In the Land of the Elves
Rayna sat in silence, occupying a quiet corner of her home and offering the empty room nothing at all.
Olivia's very arrival in Elvenheim had been unexpected. Even more unexpected was that her own mother, Titania, had not refused the Hero as vehemently as Rayna had anticipated. That she had allowed them in even with a half-elf in tow — a half-elf Titania had always despised — was yet another surprise. Not that Rayna had any means of doing anything about it.
They could not give her the World Tree Sap now. Olivia would die. The way she moved these days, one might even doubt she was truly afflicted with the Curse of the God of Death — she got around well enough that the question almost seemed academic. But Rayna, who knew how Olivia used to move, could tell at a glance that she had grown weaker.
Fast, yes — but visible to Rayna's eyes. Fast enough that Rayna could still react. That alone meant she had already weakened.
The Olivia who had fought the Demon King had moved in a way that was not merely unreactable. It had been invisible. Sheer swiftness. Sheer speed. Too fast for words, and without a shred of hesitation.
The Olivia who had never asked why of evil was now asking why.
Rayna could tell that the Hero's yoke — the shackle that had been tightening around Olivia's throat for so long — was coming undone. She could not say precisely why, but Lois was almost certainly involved.
He's always looked after her.
It had been Lois who had cared for Olivia when she was little more than a monster, who had tried somehow to make her rest. And he had been, Rayna believed, almost the only one who could stop Olivia from acting. That was why, when she had heard of Lois's banishment, she had thought it inevitable — and regretted it all the same. He had been capable. And he had been the only one with the courage to look the Hero Olivia in the eye and tell her no.
What do I do now?
If she left things as they were, Olivia would die on her own. There was no need to go looking for trouble, was there?
And yet.
Rayna's fingers found her own throat once more.
I think Lois has figured it out.
He must not find out. If he did, there might be no going back.
A cold sweat beaded on Rayna's skin as she let out a small sigh.
A knock sounded at the door.
"W-who's there?"
Someone had knocked, and then the door slowly opened. They had knocked, but she had not given permission. To enter anyway meant the knock had been a courtesy offered by the visitor, not a request awaiting her answer. At that point, she knew at once who it was.
"Mother."
"..."
The current Titania — Rayna's mother — stood in the doorway, looking down at her with somewhat cold eyes.
"The green country. Elvenheim."
I murmured the words as I looked around.
There were a fair number of buildings, and the trees stood tall. Homes perched in the canopy, bridges spanning from trunk to trunk, and what looked like wires and other contrivances serving as means of travel. The trees were all large, as a rule. They only looked small in comparison to the World Tree, which was simply too enormous.
"Elvenheim was once called the Forest of Giants, I'm told."
"No need to ask why. Every last tree is huge. The World Tree's so big you'd mistake it for something else from a distance."
I had the impression this wasn't a particularly developed settlement — not in the social sense, at least — but walking through it now, I found a restaurant, a bakery, a tailor, a greengrocer, a butcher. Everything was here, just as it would be in a human town. The sorts of shops you'd expect to find in any human village that wasn't vanishingly small were all present, and even if the elves of Elvenheim were fewer in number than humans, a proper society had clearly taken shape. They were not, from first to last, warriors with bows in their hands. Just like humans, far more of them lived ordinary lives.
"Lois? What's wrong?"
Lois had set a hand against one of the trees and was staring at it, seemingly lost in thought. I couldn't tell whether he was truly spacing out or not, but he was examining the tree with unmistakable care. Was there something there?
"Lois, is something going on?"
"...No. May I tell you once I have a little more certainty?"
"Alright. If you've decided you don't need to say it now, that's fine. Is it something really troublesome?"
"If it's true, 'troublesome' wouldn't begin to cover it. ...But this is all in the realm of inference until I hear it from Titania herself."
"Then we'll have to ask her."
I didn't fully understand, but Lois had clearly found something serious. Unfortunately, I was not wise enough to follow whatever he was thinking, or to grasp what he had realized. He used to tell me, often enough, that I wasn't unintelligent — I just didn't think things through. But thinking about all sorts of things with a mind that had never considered anything but the sword was far too complicated.
Honestly, the past — when all I'd had to do was decide, from first to last, whether to cut something down or leave it — had been easier to live in, and more pleasant. It hadn't been complicated, and I hadn't had to carry any weight in my heart.
But I know better now. That I had simply given up on thinking, and run away.
"Lady Olivia."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Do you forgive Lady Rayna?"
"Huh? No?"
"Oh. Is that so?"
"Why would you think that?"
Sylphy scratched his cheek, looking a little flustered.
"Well, Lady Olivia, you don't really seem angry."
"I think that's true, too."
"..."
Sylphy stared at me with a face that said, What is that supposed to mean?
Hmm. I couldn't explain this feeling precisely myself.
"The reason I didn't kill Rayna on the spot is that, unlike the Reaper Cult Leader, she wasn't caught in the act."
"In the act?"
"Yeah. If someone is in danger unless you kill them right then and there, you don't have the luxury of asking questions, do you? You kill them immediately. That person might have had their own reasons — but if you stop to hear those reasons out, no matter how justified they are, countless people will die."
"That's true."
"So I killed the Reaper Cult Leader on the spot."
"..."
"If Rayna had... hmm. If she'd taken you hostage, for instance, I would have drawn the Holy Sword. But that wasn't what happened, was it? Nothing was going wrong in that moment, so I wanted to ask her why."
If I could learn the reason, it might be possible to prevent the same kind of problem from happening again. In fact, if the situation hadn't been urgent, I had intended to question Alex and Velita as well. After Rayna, the answers I heard from those two might have helped me choose my path. That was my own greed, of course — and if things were bad enough that standing still meant danger, I might well end up fighting the two of them without any of that. But you have to know the circumstances before you can do anything, don't you?
"...You're strong."
"Not at all. I used to just cut them down without any of that. Haha — it was easier on the heart."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. Far too easy. I had an invincible shield, you see: They were bad people, weren't they? Everything I did had justice in it, and goodness, and the Goddess's blessing. I was the judge who passed sentence on evil."
Arrogance. But I had believed that was the Hero's role. I had believed that was the true and perfect form of a Hero.
"Truly self-centered, isn't it."
"But you saved the world."
"Saving the world doesn't mean I get to do as I please. I was far too self-righteous, it seems. I couldn't even earn my companions' trust."
They may have decided I would brand them as evil — by my own rules. I certainly had no intention of looking the other way on wickedness just because someone was a companion. But that wasn't the real problem. They hadn't seen it as reliable, or Hero-like, or anything of the sort. They had simply seen me as something frightening. If even Alex had been afraid of me, then in other people's eyes I must have looked less like hope and more like a monster.
That was the thought that came to me.
"I don't personally think Livia has any reason to suffer over that."
"Lois, are you done investigating?"
"Let's walk around a bit more. We came out for a field survey, but I think we need to look more closely."
"Alright."
"Anyway, going back — I personally don't think Livia has any reason to suffer like that."
"That's true too. This is just who I am."
"..."
Lois fell silent for a moment, then smiled at me.
That gentle smile.
It tickled something in my chest.
I had the faith that if I ever looked about to cross a line, he would stop me with his own body. In all my life, I had never thought I would want someone.
I wanted this person beside me.
I wanted this person to walk with me.
I wanted him close enough that I could reach out and touch him.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
"No reason. I was just thinking I like it."
"Livia, you do remember that you're dying, yes?"
"Lady Olivia is so full of energy it makes you forget she's a terminally ill patient."
"I forget sometimes too."
"Please remember..."
I was starting to get used to having no eye, and no arm. The Elixir was rare and expensive, even if it couldn't compare to the World Tree Sap. I was healing, slowly — but the parts that had been completely lost probably couldn't be restored.
"S-so, shall we go t-t-talk to people now?"
I was trembling as I said it, and Lois laughed.
"A nervous Livia is quite a fresh sight."
"I-I get nervous too, you know! Will the elves accept us?"
I could endure ugly words about myself, and I was confident they wouldn't bother me much. But if they said something ugly about Sylphy, I might snap before I knew what I was doing.
"What happened to the person who so confidently declared this was an experiment on the elves?"
"Lois, the world is full of people whose words are all polish and no substance."
"You caught the Demon King with that polish. Do you think that argument holds water?"
"Can't you just let me have it?"
"Well... let's start with somewhere easy. Shall we go to a restaurant and have a meal?"
I still couldn't eat proper food anyway. But it was time Lois and Sylphy ate.
"Alright, then..."
"Pardon the interruption."
"Hm?"
We all turned together. An elf in armor stood there. Not a bow — a sword. This was, without a doubt, the elf who had been standing beside Titania earlier. Even at a glance, he gave the impression of being her right hand, and the presence of a considerably powerful warrior pressed against the skin. He was quite large for an elf. No — even by human standards, he was a man of imposing size.
There was no hostility. His eyes were deep; my instincts told me he could be trusted. I didn't know what Lois and Sylphy would make of him, though. I turned my head, and Lois nodded as if to say it would be fine. Sylphy did the same.
I answered for the three of us.
"Alright. Let's go."