Absolutely Do Not Touch Eldmia Egga – Chapter 28

—————————————————————–
Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Yuziro
—————————————————————–

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

It wasn’t a difficult situation to predict.

Even if I didn’t know what the average person of this world was, I knew my background was definitely not ordinary. That’s why I had anticipated that Asirye would notice as soon as I brought up Ekaf’s story.

Nevertheless, when it actually happened, it was hard to look her straight in the eye.

Not because I had committed a sin, but the act of confirming her reaction to my words itself was scary.

I didn’t want to face a situation where she didn’t feel sorry about parting, and I also didn’t want her to be sad and grieve over it.

“Yeah. He said he couldn’t help me make it so that no one can touch me, but he could help catch that Demon King’s army commander.”

So even when Lagnis demanded that I accompany her to the capital under the pretext of learning, I knew better than anyone that I had made excuses about the King’s Ten Swords, which I considered to have no possibility, as if half-jokingly.

But this world, which always surpasses imagination, did it again.

My inner anger, which I had packaged as simply a belief while pretending to be half-joking, was jumping up and down, telling me not to cling to happiness that was limited in time anyway, and furiously telling me to accept Ekaf’s proposal.

“I can’t even help you with that.”

It’s natural. She was just an elven adventurer who was only slightly different from an ordinary person.

No matter how much she was the savior of my life, that fact doesn’t change.

“That will be the same even after the remaining 2 years pass. To achieve your goal, you can’t miss this opportunity like when you first met me.”

Even though she explained it in a calm voice, it felt like it was strangling my whole body. Every time I took a step, I wanted to lift my eyes and face her, but I couldn’t.

Except when moved by anger caused by irrationality, I was just an ordinary person.

An utterly unremarkable person who worries about the relationship with the person they like getting twisted.

“…Yet Eldi is pondering that proposal.”

Asirye slowly approached and gently hugged me.

My eyes, which had already grown taller than her, were filled with only her hair, but the trembling of Asirye hugging me let me know how she felt even without facing her directly.

“Elves don’t have the concept of time passing quickly.”

While putting strength into her embracing arms, Asirye whispered.

“Not only elves but most long-lived races are like that. Because time is what they have left. For us, time is always just something leisurely. That’s why there are more elves who return to the World Tree without regret in life than those who die of old age.”

That whisper was so precarious that I couldn’t help but know that she was pretending to be calm.

“But once we start getting involved with humans, we get swept away by them, who flow by in an instant.

In their short lives, unlike us, the years, the death that closely chases after them throws a net to drag them away, and we find ourselves mesmerized by the sight of them running tirelessly to live a more satisfying life before that happens, like a jewel made of flickering flames.”

I had no choice but to raise my arms and hug her back. The increasing trembling, the sobbing voice, let me know that she, like me, had come to not want to part.

Nevertheless, my own silence, which I maintained without being able to say I would refuse, and my inner thoughts, which I had turned my eyes away from and didn’t properly face, were speaking for themselves.

“Even knowing that at the end of that fleeting happiness, there may be centuries of burning pain and sorrow, we are drawn to it… Most despair. That’s why elves who have had such experiences always advise young elves.

Always be wary when dealing with humans and to always be mentally prepared. But it’s still endlessly insufficient.”

8 years.

The period I had proposed, thinking it was long for me but a moment for her, an elf, had become not just indifferent because it passed quickly, but excruciatingly painful because it was too fast.

“Of course, I wasn’t unaware of that. It was advice I had never forgotten during the 60 years I had wandered out of the forest. Whenever my interest in Eldi turned into affection, I reminded myself of it.

I was preparing myself to calmly face our parting at every moment as 1, and then 2 years passed on like that.”

If it had simply been a matter of me leaving for a short while, getting stronger, and returning, she would have sent me off with a smile.

We would have confirmed through conversation that we both felt sorry about parting, and eventually, we would have reunited with a smile when I returned.

“So I thought I could brush it off with a smile even if Eldi felt there was nothing more to learn from me and ended our contract early…”

Even if we couldn’t confirm each other’s feelings, we could have intentionally left room to meet again through a deal that cunningly postponed the remaining 2 years.

If it were her, she would have pretended to be fooled and accepted it while laughing at the irrationality.

“But… while I’m happy to know that Eldi also doesn’t want to part with me, I can’t stop crying because I know I can’t hold onto you, and I feel like I’m going to die of sorrow that this moment came 2 years earlier than expected.”

But she knows what I’m pursuing.

Because she has watched my side every moment that the young Eldmia, who thought his relationship with her would end lightly, had spoken of and put into practice, she knows better than anyone.

Even though I joke around and laugh as if it’s nothing, she knows that the driving force that keeps me living that life right now is the anger towards that day 6 years ago, so she can’t even say the words to tell me not to go.

If I had met an ordinary death in my previous life. Even if I couldn’t become properly independent in an increasingly destitute life, if I hadn’t died right after deciding to live diligently and kind-heartedly, believing that good days would come if I didn’t give up on my dreams and held onto hope.

At the very least, if that death hadn’t been from being stabbed by the sword wielded by the robber who killed my parents.

If at least the villagers and my parents hadn’t been massacred while I was living with the same determination after being reincarnated in this world.

Of course, if that had been the case, I wouldn’t have been able to meet Asirye , but if. If I could have met Asirye even then and had the same relationship as now.

Only after making that assumption did the Eldmia in my imagination and assumption stop by Asirye’s side.

In other words, if I didn’t assume that much, the anger towards the irrationality accumulated from my previous life stimulated my obsession and couldn’t stop.

It was a clear trauma. The fact that my lifelong will to live righteously had collapsed twice without being able to resist the simple, irrational, and unjust violence.

Even if it was greatly diluted thanks to Asirye, it was a wound that hadn’t healed, instantly cracking and bleeding again if I experienced something similar.

“Thank you, Asirye.”

I don’t apologize. Because it’s not my fault. It’s not like I got hurt while running wild alone, but I was hit while staying still, so apologizing to Asirye for the trauma caused by that is absurd.

The ones who should apologize are the bastards who made me like this.

That’s why I’m grateful. Because you watched over and supported me, who lives with the sole intention of overcoming such trauma.

That was all I could do now.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

Asirye’s crying continued for a long time after that.

She said she would calm down, but whenever she saw my face, she would burst into tears, and before I knew it, it was evening.

“Are you a bit calmer now?”

“How could I be…”

From her perspective, no matter how calm she tries to be, in the end, the moment I leave her sight, she would feel like watching a pufferfish that could die at any moment.

It was a heartless question for me to ask, but I had no choice but to ask.

In the end, by the time the stew I started making was finished, leaving Asirye, who had cried her heart out and became exhausted and hungry, was able to stop crying.

While carefully observing her reaction, I sat her at the dining table and set the table, and Asirye, who had been keeping silent with her head down and her ears drooping, finally opened her mouth only after I sat across from her.

“Come back.”

“Huh?”

With a haggard face that I hadn’t seen at all recently, Asirye said,

“I’m anxious and scared, but it’s also true that Eldiy is not ordinary. You can actually handle mana too.”

“……”

“If it’s a goal you can’t give up anyway, it’s better to properly learn from the best in the long run to increase your chances of survival. So come back.”

Asirye’s eyes, slowly raising her head to look at me, were red like a rabbit’s, but her pupils were clear.

“I’ll be waiting here until you kill that bastard and return.”

“…Okay.”

“when you come back, let’s go on a trip together.”

“…Okay.”

“No matter how many months or years it takes, Eldi will work hard and suffer a lot. And if you become strong enough to kill someone like that, you’ll be so strong that ordinary guys won’t even be able to touch you.”

Slowly picking up a spoon and scooping up the stew, Asirye smiled with difficulty.

“You’ll be able to afford the luxury of enjoying a trip with me.”

I ended up crying too because I was so grateful for those words.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇