171. Am I really mad? (2)
The quiet night scenery, the subtle atmosphere and the heavy air. It was a night where you could feel everything without worrying too much about it.
Tesha let out a small sigh as if something was cramped.
“What’s wrong, Tesha?”
“… … ”
Even then, he kept his mouth shut and said nothing. He seemed to have something he wanted to say. I waited for Tesha to speak first.
“Me too… , I want to say this.”
“Yes, I am listening. Tesha.”
It seemed that Tesha was finally about to say what she had been holding on to. After waiting for a while, Tesha spoke again.
“Why don’t you ask what happened to me?”
“… yes?”
“I’m mad at Ethan. You knew. That I’m angry Ethan, do you know who I am?”
who is who
Tesha was always Tesha. But I wasn’t in the mood to say that. Could it be that she intends to reveal that she is a princess?
However, it was impossible to pretend to know that Tesha was the princess.
“It’s Tessa.”
“… That’s right. I am Tesya.”
“Why are you mad at me? Can you tell me why?”
“… Ethan, sometimes I’m not sure if Ethan is smart or not. I thought that if I looked angry, he would come first and calm me down. But I don’t seem to notice at all.”
So it seems that he called me this late at night.
“Ethan, am I easy on you? Or do I look easy?”
I swear, I’ve never seen Tesya easy or easy. Although I thought of it as a little friendly and treated it. As a friend anyway… .
“No, I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“But why… .”
“… … ”
“Why did Ethan do that to me… . sepia and… . Why is it sepia?”
There I realized
That Tesha may have feelings of admiration for me. Unless you’re an idiot, you can’t not notice when you say that.
I’m not as dull as Arthur.
is not it. If I knew it, I wonder if I was an extraordinarily dull person.
“I, so… , Ethan was with me that day, was he just playing with me?”
playing with
I’ve never played with anyone’s mind. I didn’t even want to. However, it may have been my mistake to believe so.
“You treated me like that to the fullest that day. why sepia… . why i… . Was I the only one who felt that way?”
Now Tesha continued, almost crying. Hearing the crying voice made my heart weak.
“… bad. I will hate you.”
“Tesha… .”
“I hate Ethan. I will hate you from now on. I dare you to know who I am. Even after seeing me… . No, nothing.”
It sounded like a childlike complaint.
Tesya swallowed her tears and turned around. I grabbed Tesha’s wrist. To be honest, I also had some regrets.
Didn’t Tesha ask you to find out about her personality that day? And if I’m to blame, it’s probably because of Tesha’s suggestion, despite knowing that tendency.
“Let go. I mean let go. I am really angry.”
“Tesya, I know you’re mad at me. sorry. But just know this. That I had no intention of playing with you.”
A moment of silence passed.
With her head down, Tesha pursed her lips.
“… Just come to me.”
“What… ?”
“I can do better… . Come to me, not Sepia.”
“… … ”
Neither Tesha nor I said anything for a moment. No, I couldn’t say anything. Soon, Tesha looked surprised at what she had said.
The round golden eyes trembled slightly.
“… It looks ugly even to me.”
“Tesha… .”
“no. just… , forget it yes please I guess I’m a really ugly person. Trying to steal a friend’s boyfriend… .”
It was like a confession.
Although she looked deadly on the outside, Tesha was a strong person on the inside. Because he has the personality to keep what to protect and speak out when it is unfair.
Now Tesya had a hint of remorse. And I knew how painful Tesha must be.
“I knew. That I was misunderstanding. The fact that Ethan saved me over and over again was just a favor as a friend. still… , Ethan confused people.”
Tesha said in a trembling voice. There seemed to be some emotion coming through in his voice.
Suddenly, I reflected on my actions.
I didn’t know what my actions would look like.
“So I wanted to tell you to take responsibility.”
“… … ”
We haven’t been able to talk to anyone easily for a long time. Tesha bowed her head at my silence. Tesha showed resignation.
“As expected, there is no answer… . You don’t know how much pain I am in that silence… . I hate you. Ethan. I will hate you.”
Tesha’s golden eyes trembled pitifully.
“… Tesha.”
“I talked too much. I’ll go. Please have a comfortable night.”
Tesha bowed her head and turned around. I couldn’t bear to call out or hold on to that distant figure.
With a complicated mind, I headed to the balcony. I was thinking of getting some fresh air and heading to the bedroom.
And there was Reus, who leaned his back against the wall, knowing that he had seen everything.
“Hmph, relationships with women are complicated.”
He knew that this was Reus’ unique consolation. So I was told in a playful tone.
“… Are you going to do just that?”
“Originally, true heroes tend to have complicated relationships with women.”
Come to think of it, Greek heroes have complicated relationships with women. We stood side by side on the balcony, peering out into the woods in the distance.
How long was the silence? Suddenly, Reus opened his mouth.
“Ethan, just take them all.”
“… What?”
“Do I need to worry? A true hero is not swayed by women. Isn’t it okay to accept everything? Leave it alone if you don’t like it.”
Oh, that’s right. Come to think of it, Greek heroes fought for 10 years because of a woman. It wasn’t convincing at all.
“done. I know what to do. But you’re not sleeping, why are you here?”
“I just had something to think about.”
“Ah, yes. What were you thinking?”
I shrugged and stood on the balcony railing. A spirit of light was flying on the tall tree trunk opposite.
Anyway, are elves a species without fear of heights?
I thought that if I had a fear of heights, I wouldn’t be able to live in a place like this. The tree trunk we were standing on was said to be thick and tall enough to be comparable to any modern building.
“who are you. Ethan?”
“Is that another question? Does it matter?”
“… It is important. I am Achilles Son of Peleus and son of the goddess. And from another world So tell me. Ethan. Who are you and where do you come from?”
I was watching the movement of the light spirit from a distance and received the word. That would mean that Reus also opened up to me.
“Reus. Don’t think you’re the only one from another world.”
As if predicting my answer, Reus laughed silently. I left Reus behind and returned to my bedroom.
* * *
The morning of ‘The Giant Tree Trunk’ was peaceful. On the surface, the town appeared to be in no trouble at all. As soon as we got up in the morning and finished eating, we met with the elder.
And soon after, the hero Lanter arrived.
With curly brown hair that reached his shoulders and a shaggy beard, he had the strong look of a veteran mercenary.
“Nice to meet you all. candidates. I am Lanter, the brave man who has been dispatched this time with you guys.”
As previously reported, Lanter seemed to have joined here as soon as the mission was over.
We bowed our heads and bowed our heads. The eyes of the elder of the elves and Tia met.
“He was someone who inherited elven blood.”
“This is Tia Erze.”
“You are the granddaughter of the one who left the Great Forest. It must have been you who sent the crow… .”
Tia responded with a gentle smile. The elder smiled once, looked at us, and continued.
“Welcome to the Great Grove. The reason why we requested the dispatch of personnel to the empire is to share the current problems with the empire. For details, I would like to show you the problem at hand.”
The hero, Lanter, listened intently. The Elder led several escorts and guided us to the World Tree.
We climbed down from the tree trunk and headed for the World Tree through a huge gorge. The road to the World Tree alone took two hours.
And I was able to face the huge tree across the lake.
It was a tree so gigantic that it was the center of the world just by its existence. Like the beanstalk that only appears in fairy tales, the tree was so huge that it even gave the impression of holding up the sky.
The upper part of the World Tree had its trunk hidden by clouds, extending toward the sky like a skyscraper and filling the surroundings with dense magic power.
And glowing orbs floated around the tree. It was clear at a glance that it was a lower light spirit.
“This is the world demand we are protecting. A tree that is said to be a legendary being from which we elves were born, and a tree that supplies magic power to the world.”
However, unlike its magnificent momentum, the tree was dry. as if you were sick. The elder, noticing our gaze, sighed.
“But, as you can see, the tree has suddenly dried up recently.”
The leaves, which should have been green, turned brown even in spring, and the tree trunks also had small and large scars.
“We are currently investigating, but we want to warn you of this. That the world tree is sick is never a good sign.”
