“Phew.”
I took a deep breath.
And looked at the endless expanse of the great forest.
Today is the day.
The day I leave that place and head out into the world.
The moment I take the first step toward my goal.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
“Let me ask one last time. Are you really okay with this?”
At Elenia’s words, I turned my gaze back to the forest I had been forcing myself to look away from.
Was it because I had become an elf, or was it because I had spent over 30 years there?
Even though I had resolved firmly, the thought of actually leaving made my feet feel heavy.
How should I put it?
It feels as if I’m walking to my death.
The expression may sound strange, but that’s really how it feels.
‘Don’t get weak.’
Whether things will go well or not, no one knows.
I’m not even sure myself.
But for the sake of my kind.
For the elves.
I want to be the beginning of change.
That’s why I left my home, met Elenia, and endured all that training, isn’t it?
“Shall we leave right away?”
Carrying the small amount of luggage I had exaggeratedly slung over my shoulder, I turned my body.
Elenia gave a soft smile and quickly followed at my side.
Thus began our journey.
*
“… So. So, what you’re saying is, more of our kind have ventured beyond the great forest than I thought?”
As we crossed the plains, Elenia shared various stories with me.
Among them, a few topics were quite surprising, including the one we just discussed.
That more elves than I knew had left the forest and ventured into the world.
“There were many among us who wanted to show that we elves are the greatest of all of God’s creations. For instance, humans, with their magic and spirit arts—what they call experts are only slightly above average by elven standards.”
“I see.”
That makes sense.
Thinking about it, elves are born hearing about magic!
Spirit arts! from the start.
Those with natural talent grew up with only that in mind, so it would be strange if their average wasn’t higher.
“The problem is that this has led to an excessive tendency to look down on humans.”
“Because for us elves, magic and spirit arts are the most important, right?”
“Exactly. On top of that, humans live such short lives, spilling and shedding so much blood during that time. That’s why most of the elves who left the great forest and ventured into the world ended up looking down on humans, causing friction and conflict, and eventually returned.”
“And they left with the impression that humans are inferior and their world is the worst, didn’t they?”
Unconditional criticism and misguided judgments about humans and the world beyond the great forest.
I thought it was merely an excuse to keep young elves from leaving the forest, but hearing this, it seems there was some reason behind it.
It’s still shocking, though, that they judged the world solely based on magic and spirit arts.
“Then, don’t humans hate us elves a lot?”
“Fortunately, not all of our kind are like that. There were pioneers who brought winds of change even before me. And they made efforts to harmonize and blend with humans and their world.”
Starting from helping a small village to even founding a kingdom.
Elenia recounted stories of pioneers whose deeds I had never heard of in the village.
Even though they didn’t live long and sometimes showed malicious sides, she believed without a doubt that their essence was of good souls.
She spoke of our kin, who stood on this land as creations of the gods, helping and being helped by other beings.
Hearing those stories brought a sense of relief, but ironically, a greater sense of foreboding.
Even though the pioneers had set an example of elves being good beings,
In the end, the overall perception of elves wasn’t good enough to avoid the mention of the word “pr-.”
This meant that other elves had caused numerous conflicts with humans when they ventured into the world.
Though it may not be too late, delaying any further would surely mean missing the right timing.
“The humans I met, fortunately, were the seeds of harmony that the pioneers had sown. Thanks to that, I could get along without much trouble and return to the forest.”
“That means…”
“Unfortunately, not all humans are good. Just as not all of our kin are benevolent. I don’t know what our kin who ventured into the world did, but when it comes to ‘elves,’ there are many who recoil in disgust, and their anger sometimes takes a wrongful direction.”
Our kin who treated humans recklessly.
Other kin who suffered due to those actions.
It’s exhausting.
I had only vaguely thought about making elves great again.
Beyond the Great Forest, the real world seemed far more twisted than I had imagined.
“Hmm. I wonder if I’ve scared you too much.”
“I do feel a little tense. Haha…”
“Still, there are plenty of seeds of harmony that the pioneers sewed. Tyreal, just earlier, didn’t the people we met accept us without detaining or questioning us, even though we are not part of the Empire?”
That’s true.
Before stepping into these fields, we had encountered imperial soldiers.
“What are they? They don’t look like slash-and-burn farmers.”
“Elves? They seem like elves.”
“Huh? You mean pointy ears?”
“You idiot. You’re wrong. Keep quiet.”
For reference, there is no other kingdom between the Great Forest where we elves live and the Empire.
Thanks to that, there were no instances of being bombarded with spears and swords accompanied by questions of “Where are you from?!”
Instead, they merely glanced at me and Elenia with indifferent expressions and said:
“If you keep going that way, you’ll come across a castle. The ‘current’ official imperial territory starts from there, so you should head in that direction.”
“We have to tell that story, that story!”
“Stop pestering me. Please, just don’t cause any trouble. We’re letting you elves pass because we were told not to stop you, but if you cause any problems, we’re the ones who get scolded. What did we do to deserve that?”
Wow!
Elves, elves!
Forest fairies!
Oh, how beautiful they are!
… There was no reaction like that.
Instead, they asked us not to cause trouble.
Pleading, they begged us to please behave.
Hearing that, even for a moment, I felt as if I were not an elf but an orc.
The soldiers’ reactions were like that.
Just how strange must my kin have been behaving?
What kind of trouble had they caused for them to say such things the moment they saw us?
My question was completely answered when we finally arrived at the first castle gate.
“Hey, try to come back earlier. I thought you died while hunting. Your wife keeps asking me if you’ve come back.”
“Geez! She should just trust that her husband knows how to take care of himself and wait! This nagging woman, seriously!”
“Complain to your wife later. Next! Next! …What? Elves?”
As soon as the guard saw me and Elenia, his expression twisted in annoyance.
Then he muttered, “Damn it. Just my luck. Of all times, they had to come during my shift.”
“You there. What’s your business?”
“Yes, we are here.”
“…What is your reason for entering imperial territory?”
“We have someone to meet.”
Was it because this elf used polite speech instead of speaking informally?
The guard’s expression softened slightly.
Come to think of it, given the temper of elves, he probably expected an annoyed retort or a dismissive ‘None of your business.’
“Judging by the look of things, this isn’t your first time in the Empire, is it?”
“Until ten years ago, I was in the Empire.”
“Then there’s no need for a lengthy explanation. Our Empire prohibits hostile actions against elves by law, but that’s only valid when you abide by imperial laws. If you provoke the people of the Empire and suffer harm, the Empire will not take responsibility.”
” …..”
“I ask you, please behave quietly. Neither the Empire’s laws nor its people consider your kind to be welcome guests anymore.”
This isn’t good.
Really, this is so bad.
I didn’t expect things to be this tense right from the start.
I thought at least some people would look at elves with curiosity.
I expected to be received like any other guest.
But this is shocking.
“Are you very surprised?”
As we entered the castle, Elenia whispered to me.
“It’s always like this near the Great Forest, Tyreal. The further away you get from the forest, the less hostile the reactions become.”
“Even though they interact with our kind more frequently, they still react this way?”
I couldn’t quite understand what she meant, but her next explanation made everything clear.
“They say it wasn’t like this in the beginning. Everyone used to call us the people of the forest, the fairies, marveling at us and welcoming us warmly. But since this is the closest place to the forest, all the elves who leave it end up coming here. Not all of them are like us, are they?”
The more they encountered elves, the clearer their true nature became.
Knowing my kin’s tendency to look down on humans, I could easily imagine the words and actions they might have displayed.
Interest turned to dislike, and eventually to hostility and suspicion.
Those with particularly abrasive personalities among my kind would act even more sensitively, creating a vicious cycle.
It might have started with humans.
Someone could have offended the elves first.
But there’s no point in assigning blame now.
The rift has already begun, and I can only see that it needs to be mended quickly.
“By the way, are you hungry, Tyreal?”
“I’m feeling a bit peckish.”
“Let’s grab a meal first. I know a great restaurant that’s quite good!”
I’ve never seen Elenia so enthusiastic before.
That must mean it’s an excellent restaurant.
Just as well, I was curious about the food in the human world, so I followed her eagerly.
To sum it up, we had to find another restaurant.
“The restaurant here? It shut down ages ago.”
“That’s impossible! It was open not too long ago…”
“Not too long ago? It’s been over eight years. Eight years! Ages ago!”
“Ah…”
It was a moment when I was reminded that our sense of time was quite different.