I was leading a new daily life in the elf village.
It was a long-awaited peace. I wondered if I had ever had such a leisurely time in the past few months.
It was only natural. Ever since the love letter from the future had arrived, my life had been nothing less than a battlefield filled with blood and flesh.
In comparison, these days were quite happy.
Even though this place was a chilly and dry northern region, and even if the elf village was lacking in food, it didn’t change anything.
In fact, for me, the conditions were not too harsh.
The cold of the snowfield could not penetrate my skin. Moreover, the lack of food could definitely be replenished depending on my efforts.
For instance, by hunting a lot of snow leopards.
This was already confirmed during the last feast. The snow leopard meat that I had hunted back then was still left and being used as important food.
It was an event that had been significant in many ways.
Since that day, I was firmly recognized as a resident of the elf village.
However, because my martial prowess was excessively outstanding, there were indeed groups that regarded me with wariness.
So, I decided to deliberately maintain a suitable distance from them. I also didn’t try to show off my strength.
I was concerned that it might create a sense of discord in the village.
I simply tried to conform to the elf’s way of life. It was an effort to quietly blend into the village.
How many days had passed since I had silently taken on the duties of the village?
Before long, the elves and I became comfortable enough to exchange jokes without hesitation. While we weren’t close friends, our relationship as neighbors couldn’t have been better.
Now I had no time to feel lonely.
As the trust of the village elves grew thicker, the responsibilities I had to bear increased as well.
Especially the incidents happening outside the village became my exclusive duty.
The elf village was located in a coniferous forest. Just a little outside the village was a place filled with danger, so it couldn’t be helped.
I was the strongest in the village.
Today, Ruget came to see me related to that.
“Did you hear there was a fire last night?”
“Yeah, smoke was observed about half a day’s journey away. It wasn’t too large in scale, but I thought I should let you know.”
I took a sip and turned my gaze slightly.
Of all places, it was half a day’s journey away.
Wasn’t that about the same location where I found signs of humans during the last hunt? It seemed necessary for me to go find Pope Eyong and familiarize myself with the detailed geography.
As my expression darkened, Ruget quickly sensed my concern.
He asked with a forced smile.
“Are you okay? You’re human after all. It might be better for you to return to humanity.”
“Ha, who would take in a traitor who eats with elves?”
I scoffed and dismissed the suggestion, but inwardly I felt a pang.
What on earth was I doing here?
As Ruget said, I was human.
My hometown was not in a coniferous forest. It was the rich and cozy eastern region, and all my precious family and companions were in the south.
There was absolutely no reason for me to endure in the cold and lonely northern region.
The only excuse I could manage was that I had yet to grasp all the nuances of elf life, an empty resonance.
It was nonsense.
What more information could I gain by staying in this village?
These were just ordinary villagers who had to worry about daily meals. They were far from the elves in the ‘headquarters’ where socializing was rampant.
But I was deliberately turning a blind eye to that fact.
If I left, there would be no one to protect this place.
Since I couldn’t hunt large amounts of snow leopards, the villagers would have to go hungry again. Also, the person to deliver the advancements of humanity would be gone too.
I thought about returning.
Yes, one day I would have to return. But that day was just not now.
I still had things left to do.
Ironically, I had grown fond of the elves.
Who would have thought that a noble from the empire would become close with elves?
It was a shameful matter. Moreover, it felt brazen. My hands were already stained with elven blood.
Every time I recalled that fact, I struggled to hold back the retches.
I finished the glass of cold water in one gulp.
Ruget was still watching me closely. Perhaps hoping that my mind would change.
But my answer was always the same.
With a subdued voice, I reaffirmed once more.
“I’m not leaving, not yet… Though it might happen someday.”
“You’re always so honest.”
Ruget smiled faintly while raising his glass.
There was no tea present.
If I looked, there might be a plant suitable for tea leaves in the coniferous forest, but right now there was no time to search for it.
We were just talking over cold water.
This was also how elves lived.
“To be honest, I was nervous at first. I was the one who decided to bring you into the village… But now I feel it was the right decision.”
“Why are you being so cheesy?”
At my distasteful voice, Ruget wore an even more bittersweet smile.
Before long, the main topic was brought up.
“One of the villagers has gone missing.”
I fell silent.
My eyes quietly examined Ruget’s expression. The usual bright demeanor was drained of vitality.
In a tone of despair, my friend asked me.
“She was out gathering moss. But then there was a fire, and… she must be dead, right?”
So I had no choice but to answer like this.
“…We won’t know unless we go look.”
The search for survivors was a race against time.
I decided to prepare to go find Pope Eyong immediately.
My luggage was minimal.
Most of the items necessary for survival were already in my pocket. The spatial expansion pouch was that useful.
I just slipped on my weapons around my waist and was about to leave the hut.
Unless Abiyang hadn’t stopped me.
“Where are you going?”
She popped out of the room and asked suddenly.
She was a girl who had been living with me for some time now. She had every right to know where I was headed.
I spoke as if it were nothing special.
“To the forest. Apparently, an elf has gone missing.”
With those words, I tried to take a step forward, but Abiyang was quicker.
I sensed her slight frown.
As my gaze turned to the back, Abiyang had already come close to me.
“Are you talking about the place where there was a fire?”
“Yeah, I feel it’s a bit suspicious.”
“It’s dangerous!”
Abiyang exclaimed in shock.
She was an elf who worried excessively. At one point, she had even hated me.
I gave a bitter smile and reassured Abiyang.
“What’s dangerous? I’m just going to look around.”
“What if you run into a human…?”
“I’m a human too.”
In the end, it was Abiyang who ran out of things to say.
She then cast her gaze down slightly, looking rather dejected. I felt a strange emotion in those eyes.
Concern, anxiety, and restlessness.
Ultimately, I sighed and turned my body around.
My hands placed gently on Abiyang’s shoulders.
“Don’t worry. I’m not leaving for a while… And I’m not planning to die. If I’m gone, you will die too, right?”
“Why go that far?”
But Abiyang’s question was beyond what I had imagined, and for a moment I was at a loss for words.
“You said elves are enemies, right? I treated you so harshly… So why now do you pretend to care about the elves?”
It felt like my breath was caught.
Abiyang’s voice seemed monotone, but just seeing the tears welling up in her blue eyes proved it.
She was confused.
About my wavering attitude, about my caring for the elves whom I had killed dozens of.
Even I found it to be contrived and contradictory.
My mouth felt parched. I pondered for a long time about what to say.
Nonetheless, the word I finally managed to squeeze out was pitifully meager.
“I don’t know either.”
Abiyang’s brows furrowed slightly. I couldn’t bear to meet her gaze.
“Humans are like this. Our lives are so short that if we don’t act on our whims, each day feels too wasteful.”
It was the aspect shown to me by an orphanage director once.
At that time, I might have deemed him cowardly. I could understand, but I could not forgive the evil.
But duality is a characteristic that everyone possesses.
I was no exception.
While I continued to endure countless enemies, I was unable to shed my compassion and sympathy.
So here I was, standing in pain as a human.
I never thought that the one to share this sentiment would be an elf.
No answer came to my sigh-laden confession. After a long silence, Abiyang began sharing her past.
“I don’t know who my parents are… I only have memories of almost being killed by a snow leopard when I was little.”
Come to think of it, Abiyang had always been particularly afraid of snow leopards.
I listened to her story without saying a word.
“Since that day, my sister and I have always relied on each other. I trusted and loved my kind, but to survive, I had to become a traitor. But why do you protect me?”
“Just because.”
That was my second answer.
There was no need for further explanation. Abiyang chewed her lips, her eyes filled with hesitation.
“…Can you save Betty too?”
“Sorry, I don’t know.”
Abiyang’s sister was in the ‘headquarters.’
I couldn’t assure that I could save her. Upon my honest response, Abiyang wore a bitter smile as if she had expected this.
Then the girl spoke something I had never heard before.
It was information she had never disclosed, even after violence and threats.
“My sister has gray hair like mine. And she also has blue eyes.”
It sounded as if it held some special significance.
While I maintained my silence, Abiyang’s confession continued.
“Remember when you asked about the two-headed serpent living in the Southern Great Forest? There is a woman who brings that two-headed serpent to the ‘headquarters.’ And having gray hair is proof that she carries that woman’s blood.”
Could there really be a woman who could traverse that far distance alone?
I found it hard to comprehend and was about to ask a question myself.
But before I could, Abiyang uttered three syllables.
“…They call her a ‘vampire.’ The one who bit me.”
It was a name I had heard far too often.
My lips instinctively tightened.
“The gray hair and blue eyes are the evidence. Please, save my sister….”
Suddenly, some people came to mind.
Were my companions still worried about me?
As Abiyang shed tears, appealing desperately.
My story was leading to a new phase.
The girl with gray hair opened her eyes.
The sound of her panting was weak. The urgent blue eyes scanning the surroundings were pitiful.
Next to her bed, a woman with silver hair sighed.
“So I said it was reckless…”
It was a gloomy tone.
The girl pressed her forehead with her hand against the throbbing headache. Memories came flooding back with the splitting pain.
Yes, there had been a fire.
After that, there were explosions. The sound of all the strategic materials prepared exploding.
But how?
It was a path taken with the elite of the Yuridina Clan. There hadn’t been any suspicious presence, neither from Seria nor from her companions’ keen senses.
However, Seria’s questions could not linger for long.
The girl with brown hair urged her. The small-framed girl was twirling her side hair around her finger.
“Hmph, what does a brat like you know? Clueless while relying on the scroll and dragging it back to the family… Do you think we don’t want to save our Lord?”
With each word, Seria struggled to hold back her rising anger.
The identities of the two women mocking her were all too clear.
The Lady Virgin Saint and Elsi Rainelle.
They were undeniably the strongest among the forces that accompanied them to the north. To add some exaggeration, one could say they accounted for over half of the combat strength.
They were monsters capable of turning the tide of battle alone.
Would things have been different if they had accompanied her?
Seria chewed her lips but only came to realize her own shortcomings again.
She finally understood why ‘he’ from the future had not wanted to take her.
Regardless, the conversation between the Virgin Saint and Elsi continued.
“Don’t be too hard on her… Sister Yuridina did her best in her own way, after all.”
“Do you think we formed an extermination force because we didn’t do our best? With the Empire, the Holy Kingdom, and even the Yuridina Clan’s private soldiers… Ugh, only now is it starting to feel serious.”
It seemed the two were strategizing new formations from the rear.
This was really a force meant to wipe out the coniferous forest.
An army formed by the cooperation of the Empire, the Holy Kingdom, and the Yuridina Clan?
However, Seria knew one fact they were unaware of.
Perhaps this could be a wrong choice.
“…I found her.”
The voices of the two who were conversing suddenly subsided.
When the inquisitive eyes turned to Seria, she shouted as if having a seizure.
“I found her! Senior Ian is still in the coniferous forest…”
“What nonsense is this?”
Elsi’s voice turned harsh.
She stalked over and grabbed Seria by the collar with her small hands.
The growling sound scraped through Seria’s ears.
“You found him and came back alone? Are you insane?! That’s impossible…”
“He said he lost his memory.”
Breathless, she spat out the words alongside her tears.
Elsi’s complexion turned blank. The Virgin Saint was the same.
“He’s lost his memory, so he sees elves as his kin…”
Clear tears fell down.
After a moment of silence, Elsi let go of Seria’s collar.
With a thud, she regained her freedom, but the girl’s tears did not cease.
Elsi looked down at her empty hand and muttered softly.
“…He lost his memory?”
Then, everything had disappeared?
All the precious memories they had shared together, the emotions, and the love they had known.
It felt like someone was ripping apart the flesh from her heart.
The story was accelerating and increasingly intertwining.
Soon, a rupture would occur.
The Virgin Saint thought so without realizing it.
