A long silence hung over the shop.

  Then Hulim slowly raised her head. "......Um, is the ‘World Tree’ some new type of plant?"

  "Ooh~, playing dumb won’t work~! There’s only one tree in the world worthy of that name, isn’t there~?"

  ......N-No, wait a second! It’s precisely because I know what that World Tree is that I’m confused! How can you have something like that?! Is this the kind of thing you casually brew into tea?! Where on earth did you get it! Oh right, come to think of it, you casually pulled out Hadra Abyssal Fish and Enchanted Dragon Fruit before—

  Could it be that you’re some kind of legendary mysterious merchant?

  "Haha~, sorry, sorry~! Your mind’s racing so much right now, I can’t even read half of it from your eyes alone. Why don’t you just say it out loud~?"

  The elven shopkeeper said, looking thoroughly amused.

  "......"

  Hulim silently picked up her teacup, took another sip, then set it down and said very seriously:

  "Cut it out already. I’m here to pay you back the money—!"

  ......

  After quite a while, seemingly realizing that Hulim was genuinely a little annoyed,

  the elven shopkeeper changed her tone and apologized profusely.

  For the sake of the delicious tea, Hulim reluctantly forgave her for teasing her.

  "Speaking of which, even though we’ve chatted quite a bit, it seems we never properly introduced ourselves, huh?"

  The elven shopkeeper said, then adopted a rather solemn expression and began to introduce herself.

  "Let me go first. My name is Irus Verdant Star Feyl, and I hail from Ravenrim, the Elven Kingdom—"

  What a weird name. It’s as meaningless as Semiris’s full name. Still, that middle name sounds pretty cool. Verdant Star? Is there a star with that name......

  Hulim thought to herself.

  Besides, the Elven Kingdom of Ravenrim she mentioned was one of the most powerful nations in the world. In particular, its capital was said to be built directly beneath the World Tree, known as the Holy City.

  "Although I run a potion shop here now, I used to be quite the wanderer. I’ve traveled all over Himmler, seen all sorts of fascinating things. If you tell me honestly what you were up to at the docks, I’ll share those stories with you~!"

  Irus said, as if trying to tempt Hulim.

  Not interested. I’m not falling for that.

  After mentally rolling her eyes, Hulim introduced herself in turn.

  "My background isn’t as impressive as yours. I’m just an ordinary youngest daughter from a humble noble family in the empire."

  "A humble country noble, huh——"

  Irus drawled in a deadpan tone, clearly skeptical of that description.

  "What’s with that tone? You don’t believe me?"

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  "Nope, nope, nope! Um....... Go on, what were you saying?"

  Hulim shot Irus an annoyed look, then continued: "My name is Hulim Heyerar. I just got into Manacos——"

  "Wait a second——!"

  Irus suddenly cut her off.

  "What is it?"

  Hulim looked at her in confusion.

  "You......" Irus stared at Hulim intently. "——What did you say your name was?"

  "?"

  "Hulim Heyerar. Is there something wrong with my name?"

  Irus didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she sized Hulim up and down, then asked:

  "——What is your relation to Olubet Heyerar?"

  "......"

  ......That name came out of nowhere, from the last person she expected to hear it from.

  "......He’s my ancestor."

  "I knew it! I knew it......"

  Irus nodded to herself, as if everything suddenly made sense.

  "?"

  What is she going on about? What’s so "I knew it" about this?

  "——So you were lying through your teeth just now!"

  Hulim: "???"

  "I was not——"

  "Oh really? Descended from the Imperial Guardian Knight family, and you call yourself a ‘humble country noble’? I can’t believe I almost fell for that. I must’ve been out of my mind~!"

  Huh——? Wait a minute, what is this elf talking about? Our family really only has a few villages as fiefs—we’re as humble a noble family as they come!

  "Ooh, look at that ‘what is this person even saying’ face~!"

  Irus suddenly stood up, leaned in close to Hulim, and smiled at her.

  "Little Miss Hulim, do you really have any idea what your surname means in this empire~?"

  "......What does it mean?"

  Under Irus’s gaze, Hulim felt a flicker of self-doubt, her voice unconsciously growing softer.

  "Heh heh~!"

  Irus sat back down.

  "I don’t know what happened to your family over the years, but you could walk out that door right now, ask any resident of Langard, and they’d know the name Heyerar."

  "The Heyerar name—for the Parasara Empire—is one of the names enshrined in the top row of the Hall of Heroes. Do you know how many names are on that top row, and what kind of people they are?"

  "......"

  Hulim shook her head.

  "Only six people~! And aside from the Heyerars, every single one of them is a founding father of the empire!"

  "!"

  "The Heyerar name is something every member of the imperial royal family must learn about from childhood. And it’s not just the royals—any noble, even any commoner living in Langard, knows this surname. After all, every major festival has a ceremony honoring the heroes. It’s impossible for them not to know."

  "I don’t know why you think you’re just a ‘country noble’, but I’ll say this—here in Langard, the name Heyerar carries that much weight!"

  "......"

  "Ooh, what’s wrong, Hulim? You look like you’re in shock. You’ve been in the capital for a while now, haven’t you? Did you never visit the Imperial Monument? Olubet’s statue is right up there in a very prominent spot, you know~!"

  ......The empire really is vast.

  That was Hulim’s only thought at that moment. She knew about her ancestor’s achievements, but she also knew the current state of the Heyerar family—declined and diminished.

  The empire was too big. Places like Mentor Town had long forgotten who the empire’s heroes were three hundred years ago. That was why she’d thought the Heyerar name had faded into obscurity. When Colette had come looking for her, Hulim had assumed it was just because the scholar was interested in researching her ancestor.

  But now that she thought about it, there had been clues.

  More likely than not, Colette had chosen to study the Heyerars precisely because the name still held such great significance in Langard.

  Ah...... Come to think of it, was this also why Djelte had invited her to those tea parties filled with upper and middle-class nobles? Maybe Djelte had never seen her as some lowly noble at all.

  Is this what people mean when they say even a fallen noble house remains a noble house among nobles......

  While Hulim was still pondering the huge gap between her own perception and that of the capital’s residents, Irus suddenly spoke up again.

  "Sigh, it just goes to show—short lifespans really are a problem for humans. It’s only been three hundred years, and the descendants have fallen so far. Tch, and he was a Rank S powerhouse, too. What a shame~!"

  Hulim: "..................................................Huh?"

  "R-Rank S?"

  "Huh——?"

  Irus froze, looking just as surprised.

  "......"

  "......"

  The two stared at each other, an awkward silence hanging in the air between them.

  "Could it be...... You didn’t know?"