Those Who Walk Above Time (3)
As she made her way to the exhibition hall at her reserved time, the woman pressed a hand to her chest, trying to quiet the frantic hammering of her heart even a little.
It was always like this. On the day she was set to receive a reserved work, every emotion she had felt before would come flooding back into her mind, and she found herself utterly unable to rein in the excitement racing through her chest.
"Hah... finally..."
She had never even imagined a sequel would come out for The Elf Who Dreams of Bedding an Orc Is Frustrated Today Too — and yet here it was. When she first heard the news, she had been genuinely stunned, and all the feelings she had experienced while reading that comic had washed over her again, leaving her with a strangely moving ache.
It was a shame it wasn't the next volume of the Avatar series, but even so, she couldn't help but look forward to it. Honestly, even if it had been a completely brand-new original work, wouldn't she have been just as excited? And why wouldn't she be? Artist Siwoo's work had never once disappointed her.
Especially those womb tattoo stickers that had gone on sale alongside the previous volume — she still made sure to put one on every day. It had become one of her favorite fashion accessories.
Wow, there are so many people wearing the stickers.
Well, art itself was a hobby with a high proportion of female practitioners to begin with. And even setting that aside, men rarely read books like these, so the vast majority of people waiting were women. Among them, plenty had reserved their copies just to get their hands on Artist Siwoo's work a single day sooner — which probably explained why so many of them were deliberately wearing outfits that left their midriffs bare, stickers proudly displayed on their stomachs.
"At this rate, wouldn't even the Corruption turn tail and run from this many Avatars?"
She muttered the joke to herself, then realized her turn had come. With a light heart, she moved forward to receive the physical copy of the work.
What would the cover of this one feel like? And the contents? When she had reserved it, the only image available had been a worn-out teddy bear — the same one the elf had spent the previous volume talking to and tormenting in various ways. That alone had been enough to mark it as a sequel to the series, but it had given away nothing about the actual story.
She accepted the book with enormous anticipation — and the moment she did, her eyes locked onto the image of an orc and an elf who both looked just a little older than before.
Oh my god... they're adorable...
And what captivated her next was the tiny elf child beaming between them with a great big smile. Looking at the small fangs just beginning to grow in at the corners of the child's mouth, this had to be the half-blood born at the end of the previous volume, all grown up. From that tiny newborn at the last book's close all the way through — this was clearly going to be a work where the half-blood's cuteness was absolutely off the charts.
"And here's your pre-order bonus."
"Ah, yes."
She had assumed it would be something like the little postcard-style cards that came with the Avatar series. Instead, what she received was long and narrow, with a design that looked like something you'd use as a boarding pass for a ship. No — beyond just the illustration, other design elements had been mixed in until it looked for all the world like an actual ticket.
"A ticket...?"
"That's correct. If you hold this admission pass, you can enter the special exhibition hall during its advance showing period and view the works ahead of the public."
An exhibition hall? The unexpected news left her flustered. Judging by the phrase "advance showing," it was a work that hadn't been announced yet. Whose could it possibly be—
"Don't tell me it's Artist Siwoo's work!?"
"It is. It's a piece related to this new release as well, so please be sure to come see it after you've finished reading the book."
They also explained that as long as she held onto the ticket, she could visit as many times as she liked throughout the entire advance showing period.
That said — she was certain she had also purchased the additional merchandise they were selling this time. But she didn't see it anywhere.
"And you purchased the additional item as well, correct?"
"Ah, yes."
"For customers who bought the additional item, we issue the ticket without a stamp. When you come to view the exhibition later, you can get it stamped and pick up your item then."
"Oh — so you don't hand it over right away?"
"That's because the additional item is a reproduction of a work displayed at the exhibition."
Holy shit.
The curse slipped out of her before she could stop it. So the idea was to experience the real thing first, and only then take home a copy. Artist Siwoo really was thoughtful about this kind of thing in so many ways.
"Thank you."
Truthfully, she wanted to go view that work right this second, before the crowds built up. But she remembered being told to come only after reading the comic, so she let out a sigh and resigned herself to finding a place to stay nearby—
"Wait, are you serious?"
Unfortunately, far too many people had had the exact same idea. Every last room left in the capital had already been booked solid. With no other choice, she managed to snag a free table at a café and settled in to read the comic there.
The one silver lining was that most of the people inside were also reading The Elf Who Dreams of Bedding an Orc Is Frustrated Tomorrow Too. The café was far quieter than usual, filled with women absorbed in their comics. She smiled, thinking that everyone must have had the same idea, and opened her own book.
Let's see...
Right from the start, the images of the elf and the orc caring for their still-newborn half-blood after the birth leapt off the page. The elf struggling with bruises on her chest from nursing, and the solid, reliable orc helping her through it all. She found herself laughing out loud at the sheer cuteness of their little household.
Was I like that when I was little, too?
She had heard stories of how her own mother had insisted on breastfeeding her no matter what, and had gone through every hardship imaginable in the process. It must have felt something like this.
Especially the way the elf — who never once showed a flustered expression except when receiving a confession — suddenly started panicking, startling, and exhausting herself over every little thing the moment she began raising a baby. It really drove home just how much of a struggle motherhood was.
...I think Mom's birthday is coming up soon. I should go see her.
She had been planning to just send a gift, claiming she was too busy with work. But after reading this, brushing it off like that would make her a truly terrible daughter. The distance was a bit far, but if she burned through all her remaining vacation days, she could make it work somehow.
"Ehehe, hehe... they're all just so damn cute..."
The playful, teasing atmosphere of the previous volume — the elf trying to seduce her way into bed, the orc getting bashful about it — had faded quite a bit. But this lively, bustling family atmosphere was wonderful in its own way.
She flipped through the pages in a daze, and by the time she came back to herself, she had already gotten through a considerable amount of the story. She was startled to realize she had no idea when the half-blood had suddenly grown so much. There had been a sense of gradual growth along the way, but now the child was practically an adult.
Oh, it's been so long since we've had one of these.
And the moment their daughter came of age, the elf started teasing and seducing the orc again — and the orc, unable to resist, went along with it. The intimate scene that followed felt less erotic than it did warm and heartwarming. Even as an adult, the half-blood's still-immature personality remained utterly endearing.
Half has become a complete beauty.
A pretty face that was the spitting image of her mother, with an air that subtly resembled her orc father. And those small fangs — they made something in her chest go soft and tight. She had only been reading a comic, and yet she felt the deep satisfaction of having raised a child by proxy. For the first time in a long while, a desire stirred in her to find a man, get married, and raise a child of her own.
"Huh?"
But something about the lines felt... off. Until now, the art had always been soft and rounded, giving off a warm feeling. Now there was a slightly rougher texture — the kind the artist only used when something was wrong — and it made her uneasy.
Come to think of it, this comic was set in an era when discrimination against orcs and half-orcs still existed, wasn't it? Wondering if that kind of storyline was about to appear, she carefully turned the page — and what came out was nothing like what she had expected.
Wait. Wait a second...
The sight of the weakened orc complaining of health problems hit her hard, standing in such stark contrast to the image of strength he had always represented. And the moment the comic began talking about "lifespans," it felt like she had been struck across the back of the head.
Come to think of it, elves and orcs were known to have different lifespans from humans. They could produce half-bloods with each other, so they were all treated as people — but the reality was that even the lengths of their lives were different. An elf, who lived far longer than a human, building a life with an orc, who lived an even shorter life than a human... from the elf's perspective, that inevitably meant an extremely swift parting.
Everyone had forgotten that, lost in the happiness of their daily lives. That cruel reality only became visible the moment it finally arrived before their eyes.
Of course, the orc was only a little unwell — still perfectly fine, really — and the story ended on the image of a very happy family. But the sight of the elf secretly crying while holding their half-blood child burned itself into her mind and refused to leave.
"I can't breathe..."
Her chest felt tight and blocked. Because she had been laughing along with that family's life just moments ago, the predetermined ending waiting in their future hit her harder than she ever would have expected.
"Hahh... God. Nothing even really happened, and yet..."
The sense that she could already imagine the ending kept making her emotions well up. She held back her tears as she stood up from the café table — and only then did the ticket she had received as a pre-order bonus catch her eye.
"This is a little scary..."
They had said it was a work related to this new release. Somehow, she had a feeling it would be a continuation of what she had just read, and that made her afraid to look. Even so, not seeing it at all would leave her even more unsettled — so no matter how frightened she was, she would have to face it.
"Um, excuse me — about the special exhibition for The Elf Who Dreams of Bedding an Orc..."
"Ah, the advance exhibition hall? Right this way, please. There's a limit on the number of people inside, so if you could wait just a moment."
With every shortening of the line, the pounding of her heart spread all the way up into her head. In a state of pure tension, she stepped into the exhibition hall.
The entrance opened onto the side of the piece rather than its front — it was housed in a large frame — so she began to make out the contents of the work from a fairly oblique angle.
"Whew..."
What met her tense eyes was a perfectly ordinary picture of the three of them laughing together as a family. The moment she saw it, she exhaled in relief, let go of every last bit of her tension, and began viewing the exhibition with an easy heart.