Chapter 216
I kept making my way through the Pulha Great Forest, and after passing through the barrier that had been set up, I finally reached the deep forest.
The density of the air, the voices of the trees I could hear, and the power filling the surroundings—everything was utterly different from the outside world.
And waiting for me there was not one of the elves living near the outer reaches, but a single high elf.
Though ageless, he looked very young—as high elves did—but the air around him clearly marked him as no ordinary human being.
Ah, I had been completely unable to understand such things in the past, but now I could recognize the years he had lived and the formidable aura they had given him.
The only people I could think of who had a similar presence were the immortals I had met in the Huanggu Empire.
And yet, that high elf was now looking at me with a worried expression.
"...Eisa! Child of the Maple, what in the world happened to your hair?"
The man who had worried about my hair before even offering a greeting was Salix.
He was, if I remembered correctly, a high elf much older than me, somewhere in his eight hundreds.
Ah, no—it had been nearly a hundred years since I left the deep forest, eighty years to be precise. Maybe he was already well over nine hundred.
Salix, also known as the Child of the Willow.
Before I left the deep forest, he had been the youngest of the five elders and had earned the respect of the high elves in the settlement.
Yes, among the elders I knew, he was still the easiest one to talk to.
"Ah, I cut it myself because it got in the way of traveling. No one cut it for me, so don't worry. It's been a long time, Salix. Child of the Willow, my senior."
Though he was one of the younger elders, the fact that an elder had come to greet me seemed to mean that my return was being welcomed, at least to some extent.
I hadn't expected him to worry about my shortened hair before even exchanging greetings... But then I remembered that high elves had always been very particular about hair length.
Salix let out a very deep sigh at my words.
I was a little surprised.
The greeting, the concern, and the fact that he was showing me emotion all came as a surprise.
At least, the Salix in my memories had always worn a blank expression.
"...Don't look so surprised. Even I would worry if a member of my kind returned from the outside world with their appearance changed. You, for your part, were hiding much more of your true nature when you lived in the deep forest."
Being told that I had changed my appearance just because I cut my hair felt rather exaggerated, but perhaps that was simply how high elves saw things.
But more than that, he had seen through the fact that I had once forced myself to act like a high elf while living in the settlement...
I was genuinely embarrassed.
To cover my embarrassment, I smiled, and Salix let out another sigh.
"It was right to send the others away. As you are now, you would be far too stimulating for everyone else. It could end up stirring up an unrestrained interest in the outside world."
His words made me understand, at least somewhat.
Ah, so that was why only he, one of the elders, had come to greet me.
It was to keep the other high elves from seeing what I was like now.
My old self would surely have resented that treatment.
I might even have thought that high elves were boring because of it.
But now I could understand the reason for it.
If a high elf carelessly went out into the outside world, the effect on everyone around them would be far too great.
And if our small number of high elves spread out and lived separately, one of them might lose their life in some unforeseen accident, putting the survival of our race at risk.
"Ah, I don't want you to misunderstand, Child of the Maple. I have no intention of reproaching you for leaving the deep forest. I understand that it couldn't be helped in your case, and there is a precedent. ...Well, come along."
But what Salix said next was truly unexpected.
I understood why high elves lived in a way that kept them from developing an interest in the outside world, so I couldn't understand why he was making me an exception.
And he even said there was a precedent. What kind of joke was that supposed to be?
No, there was no way an elder high elf would make a joke, but still, it was far too convenient a story for me.
I hurried after him as he turned his back on me and began walking away.
The deep forest, where I was born.
High elves, my kin.
Apparently, there was still something—or perhaps a great many things—I didn't know about this place and the existence of high elves.
"By the way, what about the other four elders? Now that I've finally come back, I'd like to greet them. I've even brought a little something."
As we walked, I suddenly felt curious and asked Salix, who was walking ahead of me.
I knew I'd get an earful, so it wasn't that I was eager to see them, but I had already steeled myself for it.
If I was going to meet them anyway, I wanted to do it while I still had the resolve.
But Salix didn't even turn around when I spoke.
"Ah, they had become spirits before me and scattered throughout the world. I'm the oldest elder now. They were concerned about you, so I thought perhaps they had gone to see you, but I suppose you never crossed paths."
He said this as he continued ahead.
I see.
...After nearly a century, I suppose that sort of thing could happen.
Even a high elf's existence in that state eventually comes to an end.
But unlike what people generally call death, beyond that point, time as spirits apparently awaited them.
But those elders had become spirits?
I couldn't picture it at all.
I was half sorry that I would never see what they had become, and half dreading the thought of them continuing to lecture me as spirits.
"I see. If it had been those people, they might have found me as I am now, sighed in exasperation, and left without saying anything."
It was difficult for me to imagine what time as a spirit was like.
Maybe cutting my hair really had been a mistake.
Perhaps I should have just tied it back, even if it got in the way of traveling.
Besides, I had a sword hanging from my waist and had been gnawing on jerky.
...Ah, even I found it surprising, but hearing that the elders had departed as spirits made me feel a little lonely.
"Hmm, Child of the Maple. You seem to have misunderstood them a little—or rather, all of us, myself included. But that is only natural. We never explained anything to you."
But at that, Salix turned to look at me and shook his head.
What could he mean?
What exactly had I misunderstood about the elders—or rather, the former elders—and what was it that they had never explained to me?
I wondered about it, but after that Salix said nothing more and continued walking in silence.
On and on, for hours.
Oh... right. That's how it was.
High elves—especially the elders—were always like this.
They had a habit of saying something suggestive while never explaining what mattered, then suddenly picking up where they left off as if they'd just remembered.
But maybe humans, dwarves, and the other races outside the forest thought the same of me.
Though I was growing impatient, I followed him and eventually arrived beneath a single enormous spirit tree.
It wasn't nearly as large as the Fuso Tree, of course, but a spirit tree this size was not something one could see outside the deep forest.
"Hmm, this should do. Don't be in such a hurry, Eisa. Child of the Maple. Now that you've come back, you surely have business of your own, but we can at least take the time to talk, can't we?"
Salix sat down on one of its roots, then beckoned me over.
When he said we'd talk at a high elf's leisurely pace, I couldn't help bracing myself a little, but... no, he was right.
There was no reason to hurry.
I followed suit and sat on a root. As I felt the spirit tree's powerful vitality, my heart naturally grew calm.
After all, this was my homecoming.
I had plenty to ask, and taking the time to sit down and talk wasn't a bad idea.
Of course, if talking alone were to take years, as it had with the Golden Dragon, I would find that a little troublesome.