We were a race called the Mountain Elves. In the mountains, no one could rival us—except, perhaps, other Mountain Elves. Regrettably, my clan clashed with another of our kind, lost our home, and was forced into a life of wandering.
Fortunately, we found a new place to live almost immediately. Furthermore, it was a far better location than our previous home. This was likely thanks to our leader, Lady Ya, who valued etiquette and made sure to pay her respects properly to everyone. She truly was impressive. I, too, intended to prioritize etiquette, and I held her in the highest regard.
But—and this was a very big "but"—I had a grievance with Lady Ya as she was now. It was her attitude toward the master of this new land, the Village Head. She acted exactly like a young girl experiencing her first love.
It simply would not do. It wasn't that falling in love was a bad thing; Lady Ya was certainly at the right age for it. Or, rather, she was perhaps a little past her prime... ahem. Regardless, my issue wasn't with the concept of love, but with that man! That man was no good! He was a man of no principle who had already entangled himself with countless women.
To be fair, when I first heard the story of how he began building a village in this land all by himself, I thought he was incredible. I thought he was worthy of respect. Even the fact that he had famous members of the Vampire and Angel Race as his subordinates wasn't necessarily a bad thing. But it still wouldn't do. His womanizing was simply too much!
I didn't intend to deny his existence, and I acknowledged him as the master of this settlement. However, I would never accept him as a partner for Lady Ya! Never!
That said, even if I spoke to Lady Ya about it, she likely wouldn't listen. It would be equally useless to talk to the Village Head. If he were the type of man who stopped because someone told him to, he wouldn't have laid hands on so many partners in the first place.
In that case, what could I do? How could I prevent Lady Ya and the Village Head from ending up together?
I had little faith in my own wits. Whenever I was troubled, I usually turned to Lady Ya, but since I couldn't exactly consult her about this, I was at a loss. Every wise person I could think of in the village had already fallen under the Village Head’s influence. The girls of the Demon Race known as the Civil Official Girls seemed like they might be helpful, but I had a feeling that relying on them would only lead to trouble, so I decided against it. This kind of intuition was important; it had protected me from many things back in the mountains.
That left Zabuton-san and Kuro-san, but communication with them was difficult. Also, they were still a bit frightening.
I had no choice but to manage this on my own. I racked my brain, squeezing out every bit of wisdom I possessed. Now was the time for my intellect to shine!
As it stood, Lady Ya had feelings for the Village Head—at least, in my subjective view. On the other hand, the Village Head hadn't made any advances toward Lady Ya. Of course, it was possible he had and I just didn't know about it.
In short, everything would be fine as long as Lady Ya gave up on him. But would she? She was already at the age limit for... ahem. Lady Ya was a wonderful woman; surely she could find a better partner. Therefore, I would make her give up.
The plan was simple: if I showed her the Village Head's bad side, she would surely withdraw on her own. That had to be it. All I had to do was find his faults!
That was what I had thought five days ago. However, the Village Head, whom I expected to be full of flaws, turned out to be an extremely ordinary farmer. Or rather, he was a remarkably diligent one. His only real fault was his nighttime activities, but even that was only a "fault" according to my personal sensibilities; polygamous households were not exactly rare.
Did this mean Lady Ya’s judgment was sound? No, no, I couldn't give up yet. I had been looking for his faults, but only during my free time. I was only seeing him for a limited portion of the day. He might have been hiding his bad side during the hours I wasn't watching.
The next day, I decided to shift my work hours. I found the Village Head at his House, working on something meticulous. I wondered if someone had requested something of him. He was cutting wood into small pieces, getting thread from Zabuton-san, and bringing various items out of the Storehouse.
What was he doing? Perhaps this would lead to the revelation of a character flaw. I stayed back and observed him.
I couldn't make heads or tails of it. I knew the Village Head occasionally did things that defied explanation, but this was beyond me. What was he making? Based on my knowledge, the closest thing I could think of was...
"A trap?" I blurted out.
"Hahaha. It's not a trap," the Village Head said, noticing me. I felt a flush of shame at being caught, but I didn't let it show.
"Then, what is it?" I asked.
"Let's see... move this here... and there, it's finished."
"That's it?"
"Yeah."
The Village Head tipped over a small wooden board he had lined up. That board knocked into another, and another, creating a ripple effect until a set Ball began to roll. The rolling Ball struck a trigger, a string pulled something else, and the whole thing continued in a sequence of reactions.
"Ooooh! Amazing! It's a Trap Chain!"
"Hahaha. It's not really a trap, but... well, something like that. Oh, it stopped here."
According to his explanation, the Ball was supposed to bounce across a series of Cups, but that part had failed.
"And if this part had worked?" I asked.
"Then this mechanism would have triggered, moving this part... and it would have ended like this."
"Ooh!"
Mountain Elves were experts at hunting with traps. To put it simply: I absolutely loved this sort of thing!
I spent the rest of the day playing with the Village Head, completely forgetting about the time. We didn't manage to get it to work all the way to the end, but I was satisfied. I wanted to keep this masterpiece exactly as it was forever.
However, a heartless High Ogre Maid ordered us to clean it up. She clearly had no appreciation for the arts. I tried to explain the beauty of the mechanics to her, but she gave me such a terrifying look that I immediately started packing it away. She was truly a demon!
Wait, did I forget something?
A few days later, though I felt it might be futile, I decided to be honest with the Village Head.
"Please do not pursue a relationship with Lady Ya," I said.
"Of course! Your cooperation is absolutely essential for that!" he replied. "Listen, you have to make sure we're never left alone together! Stay by Ya's side as much as possible!"
"Eh? Oh, yes."
The Village Head looked like a soldier, surrounded and alone, who had just spotted his reinforcements arriving on the horizon.
"If you see the atmosphere getting too romantic, you have my permission to ruin it! I'm counting on you! Don't let me down!"
I could feel the sincerity in his powerful words. Had I misunderstood the situation? No, the Village Head likely realized that he wasn't a good enough match for Lady Ya. Yes, that had to be it.
Regardless, with the Village Head's official blessing, I would now dedicate myself to obstructing any romantic progress between him and Lady Ya!
...Wait. Won't this just make Lady Ya hate me?