Experiencing Elven Culture

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.