Chapter 3
Bad news.
It takes half a month just to get out of the Pulha Great Forest.
No, I certainly never expected it to take this long.
Maybe it was a mistake to follow the river, since I wanted to bathe whenever I felt like it.
I ran into monsters that had presumably come to drink water several times, and sometimes fish even came up and bit me.
It was only thanks to the water spirits warning me of danger in advance that I avoided trouble; if I hadn't noticed it in time, I would have been bitten once or twice.
But putting the past behind me, I crossed the great forest while casually munching on nuts and finally reached the outside world.
When I saw the plains stretching unobstructed by trees, dyed a vivid red by the setting sun, I trembled with emotion.
For the first time in a long while, I remembered the word "horizon."
Yes, beyond this point lay a boundless world stretching as far as the eye could see.
Well, in reality, there was probably some boundary somewhere, but that was how it felt.
However, I didn't have much time to bask in my emotions.
What I could see over there was a human settlement surrounded by stone walls... a town.
I hurried along, trying to reach the town before the sun had completely set and I could no longer get inside.
Vistcoat.
It was written beside the gate leading into town, so it was probably the town's name.
"...Hey, you're an elf, aren't you? Why are you standing there in a daze? Is this your first time in a human town?"
As I stood dumbfounded by the imposing stone walls and magnificent gate, someone carrying a spear—probably a guard stationed at the gate—spoke to me with concern.
Perhaps because of the time of day, no one besides me was trying to enter the town. Consequently, he became the first human I'd seen in the 150 years I'd lived in this world.
"I was looking at it because it's a fine gate. Human person. It's my first time in a town. Is there still time? Did I make it? Can I go in?"
It was only a hunch, but this man didn't seem like a bad person.
So I smiled, showed him both my palms to indicate I meant no harm, and asked him to let me into the town.
"Ah, your first time? There's an entrance fee to get into town. Can you afford it? Do you know what money is? It's twenty copper coins if you have an identification card from another town, and one silver coin if you don't..."
The guard scratched his head vigorously, looking troubled.
I see.
Of course, unlike the other elves and High Elves, I had memories of living as a human, so I knew what money was and understood its purpose.
But although I knew what money was, whether I actually had any was an entirely different matter.
So when I sadly shook my head,
"Ah, well, you need money to get into town. Say, do you have someone you know in this town? Did you come to visit them? If so, I can go get them and have them pay the fee for you."
The guard offered that suggestion.
This guard really did seem like a good person.
Unfortunately, though, I'd only come to this town because it happened to be there after I emerged from the Pulha Great Forest.
Hmm... in that case, I supposed I'd have to sell them some Forest Wolf fangs and pay the entrance fee with the proceeds, but even if it couldn't be helped, I wasn't too happy about it.
After all, I'd planned to work these fangs and claws and wear them myself.
Just then,
"Um, excuse me. Could I ask you something?"
A voice called out from behind me.
When I turned around, I wondered how long they had been standing there.
There was one young man and two young women.
Well, all humans looked young to me without exception, but that wasn't what I meant; I meant young even among the human race.
...Wait, huh?
Looking more closely, one of the women was unmistakably an elf, so she might actually be older than me.
And the elf woman was the one who had called out to me.
As the guard and I tilted our heads at her, she seemed to grow a little impatient, so she gave my arm a firm tug and pulled me away from the gate,
"Could you possibly be a High Elf?"
she asked in a low voice.
There was no reason for me to hide it, but the arm she had pulled hurt a little, so I nodded somewhat irritably.
The elf woman's expression then became a deft mixture of half acceptance and half confusion, as if she were thinking, Why is there a High Elf here?
I found her expression a little amusing, so I forgot about the pain in my arm and forgave her in a second.
Getting angry at a woman over something so trivial would be narrow-minded, after all.
"If you don't mind my asking, could you tell me why someone like you has come to a human town?"
The elf woman asked me, looking genuinely puzzled.
Well, it was a perfectly natural question to have.
If I saw another High Elf in a human settlement, I'd probably doubt my own eyes too.
They live alongside the forest, and even after death become part of the world as spirits.
They regard everything in the outside world as nothing but trifles, and live on toward death so as to become spirits.
That's what a High Elf is.
Of course, that applied only to High Elves other than me.
"Yeah, I got tired of the forest. I thought I'd travel around and see all sorts of things. Oh, you can call me Eisa. That's what they called me in the village in the deep forest."
When I was a baby, I grasped a maple leaf that had floated in on the wind, hence Eisa.
It was less a name than a convenient designation.
The elder used to call me "Maple's Child," too.
Since most spirits have no names, High Elves have no names either.
Still, that would be inconvenient, so they settle on convenient designations.
It seemed like nothing more than a play on words to me, but if I pointed that out, the High Elves would get genuinely angry.
When High Elves genuinely get angry, it means they'll attack with the intent to kill without hesitation. So unless you intend to pick a fight, it's best not to touch on the subject of High Elf names.
After hearing me, the elf woman made a face that made it blatantly obvious she was thinking, 'Whoa, this guy's a weirdo.'
Her expression was remarkably eloquent. It was amusing.
She had probably lived in the outside world for a long time.
The thought that elves ended up like this after living in the outside world made me feel a little happy.
To me, it seemed like a change akin to a plant turning into an animal.
No, I don't mean that plants are bad or animals are good; I just mean it was interesting to watch.
"Understood, Eisa-sama. It may be presumptuous of me to address someone of High Elf status this way, but I, Airena, will assist you by virtue of our bond as kindred. Could I ask you to leave this matter to me?"
Airena, the elf woman, seemed to think for a while, then suddenly said something like that.
Well, it seemed she intended to help me.
I couldn't help wondering why, but I sensed no ill will from Airena.
More importantly, even the spirits were perfectly comfortable around her, so she probably wasn't a bad elf.
"Yeah, thanks. I was having trouble because I couldn't get into town, so you've really helped me. But you don't need to call me -sama."
I said that and held out my right hand, intending to shake hers.
However, whatever she thought I meant, Airena lowered herself to her knees, reverently took my hand in both of hers, and pressed her forehead to the back of it.
...Yeah, I wasn't asking for anything like that, but elves really were hopeless.
I appreciated her help, but once I got into town, I should part ways with her as soon as possible.