Chapter 220
★ Dark Elf Treetop Settlement ★
No matter how much Anastasia thought about him, the human named Reiji remained a mystery.
He seemed to dye his hair, and sometimes he would quietly slip out somewhere in the middle of the night, only for its color to have changed slightly by the next morning.
The fact that he had served as a noble's bodyguard in the Holy Kingdom of Kurvaan was a question mark given his age, but considering his abilities, it made perfect sense.
(He must have received an advanced education there.)
That was what Anastasia thought.
He could handle himself and use magic. She had never asked why he had become an "adventurer."
Anastasia knew little about the adventurer's trade,
(so she assumed that adventurers must be able to make more money.)
It was a conclusion that was partly correct, but fundamentally mistaken.
He was her benefactor.
He had cured her body, whose magic kept running wild, and ever since she had come to this world, he had helped her both openly and behind the scenes.
So—while Reiji went to inspect the crashed airship and then headed for the subterranean city, she had felt anxious every single day, as though her chest were being crushed.
When Reiji returned, she was so happy and giddy that she felt she would go mad if she didn't do something, and she misjudged the amount of magic she used, turning the bathhouse into a scalding pool.
That night, she had hugged Reiji.
Even though she knew he was there, she could not be certain until she touched him, and she worried unless she could feel his warmth.
She came to her senses immediately afterward and spent that night unable to sleep, appalled at what an indecent thing she had done.
(Wanting Reiji-san to stay by my side, and wanting Reiji-san to come home soon, are both nothing more than my own selfishness...)
She was thinking clearly.
She was aware of how selfish she was.
But she did not know what to do with these feelings. In all her life, she had never been so shaken to her core.
(If only Reiji-san would really put a collar on me.)
She remembered what the Dragonfolk women had said in Dragonfolk City.
(A thin black leather belt with a golden clasp. I would attach a thin chain, like a necklace, hold it in my hand, and go for walks with Reiji-san. If Reiji-san pulled toward the right and I pulled toward the left, the two of us would end up playing tug-of-war... Hee hee, it sounds like so much fun.)
Anastasia let her fantasy run wild, rested her right hand against her cheek, and sighed dreamily.
From a distance, she looked like a beautiful girl sighing wistfully, but what she was thinking about was a little out there.
Having been confined since childhood in the residence of the High Elf royal family, deep in the heart of the Elven Forest, she knew far too little about how men and women spent time together—or about romantic feelings in the first place.
"Even staying inside the hut all day is getting a little tiresome."
Anastasia was staying in the treetop dwelling because the clan chief had insisted, "Please take your ease, High Elf-sama." The sturdy Dark Elves had all gone out since morning to search for traces of La-Fietsa, and although evening was approaching and they should be back soon, there were few people left in the settlement.
When she left the hut, she saw the clan chief in the distance. As soon as he noticed her, he dropped into a full prostration with a "Hahh!" She really wished he would stop, but no matter how many times she asked, he refused to.
"Oh, High Elf-sama."
"Ah... Nikki-san."
The female Dark Elf from the dining hall was walking along a nearby branch. Everyone here, men and women alike, could cook, but apparently her skills were far and away the best, so she had been put in charge of the kitchen.
Her name was Nikki.
"Um, it makes me uncomfortable when everyone bows their heads like that every time they see me."
"Ah, that? There's a difference in how intensely people do it, but a High Elf-sama is practically a legend to us, so we can't help acting that way."
"Even if you call me a legend... I can't do anything."
"No, no, there's that song passed down among the High Elves, isn't there? I heard you sing it last night, and it brought tears to my eyes."
Nikki folded her arms and gazed into the distance, clearly remembering how moved she had been as her eyes grew moist once again.
"..."
Indeed, the night before, at their request, Anastasia had sung a poem passed down through the High Elf royal family.
——Ancient forest, floating oil, blazing life, like a flame
God descends, dwells in the forest, and gives eight-colored leaves to humankind
——First the god of trees, then the god of grass, and finally the god of flowers
Bless the forest, still the wind, let down the rain, and beckon the sun.
When she sang in the ancient Elven language, the magic infused in her voice caused flames to leap out, so she had changed the words to modern language before singing. Even then, whenever she noticed magic about to escape, all she could do was desperately suppress it.
(If I sing, it becomes 【Fire Magic】. Fire is taboo to elves. If these people learned that, they would...)
She had always thought that she would have to tell them someday. She could predict that they would hate her then, and that would simply be unavoidable.
But not now.
For now, returning to the "surface world" was the top priority.
That was why Anastasia had decided it would be better not to say anything that might mislead them, and Reiji felt the same way.
(If Nikki-san found out that I sing while infusing the song with flames... she would surely look down on me...)
The thought weighed heavily on her.
"Hm?"
Nikki suddenly looked toward the distant sky.
"Is something... wrong?"
"No, um, High Elf-sama, didn't you hear it?"
Then Anastasia's ears caught it, too.
It was a cry like "Kii!"
"Ah, there!"
Several dots like sesame seeds were visible in the northern sky. Every so often they descended, then rose again. Each time, it looked as though smoke were rising from the ground.
It was only ten minutes later that they realized a flock of early-summer birds, their red bodies wreathed in flames, was flying toward them.