In the Land of the Elves – 11
"Are you certain you'll be all right eating nothing but porridge?"
"It's not about what I want. This body of mine is the problem. There's a hole in my heart."
"How are you even still alive?"
"I'd like to know that myself, Lady Olivia."
From time to time, even Lois would look at me with an expression that asked whether I was actually human.
I am rather sturdy, I'll grant that. As long as something resembling a human shape remains, it's probably safest to assume I won't die. If anyone asked me how I was still breathing, the only answer I could give was that I simply was.
Traveling with Lois had at least gotten me to the point where I could manage porridge — something easy on the stomach. In the old days, he would grind whatever food he could find into something I practically had to drink. There was no satisfaction in it, none at all, but in the Monster Realm there were stretches where we went hungry, so I had developed a habit of being grateful for anything that went down. And besides, Lois always prepared it with such care. Complaining would have felt wrong.
"Will Lord Lois be all right on his own?"
"He'll be fine. Besides, it's right next to the restaurant."
Lois had said he wanted to examine the collapsed section. His stated reason was that if they didn't understand why something that had been perfectly sound until now had suddenly given way, it might happen again. I suspected the real reason lay somewhere else. Whatever it was, he would tell me when the moment came that I needed to know.
The arrangement between us was simple enough. I would ask whether there was something I ought to know right now. If he said no, I wouldn't pry. If he said yes, I would commit it properly to memory. That was the point of keeping a clever person at your side, wasn't it?
In exchange, I trusted Lois's judgment. I wouldn't call it blind faith, but I believed that when he made a call, he would give me something I could understand — a rationale that would sit right with me.
Our temperaments were surprisingly similar, even if our personalities weren't. We simply differed in how aggressively we acted on that shared sense of what was right.
Heh. Personality aside, our inclinations ran in the same direction. That had to count for something — a rather high score, even.
"Lord Lois seems very wise. Or perhaps I should say he knows a great deal?"
"He's always liked reading, even back then. And anything that required talking to people — finding lodgings, that sort of thing — Lois used to handle all of it."
After Lois left, Alex had taken over those duties. Unlike Lois, who wrapped things up cleanly, Alex had a way of generating friction. He had a streak of that kingdom-first snobbery about him.
You know the type. Impeccably polite, nothing you could actually fault in his manners — and yet somehow infuriating. That sense that he was being courteous while sneering at you underneath. People picked fights with him over it constantly.
In the end Rayna had volunteered to do it herself, and thankfully she caused less trouble than Alex ever did.
Alex could be kind when he wanted to be. The catch was that he only bothered with people he considered valuable by his own measure. Passersby on the street didn't meet that threshold, so he saw no reason to extend them any courtesy. Wear the thinnest possible mask, and if anything went wrong later, you could always claim to be the victim. That was the kind of man he was. Which is why we switched to Rayna.
"Even when he was in the party, whenever we had a spare moment he always had his nose in a book. I used to wonder how he got through those enormous tomes."
"Hmm."
"What is it?"
Les regarded me with a thoughtful expression, and I caught the look. I spooned the warm porridge into my mouth. For the first time in ages, there was something I could actually chew, and a faint, almost giddy satisfaction rose in me.
If this upset my stomach, I would be back to eating whatever Lois mashed up for me. I was glad he did that for me — truly — but making extra work for him was never what I wanted.
"It's nothing. A personal curiosity, that's all."
"About what?"
"You speak so highly of him. Why, then, did you banish him?"
I gave an awkward laugh at that.
"Because I was a fool."
"You saved the world. How could someone like you possibly be a fool?"
"Apparently I could. I had no eye for people, and that's how things ended up. …Though that's not what matters right now. …They're staring an awful lot."
"Yes. They are."
"My apologies. Shall I have a word with them?"
"Don't. Children are curious. That's a good thing."
For someone who had never been permitted curiosity — not while my father was beating it out of me — the pure, unguarded wonder of children was something I both envied and found pleasant to watch.
The elven children were whispering among themselves as they peered in from beyond the window. I had smashed the place open, so it was fully exposed; anyone outside could see us perfectly well. Another round of damages Lois would have had to cover — except the restaurant's owner had told us not to worry about it, since it had been done to save the children. That had spared us a pointless expense. And an elf who treated the Hero and a half-elf as ordinary customers was, without question, a good elf.
"Anyway, what about you, Captain Les? Are you all right? Bowing your head to the Hero and a half-elf in front of so many of your own people."
Sylphy spoke as though he were genuinely worried. Les answered without hesitation.
"I am quite all right. The head I bowed in that moment had nothing to do with anyone being a Hero, or a half-elf. I bowed to the heroes who saved our young."
"You're a good elf."
"To be praised so by the Hero, Lady Olivia Reinhardt — I find myself embarrassed."
"Don't be. The hatred of an age isn't something you can just step around. Young or old, plenty of people go along with a thing simply because plenty of other people are doing it."
It isn't right — and yet they throw stones at a young girl because everyone else is throwing stones. Do it with a crowd and the guilt disappears; you even get to feel superior while you're at it. Two birds with one stone, I suppose. It was a sensation I had never understood, but I had seen the psychology of it often enough on the road, and more than a few people whose voices grew louder simply because their numbers had. There were even a handful so brazen I had to wonder how they were so certain they wouldn't be the ones getting hit.
I am kind to civilians. But if I was in a foul mood and decided someone was picking a fight, I hit them. The man who came to lecture me about a collapsed building after I had just pulled him out of it, for instance. Or that strange middle-aged swordsman who complained that I was stronger than him despite being young. At the time I had thought of it as nothing more than people picking fights. Looking back now, what on earth had given them that kind of confidence?
"Thank you for your understanding."
"I don't actually understand it."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. I get the shape of it, roughly… How do I put this. It's like I only know it as information. It doesn't reach the skin."
"I think that's perfectly fine for you, Lady Olivia."
"Do you? …That meat looks delicious."
"Lord Lois will be angry if you eat that."
"I know… Once I've recovered, there are so many things I want to eat. I want to eat until I burst. I'd rather eat something that tastes good than eat just to keep from dying."
It might have sounded like nothing, but for me a meal had never been more than a means of putting fuel in the body. Taste hadn't mattered. As long as it didn't give me a stomachache, I would eat whatever was in front of me. After that it was fighting, or training, or whatever else needed doing, and the me of those days had considered meals a waste of time.
"Come to think of it — I don't suppose Elvenheim has an Elixir?"
"An Elixir? I regret to say we have none on hand."
"Not easy to come by, then. …Obtaining one through proper channels would cost an astronomical sum. That would make it difficult."
"I've heard it sometimes appears as a reward for high-rank adventurer commissions."
"I asked Lois about that. He said it's truly rare — and that you can't even accept the commission unless your rank is high enough."
"Would someone like you even need such a thing, Hero? Does your very existence not constitute a high rank?"
"I-is that so?"
Still, I wasn't an adventurer. I did have an adventurer's rank, so would I even be allowed to take those commissions? Should I simply ask?
Come to think of it, Lois had said he was an adventurer. What was his rank? Could he take one of those commissions?
No, no. Lois didn't like standing out, and he seemed to prefer working at a moderate pace. His rank was probably neither particularly high nor particularly low. That felt like the right assumption.
"Do you intend to visit Titania again tomorrow?"
"I'll keep going for now. If there's a problem like you said, Les, I can at least ask whether she wants help."
"…It would be better, I think, to tell her, 'I'll help you, so shut up and talk,' rather than asking."
"Titania is the king of this country, isn't she? …Was that something you've been wanting to say?"
"I have never entertained such impertinence."
"Never…?"
"I do, however, believe those words are necessary."
Les's face turned briefly pensive, and then he went on.
"…But the elves cannot say them. The current Titania is a savior in all but name, and she has been half-deified besides. Such words would surely not be well received. Personally, I think it would be all right for her to step down before long."
"A revolution?"
Les, who had not immediately grasped her meaning, choked on the water he had been drinking.
"A-a misunderstanding! That is a misunderstanding. She has simply held the seat of Titania for so very long. I only thought it might be time to pass it to the next generation."
"Are you thinking of passing it to Rayna?"
"Lady Rayna, is it? That I cannot say. The seat of Titania is not hereditary. There is no guarantee that Titania's child will become the next Oberon — or the next Titania."
For reference: a man was called Oberon. A woman, Titania. That seemed to be how the elves named their sovereign.
"The way you say that, you seem opposed."
"Opposed is not quite the word. …She was raised from childhood as one might handle a beautiful objet d'art. She does not know how the world works."
That much was certainly true, but I was in no position to comment, so I kept my mouth shut.
"It is not that she is unintelligent. Rather, she tends toward a narrow view, and her bearing as a queen is, I think, somewhat lacking."
"I see."
"Given more time, perhaps. But I believe it would still be difficult to place her in Titania's seat. I dare say the current Titania is of the same mind."
I was surprised.
I had assumed that whatever Titania said, everyone here would follow. I had gone out to look around in person prepared to take a few stones for my trouble. Instead the children had welcomed me. The restaurant's owner had laughed without a care. And the man sitting in front of me now was, without any exaggeration, a genuinely good person.
Well. A nation was a nation because it held many people, and there was no reason they should all share the same ideology, the same temperament, the same character. Humans were no different. Pin one human's crime on the human species as a whole, and most people would find it absurd.
"Have you finished your meal?"
"Any more than this and my insides are in danger."
"There is a training ground immediately next door."
"Hm?"
"The elven soldiers should be present in decent numbers at this hour."
He seemed to be hinting at something. I didn't follow.
Hm?
When I looked at him with a face that made my confusion obvious, Les smiled faintly and continued.
"How about a light sparring match, the way one might take some exercise? I would like to learn a thing or two from the Hero who saved the world."
Uh. Um?
Wasn't this a little sudden?
I could almost hear the gears turning in my own head.
…Aha.
Spar with the Guard Captain, and the elves watching would see that we were building camaraderie. And if I beat him, it would draw admiration for my skill as well. Not a bad play. Not a bad play at all — though.
"You sure? I don't fight halfway in a match. If I do it, I'll win."
I smiled and stood.
"Then let's go."
I had eaten, and I wanted to move a little. And besides — the Guard Captain of the elves. A swordsman, from a people known for the bow.
That was very interesting indeed.