High & Half and the Town of Wheat (2)

It's probably still a little early to say this, but Airena, you've truly worked hard. We never would have reached this result without you.

It's been about six years since I caused the earthquake in eastern Rudoria.

From an elf or high elf's perspective, accomplishing negotiations with a kingdom in so little time must have involved hardships she could probably never speak of.

I live a leisurely life, so I can't even imagine them, but when you're dealing with an entire nation, pretty words alone could hardly be enough.

She must have faced danger more than once or twice, too.

Truth be told, I couldn't care less about the fate of the royal family of the Kingdom of Rudoria.

The only people in that country I truly care about are the people of Vistcoat, along with Kaeha and her mothers, who live in the royal capital.

As long as the matter could be resolved without their lives being placed under extreme threat, I didn't care who sat on the throne.

But whether she understood my intentions or simply shared them, I couldn't help but bow my head in respect for Airena's efforts to bring the situation to a resolution.

"No, not at all. I simply followed your example, Eisa-sama, and did what I wanted. I didn't want that country where Cleyas, Maltena, and their child live to collapse either."

Of all the sides of Airena I had known until then, her impish smile made her look the most charming.

Of course, plenty of problems still remained.

We had to cull the monsters whose numbers had increased and reclaim the places where the elves had once lived.

Naturally, the elves would also need to resettle in the forests of the Kingdom of Rudoria.

Soliciting volunteers from among the elves who had grown accustomed to their new surroundings and wished to return to their ancestral forests would probably be extremely arduous.

But Airena would surely see it all through.

No matter what difficulties she faced, she would persevere without giving up, make use of anything at her disposal, and hold true to her convictions.

People call someone like that a hero.

Though Airena was an elf, the person I saw in her now was unquestionably a hero.

There was nothing to worry about.

In any case, let's set the Kingdom of Rudoria aside and move on to the main subject.

To change the somber mood that had settled over us,

"By the way, Airena. I've been really looking forward to this, but where is that child?"

I clapped my hands sharply and asked Airena.

I really had been looking forward to it.

The burden the half-elf child had been born with was far too heavy, but there was nothing to be gained by letting myself grow gloomy as well.

I had no experience raising children—...or at least I shouldn't have—but I had thought hard about what I could do in my own way.

The result was that, while I was hardly the sort of creature who could become a proper parent, I thought that, as guardian and friend, I could shower the child with enough affection to give them heartburn.

But Airena wore a troubled expression, as though trying to soothe me in my eagerness.

"Yes... I've brought them along. They're taking a nap in my room right now. The window is open, so when they wake up, a wind spirit will let me know."

At her words, I sank back into my chair.

So the child was napping.

It would be cruel to charge in while they were sleeping and wake them up.

Still, Airena had apparently become remarkably skilled at handling spirits and drawing out their aid.

It was one thing to simply ask a spirit to attack something or produce water or wind, but setting detailed conditions and asking for a specific favor was surprisingly difficult. Yet Airena had casually mentioned that a wind spirit would let her know when the child woke.

That was proof that she had become one of the most capable elves among her people.

"But I must ask you one more time, Eisa-sama. Are you really sure? I know how deep your affection runs. ... That is precisely why the half-elf, whose life is shorter than ours, will surely wound your heart."

Then Airena asked me that.

Was she worrying about how I would feel after the half-elf died before me, because of the difference in our life spans?

Or was Airena perhaps seeing herself in me?

Perhaps she saw herself in the woman who had feared the long years she would have to live after the person she loved died, and therefore could not choose to stand beside Cleyas, a human man.

It wasn't an entirely needless concern, but it was not something I needed to worry about now.

Of course, just as Airena feared, centuries from now I would be hurt and shed tears when death parted me from the half-elf.

But that would be perfectly natural even if I weren't a long-lived high elf.

At the very least, it wasn't something to worry about before we had even met.

"Maybe I'll die tomorrow. ... I don't think that's likely, but I can't say it isn't possible. So there's no point worrying about something so far in the future. And if lifespan alone is the issue, you'll die much sooner than I will, Airena. If I let that frighten me, I couldn't form a connection with anyone. I don't want to live that way."

The only exceptions were my fellow high elves and spirits.

Perhaps that was why the other high elves never opened their hearts to anyone but other high elves and spirits.

If so, I couldn't help thinking that it was an unbearably lonely way to live.

In my previous life, a friend of mine once said.

'Humans are creatures who, no matter how correct they think a decision is, look back later, tilt their heads, and regret it. So regret has no meaning beyond prompting reflection. If that's the case, it's far more important not to have regrets now, in this moment.'

...Or something like that.

It was a memory from so long ago that I could no longer clearly remember what sort of person he had been, but those words had somehow stayed with me.

I was no longer human but a high elf, yet even so, I wanted to value living without regrets in the here and now.

Airena looked completely caught off guard by my words.

She had probably never even considered the difference between our life spans.

Because she was an elf who lived a long time, she had failed to consider that some beings lived even longer—the sort of thing she ordinarily should have realized.

She hadn't grasped the fact that, to me, Airena was the one who would die first, rather than someone who shared that same worry.

Silence stretched between us as she lost the power of speech.

But that wasn't what mattered to me.

Even if I had a different lifespan from everyone else, I would not stop forming connections with them.

With humans like Kaeha, dwarves like my shitty dwarf master, and even a half-elf child—and of course, with Airena as well.

Even if everyone disappeared and my long life came to an end, an even longer, much, much longer existence as a spirit would await me afterward.

Even so, right now, I will choose the path I won't regret and live it with all my might.