Chapter 20

Chapter 20. "The Difference Between a Child Who Does Not Cry and a Child Who Does." (4)

I walked out of the shabby warehouse together with the others.

The sun had not yet risen, so the cold air of dawn merely brushed against our bodies. Behind me, Exel ducked his head as he came out, leaving behind a brief critique of the warehouse door, which was smaller than he was.

Beside his enormous body followed a little girl whose face was hard to make out because of her black hair and skin, and a beautiful woman with long silver hair falling down her back.

An interesting sight. It was like a painting.

I was thinking that as I looked back at them when I heard someone's voice from the distance.

"So you are finally coming out?"

"Ah, were you waiting for us? You said you would leave first once the matter was settled."

When I turned my head, I saw the brothers Sharp and Ball Pen greeting us. The first light of dawn was rising behind them, so they appeared to us as nothing more than two dark silhouettes.

"Yes. We wanted to say goodbye before we left."

"Did things go well?"

At my question, the silent shadow lifted a large bag resting on the ground. Then the shadow beside him, in Sharp's voice, said,

"These are the ledgers this place was keeping. We made off with them during the chaos. From here on, we will go to the capital, deliver these directly to the king, and then settle down somewhere suitable. We made sure to collect our severance pay as well."

"You are going there in person?"

"We intend to toss these ledgers into the king's bedchamber in the middle of the night."

Sharp said it as though asking whether that would not be amusing, and I gave him a faint smile.

Once the elder brother, Sharp, finished speaking, his younger brother, Ball Pen, slowly opened his mouth.

"Miss Irisa."

"Yes?"

Irisa, serene as though she had merely been out for a walk, spoke to Ball Pen's silhouette, which had become almost impossible to make out under the slowly rising morning sun.

Ball Pen paused for a moment, then continued.

"We are truly grateful for the day you saved us in the forest, back when we were foolish children. If you had not helped us then, we might not be standing here now."

I turned my head to look at Irisa.

She merely stood there with both hands folded before her and a gentle smile on her face.

"It has already been ten years since I found two children in the forest crying with snot running from their noses. I am still the same as I was then, but the two of you have changed so much. So much that I could not even recognize you."

"But we remembered you. If the opportunity ever came, we wanted to repay your kindness. Though we were not able to rescue you directly...."

"The thought alone is enough to make me grateful."

In a way, it was only natural that she would be so grateful when others returned what they had received from her.

Because she was an elf who did not know how to return what she had been given.

After hearing her words, Ball Pen stood in silence for a moment with the bag slung over his back, then spoke again.

"I have one request."

"What is it?"

Hesitating a little, Ball Pen slowly said,

"...Please, do not come to hate humans... hate us. If even you were to reject us, then humans would lose their place as humans."

"I understand. I will not take that place away from you."

Irisa said that with a bitter smile.

After silently watching her for a moment, the silhouettes of the two men turned and began to walk away.
No, they had been about to walk away, but then Sharp's silhouette suddenly turned back and raised an arm as he said,

"Hey, you were Luna, right? I shall treasure the bite marks you left on me for the rest of my life."

Luna whipped her head away, and Sharp snickered to himself before following after his younger brother, who had already gone on ahead.

Irisa merely sent them off with a bitter smile, while Luna simply stared up at the sky with an expression that said it felt wonderful to be outside again after so long.

Exel had his shirt wrapped around his waist and was holding a hand up to block the sunlight.

As I looked at them, I sank for a moment into thought.

'If humans are rejected by elves, then humans lose their place as humans.'

Hmm. Elves were not the sort to hate others. So if they were to reject humans.... No, wait. Elves rejecting humans? They could not even bring themselves to hate anyone. Then what was that supposed to mean?

Was it, in the end, a plea for elves to keep taking an interest in humans? Even if not to hate them? ...So that was why Ball Pen had hesitated. It was a terribly selfish thing to say, but as a human being, it was something he had to say.

To ask that humans not be hated.

As I was thinking deeply about that, Exel, who had been looking ahead, said,

"Irisa?"

"Yes?"

"Your son is coming."

A wagon was racing toward us ahead, escorted by the morning sunlight.

It came tearing toward us at a terrifying speed, then stopped so suddenly right before us that thick clouds of dust flew up through the dawn air.

Jonathan, who was seated on the driver's bench, fixed his gaze on me and spoke while panting, his face marked by dark circles beneath his eyes.

"I thought you would call for me.... I really wanted to cast magic on a person at least once.... I waited.... But you did not call.... Mister Han... why did you not call me...? Hm...? I... waited the whole time...."

So that was why he had followed us? Because he wanted to use magic on people? Rene, I think you may have taught magic to a rather dangerous boy.

While I did my best to ignore Jonathan, who was mumbling in a voice like a dead man, a young elf about Luna's age leaped down from the baggage wagon.

Ignoring everyone else, the child ran straight over and threw himself into Irisa's arms beside Exel. Irisa stroked the back of the child who had buried his face against her stomach, and smiled warmly.

"Karimina jin ireuse, ruma disenobe juridin...."

"Ira.... Ira. Ne jirkima ira,"

All of us except one watched the reunion of mother and child with warm eyes.

After giving them a small smile, I turned my head and saw a blonde elf woman standing before me, looking at me in silence.

I had no idea when she had come over. Rene smiled warmly, clasped my hands tightly in both of hers, and said,

"Welcome back, dear."

"Yeah. I am back."

She smiled brightly, and I too smiled as I looked at her.

Rene stood beside me and smiled as she watched Irisa and Frid holding each other and laughing warmly together.

Then she noticed the dark elf Luna standing a little apart from them and lightly tapped me on the shoulder.

"Who is that child?"

"Luna. As you can see, she is a dark elf."

"And?"

"That is all."

I answered with a bitter smile.

After hearing me, Rene slowly walked over to Luna. Luna had her back turned, but she did not look back even as Rene approached. Rene bent her knees to meet Luna at eye level and spoke toward her back.

"My name is Rene. As one elf to another, I would like to hear your name directly."

Slowly, very slowly, Luna turned her head and looked at Rene's face.

Luna was... crying.

She was not crying with her face all scrunched up. It was simply as it had been with Irisa earlier.

Tears were just flowing down from the eyes in her ordinary, expressionless face. Luna kept wiping at her eyes and cheeks with the back of her hand, but the tears would not stop. Watching her, Rene quietly asked,

"Why are you crying?"

Luna raised a hand.

She did not speak. She simply lifted one finger and pointed toward Irisa and Frid, who were lightly embracing each other, smiling warmly, and talking together.

Then, rather than lowering her hand slowly, she let it fall weakly. But even that was explanation enough.

Rene rose to her feet and took a handkerchief from her pocket to offer it to Luna.

But it was already too late.

Luna had grabbed the hem of Exel's shirt, which was tied around his waist as he stood there admiring the rising morning sun, and was blowing her nose into it.

"Hnnng!!"

"...You."

Exel looked as though he were about to say something, but when the little dark elf Luna, still clutching his shirt hem and continuing to cry, lifted her head and looked up at him, he only frowned, waved one hand a little, and turned his face away.

After that, we rode Jonathan's wagon back to the inn.

When Jonathan saw Exel's original form, his eyes went wide and he pestered me relentlessly, so I had to tell him Exel's story.

Since it was dawn and there were few people out, Exel did not particularly need to hide himself. In any case, after all that commotion, all of us were finally able to make up for our lack of sleep in our respective rooms.

It was before I fell asleep.

I was lying in bed, explaining to Rene what had happened at the auction house. Then I asked the quietly listening Rene, who was lying beside me,

"Rene. There is something I want to ask."

"What is it?"

"It is about Luna crying earlier. I think I already know the answer, but I thought it would be better to hear it from you. Why was Luna crying?"

Rene turned to face me, smiled brightly, and said,

"Just as you expected."

"...You mean she cried because she felt miserable?"

"That is right. There was no one there to welcome that child. But Irisa had a child who ran into her arms. She had family waiting for her. There is a great difference between having someone who welcomes you and having no one at all. Especially for Luna, who is only around thirteen years old, it must have been a terrible shock. When she saw Frid run into Irisa's arms, she remembered the days when she had once been with her own family, and when she felt the weight of her present situation, she could not bear the sorrow and began to cry."

"Hmm, if that is the case...."

Lying beside me, Rene spoke with sad eyes.

"Yes, that is exactly it. She has nowhere to go. She is a pitiful child. Which is why, Han,"

"I am fine with it."

At my words, her face slowly began to soften, and I pulled her tightly into my arms as I said,

"But what does she think?"

"The choice is hers to make. All we can do is open the door."

She said that as she nestled into my embrace, and I smiled faintly as I brushed back her blonde hair.