"Huh?"
"That happened?"
As Fern recounted what had happened, the expression on Elaina's face gradually shifted from surprise to a sigh of I knew it.
Then, after a moment's thought, she went over to Frieren and sat down across from her. Gently stroking her smooth cheek with her right hand, she let out an unhurried sigh.
"I knew it!"
With a look of sudden realization, she launched straight into her usual self-admiration:
"Just as I thought~!"
"A tricky situation like this—one that takes extraordinary wisdom and unparalleled beauty to untangle and resolve perfectly—couldn't possibly be handled properly by anyone except a genius witch like me, with my brilliant mind and peerless looks!"
"Looks like I arrived at just the right time!"
"Then I, the beautiful and wise one, will think of a good way to help you."
As she spoke, she really did start thinking it over in earnest, completely overlooking the fact that Annie, who was still fast asleep in the room, as well as the storyteller, Fern, and Frieren, sitting across from her, were all capable of solving the problem.
"..."
Frieren merely paused her page-turning for a moment. She did nothing else.
"..."
In the kitchen, with her back to the two of them, Fern's mouth twitched a few times. Her urge to hit someone, which had just subsided, surged back.
Fortunately, she managed to hold it in again.
After all, hitting people was wrong—especially when the other person was an excessively self-satisfied "guest."
"Hmm..."
Elaina seemed completely unaware of the change in the atmosphere. She rested a hand on her chin, thought for a while, then suddenly asked:
"So, that Granat County..."
"Is it strong?"
"I mean, their defenses, mages, soldiers, and all that?"
Watching the fire in the kitchen, Fern shook her head. With her