Winter.

In one corner of the mansion, Loo was washing a large number of small plates and bowls in a tub filled with warm water.

She was smiling as she worked.

The dishes she was washing were her personal tools for researching herbs and such.

If she was washing them, did that mean her research was finished?

No.

If she had actually finished her research, Loo would prioritize recording the results.

She would leave the cleaning of her personal tools to the oni maids.

So, the fact that she was washing them herself meant her research had gone in the wrong direction.

Or it had regressed in a big way.

That was what it meant.

Which was why no one should approach Loo right now.

Offering to help was also wrong.

Suggesting she use magic to clean them was even worse.

Loo washed in silence, holding her own private review meeting in her head.

And she was already thinking about her next research project.

So, the best thing to do was leave her alone.

I exchanged a glance with a nearby oni maid and we nodded at each other.

Then, the two of us jogged over to Loo and asked if she needed help.

Leaving her alone was the best option, but it wasn’t the correct answer.

We had to make sure she saw that we were acknowledging her hard work.

Normally Loo would be fine, but when she was in researcher mode, she was a little troublesome… no, I think that part of her is cute too.

-0-

Tier and Ruincia sat at the table having tea.

There was no spoken conversation.

They were talking with their wings, as always.

Watching from afar, the conversation seemed lively enough.

I had no idea what they were saying though.

If my daughter Tiselle were here, at least some of it would turn into words.

My other daughter, Aurora, was… with Malbit.

Since Malbit’s own daughter, Kierbit, hadn’t come home, she seemed to be easing her loneliness by keeping Aurora close.

If Aurora disliked it, I would step in, but she didn’t hate Malbit.

It was probably because Malbit spoiled her more openly than Tier or Ruincia.

But then Reginleif, an elder of the angel tribe, arrived and took Aurora from Malbit.

Rananon and the others were with her.

It looked like they had promised to play.

Malbit, suddenly deprived of Aurora, became visibly dejected.

Ah, she’s heading to the table where Tier and Ruincia are.

……

So Malbit can talk with her wings too.

I never knew.

-0-

Most of the high elves, including Ria, were not in the village.

They were serving as archery instructors for Village Five.

There were plenty of sword instructors in Village Five, but not enough archery instructors, so the villagers were asked for help.

Near Village Five was a settlement ruled by an elf who called herself the Bow King, but the people there were too busy mass-producing bows and arrows.

Ria and the others weren’t opposed to helping, but at first, they hesitated.

Even if it was only for the winter, it would be a problem if someone who had been taught halfway caused an accident.

But Youko said proper instructors would be prepared.

Ria and the others would only assist.

They were told light guidance would be enough, so they agreed.

It also helped that Ria and the other’s sons, Ririus, Riguru, and Ratte, who were training with Youko in Village Five, asked to learn archery.

Of course, that meant the three ended up receiving harsh training from the now-motivated Ria and the others.

But that was part of their communication as parent and children.

I didn’t interfere.

No, I could interfere since I was their father, but Ria had already told me that knowing how to use a bow would be useful for their future, so I stayed quiet.

I trusted Ria and the others with it.

What I did comment on was the new shooting range built beside the archery training grounds.

The new range was created to give people more opportunities to interact with bows.

You entered an individual booth and shot arrows at the targets set on the open side.

They weren’t normal targets.

The targets popped out or moved.

They mimicked the movements of wild animals, demon beasts, and monsters, making them quite realistic.

Each target had a set score, and you competed by adding up the points.

It was the bow version of those gun games you saw in arcades.

The only downside was that even though the range was fairly large, only one person could attempt it at a time.

Well, if several people shot together, you wouldn’t know who hit what.

The range was managed by the Village Five’s Council.

It was built by the mountain elves.

With help from the high elves and volunteers who wanted to learn archery in Village Five.

During the day, the difficulty was set for children, and it was quite popular.

Before attempting it, though, you had to learn the basics of archery.

A bow was a weapon after all.

It couldn’t be handled lightly.

And clothing needed care as well, since the bowstring could catch on something and cause an accident.

For women, a chest guard was recommended.

If the string hit the chest, it was apparently very painful.

-0-

I spoke to the mountain elf who was overseeing the shooting range.

「Watching from here, it seems pretty hard to hit the targets.」

Well, of course.

The targets moved in fairly complicated patterns.

「If people could watch others shoot, they might be able to figure out a strategy.」

Even if they could predict the target’s movement, they probably couldn’t shoot the arrow exactly where they aimed.

「Ah… so we really do need to make it a bit easier?」

Probably.

There was also the issue of crowding.

「For that, we’re planning a range divided into long, narrow lanes, like a bowling alley.」

Ah, that sounded good.

There wasn’t a budget problem, right?

「Yes. The village council is putting a lot of effort into this as a new form of entertainment.」

I was looking forward to it too.

「We’ll do our best. Ah, would you like to try it as well, Village Chief?」

Thank you.

But the line was pretty long.

「If it’s you, Village Chief, we can put you at the front.」

Cutting the line would be wrong.

People would resent me.

「That’s unfortunate.」

Hahaha, maybe another time.

By the way, those names listed on the board over there…

「That’s the score list. Showing the results like this makes people compete more.」

True.

And at the top were the names of Ririus and the other two. Must be the result of Ria’s training.

「There is an entertainment mode, but we aren’t using it.」

So, there was even an entertainment mode.

「Various people said we should prepare it for nobles.」

I see.

Also, the score list has a section labeled 「Daytime Session.」 What’s that about?

「There’s also a nighttime session.」

It’s separate from the daytime one?

「Yes, they’re treated separately.」

?

-0-

Night.

I went to see the nighttime session.

Ah, the target movements were completely different from the daytime ones.

The targets appeared in the shooter’s line of sight for only an instant.

On the other hand, some targets pushed forward, actively showing themselves to the shooter.

They were incredibly fast.

They used magic to create flashes and feints.

I probably wouldn’t score a single point.

And at the top of the nighttime score list were the names of Ria and the other High Elves.

I also saw the name of Kinesta, the manager of Kuro and Yuki sweets and tea.

She had been a princess of the Elf Empire, so it wasn’t strange she could use a bow.

Ah, the score list just changed.

The name now in first place… looked like Ria’s mother, Rigune.

「Getting a perfect score at this level… we’ll run into trouble in real combat if we don’t make it harder」

The mountain elves were deeply frustrated.

-0-

AN: Sorry for only updating after a long time.

I’ve cleared the biggest hurdle, and now only small ones remain, so I think the update pace will gradually return to normal.

Thank you for your patience.