I am back – Chapter 10

That fancy dignity, that so-called sacrifice.

Arna thought it was merely an excuse for those who could not possess such things.

To someone who originally has almost nothing, even the little they possess seems incredibly valuable.

To her, that’s how human “life” appeared. If there were no external factors leading to their demise, the difference between an elf living forever and a human, who struggles to live beyond a mere 100 years, was vast. Humans spoke of how precious their short lives were, but from an elf’s perspective, it was akin to a person who has nothing looking at the rich and claiming they don’t need wealth because they find happiness within themselves.

What meaning is there in a life that shines for just a moment? What significance is there in a short-lived existence that cannot even create its own history?

She had thought this way for her entire life living in an elf village.

Interestingly, as elves grow older, there are more who agree with the human claims. For Arna, who had just lived for 150 years, this was a curious phenomenon.

Even a “young” elder who had lived for 514 years did not hastily belittle humans or any short-lived beings. Elders who deemed it meaningless to count their lives after a thousand years would even respect a human who had lived merely five years.

Even a human sage who had lived only for 70 years garnered respect when they visited the elven capital, Lirill.

What about when the young human hero, who had only lived for 18 years, arrived?

He wasn’t a sage who knew everything about the human world, nor a great mage skilled in the distinctly human style of magic. He was just a visitor from this world, presumed to have received the blessings of the goddess, and just his presence seemed to solemnly awe the elven council.

Arna couldn’t help but be curious and simply had to ask her uncle who had lived 427 years longer than her.

Her uncle stared at Arna and replied.

“That hero came to this world bestowed by the goddess. He risks his own life to eradicate the evil of this world. He has barely lived a bit more than one-tenth of your time, just becoming an adult as a short-lived human. Yet look at him. Does he seem to think like you? Does he carry himself with such pride, assuming all favors directed towards him are due?”

As her uncle said, the hero carried himself as if he had no right to that lavish treatment.

Yet, to Arna, even that seemed strange.

While he could not claim to have accomplished it himself and she wasn’t sure if the one who chose him was truly the goddess, it was a fact that he had indeed received the power of one who claims to be the goddess.

And if he could defeat the demon with that power, it could already be considered a rightful claim.

Among young elves, confidence was a virtue. It would be laughable to disguise oneself falsely, but it was nonsensical to hide one’s ability to do what others could not or have not done. Although she could not boast in front of elves who had lived far longer than herself, hiding and belittling her own achievements seemed incomprehensible to her.

Wasn’t that the very history she had lived?

A week after the hero arrived, an elf was chosen to accompany him to slay the demon.

Arna was stunned to realize that it was herself.

“You, young elf. Go. Go see the hero’s footsteps. Let us take pride in the fact that we could assist, albeit weakly, in making his every step become history. Let his story spread far and wide, so that his good deeds may be praised far and wide.”

The elder requested Arna to be the hero’s aide with those words.

It was a strange statement.

How could an elf provide a “weak” help in human matters?

Arna was younger compared to most elves, but the knowledge she had accrued was more than that of most long-lived humans. A brilliant mind, swift feet, and talents surpassing humans in all aspects meant she could not possibly be a “weak” help.

I will become the most outstanding among them.

And thus, I will be the one to manage the greatest strength in defeating the demon.

She vowed to follow the hero.

But it didn’t turn out that way.

*

It took Arna merely a year to realize reality.

No, it wasn’t that her skills were particularly lacking compared to the others in the party. It wasn’t a lack of knowledge or cooking skills. In their party formed by the hero, warrior, mage, saintess, and Arna, who could play the role of a ranger that they could not, there had never been a moment where she felt unnecessary.

It was just that what she saw and felt was far too different from what she had read and heard in the elven village.

The stories about heroes fighting demons coming from the elf village mostly praised their feats. The harsh realities were hardly depicted; they only dealt with glorious battles and victories.

The groans of dying soldiers, the screams of young children being eaten alive by monsters, the sobs of women being ravaged by demons, none were mentioned even once.

No, perhaps those things were written in other books.

But she, who had no genuine desire to truly learn about that reality, the one who merely scoffed at short-lived humans, was oblivious to that fact.

The “history” she had built over 150 years was simply a skewed history to fit her own taste.

Those newly adult humans, or even those who were barely fifteen during a crisis, wielded swords and spears, running to the battlefield. Young beings who, as elves, would only just begin to learn about the world were experiencing things they should never have to endure.

If someone has lived for 15 years but had to suffer and die after 5 years, doesn’t that mean they suffered for 30% of their life?

What a horrifying life. What unfortunate beings they were.

For a year after becoming a member of the hero’s party, she wept silently every night.

*

Elves do not use the term “Demon King.” The so-called Demon King that humans talk about is merely the manifestation of the world’s “evil” gathered into one entity. Even if they are killed, they will come back to life someday, and even if scattered, they will regroup after a long time. That’s why this entity is always one yet many, and it could never be called the king of anything.

But humans called that entity the Demon King.

As an entity, they commanded monsters and foiled the plans of demons. They bypassed and besieged strongholds, creating disturbances and retreating as well.

Thus, to humans, the “evil” could only be a “king.”

And it was understandable why humans busily faced off against that Demon King. It also made sense why the elven council took heed of human words and immediately pledged to assist the hero.

Human lives are short. Therefore, to achieve something in that brief life, they run around tirelessly. If it takes 50 years to deal with the Demon King, it means that, based on human standards, they would be fighting relentlessly until the end of an era. Naturally, humanity could not possibly withstand that.

And… elves would be even less capable of enduring.

Elves are given long lives. If there is an issue not understood, they can eventually find a solution over time, even if it takes longer than others. It was common to spend a century planning political issues within elven society.

However, the Demon King was different.

Though he was given as much time as the elves, he thought and acted like a human. Without wasting time, he quickly strategized and introduced new tactics. He sought to undermine human society by planting demons and attempted to seduce important figures.

He was prepared to run at full speed for a long time. If the kingdom between Lirill and the Demon King fell, the elven society would have no considerable chance to resist before it disappeared.

Ironically, only humans who could think flexibly enough to adapt to the Demon King’s swift changes were present. Humans, who had deep histories of confronting demons, could quickly deduce how the Demon King would act and how they should respond.

That was something Arna could not do.

…She learned how to distinguish between the life and history of elves. She learned that a solitary history cannot be considered history. History is evidence that all who lived in that era were present. Writing down only one person’s life merely leaves emptiness.

In history, humans and elves acted differently. They clashed and united their strengths. They recognized that they were different, and at times they did not.

What each could do was different.

In her second year with the hero, Arna learned how to listen to a human’s words, who was much younger than herself.