep sigh.

 

She was well aware of how the villagers, including herself, had treated Collete in the past. What she had just said was purely for their own convenience. Collete did not need to accommodate their wish.

 

Romana’s original plan had been to slowly improve relations between the two sides over time.

 

Elves with their long lifespans, could be patient when situations like this occurred. Rather than hoping for any sudden change, she’d been confident that by taking their time, they could build a good relationship again. The smooth exchange between the Tower Village and Sewri Forest Village had supported her confidence.

 

However, due to certain circumstances, the situation had changed drastically over the past month. Additionally, word of Collete’s pregnancy had reached Sewri Forest village. Romana decided there was no way to ignore this.

 

Deciding she should not keep things secret, Romana explained the current situation in the village.

 

“Thanks to your help, our villages have connected, but a drastic change has occurred.”

 

“A change?”

 

“Yes. To put it simply, a child was born in the village.”

 

“Okay?”

 

Kousuke tilted his head, confused why she had brought up such a topic. Romana nodded in response.

 

“It was the first time in over a decade that a child was born, so naturally, the village was excited. But, at the time, no one realized it was due to the exchange with your village.”

 

Kousuke nodded in agreement. No matter what, there was no obvious way that connecting two villages with a teleportation gate would increase the chance of pregnancy.

 

“However, less than a month after that woman’s pregnancy was discovered, another woman’s pregnancy was discovered.”

 

“What!? No way!”

 

Collete, listening beside Kousuke, let out a short cry of surprise. Despite her past, Collete had been born and raised in the village. She was well aware that what Romana described was truly abnormal for Sewri Forest village.

 

Seeing Collete’s surprise, Romana nodded and continued explaining to Kousuke.

 

“It may be difficult for outsiders to understand, but for our village, this is clearly abnormal. In a good way, of course.”

 

Romana explained that in the last hundred years, Sewri Forest had never had more than two children born in one year. It was even more unthinkable that someone would become pregnant so soon after another was pregnant.

 

In short, the same phenomenon that had occurred in Tower Village was happening in Sewri Forest Village.

 

“Naturally, the two pregnant couples were investigated to the extent that wouldn’t affect the babies. What they discovered was that both couples had visited your village.”

 

Other factors were investigated thoroughly, but nothing else came to light. While the investigators retained slight suspicions of other possibilies, they ultimately concluded this was the only possible explanation.

 

“We’d always cited children as the main reason for connecting the villages with a teleportation gate, but we never expected it to cause such a drastic change.”

 

Romana sighed deeply as she said this. The inability to conceive was a fatal flaw for their species. They had installed the teleportation gate as a last resort, but they had never expected change to occur so easily.

 

Until the two pregnancies were discovered, there had been Elves loudly advocating for the abolishing of the portal, but as soon as the pregnancies were confirmed, their voices suddenly died down. They were not completely gone, but their numbers were significantly smaller than before.

 

“By the way, those against the establishment of the portal all had something in common.”

 

Saying this, Romana glanced at Collete. Understanding what Romana meant, Collete sighed.

 

“So they’re the ones who’ve been speaking against me?”

 

“That’s it.”

 

Romana nodded openly at Collete’s words. If she were to keep secrets at this point, it could make things worse. Romana did not have that option right now.

 

“Then, in addition to the rumor about the village connection and pregnancy spreading, another rumor began circulating throughout the village.”

 

“Another one?”

 

“Ah, yeah… I think I get it…”

 

Kousuke tilted his head while Collete put her hand to her forehead. Kousuke realized what Romana was trying to say, and his head started to hurt.

 

Seeing Collete’s gesture, Kousuke looked confused. Sylvia, who had been listening silently until then, looked like she was trying to hold back her laughter.

 

“You can probably guess what’s going on based on what we’ve discussed so far, right?”

 

“Huh? I have no idea.”

 

“Really?… I guess this kind of imbalance is one of your good points.”

 

Sylvia said in exasperation. Collete, having clearly heard her muttering, gave her a wicked grin.

 

“Sylvia, I don’t think you need to brag so openly in a place like this, okay?”

 

“Huh? I-I didn’t mean it that way!”

 

Sylvia hadn’t meant it that way, but no matter how one listened, it sounded like bragging. When Collete pointed it out, Sylvia realized the truth, and her face instantly turned red.

 

“Even though you have two children, you haven’t changed a bit in that way, have you?”

 

“Come on!”

 

Seeing Sylvia’s flushed face, Collete burst out laughing. Blushing from the teasing, Sylvia glared at Kousuke.

 

“Anyway! There’s only one connection between the events in Sewri Forest Village and the rumors circulating here, right?”

 

Kousuke finally understood and nodded, though he thought it was unfair as Sylvia looked at him.

 

“Ah, you mean the rumor about Collete being deified that we discussed earlier?”

 

“Yes, that’s right. Thanks to that rumor, the original rumors about Collete have been completely reversed.”

 

The reason Collete had been ostracized in the village was because of a divination predicting ‘great change.’ That divination had led people to blame Collete for natural disasters and other unrelated issues, but now the divination had produced the opposite effect.

 

“Well, I guess… it feels a little late now, though.”

 

Kousuke said in exasperation. Collete gave a wry smile in response.

 

“Well, that’s just how fortune-telling is, isn’t it? That’s why Peach doesn’t speak about it carelessly.”

 

“That’s true.”

 

Perhaps thanks to Kousuke’s divine protection, Peach’s divination ability had improved dramatically. However, proportionally, Peach had been speaking the results of her divinations less and less. As a descendant of the Succubus Clan, with generations of fortune-telling tradition, she understood the power of divination all too well.

 

“Besides, it was precisely because I left the village that I was able to meet you like this.”

 

Kousuke could not help but feel embarrassed when Collete said this with a smile. He had gotten used to it and tended to forget, but Collete was so beautiful that everyone turned to look at her. Especially since discovering her pregnancy, it felt like her appeal had only increased. Kousuke couldn’t remain calm when she suddenly said something like that.