Chapter 37

Chapter 37. "The Dark Elf, the Dwarf, and a Single Rose." 17

As expected, they were Iron Golems, and parts of their bodies were shaped like armor, so in a way they looked like knights in full plate mail who had dismounted from their horses.

Their bodies were black, one marked with golden patterns and the other adorned with beautiful silver patterns.

Perhaps because the base color was black, those patterns stood out all the more vividly, making for a striking sight.

Thankfully, after taking off their clothes(?), they even folded their bandages and cloaks, clumsy though they were, and placed them neatly on one of the tables. Watching that, Kal and Rene both smiled the same smile, though for different reasons.

A little later, when the two of them came forward, Mr. Kal turned his head and said to Jeff, who was still staring blankly at the golems,

"Shall we go?"

"Ah... yes. Right. Fine, let us go. Ah! No, wait. Before that..."

"What are you doing?"

Ignoring Kal’s irritated words, Jeff rummaged through the pocket of his jacket, pulled out three gold coins, pressed them into my hand, and said,

"This is for the room, and everything else besides. Keep whatever is left over. And it is an unreasonable request, but if we have not returned even after the sun has gone down, please come looking for us to the east."

A request for rescue? When I turned my head, I saw Narsh standing there with both hands clasped together, looking at me. And Rene and Luna as well. I always feel this, but for me there is only ever one answer.

"Understood. If you have not returned even an hour after sunset, I will come looking for you at once. I do not know what sort of matter you are dealing with, but take care of yourselves. This place is far more dangerous than you imagine. At present, that is all I can say."

At my words, Jeff gave me a grin.

"Thank you."

"Then please take good care of the young lady."

Receiving a send-off from me, Rene, and Narsh, the two of them turned back several times to wave at us before disappearing into the forest.

I looked down at the three gold coins lying in my palm. Three hundred thousand woni. Even adding up the full room charges, it was not even five hundred thousand woni.

"That leaves quite a lot."

I murmured that with a smile at the gold coins on my palm, when suddenly a white hand slowly came over mine from beside me and began picking up the coins one by one. As I stared at it blankly, I heard Rene’s voice.

"As expected, when guests come often, money follows after them too. Han? I will keep these for you."

When I turned my head, Rene was smiling serenely as she tossed the three gold coins into the air and caught them again. I gave her a rather bitter smile.

"My dear, even if only sometimes, could you let me soak in the feeling a little?"

"There is nothing in this world more frightening than money."

Rene kept tossing and catching the coins as she turned her back to go inside. I pointed toward the surrounding forest and said,

"Money only shows how frightening it is when you spend it. But there is nowhere here to spend money at all."

"In financial matters between husband and wife, someone once said that money should always flow toward the wife. Is that not a wonderful saying? The conclusion one may draw from that is that the wife is more thrifty than the husband. What do you think?"

"...Tell me honestly. You are only doing this for your own amusement, are you not?"

"Oh my. Are you doubting Rene, Han? Do I look like an elf blinded by money?"

"No, that is not what I meant..."

"Then let me ask you this. If you had to choose between money and your wife, which would you choose?"

Rene turned back with a quiet expression, the gold coins still in her hand, and asked that. I stiffened, then turned my head away.

"...I am sorry. I was wrong."

"Heheh~ Is that so? Then I shall go in first."

Rene immediately turned back around, humming some little tune as she went inside. I watched her retreating figure for a moment, then sat down roughly on the long bench by the door.

"For some reason, it feels as though I have been had again."

"Heeheehee..."

I heard laughter and turned my head. Narsh was covering her mouth with a fist, giggling to herself. What was so funny?

"Miss Narsh?"

"Ah, yes."

She stopped laughing at once and put on a serious face. Seeing that, I smiled faintly. Proper etiquette had been drilled thoroughly into her.

"I do not know what it is, but let us laugh together."

At my words, she tilted her head slightly, then smiled brightly as if she understood. Leaning her back against the wall by the door, she pressed her palm to it and peeled it away again as she spoke.

"It is just that the way you flounder before Rene is very amusing, Mr. Han. If it displeases you, I am sorry."

"No, it is all right. But you were surprised, were you not? That an elf and a human are husband and wife."

At my words, Narsh turned her head toward me, opened her eyes wide, and showed me the sort of curiosity natural for someone her age.

"I truly was. To see with my own eyes a relationship I had only ever encountered in romance novels..."

"...To see it?"

Narsh brought her clasped hands to her chest and said with sparkling eyes, half of that light tinged with envy,

"I envy you. Will I ever be able to love someone like that, even once?"

I nearly toppled sideways, barely managed to keep my balance, and asked her,

"Wait a moment, Miss Narsh. How old are you now?"

"Twenty-four."

"It may be rude to say, but you are at the age when you ought to be marrying soon."

"Yes. To a man whose face I have never even seen. Marriages between great houses are always like that. A marriage to someone I do not even like. But fortunately, no such match has appeared for me yet."

I tilted my head at her words.

"But you are beautiful, Miss Narsh."

"Thank you. But there is a reason no one has appeared who wishes to marry me. I am sorry, but I cannot tell you that right now."

"Is that so? Very well."

I nodded to her and looked out at the forest stretching before us. After a brief silence had passed like that, Narsh suddenly asked me a question.

"Um, there is something I am curious about."

"What is it?"

"How did the two of you meet?"

I turned my head slightly. There stood an ordinary young lady with shining eyes, eager to hear someone else’s love story. I looked at her face for a moment, then smiled faintly and said,

"A dark cave, a single shaft of light, and rusted chains breaking loose and falling. That is all I remember of when I first met her."

"Yes?"

Narsh tilted her head at my words, and I smiled at her as I rose from my seat.

"Let us go inside. If you catch a cold, Miss Narsh, Mr. Kal will be angry."

"Ah. Yes."

I walked ahead and opened the door for her, and Narsh went inside first with a small smile. When I shut the door and entered the hall, it was Irisa and her family who greeted us this time. When Irisa saw me, she smiled sweetly and introduced the white-haired elf beside her, and so I learned his name for the first time.

"My name is Rens. Thank you very much for saving my wife and son."

"Ah, yes."

His face was wrapped round and round with bandages, but even so, the way he bowed his head in greeting somehow made him look as though he was in very good spirits.

Was it because he had been reunited with his family? Beside him stood Irisa in traveling clothes, holding Frid’s hand.

With a faint suspicion, I looked more carefully at what Rens was wearing, and soon spotted a large backpack hanging from his back. Tilting my head at the sight of them, I said,

"Are you leaving now?"

"Yes. We will not forget the grace you have shown us. Please say the same to Mr. Exel."

Irisa bowed her head as she spoke, and I received their thanks with a slightly bitter expression. Just then, Rene, who had been saying something quietly to Frid beside them, rose and said,

"Would you not like to eat before you go?"

"No. We must leave now. We need to get out of this place while the sun is still high if we want to be home by evening. So please just prepare three packed lunches for us."

"Understood. Then please wait just a moment."

Leaving those words behind, Rene hurried swiftly into the kitchen. I looked at Irisa, Rens, and Frid, who was standing there clutching the leg of Rens’s trousers.

This elf family felt somehow warmer now than they had in the morning. Had things ended well between them? That small question of mine vanished at once because of Irisa’s actions.

She watched Rene’s back as she walked into the kitchen, then immediately turned her head and showed concern for Rens, who stood beside her.

It was the sort of thing Rene sometimes did for me, such as wiping the sweat from my face with a handkerchief. Irisa raised a hand, touched his face lightly, and said,

"Himid. Karme ri iiti?"

Rens listened, then smiled with his eyes and pointed to the bridge of his nose.

"Ah. Iiti."

"...Himid."

Irisa bowed her head to him with an expression unlike her usual self, and Rens smiled softly and patted her on the back.
Beside Luna, Narsh stood there wearing a bright smile, apparently unable to understand a single word they were saying, yet somehow intoxicated by the atmosphere they created.

Luna, by contrast, had turned her head away from them with a very different expression. Was it that she simply could not bear to watch other people doing well? In any case, a little later, Rene came out carrying three packed lunches.

After taking them, Irisa, Rens, and Frid gave us their final farewells and were just about to head into the forest.

"So you are heading back now?"

At the sound of Jimant’s voice from somewhere above, Rens looked around, and I raised a hand to point toward the roof. Rens lifted his head, looked up, and answered,

"Yes. We are leaving now."

"Then it seems you found what you wanted."

At those words, Rens smiled and drew Irisa and Frid into his arms. After that, Jimant said nothing more, and Rens lowered his head slightly toward the roof.

I watched what they were carrying for a while, then shook my head, pulled out the longsword I had tucked beneath the long bench by the door, and handed it to Irisa. To wander about carrying nothing but a single sword...

"Be careful. And be happy."

Irisa took the longsword from me with both hands and said,

"Thank you very much. I hope all of you will be happy as well."

Then, with those above and below the roof waving them off, they went into the forest. I watched them leave, then asked Rene beside me,

"Will they be all right? Perhaps I should at least have guided them part of the way."

"No. It is midday now, and they will walk quietly. No matter that they are monsters, unless they are human, they will not attack without reason. And according to what Irisa told me, this Rens is apparently extremely skilled with a sword. So at least, before our eyes, he ought to be able to protect his family. And one more thing: if we keep helping them, they will start to feel burdened by it. No matter that elves do not know how to repay things properly, they still know what kindness is."

"Hmm. Is that so? All right."

At my answer, Rene gave a crooked grin, slipped a hand into her pocket, and pulled out six gold coins worth one hundred thousand woni each.

"This is what we earned today. Amazing, is it not? If things go on like this, this month will be the first time since we opened the inn that we have shown a profit."

"...You look happy."

At my words, Rene smiled softly, set one of the coins on the tip of her finger, and flicked it.

Ting...!

Then she caught it again and said,

"Making money is unexpectedly fun."