Chapter 152

My memory of the past and present is foggy. I’m currently in the air.

“…Ahh!”

I flail around in a panic, but Legs of the Forest Wolf allows me to stand where there is nothing. I had been standing up until now, but now it seems firmer. No different than standing on ground. It doesn’t feel like I’m floating… It’s definitely strange.

Below me, I can see the remains of the guard house. It looked pretty much flattened, but I was too high to up to tell for sure.

“Still…how did I get up here…”

I must have fainted for a second. But I wasn’t sure how that would have led to this current situation. I calm myself down and think. …Perhaps Daniela’s tornado had blown me into the air. Or it could be an effect of Eve’s reckless combinations of magic. It might have caused an upward current of wind… I don’t know.

I looked down at my body and saw that I was not hurt. This was dragon armor after all… To be honest, I had been worried that I would come out much worse. The protection of the wind would have helped as well, its effect was tremendous.

In any case, the most important thing to do now was to make sure that Daniela was safe. Everything would be fine as long as she had been able to escape. However, there was a chance that she had used too much magic. Perhaps it had weakened her. She would be unstable and vulnerable. I would look for her from above, then we would cross the river. Honestly, we could have crossed the river through the air from the beginning. But I wanted to stick to the rules. If there was a boat fare then we would pay it. If we needed to prove our identities, then I was prepared to do it.

It might be easy to cross the river on these legs, but there could be problems later on. What if we needed official documents on the other side? It was us who would be inconvenienced. Regardless, we hadn’t even discussed that possibility, and had every intention of going through the town properly.

And yet this is what we got for it…

“I suppose being honest doesn’t pay…”

I didn’t know how to express what I felt. All I could do was weaken the green and silver wind and drop to the ground.

□ □ □ □

“Find them! They should still be close by!”

I could hear the sounds of running guards in the distance. It would have been wise to wait and hide here, but I could not do that.

“Hey you, where did you come from?”

“Sorry…I got lost. I shall leave now.”

“Lost…? You don’t look like you’re lost.”

On heavy legs, I had thrown myself through the first door I had found. The person who confronted me must have been a resident of this town. Was he good or did he work for the bandits? I could not tell, but he would not appreciate it if I stayed here, and so I had to leave. But my body felt sluggish. I had exhausted my reserve of magical energy, and now my legs would not move.

“You look ill. Are you alright?”

“I am fine… I will be better if I can just rest somewhere for a short while. Sorry that I bothered you…”

I somehow managed to raise my shaking arm and reach for the doorknob. All it would require to open it was a little twist, and yet even that proved to be impossible.

“Well, just wait a minute then. You can rest here.”

“No, I cannot…”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s really nothing to me either way.”

Then the man picked up a cup and filled it with water. He handed it to me and helped me bring it to my mouth to drink. The cool water going down my throat was so relaxing that I sighed. And with that, I regained a little control over my body. I turn the cup in my hand as I slowly get to my feet.

“Thank you…you saved me.”

“You’re not well yet. Stay and rest a little longer.”

And so he lent me his shoulder and brought me over to a chair.

“Thank you… My name is Daniela. Please tell me yours.”

“I’m not someone worth remembering. But if I had to give you a name, it would be Vent.”

“Aye, thank you…Vent.”

I had to leave this town as soon as possible, but my body was still working against me. Only my hand would listen. I was worried about Asagi, and there was still the matter of Eve. It did not feel good to have to lie here and rest when nothing had been resolved. All I could do was fret, and that was of no use to anyone.

As I stared at the table and willed myself to recover quickly, a plate was placed in front of me. Two beautiful, yellow circles on white. It was fried eggs. And next to them were three slices of crispy bacon, just the way Asagi liked them.

I looked up just as he offered me some bread. To the side was a cup of water.

“You must be hungry. That’s why you have no strength.”

“No, I…”

“Don’t talk. Just eat. Don’t worry, it’s not poisoned.”

Vent said and then laughed with amusement. And so I picked up the fork and stabbed the bacon. I brought it to my mouth and then there was no stopping me. While I was not as quick as I am during full health, I still scraped the plate clean in very little time.

“You eat well. It was worth making it.”

“It was delicious… Thank you. I feel bad now.”

“Don’t. I wanted to feed you.”

Asagi, you have competition. Perhaps I am overrating him as tiredness combined with hunger can have strange effects over a person. But it did taste delicious. And I felt much better already. I had been even more tired than I knew.

It would be best to wait here until I was at full strength again, but I could not stop thinking about Asagi. I had seen him launched into the air after being hit by the tornado. He had gone up so high that I lost sight of him. ‘Can people fly so high?’ was the almost idiotic thought that first raced through my mind. After that, I rolled away and ran as the building crumbled around me. If Asagi had stayed there, he would have been flattened just like the other soldiers. I did not even know if Eve was alive. I would not mind at all if she were dead.

I first met Eve in the plains under the moonlight. At the time, I trusted no one. My heart was ravaged by the stress of a long journey. And it was as I walked unthinkingly to the next town, that I was attacked by bandits.

And the person leading the bandits, was the dark elf, Eve. I slaughtered her underlings without hesitation. I tried to kill Eve as well, but a monster came in my way. I saw the lucky elf run away as I dealt with the monster. After that, I returned to my journey and arrived in the town safely. I thought that that would be the end of it.

But one day, I came upon an ancient elven ruin within a forest. I had wandered far before discovering it, but thanks to that, the place was untouched. I could descend into the depths of the ruins without worrying about being seen. And after a week of searching, I found the artifact. Sometime after, I would learn from an old library book, that it was the magic substitution tool.

Years later, I was working as a guard for a merchant caravan. A famous Adventurer of that time was there as well, and I remember that he tried to talk to me. But I was never interested.

It was when we were just two days from the town that the bandits attacked. It was difficult fighting while protecting the caravan, especially as there were those cowards who would run away.

While I fought, a familiar face caught my eye. It was Eve. She too saw me and immediately unsheathed her sword.

“It has been a long time!”

“…”

“You are as quiet as before… Today, I will finally have your sword and bow. The sacred treasures of the tree of life and death!”

She had seen the weapons during our first fight. Perhaps a unique skill had allowed her to confirm it, or she had heard something. In any case, I had no intention of giving them up. I did not care to indulge her, but I needed to fight to protect myself.

However, we were disturbed yet again. Even now, I can remember the fear that I felt.

The wyvern that appeared with an explosive wind in the darkness of the night. It was enough to make me shiver with horror.

It landed between us and then slashed at me with its tail. I instinctively raised my arms to protect myself. Then the sound of my bones breaking reached my ears.

I was thrown into the air. That was when the magic substitution tool fell from my pocket and rolled to the other side. My eyes went after it as I thought, ‘with that, I would be able to revive after the wyvern killed me.’ However, it was no use if it was not on you. It would have no effect on me now. I would be eaten alive. And that would be the end.

“Is that a magic substitution tool!?”

Eve’s voice rang, but I could not answer. The wyvern now seemed more interested in the caravan than us. We were no longer in its sight. Eve saw her chance and reached out to grab it.

It was then that the wyvern beat its wings and rose into the air.

The violent winds pushed me off of my feet, and I tried to protect my injured arm as I rolled on the ground. As the world spun around me, I had a glimpse of Eve taking the artifact. I wanted to vomit then, but I was suddenly enveloped in a floating sensation.

“Huh…?”

My body was floating. There was no ground beneath me now. I had been thrown over the edge of a cliff that had been hidden in the darkness.

This feeling of floating would not last forever. I was falling down to the bottom of the cliff as gravity dictated. I could not fight against it. I would die here. Just then, the faces of my parents after they had been trampled by dragons appeared in my mind.

And then I lost consciousness. When I awoke, I was in a river in the forest. There had been a river below the cliff, and I had been carried down here, all the way to this forest.

My bow was still on my back, and it seemed that I had been desperately clutching the hilt of my sword. But my armor had taken a beating on the rocks, and was in tatters. Furthermore, one of my arms was broken. And so even though I was alive, there was only despair ahead of me.

Well, in spite of that, I did manage to come out of that predicament alive…though, that is a different story in itself.

In any case, that was the last time I saw Eve. I do not know what happened after that. Not the caravan or that famous Adventurer. Perhaps they had all been eaten by the wyvern. Or they won and lived good lives after that. There was no reason for me to know, and I did not wish to know.

Now, the thing that was more important to me than anything was Asagi. As long as he did not faint, he could go as high as he pleased. That wind of silver and green would protect him.

Thinking about him now made it impossible for me to sit still. I wanted to rush to where he was immediately, but my legs would not let me. And so I had only anxiety to fill my heart now.

I stare at the table again and think. One hundred years… It reminded me of just how long I had lived.