YDPTB Chapter 80

I regained my calm and looked up at the sky. But then a shocking sight caught my eye.

“Hey, Silion… Elves can survive falls from high places, right?”

“What are you talking about? Elves aren’t made of steel. Of course it’s dangerous.”

Oh my god… I hurriedly got up and jumped into the water. The deep water made my progress frustratingly slow as I splashed forward. Seeing me suddenly dive in, Silion shouted urgently.

“What are you doing all of a sudden?”

“Look up!”

One of the children watching us had apparently slipped and was now dangling precariously from a tree jutting out between the waterfalls. Judging by the pitiful look in their round eyes, this wasn’t intentional.

Finally grasping the situation, Silion muttered a small curse.

“Those troublemaking brats…”

He frantically moved his legs, running towards the path up to the top of the waterfall. The child’s delicate hands, trembling as they clung to the tree, looked like they would soon lose their grip to gravity. Silion needed to climb up quickly and pull the child to safety.

I waded through the waist-deep water, approaching the waterfall. The fierce cascade made it difficult to keep my eyes open. Still, I raised my hands high to reassure the child and offer help.

After a few minutes of this, a welcome voice was heard from above the waterfall. The dangling child seemed to relax at last, a small smile appearing on their frightened face.

That’s when it happened. With a cracking sound, the tree root supporting the child began to give way. Just as I gasped, thinking it was dangerous, Silion’s hand suddenly shot out and grabbed the child, and the massive tree root fell.

Wait a second…

“Ahhh!”

The huge tree root plummeted towards me with terrifying speed. My eyes squeezed shut in fear, and I lost my footing, plunging into the water with a splash. Water rushed into my defenseless nose and mouth. As I flailed desperately against the strong current, I lost consciousness with a dull pain.

🐤

Silion, tasked with guiding two humans, headed towards the Elder with a sullen expression. After everyone passed the hot potato of who would guide them, it had landed on Silion. With few close friends, no one had offered to take his place.

Elves who had ventured into the human world said that humans emitted a distinctive odor. Most expressed disgust at this smell.

So naturally, Silion had expected a terrible smell from the human he met today, but surprisingly, there was no odor at all. He had told them not to come close, claiming they smelled, but that was just his minor irritation.

Silion had thought his duty would end after bringing them to the Elder, but he received the additional mission of showing them around the village. The Elder was the only one who cared for him in this place where he was practically an outcast. He couldn’t possibly refuse.

But this insolent human rejected the Elder’s goodwill. Silion’s perception of humans began to worsen further. However, the petulant words that followed made him somewhat understand the reason for their response.

“I might as well tell you now, I’m actually twenty years old.”

The human before him was just a baby, barely twenty years old. An age where one wants to do everything their own way. As the recent series of events flashed through his mind, Silion began to worry that perhaps he had been too harsh in calling them dirty.

When the elves, unaware of this human’s age, failed to take care of them, they finally began to get angry. Silion, pondering where to take this sulking child to soothe them, guided them to a special place with beautiful scenery.

“It’s beautiful…”

An enchanted voice burst out immediately. Silion smiled slightly, unseen, and sat down to blankly watch the refreshing waterfall.

He thought this peaceful time would continue for a while, but the little troublemakers caused an accident. Silion stared blankly down from atop the waterfall. The only thought in his mind was, ‘It’s all over.’

He rushed down in a panic. A large tree root was floating prominently on the water’s surface. Where are they? Where could they be? The one fortunate thing was that they had gone underwater just before hitting the tree.

Silion hurried to the base of the waterfall. The water was still murky from the recent impact. He carefully reached out his hand, stirring the water in hopes of grabbing onto something, and a round object entered his grasp.

“What’s this?”

In his raised hand was a white ball of fur. As he turned over the limp, unidentified object, he saw a small beak opening and closing. He carefully poked it, and it frowned, spitting out water.

It was a bird unlike any he had ever seen. He brought it close, sniffing it, and detected a now-familiar scent and energy.

“This… could it be?”

He observed intently, furrowing his brows. The round bottom and chest feathers, the tiny beak. What kind of eyes would be revealed when those bud-like eyelids opened? Though soaked, its warm body temperature and fine feathers clung to his hand.

Unconsciously, he fiddled with the bird in his hand like a toy, rolling it around before suddenly coming to his senses. His tightly closed lips slowly parted and moved languidly.

“…Cute.”

Silion had a weakness for cute things.

🐤

Ugh, my head…

A throbbing pain in one corner of my forehead suggested I had hit something hard. I involuntarily furrowed my brow, but this caused even greater pain, preventing me from freely scrunching my face.

“Hnng. It hurts.”

I barely held back the tears that threatened to pour out, thinking of my twenty-year-old dignity. An adult shouldn’t cry over something like this. As I lay there, groaning, a large hand gently brushed my forehead.

“Ack!”

“…Does it hurt a lot?”

“It hurts. It hurts so much.”

Using Karhan’s touch as an excuse, I let a single tear fall. The small teardrop traced a path past my temple, dampening the pillowcase. His thumb, which had been carefully stroking my head, erased the trail left by the tear.

Karhan, who had been quietly observing me, scolded me in a low voice.

“Why were you standing in such a dangerous place?”

“I was afraid the children might fall…”

“Even if you were there, you would only get seriously hurt yourself. You couldn’t have saved them. It was a rash action.”

Despite my deliberately weak voice in response, Karhan didn’t relent and sharply scolded me in a low tone. Being reprimanded while in pain sparked a needless feeling of resentment in my heart. Did I want to be hurt? I glared at Karhan, breathing heavily.

“I’m upset, so comfort me.”

As I whined, wrinkling my nose, his gaze, which had been looking down at me, shifted to the side. Karhan’s lips, which had been twitching slightly, parted and let out a small sigh.

“I was worried.”

“…”

“When we get home, I’ll give you ice cream.”

“You have to, for sure.”

Having gotten the answer I wanted, I smiled slightly. With no strength left in my body, I slowly blinked, staring at the ceiling, when someone knocked on the door. The tightly closed door opened quietly, but Karhan’s body blocked my view, so I couldn’t see who had entered.

The unknown person stood still at the doorway for a moment before rushing over.

“What, what is it?”

Suddenly, a bouquet of flowers was thrust in front of my face. Even to me, who knew little about flowers, it looked clumsily arranged. As I slowly turned my head, I saw Silion’s slightly reddened face. He hesitated greatly, mumbling before speaking in a voice barely above a whisper.

“It’s meant as an apology.”

Receiving a bouquet for the first time in my life, I stared at his face in a daze. Ah, he’s getting redder. I looked down again at the outstretched flowers. Though amateurish, it was a pretty combination of white and blue.

Just as I was about to accept it out of appreciation for the gesture, a firm hand blocked my view and snatched it away in an instant.

“Karhan?”

“I’ll keep this safe.”

No, it’ll get crushed before you can store it. I looked at Karhan with raised eyebrows and a distant gaze, but he didn’t look at me. The two of them exchanged meaningful glances as if I didn’t exist in the room.

After a moment of silence, Karhan spoke in a sharp voice.

“We’ll attend to our business and leave immediately. The Elder knows this as well, so don’t concern yourself.”

Silion’s eyebrows twitched greatly. His hands trembled as if something serious had happened. He looked at me, chewing his lip with his firm teeth. Though I wondered why he was acting like this, when I looked at him with concerned eyes, he suddenly thrust his head forward and shouted as if he had made some kind of resolution.

“L-let me touch your bottom just once!”

And so the pervert was escorted out by Karhan.

“Sigh. To think there are such perverts even among elves.”

“Don’t even make eye contact with such creatures.”

“Understood.”

Karhan seemed eager to return to the mansion quickly, as he rushed through the schedule. Although I was still a bit dizzy, I couldn’t just lie still, seeing his inexplicably hurried demeanor.

Cradled in Karhan’s arms, we arrived in front of a tree with foliage so dense it seemed to cover the entire sky. Sunlight barely filtered through the tightly packed leaves, illuminating the space.

Beneath the massive tree stood the Elder and other elves dressed identically, along with luminous yellow fruits. As the Elder, who had been waiting for our arrival, reached up to pluck a fruit, the large leaves instantly curled inward. The sight of the leaves seemingly embracing the missing fruit evoked an inexplicable feeling of loneliness.

The many elves standing in front of the tree all bowed their heads and chanted in an unknown language. The sight of them performing their solemn ritual was truly elegant.

As I watched the scene, entranced, the Elder, who had approached us unnoticed, handed over the fruit. I looked at the fruit and the Elder alternately with round eyes. Is this for me? Uncertain, I hesitantly raised my hand and carefully grasped the fruit.