Character Introductions:
Aurora: Tia's daughter and Tiselle's younger sister.
Rosemaria: Daughter of Granmaria.
Laladel: Daughter of Kudel.
Tolmane: Daughter of Corone.
Malbit: Leader of the Angel Race and Kierbit's mother.
Ruincia: Tia's mother.
Razmaria: Granmaria's mother.
The foul-smelling... no, excuse me.
The plan to weaponize the pungent food Flora had been researching was moving forward.
I had assumed Flora was just joking, but it seemed there were those who took the idea quite seriously.
Specifically, Lu.
Since the idea was to use a stench as a weapon, I supposed the end result would be something akin to a self-defense tool. I made sure to warn her, in no uncertain terms, not to accidentally use it on Kuro's children.
While I was still processing the idea, a prototype was finished in the blink of an eye. It was a handheld cylinder design. At this stage, it didn't emit any odor at all. Apparently, the stench was only released once you pulled a string, twisted the tube, or broke the casing.
We conducted an experiment immediately. Since testing it in the village would have been far too dangerous, we relocated to the deep forest.
A Giant Boar fled.
A giant bear fled.
A Giant Snake fled as well.
This might actually be the most powerful weapon we had.
While it proved ineffective against Zabuton and her kin, even Kuro's children were repulsed by the smell.
"Now hold on, Lu."
I had to stop her from trying to strap the cylinders onto the backs of Zabuton's children. If she did that, those adorable spiders would start looking like some kind of heinous bio-weapon.
As for practical application and mass production... that would require further study. It was simply too difficult to handle. Without someone present who could use magic to neutralize the odor, the collateral damage would just keep spreading. It might serve as a decent Magic Beast Repellent or Monster Repellent for those traveling through the forest, but I doubted anyone who actually needed such a thing would be able to withstand the stench themselves.
We could produce a small batch, but the storage would have to be incredibly strict. I insisted that they take extreme precautions—something along the lines of keeping them in the cellar, submerged under water. I really hoped they would take me seriously.
One day that summer, the Angels gathered in a room in the mansion for a major conference.
Every member of the Angel Race currently residing in the Village of the Great Tree assembled—though I should clarify that the children, such as Aurora, Rosemaria, Laladel, and Tolmane, were not present. Everyone else, however, was there.
They were gathered around a large round table, but since there weren't enough seats for everyone, only Tia, Granmaria, Kudel, Corone, Suarliu, Suarkou, Malbit, Ruincia, Suarlou, Razmaria, Reginleiv, and a few others were seated. The rest watched from the sidelines.
For some reason, I had been summoned to this grand meeting as well and sat among them. I wondered if we were going to discuss the Orthodox Garlet Kingdom, but I was mistaken.
The topic was the hierarchy of the Angel Race.
Specifically, it wasn't about the hierarchy of the Angels within the Village of the Great Tree as a whole, but rather the internal hierarchy among the Angels living here. Apparently, they had run into a bit of a problem.
I wondered what was troubling them. From my perspective, if we were talking about the Angel hierarchy in the Village of the Great Tree, it would naturally be Tia... wait.
Now that I thought about it, the Angels were frequently commanded by Malbit. Had the leadership shifted to her? I hadn't received any reports about a change like that.
"Naturally, as the first of the Angel Race to migrate here, the wife of the Village Head, and the mother of Tiselle and Aurora, Tia holds the highest rank," Malbit said.
I nodded. Her tone was serious, a stark departure from her usual demeanor.
"However," Malbit continued, "if you were to ask if Tia actually leads the Angel Race—or if she is even capable of doing so—the answer would have to be no."
Was that really how things stood?
"To be perfectly honest, Granmaria puts in far more effort when it comes to general coordination and management."
Well, I couldn't argue with that; she certainly worked hard.
"When we are present, Granmaria defers the leadership to us so she can focus on her own work," Malbit explained. "We used to commute here from the Angel Race Village in the Garlet Kingdom, but we now consider ourselves permanent residents of this village."
That was true enough.
"This has created a situation where we habitually take command in place of Tia, even though Tia remains the official Representative of the Angel Race in this village."
I asked if that actually caused any problems.
"It causes a total breakdown in the chain of command," Malbit replied. "When our opinions conflict with Tia's, the others don't know which one to prioritize. Legally, Tia's word should come first. However, since we are the ones providing the daily instructions, people have begun ignoring Tia and coming to us for guidance instead. Furthermore, when the Village Head gives instructions to the Angel Race, he gives them to Tia. Tia then passes them to us, but subtle nuances are inevitably lost in translation. This prevents us from executing the Village Head's orders with the precision required. On top of that, the results of our work are reported to the Village Head through Tia, but she monopolizes his reactions. We can't even tell if our actions were deemed correct or if we made a mistake."
She was speaking so rapidly that I struggled to keep up. I asked her to just give me the bottom line.
"Basically, we can't stand that Tia gets to enjoy a life of leisure while we're stuck doing all the heavy lifting!"
I blinked. She had mentioned command structures and all sorts of administrative issues, but was that really the heart of it?
"That is exactly the point."
I see. So that was why they were holding this massive meeting.
"We apologize for taking up so much space in the mansion," Malbit said.
I told her it was fine. It made sense given that every Angel in the village was involved. However, I still hadn't been told why I was suddenly called to participate.
"Please, don't worry about that for now."
"No, I’m definitely worried about it."
"In that case... please look over there."
Malbit pointed toward Tia. She had been sitting in her chair since before I arrived, but she hadn't moved a muscle. Her eyes were closed, and she was perfectly still. Even when Malbit pointed her out, she didn't react.
Was Tia angry about something?
"No, she's just asleep."
"Pardon?"
"She's just sleeping. She always sleeps through big meetings like this."
I found that hard to believe. Whenever we had meetings in the village, she was always wide awake and active in the discussions.
"If you don't believe me, try calling out to her."
I did as Malbit suggested and called Tia's name. There was no response.
"She uses magic to block out all external stimuli. Even against physical interference..."
Malbit flicked a small object toward Tia, but before it could hit her, it was deflected by an invisible barrier and fell to the floor.
"Simple attacks won't wake her."
I asked how we were supposed to get her up.
"We could hit her with a powerful attack, but she likely has countermeasures in place that would cause significant damage to the room. So... we’ll have to be patient and use words instead. Just watch."
Malbit gave a subtle wink to Ruincia.
"Well then, that concludes today's meeting," Malbit announced.
The very instant the words left her mouth, Tia's eyes snapped open.
"That was a most productive session," Tia declared. "I expect everyone to work diligently based on the results we've discussed. Dismissed!"
Tia stood up and gave a polite bow, intending to sweep out of the room, but Ruincia intercepted her halfway and forced her back into her seat.
"Wait, what? Oh! Village Head? No one told me the Village Head was going to be here!"
Tia looked indignant at having been tricked, but Malbit ignored her and bowed to me.
I got the message.
"Tia," I said. "We're having a talk later."
"Eh? Ah... y-yes, of course."
I turned back to the others. "So, what about the conference? That wasn't the end of it, was it?"
"Certainly not," Malbit replied with a grin. "Now that Tia is finally awake, we can actually begin."