"So what you're saying is," Lone spoke as he looked around the familiar office of King Ele'hunda's, "You already suspected Elder Shit'len of treason?" he added as his eyes settled on the muscular High Elf who was stood on the other side of the room.

Taking a wine decanter and three glasses out from the cabinet in front of him, Ele'hunda walked back to his seat behind the ornate desk that sat in the centre of the room.

"That's right," he answered without amplifying his voice with his strength. "Though I must admit, Elder Foru's far more serious betrayal of the world tree truly surprised Lipsilk and myself."

"Hmm... I suppose Elder Shit'len was the obvious red herring, huh? But at the same, if you had only listened to me, it would have been obvious that Elder Whoru was up to no good," Lone shrugged somewhat bitterly.

Sophie, who was sat on his lap, pinched his thigh and mumbled, "Nicknames and potty mouth..."

Lone grinned and kissed her head lightly. "Don't be stingy. I'm pretty proud of my renditions of their names, so let it slide, please?"

Sophie frowned cutely. "Just this once," before she cuddled one of his many fuzzy tails.

King Ele'hunda, choosing to ignore this display of affection between the Foxkin and Human, poured himself a glass of wine. "Care for some Spirit Amethyst?"

"Sure, I'd love some." Being Scottish, Lone was far more of a whiskey man even if he could rarely afford alcohol during his life as a high school teacher, but he could clearly tell that the quality of this wine, Spirit Amethyst, was otherworldly just on his sense of smell alone.

"Human?" Ele'hunda asked as he looked at Sophie and poured Lone a glass.

Sophie responded, "S-Sure."

While she rarely drank alcohol, this was mostly due to the fact that she had tried some beers and ales with Lone, and she absolutely hated the taste, but this 'Spirit Amethyst', even to a novice drinker like herself, looked very enjoyable.

Through the King's beard, Lone spotted a smile creep onto the High Elf's face. "This Spirit Amethyst is a very expensive beverage produced by the Dryads of Mount Kakrim."

He passed the two glasses to Lone and Sophie before he continued with, "Most people associate the Dryads of Mount Kakrim with their incredible healing prowess, but a select few know that their true value comes from this Spirit Amethyst."

Lone took a sip and enjoyed the sensation of the smooth purple liquid flowing down his throat. It was warm and filled him with vigour while also making his mind feel somewhat cloudly.

"Can you feel it? A single mouthful can heal all of your injuries and get you mildly intoxicated instantly. Truly, a nectar of the gods," King Ele'hunda admired before he drank a very minute amount, so as to make sure he enjoyed every drop to its fullest.

Lone looked down and noticed that Sophie's cheeks had already completely flushed over. 'For a Russian, her tolerance is really weak, huh? She's supposed to be immune to negative effects though, isn't she? I guess the healing properties don't activate her passive skill... interesting.'

"So how much does a bottle of this usually cost?" Lone asked as he took his second sip. He could feel Sophie pressing her back into his chest as she seductively stroked one of his tails, entirely forgetting the existence of the XXX-ranker in front of her.

Luckily, King Ele'hunda's entire attention was on the wine in his glass. "A one-litre bottle costs ten-ruby gold-coins. Quite the fortune, but I doubt that would deter you from purchasing some, now would it, Nine-tails?"

Lone chuckled. "I should buy a few hundred bottles if I ever visit Mount Kakrim."

"You truly have no issues with flaunting your wealth, do you, Nine-tails?" King Ele'hunda laughed.

"Not much point in having it if I'm not gonna use it, huh?" Lone replied before taking another swig of his Spirit Amethyst. "Also, my name is Lone immortus, not Nine-tails. As much as I know it's a title of respect for my status as a nine-tailed Foxkin, just call me by my name, okay?"

"I see. I didn't know it wasn't to your liking. Most beastkin pride themselves on the number of their physical traits like you Foxkin do with your tails," Kind Ele'hunda said apologetically. "That being that case, just call me Ele'hunda henceforth, though you seem to call me whatever you feel like depending on your mood, Lone, hahaha," King Ele'hunda roared in laughter.

Lone removed his free hand from Sophie's belly and scratched his head in embarrassment before an upset Cosmos-ranked being put her wine glass back down on the desk and crawled up Lone's body and reclaimed his hand as her belly warmer.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"You two really are an odd couple, are you not?" Ele'hunda noted.

"Love works in mysterious ways. We started with a more parental bond, to be honest, but over time, our feelings changed. I guess some of the old habits stuck though," Lone said, fully acknowledging the fact that many people likened their relationship to one of a doting father and a spoilt daughter.

Lone looked down at the tipsy Sophie who was stroking his tails in... peculiar ways, with a warm smile on his face before he turned his head up and looked at the King again. "More importantly, why do you have a bottle of wine that costs ten ruby-gold coins? I thought the tree was suffering financially... unless you used my money for personal expenses, hmm?" Lone joked.

"It was a gift from the Dyrads of Mount Kakrim that they gave to me once they realised that they couldn't help the tree in any way at all. I have five more bottles. If you'd like, you can take them," King Ele'hunda offered with sincerity in his voice.

Lone shook his head, "Thank you, but I can get more whenever I want."

"I suppose that's true. How exactly are you so wealthy, if you don't mind me asking?" King Ele'hunda was very curious about this, as was the rest of the entire council.

It didn't make sense for a young Foxkin who wasn't even a hundred years old to have amassed such wealth. Even a third tier kingdom would struggle to throw around twenty-thousand ruby-gold coins as casually as Lone had done.

At this point, Sophie was extremely bored, so she stood up and sat back down on Lone expect this time she was facing him and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Lone held her head to his chest affectionately as he answered Ele'hunda.

"If you want me to be honest, I create it," Lone said with a grin before he extended his palm and a small pile of ruby-gold coins appeared on his palm in exchange for a few thousand MP. "Keep it a secret, yeah?"

"That... That's... Isn't that incredibly irresponsible, Lone?" King Ele'hunda couldn't bring it upon himself to reprimand Lone since he and the eastern world tree had benefited greatly from the money that Lone had created, even if it might eventually have adverse consequences.

Lone shrugged. "Sure, Inflation is bound to happen, but I doubt it would apply for a few more years at least. After all, the entire continent uses the same form of currency except for small closed-off communities like the internal market here, but everywhere still accepts metal coins, even if begrudgingly."

"Even then, plenty of coins get stolen and melted down by bandits for their base value, so it doesn't bother me even slightly." Lone then put the coins in his Dimensional Storage directly, shocking King Ele'hunda since this implied that Lone had some mastery over spatial magic, a school of magic that was so hard to even slightly grasp that its mages were even rarer than Soul Oracles.

"Is there anything that you can't do, Lone?" King Ele'hunda said in a praising and slightly jealous tone.

"Yeah," Lone grinned, "I'm crap at enchanting," he said. Lone also silently added, 'And I can't defeat an Ancient-level being... yet.'

"'Crap at enchanting', huh?" King Ele'hunda quoted with a peculiar look on his face. "Lone, I'm sorry that I didn't believe you about the Homunculus last night. You had no reason to lie."

"And you had no reason to believe me. Anyway, just listen to what I say in the future, okay?" Lone smiled mischievously.

"Of course. I promise to listen to your words from now on and consider them seriously regardless of how farfetched they might sound. I also plan to grant you a position as an honorary elder. I would have made you a full elder, but there are species restrictions," King Ele'hunda said a little bit regretfully.

"I refuse if that's gonna tie me down to the tree. I'll tell you this now, but as soon as I've fully healed it, I plan to leave," Lone announced.

Lone knew that it was technically against the rules for him to try to leave the tree and abandon his responsibilities as a world tree keeper, but he had never once let rules confine him on Altros, and he certainly didn't plan to start now.

"I can't say that decision of yours makes me happy, but I can understand someone as talented as you wanting to explore the world. You and your companions will be required to sign contracts that will keep everything you know about the tree and our knowledge a secret, but as a favour, I will guarantee that we won't ask for your memories to be altered," Ele'hunda said with a very understanding tone in his voice.

"I honestly expected more resistance, Ele'hunda," Lone said with some surprise.

The High Elf laughed lightly as he finished his glass of Spirit Amethyst. "Not only have you dedicated yourself to healing the tree and helping Elder Luckful, but you also aided us in ridding ourselves of two traitors and identifying a powerful threat to us whom we thought wouldn't return for a long time. I would be a fool to not honour your wishes."

Lone was speechless. Unsure of how to reply, he simply said, "Thanks."

"Anyway," King Ele'hunda moved on. "An honorary elder, just like a regular elder, has full permission to leave the tree for a month without the pretence of a mission, and you also wouldn't be required to act as an actual elder, hence the honorary role. It's mostly an excuse to grant exceptional individuals more freedom."

"In that case, sure. Why not?" Lone said. 'Besides, it might reflect well on my next adventurer rank evaluation, thus increasing my fame and increasing the chances of someone related to the gods discovering me.'

"Excellent. I'll make the announcement tomorrow. You needn't do anything as it's only the honorary role, not the actual one, so formalities aren't necessary. Also, in regards to your technique opportunities, do you know when you'll be using them? The workers at the Grand Technique Hall have been anxious ever since last evening," Ele'hunda claimed.

"Ah, I'll do it tomorrow. I need to go home really. Look, Soph is asleep. It seems she's really weak to this stuff," Lone noted as he calmly stroked the snoozing girl's head, making her smile in her sleep.

"I won't be seeing you off as I have a lot of paperwork to do now that we've found two traitors," the King said with a wry smile.

'Another bigwig not fond of office work, huh? Well, it was one of the few things I hated about being a teacher and one of the reasons I'll probably never establish my own kingdom, so I can't say I don't understand,' Lone thought to himself.

The Foxkin then stood up while gently holding Sophie who was still attached to him in a way that resembled a sloth hanging peacefully from a tree. He nodded his head towards King Ele'hunda before he left the room and returned home.