Chapter 64

Chapter 64. Please Do Not Lie (4)

After seeing them off, our family had a little more breathing room.

Rene went into the study, and Luna followed me to the armory.

When Luna heard I was going to the armory, she told me to wait a moment, went up to her room, and came back down with a small trowel and a large bin. It looked like a trash bin.

“Is that a trash bin?”

“Yes.”

She nodded with an expressionless face.

I took the trash bin Luna was holding and set it down on the ground. Then I rummaged through my pocket and placed two gold coins I had quietly slipped away without Rene knowing onto Luna’s small black palm.

“What is this?”

“Pocket money. Next time we go to town, buy whatever you want. At this rate, nothing in the house will survive.”

At that, Luna looked up at me for a moment, then smiled softly and put them into her pocket. Then she walked outside and said,

“Thank you. I will use them well. But when are we going to the market?”

I picked up the trash bin I had set down and followed Luna outside.

The clear autumn sky and warm sunlight flowed down over my eyes. I raised my hand to my forehead and smiled softly.

Mm, the weather is nice. With this much, I can let that fellow out.

“Soon.”

“Really? Then until then, I will just use what I need from around the house.”

Luna walked with her hands behind her back as she spoke, and I smiled bitterly while looking at her small back.

Once we went outside, a cool autumn breeze blew, lightly fluttering Luna’s black hair.

And in that autumn breeze, the roses circling the edge of the house nodded up and down.

Luna brushed her fluttering hair back, looked at the roses, crossed her arms, and muttered,

“To think not even one leaf has fallen in this autumn. How exactly did she make them bloom?”

At her words, I smiled softly, turned my body, and walked toward the armory.

“That is Rene’s work. Those roses have not withered once in five years. Rene said they always bloom, whether it is spring or winter, to let everyone know an elf lives here. Is that not amazing?”

At that, Luna ran up beside me, looked blankly up at my face, and abruptly said,

“They say that if you boast about your wife too much, you are a doting fool.”

“I would prefer you simply call me a loving husband.”

I lightly brushed off her words and walked forward. Then I set the trash bin I had brought down on the ground and turned around.

Luna was standing right behind me, so I nearly failed to see her.

“How long will it be before I can look directly into your eyes?”

“About five more years. As Jeff said, elves grow at the same speed as you when they are young.”

I chuckled at her words.

Luna grabbed the bin on the ground with one hand and dragged it toward the slope where fallen leaves had gathered thickly.

What is she trying to do? Is she going to scoop up soil?

I watched her back for a moment, then turned my head and opened the armory door.

CREEEAK~

Looking at the flashing reflected light, I smiled with satisfaction.

These beautiful sword gleams.

They could not compare to Rene’s smile, but looking at them still put me in a good mood.

I grinned at the swords, slowly moved forward, and stood in front of the black armor quietly lowering its head in one corner of the armory.

Mm, it has been quite a while since I looked at him face-to-face like this.

I placed my palm against the breastplate of his armor and said,

“Stop sleeping and wake up. It is time for sunbathing.”

At that, a hazy aura flowed out from the body of the armor, like shimmering heat rising from the fields on a spring day, depending on how one looked at it.

Then a voice with the feeling of a young man who lived next door flowed into my mind.

-Is that you, Han? How long has it been since you last spoke to me?

I chuckled at his words and reached behind the armor to grab the wooden stand it was hanging from, then lifted it.

It was a little heavy, but I could lift it easily.

I carried it outside like that. Then I brought it to the place where the sunlight fell best and set it up so it could receive the light from the front.

At once, his words rang through my mind.

Here we go again.

-Ah! Beautiful sun! You were still there as ever. It has been a long time. If you have not yet forgotten this lowly one, if you truly have not forgotten me, please call my name aloud. Then I shall run to you. To you, my beloved.

“Stop it already, Kal Marion.”

-Shut up. Do not try to stop my song. And do not call me by my full name. Use my nickname. My nickname.

I shook my head with a thoroughly fed-up face.

Then I left him standing there, went back into the armory, and came out carrying one slender longsword that reminded me of Rene’s figure, along with a towel and a chair.

Then I set the chair behind the armor, sat down on it, and quietly began looking at my reflection in the blade.

Because I had placed the chair behind him and was sitting back-to-back with him, I had to keep listening to his murmuring.

Noisy.

However, on days when the weather was good, I had to take him outside like this once in a while, let him bask in the sunlight, and be his conversation partner.

If I did not, this fellow would move his body on his own when the full moon, when mana was most abundant, rose, come outside, and dance happily by himself.

An empty suit of armor clattering and dancing under the moonlight was not exactly a sight worth seeing.

-To you, my beloved, I offer a white rose stained red with blood.

Please accept my feelings for you. I love you.

If you cannot accept me, I shall take your head.

Do you know the sorrowful legend of the death knight Dullahan?

If you, beautiful one, abandon me,

I shall cut off your head

So that it will never be touched by the hand of time,

So that your beautiful smile will continue,

And I shall hold it tightly to this chest and keep it forever.

Because I cannot hand you over to anyone but myself.

Because I cannot bear to see you feel love for anyone but myself.

Clap, clap, clap.

The song stopped there.

So I placed the longsword on my knees and raised my hands to applaud him.

He said nothing for a while, so I spoke first.

“It was a good song. It gave me chills, but it was pleasant to hear.”

-Yes, it is a good song. Among the songs I have written, it is the one I like most.

Marion, which was his nickname, spoke in a young man’s voice.

The tone was somewhat thin, if one had to describe it.

However, it was unmistakably a man’s voice.

Self-aware magic swords often used women’s voices, but perhaps because this fellow was armor, the craftsman who made him had used his own voice.

Of course, that craftsman must have died long ago, but his voice had survived like this and lived for centuries.

I lifted the longsword resting on my knees once.

My face was drawn long along the beautiful blade.

I looked at it for a moment, then smiled faintly, lowered the sword, and slowly stroked it with the towel I had brought.

With the feeling of stroking Rene’s hair.

Then Marion, who had been quiet for a while, began singing again.

-An elf lady with a small back who came to me,

An elf lady with frightening eyes who lied to me for the first time.

What is your name?

Rene Tarsis.

To you, whose tender heart is saddened by the fact that a human stole your heart,

I extend a hand stained with human blood.

Take my hand.

Just because you love a human does not mean you will be abandoned.

Rather, it means you will be accepted by me.

Do not cry.

The sight of you with sorrowful eyes is not so beautiful.

Would you smile once for me?

I see. So that is how you smile. Beautiful.

I promise I will not make you sad.

So will you become my wife?

My name is…

“If you sing any more, I will pierce through your back.”

-If you can. Have you already forgotten what I am made of? A mere iron longsword is nowhere near enough.

Sitting with my back against him, I gripped the longsword upside down, placed its tip against his back, and bared my teeth.

I hate being called by that name.

I gripped the sword’s hilt and put strength into my hand, then loosened my grip again.

I cannot do this. Rene would be sad.

Yes. Haaah… Calm down, calm down.

Even if I stab him, I will only ruin one perfectly good longsword.

I lowered the sword, braced it against the ground, and bowed my head. His mocking words immediately flew at me.

-Oh? I was wondering how long you would stay like an innocent little lamb, and now you finally reveal your true colors. Well, happiness like this never suited you to begin with. I knew it from the moment you lost your mind over some elf, threw me off, and shoved me into a dark armory.

Where did all your hatred for humans go? Where did the face that said you would sell your soul to a demon vanish to? Why are you grinning with those eyes?

When I first saw you, your eyes pleased me far more than they do now. It is not too late even now. Wear me and return to your old name.

Wipe out the seed of those damned humans. You hate them, do you not? That is why you sought power and accepted me, is it not? Do not make those eyes, drunk on happiness, at this late hour. Do you have no pride?

“To ask a human what pride is… you are finished too. Is that all you have to say?”

I spun the longsword planted against the ground while speaking with a soft smile.

He remained silent for a while, then slowly opened his mouth(?).

-Ah, yes. It seems I am finished too. I would like you not to mind what I just said. It was meaningless.

And since your choice was decided with my agreement, I have nothing much to say. I merely wanted to see something different.

“If you understand, then that is enough.”

After saying that, I nodded and looked toward the hill on the other side, where Luna was squatting and using the trowel to clear away fallen leaves, scoop up soil, and put it into the bin.

I knew it. But what is she going to use the soil for? Is she putting it into the flowerpots?

-A dark elf. It has truly been a long time since I last saw one. In any case, she will ripen deliciously after a while. I do not know who will have her first, but I envy them.

“Hey, watch your mouth.”

-Ha! Who can hear me? This is only a problem if you speak.

I wanted to say more to him, but the only person who could argue with this fellow on equal terms was Rene. I was angry, but I silently held it in.

Damned bastard. What kind of thing is that to say?

At that moment, Luna slowly turned her head toward us, tossed the trowel into the bin, brushed herself off, and stood up. Then she dragged the bin toward us.

“What were you talking about?”

“No, nothing much… You are truly beautiful… ugh!”

Damn it! This bastard?!

I covered my mouth and immediately explained to Luna, who was tilting her head with a strange expression in front of me.

“That was not me.”

“The words came out of your mouth. You cannot take them back.”

Haaah. There was one more person.

If it is Luna, she can probably hold her own against this fellow too.

“I am going to explain now, so do not interrupt. Understood?”

-Well, fine.

“Who are you talking to?”

Luna tilted her head sideways and looked at me, and I smiled bitterly while raising a hand and waving it.

A short while later, after hearing the explanation, Luna walked behind me, looked up at his face, and placed her hand against his leg armor.

“Hehe. Did you really do that? Hm? Ah, so that is how it is. I understand. Wait a moment.”

As I listened to her voice, I placed the longsword on my knees and looked up at the sky. Then Luna’s head suddenly popped out from between the armor’s armpit and looked at me with a grin.

Then she said,

“Han. Good times do not always last. So savor your current happiness fully. I will keep stealing glimpses of your happiness through your eyes.”

At his words and hers, I felt somewhat bitter.

The sooner, the better. I should go to the old woman tomorrow if I can.

No, before that, there is one thing I am curious about, but since Luna is here right now, I will have to ask later.

When I looked beside me, Luna seemed a little curious about the words she had just spoken in his place.

Still with her head poking out from the armor’s armpit, she asked,

“What does that mean, stealing glimpses?”

“What I see is visible to this fellow as well. I cannot tell you anything else, so do not ask.”

Luna quietly looked at me with a dissatisfied face, then relaxed her expression, pulled her head out from between the armpit, and muttered,

“As I often mention, there is a proverb that says ignorance is bliss. All right, Han. You should wash your hair…”

Luna looked at me with an absurd expression, then lifted her head and looked up at Marion, who had lowered his head with a soft smile(?).

I smiled softly at her appearance. Then I grabbed the hair flowing down over my shoulders.

Mm, yesterday I stayed up all night because I was somehow bothered, so my hair is a little messy.

“All right. I will wash it later. Luna, how was it? It feels strange when it happens to you, does it not?”

“I cannot say it feels good. Hm? You will sing me a song? Good. Sing it.”

-This is not a song about you two, so do not frown like that.

At his voice, I had to let out a small sigh.

Before long, Marion began singing while Rene and I listened(?).

Every song this fellow sang was like a funeral dirge.

I had never heard him sing a cheerful song before, but perhaps because Luna was listening along this time, the song he sang now was somewhat lively.

-A dragon was floating in the sky.

The world he looked down upon was truly laughable.

Humans, elves, dwarves alike—with those tiny heads,

How could they ever look properly up at this great sky?

He was dumbfounded.

Then his stomach suddenly grew hungry.

So he descended to the ground and stood before an elf.

He said,

“I am hungry. I wish to eat you. What is your opinion?”

The elf said,

“I am terribly sorry, but I have work to do, so I cannot fill your stomach.”

He laughed heartily and let the elf go.

Then he went and stood before a dwarf.

And he said,

“I am hungry, dwarf.”

The dwarf lit up both his eyes in fury, threw his axe, and charged at him.

“You lizard! Either you die, or I die!”

The dragon admired his courage and let the dwarf go unharmed.

This time, he stood before a human.

“Human, I am hungry.”

The human said,

“If eating me can fill your stomach, I shall offer this body.”

Admiring the human’s kind heart, he grabbed him and put him into his mouth.

Just as he was about to chew, he felt dizzy.

The human in his mouth had driven a sword into his tongue.

He spoke in anger.

“You just said I could eat you!”

At that, the human grinned and said this.

“That was a lie. Now you are dead.”

It was clearly a somewhat funny song, yet why did it leave me feeling so uneasy?

When I looked beside me, Luna had both hands on the armor and was giggling with her head lowered.

So Luna can laugh like that too.

“Ah. Mm, ahem. That was quite an interesting song. Ah? Mm. All right, I will. Then I have to go repot my plants, so I will go in first.”

Repot her plants? Ah, so that is why she was scooping up soil.

I watched her for a moment, then remembered the plants I had seen in her room earlier and said what I had wanted to say to Luna.

“Luna. I have no intention of interfering with your hobbies, but if possible, please restrain yourself when it comes to dangerous things. For example, things like Explosive Grass.”

“That is needless worry. That is absolutely safe until it blooms in summer. And everything there is a medicinal ingredient. Do not worry. I will not cause any harm.”

Medicinal ingredients?! Do you mean she makes medicine with things like that?

I made a queasy face, but Luna paid no attention and grabbed the bin she had set beside her, then dragged it toward the house.

Ugh. I will never drink medicine Luna makes. I can swear to that.