This is not the date I wanted.

Suddenly, an unhappy snort was heard, and the screen flashed. The white-haired nun in the picture was replaced by a black-haired girl wearing a black nun's uniform with an inverted cross.

This is the artificial intelligence originally created by DEM - Ormori Maruna.

[Stupid Shidou, go die! ]

"Eh?"

With an unhappy look on his face, he left a curse, and before Shidou and the others could react, Junai turned off the screen and left.

When the screen lit up again, the scene switched back to Maria, and the girl was giving Shidao an apologetic smile.

【I'm very sorry, Shidao.】

Although Shidou didn't mind much, he was still somewhat confused about Juna's attitude.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but Junai is..."

"Actually, I feel a little bit... about what I did to you in the temporary command room..."

Ju Ya said as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Shidou was speechless for a moment. Although he didn't make his words clear out of consideration for the spirits around him, he guessed that Maruna was angry about Shidou's previous quarrel with Mengyue.

【I think Shidao is not wrong. 】

After affirming her position, Maria looked at Shidou with her clear eyes and smiled gently.

[However, after finishing this matter, Shidao must also deal with the matter on the other side. ]

"Yeah...I will."

Shidou nodded with difficulty.

"Okay, okay, that's enough time for small talk."

Noticing that the elf had vaguely sensed something uncomfortably wrong in the conversation between Shidou and Maria, Kotori clapped her hands and interrupted the topic, asking everyone to focus their attention on herself.

"Kannazuki, you and Maria go and adjust the new equipment first. Shidou, you two follow me. The person who wants to see you is waiting in the waiting room now."

"Yes!!"

Hearing Kotori's order, the crew members saluted in unison.

"Kotori, who exactly is it that wants to see me?"

As if unable to hold back the doubts in his heart, Shidou asked a question.

"Oh, it's about time I told you."

As if giving Shidou some time to prepare himself mentally, Kotori nodded and replied.

"Elliot Woodman. My boss and the founder of Ratatoskr."

————————————————————I drew the dividing line based on my feelings————————————

On the way to the waiting room, from Qinli's description, everyone had a vague impression of Woodman.

The founder of Ratatoskr, the chairman of the Round Table Conference which determines the organization's policies, and the strongest supporter of Kotori and others' action to save the elves.

To put it bluntly, if it weren't for Woodman, no one, including Kotori, would be able to live in ordinary society as they do now.

"Hmm - I see. In short, he's a very remarkable person, right?"

Tohka nodded, not quite understanding. Although her summary was so simple and rough that it made people speechless, no one wanted to refute it. After all, they had never seen it, and it was not appropriate to make a specific evaluation based on Kotori's words.

Except for Erya.

"What's wrong, Erya? Your expression is a little scary."

Noticing Niana's solemn expression, which was completely different from her usual frivolous personality, Shidou asked quietly.

"...!"

Nia was obviously startled by Shidou, and quickly replied with a smile.

"Hmm? Ahaha, nothing? Boy, are you paying enough attention to Niya to notice such a small change?"

"Hello..."

Shidou responded with a wry smile, only to see Nia shrug her shoulders, look forward, and mutter to herself.

"It's just... I feel like I've heard the name Woodman recently."

"Eh?"

Without waiting for Shidou to ask, Kotori opened the door to the waiting room and walked in.

"Sorry to bother you."

They walked into the house with a bit of uneasiness and nervousness. Just as Kotori said, there were already two people in the house quietly waiting for their arrival.

One was a foreign male who looked to be in his fifties. His handsome features were adorned with light green-rimmed eyes, and his long gray hair was braided into a small braid and rested on his left shoulder, giving him an amiable impression.

Next to the man was a young woman in her twenties, wearing a neat suit, standing straight, and wearing delicate and dignified square-framed glasses, making people think that she was a very smart and capable secretary.

"Eh?"

"Mm?"

Shidou and Tohka widened their eyes in surprise.

The reason is simple, the two of them had met each other once before.

No, for Shidou, it should be said twice. Before Nanashi appeared, he was once approached by this foreign man in a wheelchair and asked for directions.

"Mr. Baldwin...?"

"Long time no see. Your spirits are better than anything else. - Let me introduce myself again. My name is Elliot Baldwin Woodman."

As if he had completed a little prank, Woodman couldn't help laughing as he looked at Shido Gokawa's astonished face.

"Lord Woodman, have you met with Shidou and the others?"

Kotori asked in surprise.

"Yeah, I saw him once by chance when I went to Tiangong City before."

"Just by chance...are you kidding me..."

Seeing her boss say something quite outrageous in a nonchalant tone, Kotori couldn't help but feel a headache.

She had not received any notification that Woodman had been to Tiangong City. In other words, Woodman had sneaked here without telling anyone in the company.

"Please inform me before you come next time. Otherwise, what should I do if something happens?"

"Haha, sorry. I'll be more careful next time."

Woodman responded to Kotori's questioning with a tepid and relaxed attitude, and laughed heartily, which made Kotori droop her shoulders helplessly.

Having said that, his casual and easy-going attitude still gives others a good first impression.

"I'm very sorry today. We should have taken the initiative to meet you."

As he said this, Woodman bowed slightly towards Shidao, expressing his gratitude and apology to him.

They were grateful that the boy was willing to sacrifice himself to help them save the elves, and they apologized for abandoning and destroying the boy when he was in the most dangerous moment.

Dáinsleif is a satellite weapon specially made to destroy the rampaging Gokawa Shido. Although it was not Woodman's original intention that the weapon was activated due to the arbitrary behavior of a councillor, the fact is the fact, and Woodman still has to apologize to Shido for the consequences of his poor supervision.

"I promise that the same thing will never happen again."

After a moment's silence, Shidou raised his head and answered calmly.

"Well... I feel a little complicated, but it's not that I can't understand your thoughts. After all, I did go berserk. And saving the elves was my own decision, and even if I knew about it in advance, my choice would not change. On the contrary, I feel more grateful than before."

Hearing Shidao's answer, Woodman couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, you are such a forgiving person."

"You are so kind. But... in exchange, can I ask you a question?"

"what is the problem?"

"Um... can you tell me why you chose to save the elves?"

Shidou raised the question in his mind.

“I am very concerned about this as well.”

At the same time, Origami continued Shidou's words.

"Ratatoskr is an organization that saves the elves. I admit it and I am grateful. But please tell me why you are willing to spend so much money to save the elves."

It's understandable that they were confused. If we only look at it from the perspective of saving the elves, Ratatoskr can be said to have done everything perfectly. Not only did they prepare perfect dormitories and comprehensive identity documents for the elves, they also arranged for them to go to school, and even covered all the expenses including food, clothing, housing and transportation. And that's not all. If we take into account the various equipment and devices used to save the elves, the expenses would be an astronomical number.

However, in this exchange, the elves didn't have to give anything in return. It was like a pie in the sky, so good that it was unbelievable. If Ratatoskr could gain some clear benefits from it, Origami wouldn't be so uneasy.

"That's true. It's not surprising that you have such doubts. But... this is really troubling."

Woodman smiled helplessly. Although from his reaction, it can be seen that he had expected such a question, but he was not prepared to give a convincing answer to Shidao and others.

"Saving the elves... maybe you won't believe it. But this is indeed my greatest goal."

Obviously, this answer did not convince everyone.

"I admit that there may be good people like this boy in the world who have no desires and simply want to save others. But the boy's behavior can only be said to be his own spontaneous behavior. As the saying goes, if the water is too clear, there will be no fish. As the boss of such a large company, can you lead all your subordinates to make such selfless contributions?"

At this moment, the silent Niya suddenly spoke. Unlike his usual frivolous tone, facing Woodman, Niya's attitude was more ferocious than stern.

"…Niya?"

"Wait a minute, young man. You want me to finish asking you a question."

After a brief explanation, Erya stared at Woodman and asked word by word.

"Elliot Baldwin Woodman—is that your name correct?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Woodman nodded slightly.

"Then let me ask you again... As one of the founding members of DEM Electronics Industries, and the one who caused the first spirit to appear thirty years ago, why do you say such nice things?"

Erya's words exploded among the crowd like a bombshell.

However, Woodman did not express the slightest surprise.

"I see...did she tell you?"

"What do you mean?"

Hearing the unexpected topic, Erya couldn't help but frown and asked.

"No...it seems I made a mistake. You should have investigated it when you had the omniscient angel."

After observing everyone's reactions, Woodman smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"I see. It's about time I had a good talk with you guys."

After making this decision, Woodman's expression became much more relaxed.

Simply put, thirty years ago, Woodman was a member of Westcott and Allen, and together they founded the DEM company. In order to utilize the power of the elves, they managed to summon the elves, causing the Eurasian spacequake.

However, after summoning the first elves, Woodman and Westcott had disagreements on how to deal with the elves and thus parted ways.

The Woodman who chose to protect the elves fled DEM and established his own organization, Ratatoskr.

As for the reason for doing so——

"I am hopelessly in love with that elf."

That's right. This man, who was already over fifty, said it in a serious tone that would make anyone else feel embarrassed.

According to him, when Woodman saw the original fairy, he was captured by her otherworldly beauty and couldn't help thinking about her day and night. To put it bluntly, it was love at first sight.

As a result, he became unable to harm the elves, and could not forgive Westcott who attempted to harm the elves through violence.

"I cannot tolerate the elves who exist just like her being harmed. It may be an idiotic reason, but this is indeed my motivation for saving the elves."

"Well, I believe you. It's really great to have such a person in the world."

Shidao nodded in agreement. He didn't think Woodman was lying. After all, if it was really necessary, he could have made up a more convincing lie to deceive him. Moreover, he didn't think this was an idiotic excuse.

He looked at Shidao with a little surprise, and then Woodman's expression softened again.

"Thank you. I'm glad to meet a young man like you."

"..."