When Dalco offered his thanks, for some reason, a Dark Harpy woman interrupted.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?! We’re not your slaves, you know!!”
After Dalco and his companions left, Nina immediately pressed me.
“I don’t know why either.”
“Huh?!”
The very person who caused this situation was nonchalantly smoking a cigarette. She exhaled a puff of smoke and spoke languidly.
“We’re connected to the Dark Elves. We’re not exactly best friends, but we’re friendly enough for business.”
At her words, even Nina, who had been grumbling, fell silent.
“Come to think of it, when we fought the Dark Elves before, there was one of them. I thought she was just a hired soldier.”
“Well, it’s something like that. By the way, where are you guys heading?”
I told her we were going towards Zetsuky.
“Oh, really? Then I’ll escort you there. But we part ways there.”
“You can leave the village? Don’t you have family?”
The woman threw away the cigarette she was smoking and stomped it out with her foot.
“No, I don’t care. I’ll do anything to get out of this dump. I’ll be waiting at the entrance early tomorrow morning.”
After answering Nina’s question like that, she disappeared somewhere.
The sun had already set, so we decided to return to the village with the Flower Harpies we had been working with. Ivan also came along.
“Are you alright? Not going home?”
The Village Chief looked at him with concern. Ivan replied with a weak smile.
“Yes, well, I want to see her now. If Father agrees…”
“Ah, please, do go and see her. My daughter has been waiting for you the whole time, I’m sure of it, even if she doesn’t say it.”
When we arrived at the village, the Village Chief’s wife and everyone in the village rushed out. Everyone was happy their families were safe. The Village Chief informed the Dark Harpies who had taken refuge that it was safe now.
As everyone shed tears of relief, Ivan had a somber expression.
“What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to see her?”
“Yes, well, if I had been braver sooner, perhaps the outcome would have been different.”
Philiana let out a small sigh at his solemn expression.
“What are you talking about? The courage you need is for what comes next.”
Then, Lily came out of the house with her mother. When she saw Ivan, her face lit up for a moment. But her expression immediately turned stern again, and she tried to go back inside.
“Wait! Lily!”
He grabbed Lily’s shoulder as she tried to leave.
“I’m sorry I’m late. I should have come sooner, but please listen to me.”
She pushed his desperate plea away through her tears.
“No, go back. You shouldn’t be here. It’s alright about me now. Go back to your family. Be happy…”
“I’ve liked you for a long time now. Even though it’s turned out this way, I can’t give up on you.”
But Lily’s face remained clouded.
“I see. Thank you, but I’m not the same person I used to be. I’m not beautiful enough to be worthy of you. Now, go back. Forget about me.”
“No, I’m not going back. Until you accept me, I’ll bring you flowers every day, even if it takes decades.”
He broke off a wild flower blooming nearby.
“This is the first one. I’ll keep bringing them until you accept it.”
She gently took the slender flower he handed her.
