In the Land of the Elves - 19
There was something Reyna regretted.
The most regrettable thing in the world.
That night was the night when the Hero Olivia had performed an incredible feat.
After being expelled from the party, Olivia had grown stronger and joined the Hero party, but she hadn’t been much help, and Reyna’s sense of guilt had only deepened.
Ah…
How foolish she had been?
She had been drunk.
She hadn’t known the ways of the world.
Too many conditions had combined.
At that time, Reyna hadn’t known Alex’s true nature.
“Reyna-nim, you seem to be drinking a lot today.”
“Shut up.”
While gossiping about Olivia, she drank.
In truth, it was just her guilt. Olivia hadn’t done anything wrong; it was simply that Reyna was weak.
But she had drunk, and quite exhausted, Reyna had eventually insulted Olivia, and Alex listened to her words.
“The Hero is strong, but there are times when you don’t value people’s hearts, don’t you?”
“You know that, Alex.”
“Oh, perhaps shall we play a game?”
“A game?”
“Yes. It’s a simple game. But if we just play, it won’t be fun, so let’s bet on something.”
“What shall we bet?”
“Indeed.”
Alex smiled.
“Shall the winner have the right to command the loser?”
“Pathetic, but not bad.”
Idiot.
Fool.
What are you doing?
No.
Don’t.
After all, it was a game she couldn’t win.
But the head drunk with alcohol didn’t think that far, and as a comrade, she couldn’t imagine that Alex would apply the Geas to that game.
After placing the Geas, she blackmailed about the World Tree.
In truth, the blackmail about the World Tree had no meaning anyway since the Geas was placed.
It was just to remove the psychological resistance when the time came, for the sake of ‘Elvenheim’, by pretending it was for Elvenheim.
She knew.
She knew, and she did it.
She knew and committed such a filthy act.
“…”
Reyna opened her eyes and instinctively touched her neck.
Like a slave, Alex had used the Geas to torment Reyna, whispering to her continuously for the sake of Elvenheim.
At that time, she had almost believed it seriously, but when she was alone and thought coldly, she wondered what the kingdom could do for Elvenheim.
Even if she found a Spiritist, finding a Spiritist who was rare in a generation was difficult, and even more so to find one who could save the World Tree.
In truth, she knew.
It was an excuse.
She had been deceived by Alex’s words about ‘for the sake of Elvenheim’ because her own life was precious, and it had become so.
Her own life was precious.
That was all.
Elvenheim too.
The Hero party too.
It didn’t matter at all.
She was only afraid of dying because of Alex due to the Geas.
Above all, if the Geas on her neck was discovered, it would be the end for Reyna.
Above all, she didn’t want to disappoint her mother, Titania.
But.
“What should I do?”
No, the answer was already decided.
It was decided, but Reyna had avoided choosing that answer selfishly.
When she looked in the mirror, the brand of the Geas on her neck looked unbearably ugly.
And the face of Reyna reflected in the mirror was also ugly.
“What are you doing?”
She spoke to herself.
“What I can do…”
After all, the path was only the choice of whether she would illuminate it herself or let it be revealed by Olivia.
Olivia had not revealed the truth to anyone except Titania.
She was waiting.
She was waiting for her to lower her head and come to confess her sins.
For Olivia, she thought it was merciful.
She was giving her time to choose.
Was it because she had been betrayed and her thoughts changed? Or was it simply because Reyna was a former comrade?
“No, the latter can’t be.”
Retribution for good and evil.
No matter how much Olivia had died and resurrected, it wouldn’t change her core.
No matter how you look at it, Olivia was a good person and hated evil.
“Olivia, do you still believe in me? Do you believe that I still have human nature?”
I don’t know.
Reyna stood up.
“Today… Alex said he was preparing something…”
She didn’t know what he was preparing, but she couldn’t do anything now.
Olivia’s power, even if not at its peak, was equivalent to the Demon King’s army cadre.
No, even among the Demon King’s army cadre, those in the lower ranks wouldn’t be able to defeat her.
“Originally, I wonder what the weakened monsters without the Demon King can do.”
Olivia had reported to the kingdom that monsters were a threat, and apparently she had planned to go on a journey alone to save people right after.
Perhaps she would have entered the Monster Realm and exterminated the monsters.
No.
Olivia basically prioritized saving innocent lives over reducing the enemy’s lives, so rather than going to the Monster Realm to massacre, she would prioritize saving people.
“…”
Quickly preparing and coming out, since it was still dawn, no one was visible.
Walking quietly down the street, she felt someone approaching from the opposite side.
Who is this from such an early morning?
A soldier?
Thinking that, a face she had seen somewhere appeared.
Instantly, Reyna overlaid her mother Titania’s face.
“Eh, you are.”
“Uh, Reyna-nim?”
Name.
What was the name again.
Sylphy.
It was Sylphy.
“What are you doing out so early?”
“I’m a bit early for morning. There’s nothing to do, and I’m tense, so I was just lightly running. What about you, Reyna-nim, doing this from such an early morning?”
“…… You don’t have to use honorifics with me.”
She had heard that half-elves resent current elves, but wasn’t that the case?
“No, I’m sorry…”
“I heard you made a bow with magic power, right? You’re not of the blood of a High Elf either, are you?”
“Th, yes… um… perhaps you don’t know whose bloodline I have?”
“Eh? um… since there are few High Elves, if I guess, but that sounds like it has meaning to me too.”
Sylphy smiled as if he was surprised.
“I, um… I am the son of the daughter of Titania’s former husband.”
“Eh?”
“So, we are cousins in a way, though complicated.”
“……!”
Reyna was incredibly young among the High Elves.
Thinking about that, depending on the case, Sylphy might be older than Reyna.
No, the daughter of Titania’s former husband died before the human-elf war ended, so Sylphy was born around that time, and it was almost certain that he was older than Reyna.
“Eh? No… um? Son?”
“Yes, son.”
“Son?”
“Yes, son.”
“……”
Reyna grabbed her head.
The gender issue wasn’t working.
With this face, really a man?
He looked more feminine than Reyna.
Why was his skeleton even more feminine than a man?
Sylphy had a thoughtful face for a moment, then looked at Reyna and said.
“Auntie.”
“Oh, please. Just call me Reyna.”
“Then, Reyna-nim.”
“Why?”
“May I have a word with you for a moment?”
“…… What?”
Sylphy smiled at Reyna’s slightly tense attitude.
“Don’t be scared. I’m not directly related to that incident unlike Olivia-nim or Lois-nim. I haven’t told anyone either. If that incident spreads widely, it should be done by Olivia-nim or… your hands, right?”
“……”
The tone that was a bit cold yet like scolding a child clearly resembled Titania.
That face resembled Titania even more than Reyna, as if it had inherited Titania’s blood more deeply.
For some reason, the frustration made Reyna grab her neck.
“What do you want from me?”
“Your sharp attitude is poisonous, Reyna-nim.”
“……”
“The mark of being a sinner is quite painful, isn’t it?”
“……”
“You’ve lived correctly so far, but due to the forced contract, you’ve committed evil acts and feel disgusted with yourself, but if you admit it, your head hurts, right?”
“Don’t talk as if you know everything.”
“I know.”
“What?”
Sylphy laughed.
“I’m a half-elf. I was a sinner from birth.”
“……”
The wind blew.
No choice.
Surviving as a symbol of hatred from birth was something to be praised.
That was the half-elf.
Hatred for half-elves existed in every race, but the hatred for half-elves was even more severe, regardless of human or elf.
“But I was lucky. Being a half of High Elf, I had innate talent from birth, and I learned some skills from Titania in a short time. It’s not an exaggeration to say I was blessed.”
It was all from the perspective of half-elf.
“I…”
“Many things are scary, and I don’t know what to choose. You, who was born and raised in Elvenheim, didn’t know the outside world, and you stained yourself with evil and committed evil acts. Your sins are entirely yours.”
“……”
“No one can take them for you, and you have to bear them.”
“……”
“But for now, I’m family, so I don’t want to see you brutally killed by Olivia-nim. Well, if Olivia-nim wanted to be killed, it would have been fine.”
Unfortunately, Olivia was waiting.
She was waiting for Reyna to open the door and come to apologize.
Bow down and beg.
Cry and apologize.
Move like a sinner confessing to the god.
Olivia had been waiting for that.
“If the god who gives chances gives up giving chances, do you know what remains?”
“…… Sins don’t disappear. Apologizing doesn’t change it. Even I can’t tell you anything.”
In fact, even without the Geas now, Alex had restricted various information.
For example, not telling where he got the Curse of the God of Death was a representative example.
So, even if asked, she couldn’t answer, and even if she could, she didn’t know.
“Yes, sins don’t disappear.”
“……”
“But that doesn’t mean it won’t be atonement. Everyone makes small and large mistakes and commits sins.”
From the small sin that disappears if you just say sorry to the sin that doesn’t disappear no matter how hard you hit your head.
Depending on the person, there are many wrongs.
“There is no ‘just let it go’ or ‘finish peacefully’ for you. You’ve done that much, haven’t you?”
“……”
Of course, this was the same for Alex and Velita.
“There’s still a little time left. Think a little more. Today will be a busy day, but after that busy day, it will be irreversible.”
Sylphy said that and moved away from Reyna.
Left alone, Reyna looked at her own hands.
The feeling of shooting Olivia still lingered and appeared in nightmares.
“Mother… I…”
Ah.
Yes.
Everything had been an excuse.
The reason Reyna was worrying now wasn’t anything special.
It wasn’t guilt.
It wasn’t responsibility.
It wasn’t for Elvenheim either.
Just.
Just Reyna was.
“I just didn’t want to admit that I had committed evil acts.”
The shell named ‘excuse’ that had protected Reyna since the day Alex placed the Geas on her.
In the end, it had been peeled off.