[Letter sent to—

[To my dearest Ira Elcaras, and to the venerable Satanie:]

[We have heard that the war between the Demon Kingdom and the Empire, which lasted for thousands of years, has recently ended. The Silver Moon Tree Garden is also delighted that the World Tree has returned to peace. We are willing to make some efforts to improve the livelihoods of the demons.]

Please forgive the disruption to trade routes caused by the war, but it may be necessary to restart them. If the Demon Kingdom agrees, the Silvermoon Tree Court's trade caravan will arrive within this quarter.

At that time, we also hoped that Mr. Ira Elkaras could come to Silvermoon Tree Garden for a chat.

Looking forward to your reply.

[To Cassiopeia Ilúvatar]

...

"Yes, it bears the seal of the Silver Moon Tree Garden, so it's a fairly official written letter."

During the morning meeting, Ira commented, handing the letter that Senata had just given her to Satan Ye, saying, "A stable trade route is a win-win situation. Even if Cassiopeia hadn't brought it up, I would have gradually negotiated with the surrounding countries."

Yes, this was a pre-arranged plan. Now that Cassiopeia has taken the initiative to bring up the matter of rebuilding trade, it naturally saves Iraq the trouble of sending a letter of greeting first.

"The elves... took the initiative to cut off trade during the war between the monsters and the empire."

As Shirina spoke with such emotion, it was around that time that resources in the area controlled by the monsters gradually became scarce, forcing them to rely on war trade, where supplies were expensive, to survive.

But this is not entirely the elves' fault. Their actions can hardly be defined as kicking someone when they're down, since they simply... stopped providing much-needed assistance.

I can't blame them for anything, but I still feel a little sad.

Ira nodded in response, "Because the elves have many choices, there is no need for them to risk war and trade. They also do not have high requirements for their quality of life, and trading with any country is not necessary for them."

These words made Vera, who was sitting near Ira, glance at her. She looked at Ira, who was speaking calmly, and asked, "Eh? I thought you would speak up for Silvermoon Tree Garden, since you're old flames, right?"

"You're kidding me!" Ira cursed at her, shaking her head helplessly as she looked at Satan Leaf, who was intently reading the letter, before explaining to everyone in a low voice, "Besides, what I said was actually in favor of Silvermoon Tree Court."

After all, Ira is now a member of the Demon King's territory, and his words are quite neutral, although he has the capital to be neutral... Power allows him to stand on no one's side.

On the contrary, it is precisely [everyone] who needs to think from his perspective.

"The Elf Queen, Cassiopeia... I've heard she's a powerful warrior."

As the insectoid leader spoke, his small, round, black eyes revealed a desire for a fight.

"..."

Ira thought for a moment. He didn't have much of an impression of that, but he had heard that it was true. He nodded hesitantly and said, "At least her archery skills are good. I don't really know how strong she is in combat, but I've heard she's very strong."

After Ira finished speaking, Vera leaned in mischievously and teased, "Your archery skills are impressive~ Did Cassiopeia shoot an arrow right through your heart?"

It's worth mentioning that in this world, "shooting an arrow into the heart" also has a similar meaning, which is "gaining someone's favor (love)", so... Vera is courting death again.

"..."

"Wow, what a terrifying aura! Cough cough..."

As Vera said this, she looked at Ira, who was giving her a dangerous look, with fear. She immediately stepped forward and hugged Ira from behind, then cried out in a very fake voice, "I was wrong, Lady Ira, please forgive me~ Waaah~"

Immediately, Ilana's expression, which was about to hit someone, turned to astonishment, and he struggled to pull his head out of Vera's arms.

"Vera, let me go."

"I don't!"

"Vera, you bastard, let go of me, or I'll beat you up!"

"If you hit me, I won't let go! Waaah, please have mercy on me~"

"Stop coming any closer!"

"Waaaaah~~~~~"

"Stop! I won't hit you anymore! I won't hit you anymore!"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Vera immediately and nimbly released Ira, and amidst the shocked expressions of the other leaders, she plopped back down in her own spot to the side with a satisfied look on her face: "Hehehe."

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

Ira, panting heavily, rubbed his bruised face and looked helplessly at Vera, who had a smug look on her face that seemed to say, "Hey, you can't go back on your word!" He sighed, "Ugh, 'Hey' my foot! Where's your aristocratic manners?!"

Upon hearing Ira's words, Vera knew that Ira knew nothing about her family. She shrugged indifferently and said, "Huh? We don't have any aristocratic etiquette in our family..."

Ah, that seems to be true.

Ira also remembered that the Yairmenio Theyatos family was known for having no artistic or etiquette background, but their magical talents were all exceptionally strong, making them, in a sense, nouveau riche.

By the time it came to Vera's generation, she was probably too ridiculously strong. She even managed to pull off a highly difficult ritual magic like [Lich Conversion]... which is why she ended up like this.

As everyone watched Vera and Ira interact, Satan Ye seemed to understand the meaning of the letter. She sighed, "If Mr. Ira hadn't come, this letter might never have appeared."

"..."

These words made Iraq instantly lose its composure. Didn't this mean that Cassiopeia was coming for Iraq?

Ira pondered how to explain things in a way that would convince everyone that Casiopeia wasn't her ex-lover, but just an old teammate.

"That's true."

Little Black nodded and said... that is, Black Knight leader Black Black, he answered very clearly: "It is precisely because of Mr. Ira's reputation and power that the surrounding countries have no choice but to recognize us."

Satan Ye: "Yes, that's right. Perhaps the Orc Kingdom, the Dwarf Kingdom, and the Principality will send letters soon?"

"..."

Oh, I see.

Ira was relieved. It turned out that the reason was that he was powerful. He thought that Satan Ye mistakenly thought it was because of personal matters. He and Cassiopeia had a good personal relationship... or rather, he had a pretty good reputation among all the elves.

It's roughly at the level of, "Huh? The Empire doesn't want Iraq anymore? Great! Hurry up and bring them over!"

"But what kind of king is Cassiopeia?"

Satan asked, her curious eyes filled with a desire to explore, and she looked at Ira and said, "Miss Senata, please help me reply with my consent... Mr. Ira, during the training later, please tell me about Cassiopeia?"

In the end, there was no escaping it...

Ira nodded slightly, reflecting on this sentiment.