The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits - Chapter 226



EP10. The Falling Twilight

Lena looked at me and closed her eyes briefly. Then she looked at me and said.

“…Wait a minute, don’t you want to go somewhere?”

I followed her, and she leaned against a tree in a secluded spot some distance from the scene of the mass funeral.

“What did you call me to tell me?”

She looked at me and smiled sadly and said.

“…because I wanted to be comforted.”

“consolation?”

“…so many people I know have died.”

“…”

Yes. The number of Elves who died in this war was very large. The Elf army was on a par with the Paladins, and just as many died.

The number of fairies was very small, so the death of that great army inevitably brought many deaths to those who knew them.

“The sight of the names of people I knew being engraved on the tombstones that bore the names of so many fallen soldiers… felt so, so foreign. I’ve lived peacefully in the forest my whole life, and so much has happened in such a short period of time.”

Come to think of it, the lifespan of fairies is more than three times that of humans. In her opinion, it had not even been two years since her brother died. In such a situation, it was not strange for her to feel that too many things had suddenly come rushing at her.

“…okay.”

“So, all of a sudden, I felt like I had cold water poured on my head. I thought, maybe, I didn’t really understand the seriousness of this world because it wasn’t something I knew about.”

“…So? So what are you going to do now?”

“Well. What is certain is that… we felt that it was no longer possible to live peacefully in the forest. We lived in the forest, relying on the World Tree, among ourselves… and as a result, we were of no value until we seized our chance in this war, before you helped us. And now even the World Tree has been burned and disappeared.”

I looked at her quietly. What on earth was she trying to say? She looked at me with determined eyes and said,

“My brother tried to stage a coup d’état because of that and died. I have no intention of defending him since I’ve already seen in the records that he killed my father… but at least we need to get into a position where we can exert influence independently. How long will our current influence last? Will it last 100 years, or even 10 years? That’s… just leaving it to fate and doing nothing.”

“So, what do you want to say?”

“I’m going out of the forest.”

I looked at Lena with astonishment. I couldn’t help it. Even though all my illusions about fairies had long since been destroyed, it was common knowledge to me that fairies lived in the forest. It was natural to others, and above all, to the fairies themselves, who had maintained that way of life for thousands of years.

That was what Lena had declared that she would wake up from now on.

“…Then, how are you going to live?”

“We will live within the Empire, and in exchange for repairing the Empire’s damage, we will maintain our own independent social system and maintain the nation. Ultimately, our goal is to grow into a force that can exert influence within the Empire and be integrated into it.”

“…Is that possible?”

There was no way there would be no opposition even among the fairies, and it was unclear whether the people of the empire would easily accept the fairies. I looked at Lena with such doubts, and Lena declared.

“It may seem impossible, but it must be done. We cannot remain locked in the forest forever. If we continue like this, there is nothing left but destruction.”

“You’re not even the Fairy King yet.”

“It’s almost like it’s already been done. My father also said that he would hand over the position of Fairy King to me within this year, and the real power has already almost passed to me.”

“Have you reached an agreement with the Empire?”

“Peria? Peria was delighted that we would immediately repair the damage caused by the war. If another country were to run wild at a time when the Empire’s hegemony on the continent was at its weakest, there’s no telling what would happen. And most of all, she didn’t think that the fairies being integrated into the Empire would be detrimental in the long run. So, well. We quickly concluded the agreement.”

I stared at her. There was not a single waver in her eyes, so I couldn’t find anything to say to her.

“…If you are so sure, then there is nothing for me to say. I hope your choice is the best.”

“Yes, of course I will. I want to show my people a wider world. I want to get along better with humans, and not have people look at my people like strange animals. I don’t want to be a frog in a well anymore.”

The moment I heard that, the astronomical telescope I had seen at Se-in’s mansion came to mind.

The crystallization of that wild dream that wanted to embrace the sky. Perhaps the creator and Lena are essentially the same. Her dream may be the greatest among ours.

It was a dream that I could never achieve. But I could at least cheer her on, so I cheered her on in my heart.

Lena spoke with her sparkling eyes, eyes filled with a fierce will and firm determination that left no one daring to judge.

“My ultimate goal is… yes, to create a situation where it would not be surprising to see fairies anywhere, not just in the Empire, but on this entire continent.”

“That is, while we live…”

“It would be impossible. No matter how long a fairy’s life is, I will never see myself like that. But, it doesn’t matter. The only thing I can do is believe that, even after I die, that kind of appearance will become normal one day. At least for now, I will just walk on thinking that I am right.”

“… Did you tell your fellow countrymen about that idea?”

She smiled mischievously and then said,

“I’m going to talk now.”

Before I could say anything, Lena started walking back to the funeral home, and I followed her.

…

Her speech was over. There was no applause, only silence.

The fairies did not say anything nonsense. Nor did they say anything unconditionally in favor. They just seemed to be thinking endlessly and seriously considering which way would be better.

The people of the empire also did not understand what the fairy princess was saying at first, but as time went on, they began to calculate the pros and cons.

Of course, it was natural. Since the premise that fairies live in the forest, which was taken for granted, was destroyed, it was only natural that the existing way of thinking would be overturned. That was why everyone there, who heard Lena’s speech, experienced an expansion of their thoughts, and the results were unified.

Little by little, the applause grew louder. It was a sound that reflected that both the fairies and the humans had finished calculating the pros and cons, and that the result was to follow Lena’s opinion.

After Lena finished her speech, she closed her eyes, took a couple of deep breaths, and stepped down from the stage. Then she came back to me and took my hand.

“Okay, let’s go.”

Where-, there was no way to ask. Her hand dragged me, and I was led by her. The place I arrived was right in front of the tombstone with the names of the fallen soldiers written on it.

She brought me there, then brought her face close to mine and said:

“…I have something to say.”

“also?”

“Yeah, it’s different from before.”

“…What is it?”

I listened to her. She spoke with a blush on her face.

“Should we…have a child?”

“what?”

I looked at her. Lena looked at me with calm eyes and said.

“…While going through this war, I kept thinking, look.”

She grabbed my wrist and made me touch the tombstone. Naturally, my hand swept the tombstone away.

“Even if I have a long lifespan, I could die in an instant like this. What if something happens in the future and I suddenly die?”

“So what does that matter…”

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“I want to leave my mark on this world before that happens.”

A trace. I looked at Lena.

“A trace of my having lived, a trace of my wanting to merge with humans, and most of all… a trace of my having loved a human being called you.”

“…”

“I want to leave all those things behind. Won’t you help me?”

I hesitated. I couldn’t ignore the difference in life expectancy between her and me. Even if I made love to her, I couldn’t help but hesitate when I thought about what would happen to her after I died.

At that moment, I looked at her. Those eyes, with their deep green color. I answered as if I was possessed.

“…okay.”

What was I thinking as I answered her?

I am.

I am.