Ch.59Proof of Qualification #2

When sorrow continues to grow, what should one do?

Ellen was suffering from a pain more terrible than when she was persecuted in the forest in the past.

It seemed endless, as if all the pain she had experienced until now was merely the beginning for this.

When he first drew her in, it wasn’t this bad.

Though she felt gratitude and had some affection, it was little different from camaraderie.

However, that emotion bared its teeth and devoured her as if it had always been that way.

The peaceful time spent here had become poison.

Nearly half a year’s worth of time.

“Haah…”

Late at night. Around the time when Jion had finished making the wedding dress and left as usual.

Ellen lay in bed, buried under her blanket, ruminating on today’s pain.

Devotion.

An act that could only be described as absolute devotion was enough to shake a woman’s heart, and his naturally friendly attitude had won her over from the start.

His rather pretty appearance was also a major contributing factor.

“Ellen, are you asleep?”

Suddenly, Olivia’s voice was heard.

As the one who brightened the mood within the mercenary group and the most sensitive woman in many ways, she noticed Ellen’s change faster than anyone.

The other dark elf groups also knew about one woman’s depression but kept their mouths shut.

They didn’t know what to do about it.

“No. What’s wrong?”

Ellen knew this, but she pulled back the blanket while creating an expression and tone as calm as possible.

Olivia stared down at Ellen for a moment, then squatted down to meet her gaze.

As a result, her thigh muscles tensed, prominently displaying her firm physique.

“The weather is starting to warm up. We should begin grape farming soon, and we need to decide if we’ll keep the same scale as last year.”

“That’s true… but it’s not so urgent that we need to hurry, right?”

“Yes. I know that, but what I want to talk about isn’t farming.”

Bringing up farming only to say it wasn’t about farming.

Ellen blinked a few times at Olivia’s puzzling words, but seeing her serious gaze, she instinctively knew it wasn’t a simple joke.

“Ellen. You’ve truly fallen for Altram’s son, haven’t you?”

“…”

She was surprised. Surprised, but only for a brief moment.

From Ellen’s perspective, it wouldn’t be strange if Olivia had noticed the change long ago, and she herself was well aware of the change she had shown.

So rather than being surprised, she remained silent as if it were only natural.

“Yes. Just as I thought. Then, go.”

“Go? Where?”

Ellen’s curiosity swelled even more at the disconnected conversation.

It was a question big enough to make her forget her pain for a moment. Thanks to that, she was inwardly grateful to Olivia for the brief relief.

But.

As if that wasn’t the end, the voice that flowed from her friend’s lips surprised Ellen even more.

“The Elven Legacy that has been passed down since ancient times. Go and consume it.”

“Olivia!”

The Elven Legacy.

Its location was known to all elves, but it was also a hell where those who had obtained it throughout history could be counted on one hand.

Even among elves, there were those with aggressive tendencies, and some of them reached out to obtain the legacy.

However, none of them were suitable beings, so they all perished.

They lost without gaining anything.

“Are you telling me to die now?”

“It’s better than dying from heartache.”

“T-that’s…”

She began to desire what she shouldn’t have coveted and ended up like this.

Olivia pointed this out, causing Ellen to close her lips tightly. Though she knew it was dangerous, Ellen’s current state was equally perilous.

Olivia saw through her, rotting from the inside, and knew she could collapse from lovesickness at any moment.

“Everyone else knows too. It was obvious from the way you looked at Jion.”

“…Was it that obvious?”

Ellen buried her face in the pillow in embarrassment, peeking out with just one eye as she asked.

It was hard to imagine that this was the Red Hood, rumored to be incredibly skilled and merciless.

“Anyone else might not notice, but how long have we been together? It would be strange not to know.”

“…Yes. I see.”

“That’s right. So if you’re going to rot away anyway, get the legacy and come back to negotiate with the Duke confidently. Become someone so valuable that they can’t possibly discard you… that’s what I’m saying.”

Helena is a benefactor.

A great benefactor who gave them land to settle on and allowed the surrounding gazes to change.

Even if it was due to Jion’s influence, it didn’t mean Helena’s mercy was false.

Olivia was telling her to negotiate even at the risk of upsetting such a benefactor.

She thought that while they were somewhat useful now, their abilities could be discarded at any time by the Sword Master.

“Of course, it’s impossible to do something stupid like trying to steal him away. We’re not in a position to be that greedy anyway.”

“I know that better than anyone.”

Jion is a being who shines even more when he’s with Helena.

At least to the Dark Elf mercenary group, Jion Altram was such a man, so they absolutely couldn’t ruin his surroundings.

It was questionable whether they could even ruin it in the first place, but the point was that they shouldn’t even try.

To be in his arms wholly and peacefully.

“…Yes. I was planning to be a concubine from the start. It’s ridiculous to risk my life for the legacy just to become a concubine…”

“I understand our reality well. I know that even if we force things with power, love won’t come. Anyway, thank you.”

Ellen felt intoxicated by the feeling of relief, as if freed from the chains that had been constricting her chest.

It was laughable to risk her life just to become a concubine, as Olivia said, but if the man was the Sword Master’s, it was necessary.

Only by giving the impression of at least being equal could she be granted a small place by his side.

Nevertheless, Ellen’s mind was firmly set on competing with desperation rather than power.

She naturally considered even begging pathetically. Power was just a minor aid to help him.

“…Thank you, Olivia. Thanks to you, I think I’ve figured out what I can do.”

“I’m sorry. For pushing you toward hell.”

“Don’t be sorry. As you said, if time had just passed, I might have closed my eyes helplessly swept away by the current.”

Time can be medicine, but for those who can’t use it as such, it can also be the most fatal poison.

At least for Ellen it was so, and she was grateful for having made a decision about what to do.

Because of that, her heart felt relieved, and she seemed to see a clue to the endless worry.

“So, when will you leave?”

“Right after breakfast tomorrow. I’ll just sleep tonight and pack lightly before departing tomorrow.”

“Going to Oberon’s village will be troublesome in many ways, will you be okay?”

“…I’ll be fine.”

They’re not people of Duke Krauser’s domain, just elves.

Ellen, without any sense of kinship, inwardly regarded elves as mere obstacles.

It would be fortunate if they didn’t interfere, but if they blocked her path, she would consider them worse than monsters.

Seeing the fire of obsession beginning to burn in Ellen’s eyes, another worry grew in Olivia’s heart.

◎◎◎

“What? She went to her homeland?”

When I dropped by as usual to finish making the dress, I encountered the somewhat absurd news that Ellen had gone to her homeland alone.

“Wasn’t she not particularly attached to her homeland? Or did she actually maintain closeness with her parents?”

“It’s not like that. There are no elves in the forest she was close with. Including her birth parents.”

Olivia’s voice answering my question was very light, but the content was not at all so.

I knew about it, but hearing it from someone who experienced it made the feeling very vivid.

“Ah… I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to be sorry. That’s just how it is.”

“Then why did she go back to her homeland? It’s not like she forgot something there.”

“I don’t know either. She seems to have something to do, but I can only say I don’t know. We don’t reveal everything to each other, even among ourselves. Isn’t it the same for you?”

That’s right. So I nodded silently in agreement.

Even if I’m incredibly close to Helena, there are still one or two things I can’t say, and I thought Helena would be the same.

However, at the same time, I also thought that Helena would have nothing to hide from me.

Our relationship was an exception created by overlapping exceptions, so it was subtle to judge by general standards.

“Yes. That’s true.”

“Right. So I just let her go without asking. Ellen isn’t a woman who would get beaten up anywhere.”

As Olivia confidently said, Ellen is a strong woman. So even if she returns to the forest teeming with elves, there shouldn’t be any problems.

I nodded in understanding after hearing those words, then immediately got to work.

The remaining period was just under three months, so I thought I would finish by the beginning of next month.

The first few days of making the wedding dress, I experienced many trials and errors.

There were times when I wasted fabric unnecessarily. It required different skills than making ordinary clothes, and I also felt pressure.

Now I’ve made it to the point where it has some form, but the decoration, which could be called the flower of the dress, was a problem.

It seemed to require extremely delicate finesse.

So after completing the basic construction and moving on to the detailed work, I felt that the progress of the work was very slow.

“Phew…”

Sewing stitch by stitch is quite a chore, but it’s also rewarding.

Moreover, as my hands seem to be getting faster as I become more accustomed to the work, I’ve gained the leisure to look around.

Thanks to that, I could see that the gazes of Olivia and the other dark elves looking at me from the corner of their eyes were different from usual.

Olivia said Ellen simply went to her homeland, but judging by her demeanor, it seemed like there was more to it.

If she had truly just gone home, she would have sighed and shown an attitude of resignation.

However, this is just my personal thought, so I can’t say it’s the correct answer, but a strange certainty was pushing me.

So I thought about asking directly, but concluded that would be excessive interference.

Olivia said that even between close friends, there are things they don’t tell each other.

That means she wouldn’t answer even if I asked about the deeper circumstances.

Even if that wasn’t the case, she seemed to be avoiding giving a real answer, so she probably wouldn’t answer.

I had all sorts of distracting thoughts while embroidering the wedding dress. It’s amazing I didn’t prick myself with the needle.

“What’s wrong? Do you have something to say…?”

“Huh? Ah. No. Nothing.”

Olivia showed a momentary hesitation, slightly different from her usual slick attitude.

I was certain there was some deep circumstance when she gave such an answer to my question, which I had asked to clear my distracting thoughts or to try to resolve some of the suspicions swirling inside me.

“Is Ellen’s homeland far away?”

“Huh…? Well… yeah, it is. The elven forest itself is all across that monster-infested forest.”

“How many days will it take to go and come back?”

“Well. Even if she’s fast going alone, it takes a few days to go back and forth… I can’t say exactly when she’ll be back. I don’t know her business.”

She doesn’t know.

There doesn’t seem to be any contradiction in her words, but something bothers me. It feels very unsettling, like a thorn stuck in my chest.

But since she doesn’t seem likely to give an answer even if I ask, in the end, it’s just my insides that will burst.

Ultimately, to calm my mind even a little, it was wise not to worry about it anymore.

She didn’t seem like a woman who would run away alone, leaving behind land and friends, and she didn’t appear to have anywhere else to go.