Chapter 73
Two more years passed after that.
Everyone mourned, yet they threw themselves into living, as though trying to forget the pain.
Even with someone precious gone, the days passed without much changing, and before long, time made the loss a thing of the past.
Since then, Win had gone through a period of clinging to me again, but now, having swung back from that, he had pulled away a little once more.
I wouldn't have minded if he'd clung to me forever!
But that was what proper growth was supposed to look like.
However, having realized that the people around him were creatures who would die far sooner than he would, Win seemed to be struggling with all sorts of things.
Especially since, despite being very close to Mizuha, the gap between their lifespans was steadily widening.
Both Shizuki and Mizuha were already nearly adults, and it was about time for them to decide their own futures or perhaps begin looking for partners.
...Should I go on a journey, perhaps?
It was while I was thinking along those lines that...
A letter arrived from Azvaldo—my damn dwarf master.
I want an excellent assistant. If you're free, I'm counting on you.
In short, that was what the letter said.
To elaborate a little, the dwarven nation was apparently holding a competition among smiths to decide who would succeed the aging king.
In the dwarven nation, skill at smithing was valued above all else, and if you were good enough at the forge, you gained the respect of those around you, social status—everything.
Yes, even the position of king.
But a contest among smiths was really a comparison of their finished works—in other words, a judging—and what determined the quality wasn't just the smith's skill.
The quality of the forge, especially the furnace's performance, had a major effect, and connections for procuring better materials were important too.
Having excellent assistants and apprentices was surely no small influence on the finished work, either.
But for Azvaldo, my damn dwarf master, to come asking for help... that was so far beyond anything I'd imagined.
It made me happy, but it worried me too.
First of all, the fact that he recognized and valued me so highly made me genuinely, overwhelmingly happy.
However, given his personality, asking me for help had to be a truly desperate measure—the absolute last resort.
If it were Azvaldo, he should have honestly accepted that he simply wasn't qualified to become king if he couldn't attain it on his own, and chosen the path of further self-improvement instead.
And yet he hadn't done that. Could it be because of the promise between us...? Maybe that was just my conceit.
Thinking that, I was overcome by so many emotions swirling inside me that my body trembled.
My damn dwarf master had been driven into a corner and called for me because he needed me.
Apparently, the dwarven nation contained smiths so formidable that even my damn dwarf master had been driven to the brink when facing them alone.
That damn dwarf master of mine was fighting for the sake of his promise to me.
Happiness, impatience, curiosity... I didn't really understand what I was feeling anymore, but whatever the case, I was seized by such an urge to dash straight to the dwarven nation that I slammed my fist into the floor and repeatedly took deep breaths to calm myself.
Ah, yes. This wasn't something that had to happen right away.
The contest to decide the dwarves' next ruler wouldn't be settled by one or two exhibitions.
So the first thing I did was ask Win.
I was going to the dwarven nation, but what was he going to do?
Of course, Win was still a child and ought to remain under my protection, but... Kaeha, her children, and the dojo's disciples were like family to me by now.
If he truly wanted to stay at the dojo, I would entrust Win to the rest of our family.
In other words, it would be something like being stationed away from home.
The dwarven nation lay in an inhospitable region of the northern mountain range that kept people away, but... if you considered distance alone, it wasn't all that far.
Dwarves, at least, came and went, exchanging trade goods and the like, and if I made an effort, I should be able to return at least once a year.
Win pondered my question for a while.
More specifically, he thought for about five minutes, muttering to himself as he did.
I'm going with Eisa. Because I'm worried about what Eisa might do if I'm not there...
Then he hugged me tightly.
I was happy both with the decision Win had reached and with his warmth, so I hugged him back just as tightly... and then suddenly realized something.
Wait, wasn't something off about this?
I'm Win's guardian, right?
Why did it feel like he was the one worrying about me instead?
Without Win to hold me back, I probably would be somewhat inclined to do whatever I pleased, if I were being extremely charitable toward myself. But I'd thought I'd lived a fairly restrained life since meeting him.
...Hmm.
But, well, whatever.
If Win was coming with me, that was good enough.
Since dwarves and half-elves experienced time at roughly the same pace, Win might even find a friend he could spend a long time with.
If that was the case, the first thing he needed was to learn how to communicate with dwarves fist to fist.
They were good-natured fellows, but they tended to be impulsive and liked to clash.
And what they put against each other varied: sometimes it was their true feelings, and sometimes it was their fists.
Conversely, dwarves kept their distance from anyone who backed down without clashing.
Therefore, in short, I needed to teach Win how to fight.
I had gloves made from Greed Boar hide to match my own, and taught him how to plant his feet and throw a spirited punch. Before I knew it, about three months had flown by.
But there was one more person I needed to have a proper conversation with before we could leave.
No, that wasn't quite right.
Not that I had to talk to her—I wanted to.
There was someone I wanted to understand my feelings, accept my departure, and properly see me off.
So, on the night before we left, I sat facing Kaeha in her room and talked with her.
Then Kaeha asked me,
Is this goodbye for good?
...she asked.
Ah, yes, she might well see it that way.
At this point, I had given up on growing into a proper swordsman.
And Win had grown to the equivalent of about eight or nine years old by human standards, so as long as we prepared properly without rushing, traveling shouldn't be all that difficult for him.
In other words, I no longer needed a place to raise him safely as much as I had before.
If I thought about it that way, I no longer had any reason to return here.
But that line of thought left my own feelings out of the equation.
I was, if I do say so myself, a free-spirited creature—or, rather, an outright selfish one.
I did what I wanted, ate what I wanted, and behaved however I pleased.
Above all, I went wherever I wanted to go.
No, I'll come back. I may be a creature whose time flows differently from a human's, but I want to be by your side at the end.
This place—Kaeha's side—is where I want to be.
I might wander here and there, but I would certainly return before that place disappeared forever.
It had taken me far too long to realize all of that, though.
And I know this.
Being parted by death is not necessarily an eternal farewell.
Because I myself am here after being reincarnated.
I might go to a different world, and I might not retain my memories... the possibility of meeting again might lie beyond the furthest reaches of imagination, but it was never truly zero.
I would live for a long, long time yet, and even after that, I would continue to exist as a spirit.
If so, perhaps a miracle could happen somewhere in that unimaginably long span of time.
Therefore, even if I collapsed in tears afterward, I would be there to see Kaeha through the end of her life.
So that I could carve into myself a memory I would never forget.
...I see. Yes, you're right. Then it's a promise. When my end comes, Eisa, I want to be by your side. So I'll look forward to your return.
Kaeha smiled as she said that. Her face had aged considerably since we'd first met, but it was very, very beautiful.