Chapter 78 – Friends, Allies, and Enemies (24)

Friends, Allies, and Enemies (24)

In fact, I might have anticipated that it would come to this.
It was only after hearing the truth from Rahi that the oddities I had noticed suddenly came to mind.

I returned immediately upon hearing the news of Myluman’s fall.
My destination was the underground of Myluman.
It was an embarrassing nickname, but I was well-known enough to join them there.
And it was there that Rapi announced the death of my parents.

It was strange.
Rapi was just a simple forest keeper. How did he know about the underground base in Myluman?

And after the fall of Myluman, he knew of a few acquaintances who had escaped the eyes of the Demon Army. The number was ridiculously small, but still, there were survivors who had escaped the massacre. Yet Rapi asserted with certainty that my family was dead. How did he, who should have been on a mission with me, come to realize this fact?

But that wasn’t all.

If it had stopped there, I could have thought it a coincidence.

However, there were far too many other circumstances.
From asking what I would do if I met a ‘traitor,’ to countless pieces of evidence.

After Rapi died, I shifted the suspicion onto Troka, but now that I think about it, all the circumstances point to Rapi.
It was only due to myself, who was close to him, that I could never notice.

Ah, there’s also Rahi.

But that’s an exception.

I left Rahi’s house as if fleeing.

Strange feelings about Troka unsettled my insides. So I went into the bushes and vomited. I spewed it all out as if expelling my guts.
And I thought.
Rahi’s words are a lie.
I couldn’t bear it if I didn’t think that way.

Logically, could I believe that the enemy I so hated was actually an ally and that the colleague I trusted the most was the enemy?
It would be hard to believe in my right mind.
After all the hatred I had poured out.

So I denied it.
I denied it and tried to shift the blame as much as possible.

If I didn’t, I couldn’t affirm what I had done to Troka, the respect I had for Rapi.
I wouldn’t be able to trust the friends I had believed in anymore.
Everything would be over.

So I hid in the bushes and reflected on the past.
A terrible past.
And I ran away.

I’m denying it.
That’s the only way I can bear it.

And then,

“Hey, you, you. What’s this?”

He appeared.
The one who would tell me the truth I least wanted to hear had shown up.

I wanted to run away, but I couldn’t.

“What the hell is your purpose?”

It felt as if someone had pushed me from behind.
Against my will to keep silent, such a question slipped out of my mouth.

I couldn’t run away.

From the truth.

*

That day, the sky was particularly filled with clouds.
The fog had settled between the buildings for some time.

The sky was covered with a red glow that threatened rain, and an ominous feeling climbed up my back repeatedly. At first, I thought it was just superstition. A harbinger of sudden bad weather, a common occurrence, so I dismissed it.

Myluman was known for its poor weather conditions.
Even when it wasn’t the rainy season, I don’t recall any particularly nice days.
It didn’t matter much when I was with friends.

As I hurried on, I twisted my ankle.
It was an uncommon occurrence.
I had never stumbled while traversing the forest and climbing countless trees.
But it was okay. It wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t walk. I could manage well enough to complete the task at hand.

So I walked.
I had walked.

To meet a friend.

I walked.

I’m sure that was the case, so why am I running now?

My consciousness is foggy. I can’t see well ahead.

I went to meet someone.
I remember entering a tea house. And soon after, the face of a friend who came waving, holding a paper in one hand and a pen in the other, comes to mind.
We sat opposite each other, had a conversation, and then.

My memory cuts off.

Am I dreaming right now?

After some conversation, my memory suddenly disappeared.
What was it?
I’m curious, but somehow I feel like I shouldn’t remember it again.

Even as I think this, I keep running without stopping.

I’m not sure why I was running.
It seems like I’ve been running continuously since a certain moment.

The last thing I remember is Rusel’s urgent voice. I think I’ve been running continuously since the face of her trying to grab me with a pen and paper.

I’m out of breath.
It hasn’t been that long of a run.
At most, about fifteen minutes.
But why am I panting so hard?

Thud,
I feel a dull sensation on my shoulder. It’s not surprising to bump into someone when running at full speed without knowing why.

“…I’m sorry.”

I said that instinctively.
Normally, I wouldn’t have apologized. But somehow, right now, those words came out.

I have a strange feeling and look back to find that what I bumped into wasn’t a person, but a street tree.

“…”

Still, I keep running without stopping.
I’m not sure of my destination.

I just felt that I had to head somewhere.

It wouldn’t be strange to say I was running away.

I am just running away again.

When I regained consciousness, I was being restrained by a guard.
My arms and legs were pinned down, and I found myself kneeling before someone.
Looking around, it seemed I was in some sort of infirmary, likely a place used by an elder or someone of similar status, judging by the high-quality wooden walls.

Before me stood Tel, one of the elders of Myluman.

He appeared quite irritable.
It wasn’t the typical arrogance of an elf. Rather, he could be described as a rigid and closed-off individual.

He wasn’t someone I particularly liked.
The elders of Myluman. I had never been on good terms with them, not once in all these years. Now that I knew the truth, it would be normal to feel animosity towards them.

“…What business does a mere forest keeper, no longer a guardian of the World Tree, have here?”

However, I didn’t feel that animosity. What I felt was resignation.

Because he was sick.
Even though he was the one who had lied to me, my true enemy.

He had always been thin. But now, he was so emaciated it would not be an exaggeration to say he was skeletal.
He seemed unable to move, lying in bed without attempting to stir.
Dark circles were etched under his eyes. His forearms were as thin as twigs, to the point where it seemed the needles stuck in them might pop out the other side. Is this what an elf looks like on the brink of death?

“Why did you hide the truth? Myluman was due to Rapi.”

That didn’t mean I had lost my purpose for coming here.
I might not have a reason, but I had a purpose.

“So you finally figured it out. Congratulations.”

He interrupted Chloe’s words and tried to clap with his trembling hands, but then let them fall.
He seemed to lack even the strength to lift his hands.

“Well, it seems a bit late, though.”

Instead, he showed a strained smile.
Next to his bed lay a newspaper.
It was probably that newspaper.

“…That mouth.”

I wanted to stand up and throw a punch, but I couldn’t. The pressure from behind was growing stronger. I could have shaken them off if I wanted to, but it wasn’t time yet. If I were to do it, I would wait for a more crucial moment. That was my mindset.

“You can let go.”

“But, Lord Tel…”

“My body won’t last much longer anyway. I have no regrets, even if I die now.”

The guards looked at Tel with worried eyes.
It was clear they were thinking this was a bit much.

“Let her come in.”

Only after he waved his hand did the guards leave the room.

With the interference gone, Chloe naturally approached him without any hesitation.
Her steps were firm, her fists clenched.
Yet, those fists never flew towards Tel’s face.

“So, what are your thoughts?”

“Why did you hide it?”

There would be no flying fists, at least not until an answer came back.

“I tried… I tried to tell you.”

“Bullshit.”

“However, you didn’t try to find out. You didn’t want to know. You didn’t even have the will to know.”

“…Then why did you hide it?”

If he had intended to help, why did he hide the truth like the other elders?

“Hide it? On the contrary, I tried to reveal it.”

Tel furrowed his brow.
He looked tired, somehow.

“I liked the hero. Despite coming from another world, he cared for us in a strangely attentive way… truly a noble person. Of course, the other elders wanted to exploit his gentle nature. That’s why it couldn’t be openly revealed.”

He had been an advocate for the hero.
He was the type to repay any debt, to return both enmity and favor. This was true even if it involved other races.
In fact, it was he who had opposed Troka’s plan to take all the blame upon himself.

Even if Chloe didn’t see it that way, the fact that Tel had dismissed the guards showed just how confident he was.

“…Well, even if those damned fools twisted the story to their advantage, there was no helping hiding the identity of the traitor.”

He was afraid of the losses that would ensue if Chloe acted rashly during the war.
He felt the same fear.

“I was going to tell you everything once it was all over. But for some reason, you never came. As if the truth didn’t matter to you.”

Tel showed his dry palms with a wistful look in his eyes.

Chloe felt dizzy.
The strength she had been holding in her hands had vanished.
If only she had given some thought to Troka.

“Then, what about the remaining elders?”

At the moment, Tel seemed innocent.
The fact that he was the first elder she had approached was because he was the one she knew, nothing more.

So she would move past Tel and seek out the other elders to question their justifications.

And punish those she found wanting.
Even if it meant being banished, even if it meant never seeing her friend again.

“You wouldn’t know, but all the elders from that time are dead. They poured all their energy into protecting Myluman… and crumbled away.”

The targets for her vengeance had vanished.
What kind of…
Nonsense.

“So now… who’s left alive?”

“I’m the last one. Though, not for much longer. Everyone was so afraid, they all returned to the World Tree about a year ago.”

Elves live many times longer than humans.
But under the right conditions, they can live forever.
According to the records, there are elves who have lived for over a thousand years.

And if the conditions are right, they can die.
It’s suicide.
According to them, it seems they return to the World Tree.

Such suicides were committed by elves who believed they had finished all their tasks. Especially those of high status preferred to end their lives this way rather than dying a natural death.

The elders had done the same.

“Rather than that, you should be meeting the true target of your vengeance… Surely you know who that person is?”

The real enemy.
That was.

“If it were me, I would have first tried to deal with this ridiculous thing. If even I, confined to this dusty room, have received such an item, is it already too late…?”

This morning, he had received a newspaper from the guards, who described it as a sensational story.
The guards appointed by the current elders had tried to isolate him from information. Yet, they had handed over this scoop.
It must be the talk of the town now.

Chloe, having lost her previous assertive demeanor, shrank back into a more withdrawn state.
She had no time to think about the current situation.

Seeing this, Tel gazed wistfully out the window.

“…What were the hero’s last words?”

He asked quietly.
It was the last question.

But Chloe couldn’t answer.

“That, that is, I, I didn’t.”

She hadn’t heard his last words.
She couldn’t say that.
If he had died.
If she realized that he had committed suicide because of her actions.

Contrary to Chloe’s thoughts, he believed the hero had returned to his original world.

Unaware of this fact, he pondered for a long time.

“At least when he returned to his original world, you should have given him a smile. Even if not a smile, at least a farewell. It was a relationship never to be seen again.”

Eventually, Tel, having reached the limit of his patience, spoke first.

And then he closed his eyes.
He wasn’t dead yet.
It meant he no longer wished to speak with her.

Chloe stepped out of the room with a renewed sense of emptiness in her eyes.
The guards waiting outside were shocked by her grave expression and headed inside the room. However, Chloe showed no reaction.

She walked on.
Without a destination.

I have lived a life of only running away.
I haven’t fixed anything.
I’m running away again.

Even now, I flee.

She walks with that hollow expression.

There was still a mountain of things she had to accept.