Chapter 284 Towards A Future Full Of Hope
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
We got back to the mansion earlier than planned. But I stayed outside, in front of the door. Something about the way Lewya looked when we parted—yeah, it stuck with me.
”She’s late,” I mumbled.
”That’s true,” Mei answered beside me.
”You don’t have to wait here with me, you know?” I said, glancing at her.
Mei shook her head. “Lewya seemed strange before. You noticed it too, right, Neil?”
”…Noticed what?”
”If this keeps going, Lewya might end up like her uncle.”
Her words made me quiet.
Yeah. Like Golarf-san.
Elves don’t change quickly, but humans do. If Lewya stayed here too long, she might lose her sense of time—like Golarf. That kind of life hurts. An elf can’t live like a human. Not really.
I knew that.
I could’ve sent her back to her village. That was the simple fix. But…
I didn’t want to let her go.
”I don’t like the idea of parting with her,” I said. “She’s been with me all this time.”
”I feel the same,” Mei said. “Even if she’ll suffer later, I still want her to stay in this settlement. I think everyone feels that way. So… don’t look so sad, Neil.”
”I know I’m not the only one who cares. But… just because we all feel the same, doesn’t mean the guilt gets divided. If we try to share it, it still weighs the same.”
”…But what about Lewya’s feelings?” Mei asked. “In the end, it’s up to her, right?”
”I think she wants to stay.”
When I saw Golarf, I saw myself. That could be my future. But maybe Lewya doesn’t think that way.
Or maybe she does.
Maybe she already knows.
Should I ask her? Should I tell her what I’m afraid of?
Or maybe… she already feels it. And she’s just pretending not to.
While I was stuck thinking about it, the mansion door opened behind me.
”Neil-sama. Meisy-sama. How long do you plan to stay out here?”
Diana stood there, her arms crossed.
”It’s getting cold. If you want to wait, at least do it inside.”
The air really was chilly. Wen usually kept the temperature stable around here. But lately, it felt colder.
The reason? Since we entered the Ice Star season, the outside got colder fast. But the inside stayed warm. That change messed people up. Some hunters even got sick from the sudden switch. So, Wen adjusted the temperature to be a little lower.
”It’s just a little cold. I’m fine.”
”You say that, but your body might already be too cold. Look—your fingers are freezing, Neil-sama.”
She took my hand. Her fingers were warm. The heat spread through mine. Then, out of nowhere, two cold palms slapped against my cheeks.
”Wha—!?”
”See? My hands are really cold too,” Diana said.
”Hey! Don’t test that on my face!”
”Okay, then I’ll try your side.”
”Then I’ll check his back,” Mei added.
”Hey, stop! Don’t warm yourselves up using my body! This isn’t a heater!”
”──What are you doing?”
”””!!”””
That voice made all three of us freeze.
Lewya stood there, arms folded, giving us a look like she’d walked in on nonsense—and she had.
”O-oh, welcome back,” I said.
”I’m home. So… what were you all doing by the front door?”
”Uh… we were waiting for you. I think.”
”You think?”
Yeah. It didn’t look like we were waiting. It probably looked more like we were playing around.
”So, um… how was Golarf-san?” I asked.
”You waited to ask me that?”
”Well… yeah,” I admitted.
Okay, the real reason was I was worried about her. But I also did care about Golarf-san, so it wasn’t a lie.
”Hmph. So even you noticed Golarf was forcing himself,” Lewya said.
”He laughed in a weird way. Like he was trying too hard. And then I heard he went back to the village. He told me… it wouldn’t be a happy reunion.”
”I see. But you can relax. Golarf has recovered. He’s fine now.”
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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