episode_0012

“What do you have to say?”

“Arna, you are my daughter.”

“So.”

Arna reacted more bluntly to Carmene, who spoke quite seriously.

“I understand that you don’t want to be interfered with, but I can’t just leave you to do whatever you want when you’re not even 100 years old.”

“So. So you’re telling me to live like my mother?”

“No… .”

Carmene’s patience easily reached its limit.

“When did I say that?”

“Even if I didn’t say that. I don’t want to hear what my mother says like that.”

“What does a young person know? Ha, no. So is that person going to keep wearing it? Until you grow old and die?”

“Of course. If you decide to raise a child, you must be responsible until the end.”

Carmene soon sighed as she looked at Arna’s unwavering gaze.

“Why is it that even if raised, it is still human…? .”

Carmene muttered as if to be heard, then looked at Arna, who was full of dissatisfaction, and spoke.

“… Okay, instead prove that you are an independent elf.”

“Yes? then… .”

“Beat the forest guardian and go out of the forest.”

Guardian of the forest.

The first gateway that elves must go through to go out into the world, and a being that protects the forest from the outside world.

It indiscriminately attacks those who try to leave the forest, and does not attack again only the elf that defeated it.

If they couldn’t even defeat the guardian, they couldn’t be recognized as independent elves.

Arna swallowed her saliva and nodded.

It’s something you have to go through to escape from your mother’s hands.

“I understand.”

–

After waiting for a while, Isela came back with vegetables. These were the things I often ate with Arna when I came here.

“Does Arna cook delicious food well?”

“Yes, treat me well every day.”

“Okay, sit there and wait.”

I sat in front of the dining table.

Isella went into the kitchen to cook something, but quickly came back out.

It started to smell like something was cooking.

Seeing Isela come out again, my tension eased a little.

Should I ask you another question?

Isella sat across from where I sat.

“Hey, Isella.”

“Huh?”

“Why did Arna leave home? He seems very young for an elf… There were more things I didn’t know than I thought.”

Isella glanced at me and tilted her head.

“How do you know that you don’t know much?”

“Yes? Oh that… I was reading some books my sister had about elves. It was written by a human who came here… .”

“Ah.”

Isella nodded as if she immediately realized what was being said.

“There probably isn’t much of an age difference between me and you. Leaving the house… Wouldn’t it be better to ask yourself?”

“Is that so… .”

That might be true.

“And you? Why are you with Arna? It seems like they are just saying that Arna raised them.”

“Ah, that’s… . It’s a bit complicated to explain.”

“Try it.”

Unlike Carmene, I think I plan to listen to the entire explanation.

It looks like there is time left.

“Originally I was in the human kingdom.”

“Umm.”

“Then, I was hit with a space movement spell there and ended up flying to the forest where Arna’s sister lived.”

“That’s right.”

Why are you so upset after asking this?

Isn’t that what you thought?

“A little… It’s not fun, right?”

“No, um… Do humans also use magic like that? It’s a bit surprising.”

Isella said it was amazing, but her expression continued to be somber.

“Yes, well… Yes. He was a great guy.”

“So your magic was tested?”

“Yes, that’s right. When I flew into this forest like that, my body became younger, but within a few years, I quickly grew back like this.”

“You got younger?”

Isella’s eyes turned to my chest. Am I conscious of the sacred object I have?

“That… Can you show me what you have?”

I nodded and took out the holy object hidden under my clothes and showed it.

Isella stuck her head out, looked at it, and nodded.

“Did that make you younger? Can you do it again?”

“Oh, no. I don’t know how it was written. It just happened to be like that. Moreover, I’m not sure if it’s because of this item.”

“Umm… .”

Isella nodded, got up and went back into the kitchen.

A strong smell similar to the one Arna used to make began to emerge, and soon Isella came out with a whole steamed cucumber dish that she had just finished.

What is that. Is it cooking?

At that time, the door suddenly opened and Arna came in.

“Whoa! Jihoo… !”

As soon as Arna came in, she hugged me, and I buried my face in her chest.

A soft touch pressed against my face, and the slight smell of sweat mixed with a fragrant, forest-like refreshing body odor.

Hmm, it’s good, but I can’t breathe… .

“Nu… me. for a moment… .”

“Huh?”

As soon as Arna heard my voice, she immediately released my hand and immediately looked at every part of my body with a worried expression.

“What didn’t your aunt do?”

“Uh, yes. Nothing happened.”

Soon, Isella placed the steamed cucumbers down on the table.

I looked at the dish again and was so embarrassed that I couldn’t take my eyes off it.

Isella pulled Arna’s head away from me and looked down at Arna with a slightly annoyed expression and said.

“Well, why do I do what I do?”

“Ugh, my aunt is violent. You didn’t hit me, right?”

“Do you want to be hit?”

Isella picked up a half-cut cucumber and put it in Arna’s mouth.

Arna held a long cucumber in her mouth and glared at Isella with dissatisfied eyebrows, then bit into the cucumber and cut it.

Then, as he chewed the cucumber, his face brightened and he held my hand tightly.

“… … Oh, it’s delicious! Try it, Jihoo!”

Arna immediately picked up a cucumber with a fork and brought it to my mouth.

It’s steamed cucumbers. This is so strange… … .

Arna, who was holding it out to me, and Isela, who made it, were looking at me so intently that I had no choice but to take the large cucumber and eat it.

As soon as she put the cucumber in her mouth, Arna asked loudly.

“Isn’t it delicious?”

When Arna asked me that, I couldn’t help but nod.

It looks really strange on the outside, but it was tastier than I thought.

Just more than I thought.

“I’ll do it again when I get home. By the way, aunt. But Jihoo needs to be fed meat.”

“Sounds like meat. Are you doing that because you want to kill your mom?”

Arna’s expression hardened as she heard her mother’s story.

I swallowed my saliva and looked at Arna. I’m worried that we might have been talking about something strange.

“But why does mom not like humans so much? Do you know what you said to me earlier? The response was that they couldn’t understand until the end why they were still human even though they were raised.”

Perhaps because she had been dissatisfied all day, Arna poured out words as if she was being pampered.

“Why did you bring me here for no reason? If you were a human, you could probably eat and sleep on your own for a few days.”

“Well, what if mom catches me and I can’t go back! How can I leave Jihoo at home alone?”

yes. No matter how I am, it won’t be easy to live alone in that forest.

But Isella looked at me suspiciously and nodded.

“Well, your mom too… Something happened a long time ago. Get the details from mom.”

“How can I ask my mom that… . If you don’t want to say it, don’t. Because I’m not really curious.”

“Anyway, so, is it allowed?”

It is important to know whether you can go back home or continue living together.

I, too, looked very nervous and glanced at Arna’s lips as she tried to answer.

“… … Yes.”

“Just?”

“Just… No.”

I was nervous again and waited for Arna’s answer.

What are the conditions?

“Let’s go outside the forest.”

“Out of the forest?”

Isella nodded with an expression as if she had a premonition of something. Arna doesn’t seem to know anything.

I think, um… Are you trying to test something so that you can feel safe as a mother?

“Was it serious?”

“Yes, that’s right. Because it’s not a situation for mom and I to joke around.”

Isella nodded.

But is it difficult to go out into the forest? Seeing Arna wandering around the forest, I don’t think it would be that difficult.

“But is that difficult?”

At my question, Arna and Isella looked at me at the same time.

“To leave the forest we live in, we must pass the guardian’s test.”

“Test?”

Arna nodded.

“I don’t know exactly either… I heard that you have to defeat an extremely strong guardian.”

“Uh, an incredibly strong guardian?”

But how did I get in here? Was Larissa’s magic really that great?

Isela answered that question.

“Yes, they don’t touch you when you enter the forest, but they attack you when you try to leave. So, when you come in here, you must go out with an older elf. I don’t know how many times I wanted to kill them because sometimes they come in arbitrarily and try to get me to let them out.”

I understand when I hear it that way.

I went undercover to find out about the elves and get elf oil, but how much did I whine to be let out again?

Anyway, that’s not the point, so the question is whether Arna can defeat it and send it out of the forest.

Looking at the atmosphere of the conversation, it doesn’t seem like it’s an easy task.

“… … Can Arna win?”

“It must be difficult now, right? With just that much power, you will never be able to defeat the Guardian.”

then… … .

“If I join you… .”

“Jihoo.”

As I was about to leave, Arna held my hand.

“I’ll do something about this. Jihoo doesn’t have to step forward.”

“Okay, what are you doing when you can’t even make eye contact with me?”

That was correct. Here, all I could see was a pitiful appearance because I was scared by the elves.

But I too was once a warrior.

No matter how strong an elf is, it is difficult to just accept being ignored like this.

“Let me help too.”

I spoke while looking at Arna, and despite this, Arna smiled, shook her head, and hugged me.

“Yes, yes, I will just accept your heart.”

He hugged me, patted my back, and put the cucumber in my mouth again.

–

After we finished dinner, we left the house together.

“If you need anything, let me know anytime. I will help you any way I can. Keep it a secret from mom.”

“Yes, thank you. I had a good dinner too.”

Leaving Isela’s support behind, we were able to return home.

Fortunately, contrary to my worries, I was able to get through it without any problems. Rather, he is the guardian of the forest… Anyway, we can’t just stay here, so this is an opponent we will have to overcome in the end.

Arna and I returned home again.

It seems like about a day has passed, but I already feel like I’m back in a place I’ve missed.

As soon as I arrived, Arna hugged me.

Arna, who was holding me, trembled slightly.

Although it seemed like she was trying not to show it, I could fully feel what Arna was feeling.

Today I went back to the house I had run away from for a long time, almost got into a fight with my mom, and almost put myself in danger.

“Jihoo… You were scared, right? You had a hard time today.”

And I felt that the consolation for me was also for Arna herself.

Until now, my goal was to simply receive what Arna gave me and spend my time comfortably.

My time here was so happy that even the feelings of revenge and anger towards the princess or saint that I had before had faded.

In this way, the goal of helping Arna again was engraved in the place that had been cleaned up thanks to Arna.

“You had a hard time. Sister too.”