16 – travel

At dawn when the darkness begins to take on a blue color, I check my condition before leaving for the South.

I can’t say I’m plentiful with the elixir obtained from the martial arts competition, but an insignificant amount of mana settled in my body. The mana path in the body, which had not been properly polished, was maintained to the level of a flattened dirt road.

There is no problem as the wounded body was healed by the priest on the same day and regained vitality with sufficient rest.

My current condition is objectively not enough to safely navigate the South, but with Rachel, I’ll be fine. She’s a dark elf living in the deep southern forest, so she must know the safe way well, and I don’t think her strength is weaker than me in her current state.

Although he won the martial arts competition, he couldn’t erase the thought that he was beaten while she looked after him moderately. In that respect, I can feel the dark and dampness unique to the Dark Elves, but now that I am in a position to help them, I feel reassured.

“Are you ready, brother?”

Her voice is heard from beyond the door. Now that she’s here, stop thinking about it, grab your backpack and leave the room.

“Yes, done. Are you ready?”

“of course!”

The woman, tightly wrapped in a robe and mask, answered lively.

“Then go.”

“Yes!”

Hummingly, he goes outside with her, loads the rough wagon prepared by the servants, and moves to the coachman’s seat. Rachel sits next to me instead of going into the carriage.

“It would be more comfortable inside the carriage than here.”

“Rather than doing that, it’s more fun to talk with them.”

I nodded once to her words, excited like a child, and pulled the reins and set off. The carriage advances with a slight vibration and the sound of horses galloping.

It’s still early in the morning, so there’s no one walking around, so I speed up a little. The cool breeze of dawn blows past my face and I escape the capital listening to her hum.

Coming out, she removes the robe and mask that were covering her face.

“I’m finally out. No matter how much I think about it, the place where people live is too wide.”

“Only here is this wide, other places are not this far.”

“Yes? I didn’t know because I’d never been anywhere else.”

I doubted my ears. It took nearly a month to reach the capital from the southern part of the Dark Elves, but it didn’t make sense that I had never heard of a place where people lived, so he asked her back.

“Is this your first time here?”

“Yes!”

“Then how did you get here?”

“Uh, I just kept going in the direction the high priest told me to come out.”

I am speechless when I see him speak so brightly. The things they want to say are clamoring, but what do you expect from them, who are exclusive and shady? Swallow the things you want to say and keep your mouth shut.

“Oh, and it’s also the first time I’m traveling with someone. So I am really looking forward to it.”

Those words permeate my heart for some reason, and her childlike appearance reminds me of children. Maybe that’s why the words come out a little softer.

“It’s my first time too.”

“really? Brother lived in a very big house with a lot of attendants, so I thought he must have been around a lot, but I was surprised.”

I laugh at the words I say with my eyes wide open.

“There are a lot of servants, and even though I live in a big house, I haven’t lived freely enough to travel.”

“Yes? Anyway, it’s the first time for both of us.”

She smiles bashfully and shows off her delight.

“Is it that good?”

“Yes! It is fun to try new experiences together.”

“yes. right.”

I don’t have that kind of experience, so I can’t understand what she’s saying, but seeing her happy makes me feel positive.

“By the way, if I go to the village, is there anything I should be careful about?”

“Well. For normal people, just being noticed is a problem, but the brother will be fine.”

“Is it because I am by your side?”

“That’s not it. There are also people who take their own people as prisoners or threaten them, so even if there are people next to them, they attack first.”

I get dizzy whenever I hear about the exclusivity beyond imagination of the Dark Elves.

“By the way, why am I okay?”

“It is because you are special. Even if you are a little far away, everyone will recognize you because you can feel Kaian-sama’s blessing.”

It was both good and bad news. There is no need to be misunderstood or attacked, but if it is that great of a blessing, I can’t think of anything other than returning. And what is the cost of such a blessing that deviated from common sense?

“Then, is there anyone as blessed as I am?”

“Well. I’ve never seen it except for the high priest.”

“What did the high priest offer in return?”

“For the High Priestess, life itself is the price.”

Those words take my breath away.

If life itself is a blessing similar to that of a person who is the price, what will I give in return?

“Oh, don’t get me wrong. When I said that the high priest’s life was a price, it’s because I received blessings for serving Kaian-sama faithfully for the rest of my life.”

I was a little relieved by those words, but it was so little that it didn’t mean anything, and I couldn’t stop the confusion in my head.

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Living with Kaian for the rest of my life… I cursed God who might have taken my feelings from her and my children. How can I live my life believing faithfully. impossible.

The mouth is sore.

“Brother. I don’t know, but you won’t pay that much.”

Seeing me clearly darkened, she comforts me.

“Kaian-nim is an unusual god, but he is very merciful. He is not the one who makes you pay a price or an ordeal you cannot afford.”

She tried hard, but couldn’t believe it easily.

How can it be said that taking emotions is merciful?

I couldn’t believe it when I thought so. However, I force myself to smile when I see her trying hard to comfort her.

“I’m glad then.”

“Because it is. So don’t worry and let’s enjoy the trip.”

“It’s a bit hard to call it a trip, but let’s do it.”

I accept her story with a forced smile. After talking like that, having a quick lunch in the wagon, and talking again, the world turns red. It’s time for night to come soon, so I stop the wagon on a flat place.

“Let’s camp here today.”

“Yes!”

She jumps off the wagon and looks at me.

“Brother, what can I prepare?”

“Get me some wood to light the fire.”

“Yes.”

After answering, she pulls out a dagger, wraps herself in an aura, and cuts down a tree next to her. With her movements, the branches of trees were pruned and good firewood was made.

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Looking at it, I spit out the question that arises.

“Elfs say that trees have life, and even if you break a branch, they go wild, don’t you guys have something like that?”

“Don’t compare yourself to those unlucky bastards! We’re not that naive.”

Compared to the elf, he showed a violent reaction, so he nodded calmly.

“There’s something that even you can’t look at.”

“I get it. I won’t do that from next time.”

“I’ll just skip this one time. So what should I do next?”

“Get some water from the stream you passed by earlier.”

“Yes.”

After she packs her water bottles and leaves, she prepares for camping by taking the camping equipment from the wagon. She leveled the ground, pitched a tent on it, and lit the firewood she had made.

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Lunch is simply dry, so to eat dinner properly, put the pot over the fire, melt the precious butter slightly, add water and flour, and add the vegetables and meat you brought a little.

“What are you doing?”

“Bring the stew.”

She brings water and sits next to me.

“Do you know how to cook?”

“You know how to do simple things.”

“You are amazing. When I cook, I just burn it and eat it.”

“It’s like that at first.”

“No matter how many times I try.”

As I was talking with her, the smell of the stew started to irritate my stomach.

“It smells so good. I’m hungry. When will it be finished?”

“Wait a little longer.”

Ignoring her who keeps complaining that she is hungry despite her words, she cooks stew. When the red world is completely dark, take the pot of stew out of the fire, put it in a bowl, and hand it over to her.

“thank you for this food!”

She accepts the bowl, eats it hastily, and holds out the bowl again.

“Give me more.”

Even though I thought I would laugh at the sight, I couldn’t smile because I thought of the children. I swallow the stew with such a complicated feeling.

“Brother, it is really delicious.”

Seeing her say that and eat more, a smile leaks out in the end. Shake off a laugh once more and eat again.

Meal time, when only the sound of her eating spread, passed, and the time when the moon was ripe came.

“I will wake up first, so go to bed first.”

“Yes.”

She goes to sleep in a tent, listens to the sound of a campfire and insects, and looks up at the sky. Looking at the shining stars in the dark sky gives me an unknown feeling.

As I pondered over that strange feeling, I knew it. The fact that the life I wanted was such an extremely ordinary life, and that it was a feeling I felt because there were no people I loved in the life I wanted.

He spends the night deepening, brooding on those feelings.