Chapter 45

Chapter 45. "What the Dead Feel Toward the Dying." 5

People had gathered at a place that provided food and lodging. Four humans, two elves, one werewolf, and one dwarf.

Those gathered there chatted noisily, and in the middle of it all, one of them ordered alcohol. A little while later, the people gathered in the inn were all raising their cups with flushed faces, clearly enjoying themselves.

With the exception of a few.

"Heeey, little brat? Want to try a drink too?"

"And from the one who was going on about the pride of a noble werewolf. You should be ashamed of yourself, getting drunk like this."

"That is only because you do not understand, brat. Of all the things humans have made, I like alcohol the best. When I drink this, I feel good. And I can forget all the things weighing on my mind."

"That is merely escapism. Unable to overcome the hardships standing before you, you drown yourself in drink and make this spectacle in your desire to flee from reality."

She said that while looking around at the others. Kal, with his face flushed red thanks to the alcohol Jeff kept forcing on him, was gripping my shoulder, muttering incomprehensible words to himself, then chuckling for no reason.

Beside him, Jeff and Jimant were still pouring enormous 1.5-liter beer mugs into themselves, competing to see which of them would collapse first.

Narsh, sitting beside Luna, had respected Kal's fierce attempts to interfere and her own wishes and had limited herself to empty juice glasses and teacups.

As for Rene and me, we had been rushing back and forth between the kitchen and the hall, but in the end we threw up our hands in surrender before their prowess(?) and won ourselves a little rest by rolling out a great pile of snacks and an entire beer keg and leaving them with the people gathered there.

That was why I could sit here and leisurely listen to the conversation between those two.

After hearing Luna's words, Exel made a show of clapping and said,

"Exactly right. That is true. But if they did not do at least this much, humans would have vanished long ago. Crushed by the terrible regret of the past and the impact of slamming into the massive wall of reality."

"And what, you are going to try and elevate this absurd drinking party into something metaphysical?"

At her words, Exel smiled faintly, raised the wine bottle in his hand to his lips, then lowered it again and said,

"Haaah~ not that. But still, does it not feel good? Everyone gathering together like this, I mean."

"So you are in a good mood, then."

At that, Exel grinned and set the wine bottle down on the table. Then he looked into Luna's black eyes and said,

"I am a werewolf. A wolf-human, you might say."

Strictly speaking... half of him could be called human, I suppose. After hearing Exel, Luna let out a small sigh, then picked up a small berry from the basket before her and rolled it around in her fingers as she spoke.

"I am not a werewolf like you, with the thoughts of a wolf and a human mixed together so that I can accept humans without much resistance. I am a pure-blooded dark elf. That makes me different. I do not want to follow human ways the way you do. I will move according to elven ways. So I cannot say I like this mess."

At Luna's words, I nodded.

It was true enough. It had not been that long since elves became known to humans. About two hundred years, perhaps? And the independent culture they built without being influenced by other races differed from that of humans in many ways.

That difference showed clearly in the life Rene and I shared as well. Things I considered natural, Rene did not. Take, for example, the way Rene walked around indoors barefoot while I went around wearing light slippers.

Of course, after long arguments, I ultimately won, but culture was not something corrected overnight, so every now and then, if I steeled myself and lifted Rene's skirt, I would find that she was still barefoot.

After speaking, Luna bit into the reddish berry she had been holding, chewed it, swallowed, and said,

"It is good."

"It is just a nameless mountain berry. It tastes better roasted."

Exel said that as he leaned back lazily in his chair, and Luna looked between the berry in her hand and Exel with an odd expression before turning her head to me.

"None of the tree fruits I know are eaten roasted."

"Exel is a gourmet."

I said that, then looked around.

The contest between the human and the dwarf, who had been sitting in front of the enormous fifty-liter beer keg, boasting of their drinking capacity and taking turns guzzling it, had finally come to an end.

"Huh? H-Hey? Mr. Jimant? Get a hold of yourself. If this is all you can do, how can you go around calling yourself a dwarf? Hey~ wake up~ you have only finished half of it!"

Jeff grabbed Jimant by the shoulder and shook him, and then from Jimant's mouth, as he lay sprawled over the table in a state of near total collapse, came a faint voice.

"...Are you really human? Ughhh... I cannot drink anymore."

At that, Jeff grinned and got to his feet, trying to sling Jimant's arm around his neck and haul him up, only to discover a serious problem and put him back down again.

Dwarves were short, after all. Jimant only came up to about Jeff's waist, though he was solidly built. Jeff looked down at him hesitantly for about three seconds, then shrugged, grabbed Jimant by the belt, hoisted him up over his shoulder, and headed upstairs.

"Mr. Han? Let us start wrapping things up. It looks like they more or less made a meal of it, so there is no need to prepare dinner. Take that middle-aged old man upstairs too."

At his words, I looked at Kal, who had fallen asleep over the table like a baby bear. He had gone quiet some time ago, and before I knew it, he had completely passed out. I rose from my seat, slipped his arm over my neck, and supported him as I took him upstairs.

Kal had not entirely lost consciousness, it seemed, because once I supported him, he managed to move his feet on his own.

When I finally got him safely up into the second-floor corridor, Jeff was standing there ahead of me, still carrying Jimant over his shoulder and waiting for me.

"Which room is this dwarf's?"

"The second room on the right."

At my answer, he nodded, then walked shakily down the corridor with a slightly unsteady gait.

I watched his back for a moment, then took Kal to his room, laid him down, and stepped back outside. When I closed the door and looked ahead, Jeff was walking back toward me. Grinning, he said,

"Thanks for all your hospitality. If things go well, we will be leaving the day after tomorrow."

"Ah, I see. You did say you found what you were looking for. But what exactly was it? Treasure?"

At that, Jeff smiled and answered as he walked ahead of me,

"I am sorry, but if I told you that, Kal would try to kill me. The only thing I can tell you is that it is very big."

Big? That thing?

I stared blankly at his back for a moment, then suddenly came to my senses and headed downstairs into the hall.

The hall was already fairly clean again. The three ladies, Rene among them, were moving back and forth, tidying and cleaning.

Hmm, Narsh did not really need to be helping, did she? I stared blankly at Narsh as she carried a tray full of glasses from the table into the kitchen, and when she noticed me, she smiled brightly and said,

"You do not need to thank me."

"...Understood."

Beside me, Jeff had been watching her with a look of disbelief, and when Narsh disappeared into the kitchen, he said,

"She has changed."

"Hm?"

I turned to look at him, and Jeff straightened one of the chairs that had been set crooked and pushed it back toward the table as he spoke.

"I do not know what that silver-haired fellow, Exel, said to her, but it feels as though Miss Narsh's personality has changed a little. When I first saw her, she was so quiet I thought she might be autistic or something. But now it seems that was not the case."

As he said that, he looked toward Exel, who was standing before the half-empty beer keg, staring down at it.

Exel must have felt the gaze, because he lifted his head and looked back at Jeff, and for a moment the two of them simply stared at each other without moving. I studied their faces briefly, then saw that both of them were smiling slightly.

Letting out a small sigh, I turned away and went over to Rene, who was dumping the remnants of this drinking party into the hollowed shell of the Karma's fruit, its inside already scraped clean. She glanced at me and held the fruit shell full of trash out to me.

"Please."

"All right."

I took it from her and headed into the kitchen. Inside, Narsh and Luna had been talking about something, but when I entered, Luna spoke up.

"Why are you bringing that in here?"

"There is a separate place where this gets thrown away."

Saying that, I carried it to the kitchen's back door and stepped outside. Evening had fallen, and before I realized it, it had grown dim. I looked up at the sky for a while, then lowered my head and said to Luna, who had come trotting after me,

"Why are you following me?"

"I want to know where you throw things away."

I looked quietly at Luna as she said that, and she turned her head away from my gaze just a little. Watching her like that gave rise to an oddly pleasant thought in me.

It feels like I have a daughter now.

Smiling to myself, I turned my head and walked on. When I reached my destination, I turned back toward her again. Luna was there. Still smiling, I said,

"It smells, does it not?"

"I cannot say it does not. What is this place?"

She walked forward and looked at the building in front of us. I went over to it, opened what looked like a large window, tossed the refuse inside, dusted off my hands, and said,

"This is in the backyard, so you probably never saw it."

"So what is it?"

"It is where we make compost."

"Compost?"

"Yes. This is where we throw away rubbish that can rot. After it piles up for several years and decays enough, we spread it in parts of the forest where the soil is weak. I will not explain the reason. You are an elf."

At my words, Luna nodded, then looked up at me and said,

"You are quite an obedient husband when it comes to your wife. Henpecked, are you?"

"Would it not be nicer to call me a devoted husband instead?"

At that, Luna snorted a laugh, turned her back, and started walking toward the kitchen door. I followed behind her. Just then, Luna stopped where she was and pointed at what looked like a small storage shed standing neatly in one corner of the backyard.

"What is that?"

"Ah. It holds things like shovels and pickaxes. We need them often."

At my answer, Luna nodded, then turned back and looked up at me again.

"Since the subject came up, let me ask something else. Then what is that little building in the front yard?"

"The liquor cellar. There is a trapdoor in the floor that leads underground, and inside we keep especially old alcohol."

"And that shed by the stable, the one that is always shut, what about that one?"

"The armory."

"The armory?"

At my answer, Luna's face changed into the expression of a child who had just spotted a fascinating toy.

I gave a wry smile at the sight of her and said,

"Luna. I will show you what is inside tomorrow, so do not go there alone tonight and try to open it. All right?"

Luna nodded with a disappointed look. Then she asked me several more things, and I answered each question carefully. Most of Luna's questions were about what was inside places she had not yet entered.

"Anything else you are curious about?"

"No."

"Then let us go back in."

Luna nodded, then opened the back door and went inside first. I followed after her. Passing through the kitchen and dining room into the hall, I found Narsh and Jeff, but not Rene, staring ahead with startled faces.

Looking at them with a puzzled expression, I walked over to the table, and Rene greeted us with a small smile.

"You took your time."

"Ah, something came up. But, dear, what is going on?"

I asked, pointing at Jeff and Narsh, whose shocked expressions were still fixed on something ahead, and just then a very familiar voice answered my question.

"It is because of me."

I turned my head and saw Exel back in his original form, changing into the clothes he had folded neatly beforehand.

He draped them loosely over himself, then picked up the clothes he had worn in human form and looked down at them quietly before looking at Rene. Rene smiled brightly and said,

"You may keep them. You said you only had one set of clothes for your human form, did you not?"

"Well, if you insist that much, I will not refuse."

Exel said that, folded the clothes roughly and set them on the table, then put the lid on the half-empty beer keg and sat on top of it. After that, he looked at the two people staring blankly at him and said,

"You seem surprised. As I said before, I am a werewolf. Do you have a problem with that?"

At his words, Jeff stammered,

"Ah, no, nothing like that."

"Is that so? Then fine. Look here, Narsh?"

At his voice, Narsh lifted her head in surprise and looked at him. Exel made a bitter smile and asked,

"Has the sight of my true form disappointed you? Since it is this monstrous thing?"

Hearing him, Narsh looked at him with some surprise for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said,

"Yes. It has."

What an honest young lady.

Almost frighteningly so.

Was this Narsh's true personality? Jeff, sitting beside her, was watching her with a rather bitter expression, while Luna and Rene, though their expressions were slightly different, both wore similar blank faces as they listened to the exchange.

Exel, baring his teeth in a smiling squint, stood up and looked at Narsh for a moment before saying,

"I like honesty. Well then, Miss Tarsis, I should be going back now."

"You are leaving already?"

Rene and I slowly rose from our seats to see him off, and at her question, Exel looked out the window at the deepening dusk and said,

"Already? It has grown quite dark. I should be heading back before I impose any more."

At that, Rene and I smiled bitterly. Exel stuffed the clothes lying on the table into his trouser pocket, looked briefly at the beer keg he had been sitting on, and asked me,

"Reed. Would you sell half a keg of beer too?"

"Just take it. I will give it to you."

At my answer, Exel grinned and hoisted it onto his shoulder. Then he turned to leave. At that moment, Narsh rose from her seat and spoke to his back. Exel turned his head slightly and looked at her.

"Ah, um. Exel?"

"What?"

"Um... thank you. For granting my request."

"I merely paid the price for frightening you, did I not?"

"Even so, I gained too much from you."

At her words, Exel stared blankly at Narsh for a moment, then turned away again and walked out the door, saying,

"Then remember what I told you at the end. Narsh, then. Let us make sure we never meet again."

Leaving those words behind, Exel stepped out through the door. Without even glancing back, he disappeared into the forest, and the gaze of everyone left behind naturally turned toward Narsh, who stood beside me, staring blankly after his retreating figure.

After standing there in a daze for a while, she smiled with her eyes drooping sadly, returned to her seat, and began staring at the table with that same sorrowful smile. Jeff, who had been watching her quietly, then remarked in passing,

"Miss Narsh?"

"Ah, yes."

Narsh lifted her head and looked at Jeff. Jeff stared blankly at her face for a moment, then said,

"Does it sting, being rejected?"

"Yes."

Narsh answered immediately, and Jeff continued with a small smile.

"I like that honesty. Shall I offer you a word of advice? In this world, there are as many fellows better-looking and finer than that wolf as you could ask for. You have plenty of time. Once you get home, go straight to a party and fish out one you like. You are beautiful, miss, and once caught, most men will not easily set their hearts elsewhere."

Hearing that, Narsh looked at him with a bright little laugh on her face. Jeff let out a sigh, then said,

"Well now, I thought you had changed a little, but it seems you are not all that different after all. Shall I make a prediction? From now on, your time will begin to pile up again. Well then, sleep well."

With those words, he went up to the second floor. Narsh stared blankly after him. Then, a moment later, something seemed to click in her mind. She suddenly began to tear up, then clung to Rene, who was sitting beside her, and burst into tears.