Chapter 4

Chapter 4. "The Red Fur Cap Worn by a Werewolf."(1)

Rest now, in peace, in purity.

Entrust those wounded wings to me,

So that they are not swept away by the darkness, by the trembling hush,

I shall offer this prayer at your bedside.

Ahh~ Every person searches for love alone.

Like a little bird spreading both wings and flying across the sky,

Even in those moments when returning sorrow makes it feel as though you might lose your way,

Do not forget. At any time, my heart is by your side.

Ahh~ Perhaps that is why the stars shine, as though guiding you.

Longing may have no end, as countless as your tears,

But until the day you awaken in the dazzling glow of the morning sky,

Do not forget. At any time, my heart is by your side.

No matter how far apart we may be, it is still by your side.

"Hoo..."

Holding the axe upright, I sat on the log stump I had just been splitting wood on, enjoying the cool autumn breeze while listening to the beautiful song drifting from inside the house.

It was a song that calmed the heart.

Long ago, when I first awoke from the sleep of my sealing, she had sung this song for me. While I listened to her sing, the hatred and rage toward the one who had sealed me away—emotions so intense they might have driven me mad—had completely subsided, and only then had I been able to lift my head and look up at her face.

Her next song continued, and I rose from my seat, set the axe upright, and picked up one of the pieces of wood scattered across the ground.

I placed it straight on the stump I had been sitting on.

Then I raised the axe high overhead and, using the weight of the axe along with the strength of my arms and waist, aimed squarely for the middle of the log.

THWACK!

The upright log split cleanly in two and fell apart. I picked up the pieces and struck them twice more, turning them into four pieces.

Then I picked up the last remaining piece lying nearby, set it on the stump, and brought the axe down on it.

WHACK!

Mm... This one was small, so one split would do.

Thinking that, I picked up the split pieces scattered on the ground and tossed them behind my back.

Behind me, the wood I had split up to now had become excellent firewood, as though loudly proclaiming its desire to burn itself away for our sake.

I turned my head and looked at the neatly stacked pile of chopped wood along the side wall of the house, then at the pile I had just finished splitting, and made a rough calculation.

Mm, it was October now. If I kept cutting wood like this until the end of November...

Yes, that should last us until March of next year.

With the calculations done, I slung the battle axe (Battle ax) I was using for splitting wood over my shoulder and walked back toward the house.

A little while later, after making three round trips with the cart, I had finally moved all the chopped wood.

Looking at the firewood piled so high that it completely covered one wall of the house, I smiled with satisfaction.

"This should be enough to keep us warm through the winter this year."

I stood there with my arms crossed, looking up at the stacked firewood I had barely managed to pile so high even with the help of a ladder, when suddenly something came fluttering in from behind me and completely covered my face.

Startled, I raised a hand and touched it. It felt slightly rough yet soft, almost like a towel—and in fact, it was a towel.

As I fumbled beneath it for my face, a beautiful voice spoke from behind me in a tone full of mischief.

"Now then~ Who do you think is the one covering your eyes?"

That was easy.

"The elf I love most in all the world."

At once, the towel dropped away, and there stood Rene in front of me, smiling, somehow having come close without my noticing. Holding the towel in one hand, she beamed and said,

"Correct. Then I shall give you your prize."

"Hm?"

She lifted the towel, circled around me, and began wiping away the sweat running down my face and neck. I simply stood there smiling, letting her do as she pleased.

A little later, she draped the towel around her neck and said,

"There, all done."

"Ahh. Thank you."

"It was nothing. Oh my, it looks very nice. But Han, this wood..."

She turned her head and looked at the stacked firewood I had piled up, and I hurriedly cut her off before she could continue.

"Ahh, do not worry. I planted as many saplings in the forest as the number of trees I cut down last time. And I only took the ones that were growing where they should not have been in the first place. I made up the rest with fallen trees and dead ones."

When I said that, her eyes softened as she looked at me, and she whispered quietly,

"You did well. Han, more than that... you worked hard, did you not? I was the one who insisted, so for no reason at all..."

"No, not at all. Why would I call that hard work? If it is for you, I would pluck even the stars out of the sky. So do not say things like that. I am your man. 'The husband of an elf woman quietly tends the forest.' Even I know at least that much."

As I said that, I gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders and walked with her toward the yard, and she listened with an expression that only grew more peaceful the longer one looked at it.

Then she lowered her head slightly and said,

"...Thank you."

"Mm."

At times like this, if I tried to reply differently and say it was nothing, her prideful nature would only make her apologize all the more, and then the whole mood would inevitably grow awkward.

So it was better to simply accept it.

This was purely the fruit of ten years of know-how gained from married life with my elf wife, I tell you.

While I was thinking that, she slowly lifted her head and looked at me. The peaceful expression she had worn just moments ago was nowhere to be seen.

Instead, she was looking at me with the face of a slightly wicked little troublemaker.

She brought around the hand she had been keeping behind her back, slipped it around my waist, pressed herself close against me, and said,

"Han, tell me honestly. You suffered quite a bit, did you not?"

"Hm? No, it was not that hard."

"Hm? What do you mean by that? 'Not that hard'? Does that mean it was hard? Or that it was not hard?"

She changed her expression and spoke as though she genuinely wanted to know what I meant.

Elves were simple in that regard. They expressed things as either good or bad. One or the other.

There was no in-between for them.

Even if they did understand ambiguity, they disliked anything that was neither one thing nor the other.

Why?

If I knew the answer to that, I would at least have won an argument with her once.

Looking at her tilted head, I recalled wandering through the forest that morning while trying to gather wood.

It had been dreadful.

I had honestly thought I might never make it home.

"Ahh, yes. It was hard. Very hard~"

"How hard?"

She asked it with a playful smile, and only then did I finally realize the gravity of the situation.

I had fallen for Rene's leading questions again!

But by then it was already too late. Resigned, I kept talking and ended up telling her the whole story—how I had gone into the forest to gather wood, gotten lost, and somehow wandered all the way to the cave where the Lizard Men lived, and how, thanks to their help, I had barely made it back home.

When I finished and turned my head, I saw that Rene's face was no longer wearing that mischievous look from before.

She simply gazed at me in silence with her lips pressed tightly together, then suddenly tightened the arms she had around my waist and hugged me so hard I thought my ribs would crack.

"Ugh—hkk—my breath... my breath...!!"

"You said it was not hard at all!"

"Haaahk~ I am sorry, dear~ I just... thought you would worry~ so please let gooooo!"

"Han lied to me!"

"I-I'm... sorry..."

"You lied to me, your wife!"

"...Ugh, I am sorry..."

"Han! How could you do this to me?!"

"Ple... ase, stop... ughkk!!!!"

"Hm? You are going to grant me ten wishes?"

She said that with a bewildered look as she reached for one of the cookies she had baked.

Then Rene nodded and said,

"You lied to me. And you did it as though it were nothing at all. Since that day, I have never done such a thing to you even once. It is unfair. You know that, do you not? I am an elf, so I do not know how to lie. I cannot do it. And yet you, as if mocking me for that very thing, lied to me!"

She sat at the dining table, clutching the thing she had been knitting ever since the day before yesterday, and spoke as she looked at me.

I listened quietly to what she said, then simply gazed back at her in silence with a faint smile on my face.

Since that day...

On that day when the winter rain fell so bleakly, Rene had wept as she begged my forgiveness.

And from that day onward, never once again had she lied to me.

As soon as she noticed my gaze, she turned her head aside, slowly lowered the fist she had raised, and said in a voice that seemed to crawl along,

"...Do not look at me like that. There was nothing else I could do back then. The lie I told you that day was the first and last lie I ever told in my life. ...Haa, fine. I admit it. But..."

"But?"

Rene lifted her head again, then, displaying every inch of that proud elven nature of hers, declared boldly,

"But you did lie to me! And you did it quite brazenly! So... as punishment for lying to a wife who cannot lie, you must tenderly comfort your wounded wife."

I stared at her firm expression for a moment, then let out a small laugh that I could not hold back.

At once, Rene folded her arms and puffed out her cheeks as though demanding to know what I found so funny.

I quickly reached out, unfolded her arms, and gently pressed one of her puffed-up cheeks as I said,

"Ahh~ El Rantra, right now my wife is thoroughly angry. It does not seem as though my usual methods will calm her down. What should I do to soothe her anger? I beg you, please grant your advice to this ignorant man."

And then, almost at once, I heard a beautiful voice impersonating the name of El Rantra.