The dream lasted only a brief moment.
One minute.
No, had it even lasted ten seconds?
It had been that short, yet it was so horrifying that I could not forget it.
The scenery I had witnessed in the dream.
The screams that had echoed in my ears.
Everything had been so vivid that I could hardly believe it was merely a dream, and I never wanted to see it again.
Had it truly been a dream?
Could something so vivid really have been nothing more than a dream?
I spent the entire night awake. Unable to find an answer no matter how hard I thought, I clenched my fist tightly.
‘...It must have been a nightmare.’
It had to be a nightmare.
I repeated that to myself countless times and let out a sigh.
Seeing me like that, Elspear tilted his head and asked a question.
“Was the bed uncomfortable?”
“N-No. The bed was comfortable.”
The bed truly had been comfortable.
The horrible dream had been the only problem.
I felt as though I would be unable to do anything if I continued dwelling on it.
Forcing the dream from my mind, I removed the bones from the fish Elspear had served and fed it to Cheori.
“Where does Elfinire usually go?”
“She is usually at home or patrolling the forest. Otherwise...”
“Elspear! Open the door!”
“She comes here like this.”
Speak of the devil.
It was uncanny how she had appeared the moment we mentioned her.
I stared at the door as it was pounded violently.
“She usually comes here in the morning. She always comes to get breakfast.”
“I see...”
I watched the door tremble so fiercely that it seemed ready to tear free of its hinges.
I was certain it was made of iron, yet it was bending as though it might snap.
After several more blows, the handle shattered and the closed door was forced open.
“I told you to open the door, Els... spear...”
Our eyes met.
Still chewing the fish in my mouth, I lightly waved at the frozen Elfinire.
“Good morning?”
“Elspear. Why is the human in your house?”
“Because I told him he could stay here?”
“The last thing I saw yesterday was you fighting the human.”
“That was a spar. A spar. He was remarkably strong.”
Elfinire ground her teeth at Elspear’s answer and turned away.
As she prepared to leave, I raised the corners of my mouth and spoke.
“Are you not going to eat?”
“...I have no need for a meal.”
Elfinire disappeared into the distance.
I swallowed the fish in my mouth and looked at Elspear, who wore a troubled expression.
“Elspear.”
“Y-Yes?”
“You have a general idea of Elfinire’s daily movements, correct?”
“I... suppose so? It has been ten years since I began looking after her on the Chieftain’s behalf.”
I stared intently at Elspear’s face.
Even being generous, he looked no older than about twenty-five.
If he had already been caring for Elfinire ten years ago, how old was he?
‘I suppose this is one of the ways he is truly elven.’
In any case—
“Then I will need your cooperation.”
“My cooperation? With what?”
“Do you know what a leech is?”
Elspear tilted his head at the abrupt mention of a leech, and I raised the corners of my mouth.
She intended to flee instead of speaking whenever she encountered me?
She was welcome to try.
‘I will cling to her until she has no choice but to talk to me.’
***
Elfinire gritted her teeth as she leaped from one rooftop to another.
She was too late.
The Chieftain and the Elder—
Even Elspear—
They had all been won over by a human once again.
Elfinire stopped and stared down from the roof.
“The human ate the meat I gave him yesterday and said it was delicious!”
“He carefully stored the silk I gave him too, you fool!”
“HA HA HA HA!”
The merchants were drinking together in broad daylight.
Elves generally preferred meat.
However, they were not exclusively carnivorous.
Other elves sometimes ate fallen fruit or used it to brew fruit wine.
They also cut down dead trees to make furniture.
Elfinire was different.
The mere thought of eating a plant caused such a powerful sense of rejection that she could hardly endure it.
When she focused, she could even sense the will of plants.
That was why she disliked stepping upon them and preferred traveling through the trees.
‘...Fools.’
Perhaps that was why all the other elves appeared foolish in her eyes.
When a High Elf bore a child, that child became an ordinary elf.
High Elves, meanwhile, were beings born from Mother.
Therefore, elves could theoretically be considered plants themselves.
The elves devoured their own kind while laughing and chatting with humans, their natural enemies.
It seemed utterly foolish to her.
Elfinire bit her lip and leaped from the roof once again.
She soon arrived at her house.
She opened the door, intending to eat a quick meal before patrolling the forest—
“You are back?”
“...?!”
A delicious aroma filled the entire house.
Elfinire’s eyes trembled as she stared at the black-haired man wearing an apron and placing food upon the table.
He was humming while holding a pot in each hand.
“W-What do you think you are doing?”
“What does it look like? I made breakfast.”
The human opened the lid of a pot with his detestable face.
An unbearably delicious aroma immediately spread in every direction.
The scent alone made her stomach scream at her to eat the food at once.
Elfinire bit her innocent lip as her empty stomach ached, then turned around and hurried away from the house.
‘Damn it.’
She had never imagined that even her own house would no longer be safe.
She dearly wanted to beat some sense into the past version of herself who had brought that human into the village.
What had possessed her to bring a human to Elsid?
He would have died if she had simply left him there, so why had she saved him?
‘It is still fine.’
She only had to expose the human’s wicked intentions and drive him from the village.
Before that, however, she needed to eat.
In truth, she had missed dinner the previous night because she had been cleaning the room where the human had stayed.
A warden needed a full stomach to function, so she decided to eat first.
Elfinire visited a restaurant she often frequented.
And there—
“Wow. There is still room for more meat.”
She encountered the human, who was detestably tearing into a rib.
How?
She had confirmed that he was inside her house only moments ago.
It did not matter.
If he could find her anywhere within the village, she merely had to enter the forest.
No matter how extraordinary he might be, the forest was a warden’s domain.
He would never be able to follow her there.
With that thought, Elfinire fled into the forest.
“Would you like to eat this? Ah, it is a fruit, so I suppose not.”
He appeared there.
“The air is wonderfully fresh here. I should visit again sometime.”
And there.
“The water must be remarkably clean. I can see every fish beneath the surface.”
Each time, the human appeared as though he had been waiting for her.
“W-What are you?! Why do you keep following me?!”
By the time she finally escaped, the strength left her legs and she collapsed onto the ground.
It had not been a short amount of time.
It had been seven full hours.
She had been fleeing continuously for seven hours, yet he had tracked her down every time and spoken to her with complete composure.
She had already exhausted all of her strength and was on the verge of collapse.
The human, however, did not appear tired in the slightest.
This was no longer mere wariness.
She was afraid.
What kind of lunatic behaved like this?
The sun had set long ago.
She had neither eaten nor drunk anything.
What if the human was waiting for her again when she returned to the village?
Elfinire wrapped both hands around her head and trembled alone in the dark forest.
***
Elspear and I sat together upon a tree branch, watching her.
“This is going well.”
“You call that going well?”
Elspear sat beside me, gasping heavily.
He had carried me on his back all day while racing through the forest after Elfinire.
Even as he struggled to catch his breath, his expression suggested that he was questioning whether any of this was right.
I glanced at him and spoke.
“Have you ever had a proper conversation with Elfinire?”
“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“Just answer me.”
“I was the one who cared for Elfinire after all the wardens died and left her alone. Of course I have spoken with her.”
Elspear looked at me as though I had asked something absurdly obvious.
Feeling his gaze upon me, I silently rested my chin upon my hand and looked down.
Elfinire was crouched alone below us, trembling.
She had not asked anyone for help.
She was enduring everything alone.
“Hmm.”
I hummed thoughtfully, smiled, and patted Elspear’s shoulder.
“I am tired. Let us return to Elsid.”
“...Are we leaving Elfinire here?”
“Is she the sort of elf who would get hurt merely because we left her alone in the forest at night?”
“No.”
“Then what does it matter?”
Elspear clicked his tongue softly at my shrug and rose from the branch.
I followed him, making no effort to conceal my presence as I stood.
Elfinire did not notice us.
She merely kept her head lowered.
***
The next day—
I woke in Elspear’s house and stretched at length.
I had not dreamed this time.
Instead, I had slept for quite a while.
The way it had happened was rather strange.
“What was that?”
I had not felt sleepy at all when I lay down.
However, the moment I thought, ‘I should sleep for about five hours,’ I fell asleep instantly.
Then my eyes opened precisely five hours later.
Had something happened to my mind?
Or was it because my Synchronization Rate had risen close to two percent?
“Hmm.”
I had no idea.
I scratched the back of my head for no reason, opened the door, and entered the living room.
Elspear was already awake, sitting at the table and sipping hot broth.
“Did you sleep well, Mir?”
“Well enough.”
Perhaps because I had slept deeply, my body felt remarkably light.
I lifted the cup of broth from the table and brought it to my lips.
“Ah. This bland meat broth.”
If they added salt and chopped green onions, it would practically be gomtang.
It was remarkable that the elves drank this in place of tea every morning.
“Are you going to chase Elfinire again today?”
“No. I will not do that today.”
“Oh... Is that so?”
“Yes. I should let her experience freedom today.”
I would not do it today.
Today, and only today.
“Of course, there is nothing we can do if we happen to encounter each other by chance.”
Today was a day of rest for both Elfinire and me.
Whether both of us would actually be able to rest was another matter.
I tilted the cup and drank another mouthful of broth.
Its flavor was wonderfully rich and savory.
***
After spending the entire night awake, Elfinire entered the kitchen with bloodshot eyes.
She was exhausted.
She felt as though she might collapse and fall asleep at any moment—
“HUP!”
SLAP!
She raised her hand and struck herself hard across the cheek.
A vivid red mark appeared upon her pale skin.
Forcing herself awake, she bit her lip.
‘I cannot fall asleep.’
She could not sleep.
If she fell asleep here, the human would undoubtedly appear without warning.
And that would not be all.
While she slept, the human would inevitably harm another member of her family.
She was not merely choosing to remain awake.
She could not allow herself to sleep.
‘I cannot sleep until I drive the human away.’
Elfinire repeated the words dozens, then hundreds of times, as though trying to hypnotize herself.
Remaining vigilant, she entered the living room.
No one was there.
She could not yet sense the human’s presence.
Therefore—
“Elfinire! I am here!”
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.
A voice came from beyond the door.
Remembering the face of the elf who had been with the human the previous day, Elfinire ground her teeth and opened it.
And then—
“Die, human!”
She reflexively drove her fist toward the human, who stood before the door and waved at her with an infuriating smile.