I don't want to be an elf!

One of the tasks of the person in charge of the management office is room allocation. Since Yatogami Tohka has joined them, it is natural to try to get her a room as well.

"Huh? You guys are saying that the Fourth Fairy Warehouse sent out an extra Golden Fairy?"

The fox-person administrator, who seemed somewhat acerbic, flipped through the list, checked the names and faces, and said in surprise, "There really is one more. This is quite unusual."

He had worked on this warship for over a decade. When the military issued a mission for him to liaise with the manager of the Fairy Warehouse, the only time this ever happened was when the manager of the Fairy Warehouse used various excuses to reduce the number of people going on the expedition.

There has never been a case where someone was willing to produce an extra Golden Fairy.

Although it was a good thing, the more golden fairies going on the expedition, the better, but the Fourth Fairy Warehouse had not been notified in advance, and he had only prepared three empty rooms.

Scratching his somewhat balding head, the purser said helplessly, "As you can see, this warship is the smallest class, and it can only accommodate this many people. This time, in order to participate in the defense of the fifteenth floating island, every warship is at full capacity. Once you board the ship, there will be no empty rooms."

"Oh no, what should we do?" Asya asked, distressed.

"Let's sleep on the floor. Although there are no empty rooms, we have plenty of blankets and quilts," the steward suggested. "If you're afraid of the cold, go to the boiler room; if you're afraid of the heat, go to the deck. You can also sleep in the mess hall, but you have to get up and get ready before six in the morning. If you don't have the habit of getting up early, then you can sleep in the warehouse."

Hearing the steward's suggestions, the golden fairies looked at each other, feeling that they were not quite right.

The boiler room is such an important place; if that idiot Tohka Yatogami bumps into or damages it, they can't afford to pay for it.

If he were to sleep on the deck, he might just roll off the warship and land on the ground in his sleep.

The canteen is fine, if the crew here doesn't mind facing food shortages.

As for the warehouse, it's such a dangerous place; you might fall asleep and get hit by something, sacrificing yourself without even fighting the Sixth Beast—a truly unheroic end.

“I can squeeze in with Tohka,” Nephren suggested.

"This is the only way. Although I don't mind sleeping with Tohka, my sleeping posture isn't very good," Athena said.

“Okay, let’s do it this way. I’ll just have to be patient with you for the next couple of days,” Chtholly said. “After all, of the three of us, Ren is the smallest and can barely squeeze in with Tohka.”

"Hiss... Sleeping with Ren..."

Yatogami Tohka gasped and said hesitantly, "This is the first time I've ever slept with someone else."

"You're all girls, aren't you shy?" Asya patted her butt and asked teasingly.

"Why would I be shy? It's so lame for girls to be shy about sleeping with other girls!"

Tohka Yatogami puffed out her chest, looking completely unfazed.

But I couldn't help but ponder it.

By the way, Nephren seems to be only fourteen years old.

Is sleeping in the same bed with a 14-year-old girl considered pedophilia?

But then I thought about it again, and Yatogami Tohka is only two years old.

That's right! Putting aside her inner age and gender, she has nothing to be ashamed of!

Chapter Twenty-Two: Segregation Law

Nighttime, in Nephren's room.

All day today, Nephren and the other two Gold Fairies were trying to help Yatogami Tohka familiarize herself with the battlefield commands, tactics, information about the Sixth Beast, and the easiest way to kill it before they arrived at the battlefield.

Chtholly and Ethia, both with extensive combat experience, were responsible for imparting knowledge, while the more meticulous Nephren was in charge of compiling the knowledge taught that day into questions as a test to see how much Yatogami Tohka had absorbed.

Taking the unfinished exam paper from the exhausted Tohka Yatogami, Nephren began grading the questions that had already been answered.

"Excluding the unfinished parts and only considering the completed parts, your accuracy rate is 62%."

Ten minutes later, after grading the papers, Nephren said, "If you include the parts that weren't completed, the accuracy rate is only 54%, which is far from passing."

"This isn't my fault."

Yatogami Tohka lay motionless on the table, her eyes as lifeless as a dead fish, and said, "Many of the questions on the test were things that Chtholly and Esther didn't teach, and most of the ones I remembered weren't on the test."

“Of course, if you can remember that, then it’s common sense,” Nephren said calmly. “The battlefield is ever-changing. To survive, you not only need to know the basics, but also to learn how to combine that knowledge to come up with the right solutions.”

"That sounds complicated."

That's why we need to learn it.

"Why don't I just go with you guys then? I can't go wrong by doing whatever Lian does, right?"

"My intuition tells me that you will definitely not obediently follow behind me on the battlefield."

"I'm not that insensible."

"Since you're such a sensible child, let's continue doing the problems tomorrow."

"Ugh..."

Tohka Yatogami clutched her head, on the verge of tears, and said, "A demon, Ren is a demon."

"I am a golden fairy, not a demon."

Seeing that Yatogami Tohka looked completely exhausted today, Nephren didn't ask her to review the questions she got wrong.

From morning to afternoon, Chtholly and Esther took turns teaching her, and in the evening Nephren would give her tests. To be honest, Nephren never expected her to last so long.

"That concludes today's lesson."

After placing the corrected test paper on the desk, Nephren said calmly, "To ensure you have the energy to continue studying tomorrow, go to sleep tonight."

"Ren, go to sleep first." Yatogami Tou stood up and stretched. "I studied so much today that my head is burning up. I'm going to get some fresh air before I come back to sleep."

"On the warship, the Golden Fairy is not allowed to leave her room without permission."

"But I'm not a golden fairy!"

“But in other people’s eyes you are, and you want others to think you are,” Nephren reminded her. “Don’t forget, if the rest of the military finds out you’re not a Gold Fairy, they might take you away and you won’t be able to stay in the Fourth Fairy Warehouse anymore.”

"Hmm... but it's this late, there shouldn't be anyone on deck, right?"

"It would be troublesome if they saw us."

What would happen if we were seen?

"Violating apartheid laws will result in..."

Just as Nephren was about to say something, her voice suddenly stopped.

To be honest, she didn't know what would happen if she violated segregation laws.

Because the law is the law, and violating the law is always wrong, they have always abided by the rules set by the government.

The only reason the Golden Fairies obey laws and rules is because they are pure by nature, not because they are afraid of the consequences.

But what if they actually break the law and the rules?

Will they be punished?

Who punished them?

The Golden Fairies are the strongest race in the entire floating continent archipelago, and the secret weapon against the Sixth Beast. Who really has the right and power to punish the Golden Fairies who have made mistakes?

Tohka Yatogami's words plunged Nephren into deep thought for a long time.

"Besides, I ate with so many orc soldiers in the canteen today, and they didn't say anything," Tohka Yatogami continued. "What kind of racial segregation law is this? Which idiot came up with it? It's completely useless!"

“The purpose of apartheid was to protect us,” Nephren stated, citing official line. “As unspecies golden fairies, we are easily bullied by orcs outside.”

After the extinction of humanity, the world was left with only various orc races.

There are at least hundreds of races on the entire floating continent archipelago, each with different appearances and abilities.

However, although they are collectively called orcs, not every race has the characteristics of a wild beast.

Among them, those races that lack wild animal characteristics and whose appearance is completely indistinguishable from humans are called "unmarked races".

Those without a race are the race that suffers discrimination.

the reason is simple.

In the history of the orcs, humans are the culprits who created the Seventeen Beasts.

As one of the few races possessing magical powers and once the overlords of the continent, they not only have the ability to defeat the Demon King, but also conduct various kinds of research to further explore the mysteries of the world.

The birth of the Seventeenth Beast is a consequence of humanity's research going out of control.

At the same time, it was also the reason why the beastmen had to flee their homes, leave the earth, and eventually hide in the sky.

Those races that look exactly like humans naturally became the targets of this anger.

Furthermore, since most non-human races do not possess the same physical strength and power as the orc races, their status is inherently lower than that of other orc races in this society where strength is still paramount.

This is why the uninhabited often suffer bullying and contempt from other orcs.

Golden fairies, who are human in appearance, are often mistaken for non-humans in the orc world.

To avoid discrimination from orcs, the united government of the floating continent islands enacted a racial segregation law, keeping golden fairies away from other races. They could only live in the fairy warehouses on the border and were not allowed to communicate with other orc warriors even on warships.

“But don’t you find it strange?” Yatogami Tohka asked. “If the purpose of the racial segregation law is to protect people, then it should be to protect the beastmen. The Golden Fairies are far more powerful than the beastmen. Why don’t you just beat them up?”

"Violence is bad."

"But if the orcs started it, they're the ones in the wrong. Why should you bear the consequences?"

"..."

"You've been the ones who've always sacrificed for the floating islands, so why do you have to endure this kind of treatment?" Tohka Yatogami scoffed. "I have no intention of obeying such unreasonable laws!"

Faced with Tohka Yatogami's continuous questioning, Nephren didn't know how to answer.

From birth, the Golden Fairies are taught to dedicate everything to the floating islands.

They are used to obeying orders and commands from their superiors, and can tolerate being wronged sometimes.

After all, in exchange for fighting the Sixth Beast, they also gained a peaceful life, with enough to eat and wear.

The essence of the Golden Fairy is necromancy, and the more indifferent it is to its own life, the stronger its power becomes.

Therefore, sometimes they don't even realize they've been treated unfairly.

Just like the implementation of apartheid laws.

Even if they were excluded from the mainstream world by the coalition government, they didn't feel much, and no one would protest.

Even Nephren, an outlier among the Golden Fairies who fears death and oblivion, is no exception.

It wasn't until Tohka Yatogami brought this up that she belatedly realized that the treatment her race had received was indeed unfair.