Chapter 1: A big rise from a conman

In this majestic and magnificent palace, yet not gaudy or vulgar, a man's appointment ceremony was about to take place.

The man's name is Keith Blockhound, and he is a magician.

At that time, he was a little over 30 years old.

He has black hair, black eyes, and is of medium build. Compared to the people around him, his features are extremely ordinary.

But that could not be helped, since everyone around him was an elf after all.

This is Seymrad, a small elven country on the western continent.

A country by elves, for elves.

Among them, there was one human man.

Moreover, the position he is appointed to is that of court magician.

To understand why he was entrusted with such an important position in this country of elves, we need to go back in time by about a month.

§§§

A man is walking through the forest.

He was seen panting as he walked along an unfamiliar animal trail.

He has black hair and eyes, black clothes, black leather shoes, and even his cape is black.

A man dressed in the kind of clothes that in some other world you'd be told to stop wearing in your mid-teens.

It's Keith.

He was using a walking stick about his height made from driftwood for magical purposes, not for magical purposes but to help him walk, and was bathing in the forest, even though he didn't like it, and his whole body was covered in sweat.

"How pathetic, meow."

A voice comes from somewhere.

It sounds like a boy's voice.

I looked and saw a cat walking and snuggling up to Keith's feet.

"It's truly pathetic that someone who was once a legitimate mage of the magical society 'Order of the Dead's Dawn' is now being pursued for selling fake amulets."

"Shut up, you useless cat."

"No, I won't keep quiet! And the reason you was kicked out of the group that caused this is pathetic! It was for taking secret photos!"

Keith was originally a skilled magician who belonged to a legitimate magical society.

However, he was expelled from the order just over a year ago, and is now a wandering magician selling ineffective talismans, charms, and elixirs.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped... if you come up with a way to make money, it's human nature to want to do it."

The method Keith came up with was a magic that combined telegraphy and automatic writing; put simply, it involved drawing detailed pictures of women in embarrassing poses and selling them.

This one sold. It really sold.

After all, the Grand Master's secretary, who always had such a strict face, was actually wearing such daring underwear...

That seemingly innocent elf girl was, in fact, comforting herself with her own delicate fingers every night...

If they sell something like that, there's no way it won't sell.

I thought I had won, but I was soon found out and fired from the group.

The organization probably didn't want such a stupid incident to become public, so they added the sentence stating that it was for personal reasons and did not expel him.

So things have gone by and now I'm a con man. It's no laughing matter.

This time too, while selling amulets under the false pretense of making love come true, he was pursued by the Knights Templar and nearly executed.

I somehow managed to escape into the forest, but I'd been lost for four days now. I was seriously close to death.

"I'm hungry... my legs hurt... my back hurts... my heart hurts the most."

"You got what you deserve"

The cat who said this with a cold expression was called Lou, Keith's familiar.

He is still a low-ranking cat fairy [Cait Sith] and cannot properly use magic, and his speech is still strange.

However, he was able to catch mice, so unlike Keith, he wasn't hungry.

"...I'm going to eat you, you useless cat."

"I'm not a lowly cat, so I should be caught by my master."

Since that was actually the case, Keith couldn't say anything.

Just as the sun was directly overhead, Keith reached his limit and sat down.

That was the last drink of water I had, it was three hours ago.

"No good... I'm really going to die."

"It was a short relationship, my master."

Keith no longer had the strength to resist Lou, who was patting his paws on his shoulders.

"...?"

Lou's ears twitched.

"Master, there's someone here."

Hearing this, my face lit up with hope.

"Where?!"

"Over there."

Keith desperately chases after Lou who has taken off.

Although I nearly fell many times along the way, as I made my way through the trees, I definitely saw a person there.

Well, strictly speaking, they're elves, not human.

Blonde hair, blue eyes, white skin, good looks, and pointy ears.

Definitely an elf.

The elven women were screaming and running away.

"What?"

Thinking that, she looked behind them and saw a large lizard monster.

"Basilisk..."

"Meow!?"

The monster is a basilisk, a dangerous monster.

A creature with a demonic eye that turns anyone who looks at it into stone.

It then slowly consumes its petrified prey.

Chased by the monster, the elf women were fleeing in fear.

Keith turns around, seemingly losing interest, and starts to walk away.

"Nya?! Aren't you going to help?"

"Me? Why? I'm already hungry, why would I waste any more energy?"

"It's useless..."

"Ahh, that's it. The moment that those elves encountered the basilisk in such a beautiful forest, their lives were over. I can't bear the sins of others."

"... Meow."

"It is the will of the Great Aether. Rest in peace."

As the master said this and started to leave, Lou said,

"But, if you help, you might get some food."

"…Twitch"

"Because you saved her life. You'll get some money...maybe."

"...What a fool to see what is right and not to do it. Let's go, worthless cat!"

"I'm here cheering you on"

"Just come!"

He grabbed me by the neck with frightening speed.

"No! I don't want to be turned to stone!"

Lou put up a desperate resistance.

"Don't worry! Once it turns to stone, I'll sell it to an antiques dealer and tell them it's a magic item that will save you money!!"

"No way!!!"

Keith appeared dashingly at the exact spot where an elf had fallen and stood in his way.

Lou covered his eyes with his paws.

"I didn't see it! I didn't see it!"

And tries to protect himself from the basilisk.

Meanwhile, Keith closed one eye, reached into the bag hanging from his shoulder, and pulled out a palm-sized flute.

During that time, Keith's eyes met with the Basilisk, but apart from a slight pain, it had no effect on Keith.

Keith put the flute in his mouth and blew out as hard as he could.

"Kokeeeeeeeeeee!!!"

The whistle reproduces the sound of a rooster.

The moment the sound was heard, the basilisk foamed at the mouth, lashed out, and fled the scene.

"Ohhh, it worked..."

Keith muttered while looking at the flute.

Lou was still repeating "I haven't seen it yet"

"How long are you going to keep doing this, useless cat?"

Hearing his master's words, he let go of his paw and looked around.

"Master, I haven't turned to stone yet."

"Of course. I can't believe that."

"Magic! As expected from my master!"

"You idiot, that's not magic or anything. It's just a spell to ward off the evil eye... it's common knowledge where I was born."

"But, was it magic that drove them away?"

"Is it this?"

Saying this, he shows the flute in his hand to Lou.

"It was from a festival stall. I just gave it some magic... I didn't think it would actually work."

"...Is this your first time trying this?"

"Yeah, I was surprised at how effective it was."

He's the kind of guy who says chilling things.

Thinking this, Lou broke out into a cold sweat.

A voice called out to the two of them...one and one dog.

"that..."

He turned around to see the four elves staring at Keith with teary eyes.

"Thank you very much!"

She said repeatedly, but Keith responded to them,

"...Do you have anything to eat?"

He said, looking at me with a blank look on his face.

§§§

Now, here's the interesting part about fate.

One of the four female elves Keith had saved was the daughter of an influential person in Seymrad.

Keith didn't know this, but it seems that he had actually fled from the Knights and ended up in the forest of Elven territory.

The girl insisted that Keith go to her house, where he was treated equally and with equal hospitality.

All he wanted was to be able to eat, but at the mealtime the girl's father asked him many questions, and he told him that he was a wandering magician with some sort of problem, and that he had nothing to say as long as he could use her power to help people.

As a result of all that cool stuff, the parent elf - named Sark - took a liking to Keith and boasted, "I'll use my own powers to make you the royal court magician!"

A human being is the court magician of an elven kingdom?

Keith had made a random remark like "Ahh, it would be nice if I could become one" about such a dream story he had never heard of, but the other three of the four people he had saved were also influential people whose parents were politicians or military personnel.

Moreover, because everyone was grateful to Keith, things progressed smoothly, and as a result, the unemployed pseudo-swindler officially became the royal court magician of the Elven Kingdom.

Lou was proud of this fact and said, "You can thank me."

And so the day arrived, but the looks he received as he received this appointment were half expectation, half disgust.

Elven society was extremely closed off to begin with, so welcoming strangers...especially other races, was something that normally would not happen.

However, the current king, Mashua, and his wife, Mia, are reformists who advocate harmony with humans, and were extremely moved by Keith's actions in helping their people.

Because of the two of them, about half of the elves here were forced to accept, albeit reluctantly.

Feeling that gaze and silent pressure, Keith asked himself, "What am I doing in a place like this?"

I'll admit that this is a big achievement.

However, the elves are a species whose magical powers are incomparable to mine, and they are skilled in magic. What should I do in a country of such people?

Maybe a clown? Am I a clown?

A kind of twisted thought ran through my head.

Still, I'd be able to earn a living, better than a lowly conman, and most importantly, I'd have a place to sleep... When I think about it that way, there's no way I could turn it down.

So when Keith saw Lou standing proud and carefree, he felt like turning him into a string instrument.