Half-elves Fall in Love

She had an eye for someone else.

"You're Andy Smythson."

"... oh"

"Doctor...... to Mr. Hilda and Selene, I asked.... you helped me with Selene's Trent's disease and my half-dead condition."

"... it will"

"That...... thank you, thank you. I thought I'd just say thank you because I'm sure of that fact."

"... yeah"

The half-elf girl spoke in a bewildered tone, saying a less willful thank you, and then staring at me with a stare at someone else who was still frigid.

"Apple, why are you staring?"

"Selene...... because this guy"

"Even Apple was someone you loved, wasn't he? He was the one you loved so much that you cried that you didn't want to leave?

"But it's not normal after all. Collars, female slaves... Selene, I knew it was crazy."

"Apple!!

I raise my hand to stop Selene from making a noise absurd.

"It's certainly not normal. There's nothing wrong with what she's saying."

"Mr. Andy......"

"... I'm not wrong."

I had an amazingly loud voice myself.

"Besides, I've forgotten more than 15 years. She's gonna be tougher."

…………

Apple has always looked anxious.

Selene, who is supposed to be the only and best ally, somehow proclaims the slave of a man he doesn't know and insists that Apple himself is supposed to be a female slave.

Even though it's just a half-elf persecuted life, my best friend of my kind is suddenly saying that. If you don't know anything, now she must be in a desperate mood.

Now she needs an ally.

"Selene, follow me to Apple for a while"

"... Yes"

In Selene's hand, an old collar that she was supposed to give back to Apple.

A childish promise that has lost its way.

... the support of my life made so little sense.

I didn't get a real feeling about it, and with my mouth spinning a caring word, my chest was suddenly blurred like it was wrapped in a cage, and I tasted it disappearing before I could get to my body when something like a potpout of emotion was born.

Is this what you call emptiness?

Take Selene to the hospital, we're going out on the street.

"Do you have memories that disappear in this case?"

Asking Mr. Hilda, the answer came back pale.

"I don't think so either. If you watered the dried dishes, it wouldn't all go back to normal, would it?

"... I see"

"But maybe my memories are just confusing. You may or may not remember someday."

"Can't you do something with magic?"

"Magic can't heal your heart."

Mr. Hilda's voice brings a color that just seems a little lonely.

"You can show people your memories, or you can send in false events. There are ways to use magic to brainwash. But I don't know how to restore the heartbreak I had, the memories I had, or those things back to normal. Originally, the mind is all shaped differently, and it's delicate, so getting it isn't always healing. Still, it's not healing, it's remodeling."

"... right"

For example, if Mr. Hilda now uses magic to make Apple the child I remember 15 years ago, that's not healing for Apple. It's just a push.

Even if my memory was broken, Apple's "now" is the only place there. If this were me, I'd make up for some of my memories disappearing from trusted worlds like the army and polka, but nowhere in the world would I make up for her memories.

The only thing that connects her to me is that childish promise 15 years ago. I realized that again.

She didn't know anything about me, I knew nothing about her, just asked each other because the plush was there, and promised to warm her up again someday.

... I'm nothing to her.

That was kind of twitchy and sad.

I'm sure it's done twitching, though, because Serene and Deane, Angelos and Lyla have their backs up.

Nevertheless, I can't help but care all the time about Apple's head.

I decided to move on to finish my next assignment.

"Andy, how'd it go?"

Mr. Deane is catching up. They took the inn.

Hilda briefly explains how I described this situation.

"... well, I remember"

"It's not like Mr. Hilda's story has any chance of getting better."

"It's only possible, though."

Just in case, Mr. Hilda.

... Well, in the end I guess that's about what you want, but if you don't believe me, my head doesn't work well.

"In the meantime, I've got a place for eight."

"If we can use it... that's fine"

As I say, I get a little melancholy about what to explain to my father.

... Ah.

A little, my mind feels like it moved well.

Let's not immerse ourselves too much in the void. Me, right now, 'cause I'm sure she's very feminine with the intention of being cool.

"Ho. Can you accommodate all eight visitors to your Lord's house? Doesn't look like a big house around here."

"Hmmm...... well to be honest, maybe four people in my room and guest room sleeping in miscellaneous fish or something like that"

"Wouldn't it be nice to use the place where Selene and the others lived?

"No, no, Angelos. It's hard to recommend a hunter's cabin because it's seriously nothing."

Little by little, little by little, we walk for my parents' house out of town.

And that's where we get there.

My home from three generations ago. Plated roofs and brick houses that feel like crashing onto the ground.

"You smell like young iron."

Jeanne says, nodding yeah.

"Young iron?

"Freshly trained iron smells different. The workshop is working properly."

"Oh, you mean that. I feel like I know."

Dwarf's feeling for minerals is too much of a bump and I don't know much about it, but I somehow found out that it's freshly worked out iron.

"Father, are you there?"

Trying to knock on the door, feeling otherwise behaving, trying to get my hands on the door knob, remembering that I look so different that the Keels at the gatekeepers don't notice me...... hands back and forth a few times between the door knob and the plane of the door.

Everyone smiles at my behavior like that.

Never mind, I put my hand on the door knob. and a chattering doorknob turned from the other side and his face snapped out of the other side.

"Wow."

Surprise me.

That face is about my breast. I mean, still kids. A girl.

... child!?

"What!?

I must have been my only child.

If my father and mother worked hard on the gap where I was gone, it would certainly be about this much by now. No way.

"Uncle, who"

"Uh... uh, this is my son... it's supposed to be"

The kid looked up at me like I was frigid.

... horns. Two horns.

You look human, but you have the blood of an orga in you.

"Oh, my God, there's an uncle here who says he's my kid."

"Oh, man."

Something turned out to be a disgusting word.

And, soon, there's a mild footstep, and a woman comes out.

"Um, isn't that a mistake? Or have you been drinking since noon like this?"

A woman I don't know.

It's not my mother.

... Wait.

This is my house, which has been around since my grandfather's day, it should have been.

"Who, you"

"Who are you?"

"I'm Andy Smythson. I'm supposed to be the landlord's son here."

"I don't know."

The woman looked at me with a suspicious look.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean?"

"Nothing like this, we're not your house. Pick it up."

I don't even have a bite.

... Wait, I'm not kidding.

"Hey... that's not true, what's going on?"

"Easy Andy......!

Mr. Deane pulls my shoulder.

I can't resist that power. But my eyes naturally stare at women.

The woman closed to knock on the door and called someone towards the back.

And then, after dozens of seconds, the door opens again.

Now the giant man showed up.

"Um, who are you... if you're a customer, you need to go around to the workshop"

"Which one, I..."

and finally realized that the giant man looked familiar.

"... Jackie,?!?

"Uh... oh, what if!?

Jackie Lemeiro, a half-oga giant.

He's my father's apprentice.

From behind Mr. Jackie, even a woman intimidates me.

"You, if you persevere, call the gendarmerie."

"Fool!! This guy is my master's son!! How rude of you!!

Mr. Jackie yells. Too loud, some snow on the roof fell.

... a little refreshed.

"I'm sorry. It's my wife. Because my daughter's a little jerked off, she's very alert."

"Oh......"

I see. Human disbelief.

"More than that, what about my father and mother...?

"... Oh, Andy boy, don't you know"

I had a bad feeling.

Under the moonlight at night, I am immersed in a hot spring.

I was in full defiance.

…………

Mr. Jackie's story was shocking.

My father was killed long ago by a carriage.

My father seems to have had a lot more booze since he heard I was driven out to war.

The people who were incorporated into the Trot Corps still know how cheap it is, but we were placed near the border at the end of the war, and the war ended where we were about to storm it, and as it was incorporated into the Corps in the interior of Celesta, so they initially couldn't go after it and thought it was dead.

So I started drinking until I snagged every night, and then one day, I was fluttering out of town and the station carriage hit me.

The inhabitants of this polka, whether they are fairly seriously injured or seriously ill, rarely die because of the Spirit Springs.

But my father said he was trampled by a horse, crushed to the chest by a wheel, and died completely instantly.

It's the worst time I can think of.

And my mother loses her son and her husband and decides to let go of the house in disillusionment.

Originally, Polka is prone to demons, as well as sudden attacks from elves. With one female hand, the snowfall is also unbearable. Though there are spiritual springs, it is a hard land for your mother to live alone.

So now they've moved to Volkrole in the west. And the house and workshop were entrusted to Mr. Jackie, who had supported the workshop since his father started drowning in booze.

"If it's true, if you find out the boy's alive, it must be muscle to give back the house and the workshop..."

Mr. Jackie scratched his head like he was sorry.

"As you can see, I had a wife and a daughter now.... It's hard for me in the half-oga to get out of here at work and at home."

What Mr. Jackie says is painfully clear.

Half, half. Not as much as a half elf, but it doesn't change the difficulty with the community to which it belongs.

A restful place to live once I had it in my hands. No matter how many in-laws you have, it won't be something you can let go of.

In the end, I couldn't say anything to Mr. Jackie and his family and I just had to quit on the spot.

"Mr. Andy."

…………

Turning around, there was Selene.

In a hot spring tub, naturally bare.

"Here, man, it's water."

"Right."

"It's still business hours. It's not weird who comes in."

"That's right."

Selene laughed all the brighter and sat in the water with me on my back.

"... but I'm Mr. Andy's female slave"

…………

"As long as Mr. Andy thinks so, absolutely, ever, because he's a female slave. We're together everywhere."

"Selene......"

Selene, too, apparently had something to think about in her conversation with Apple.

The two of us for a while, in the swinging man water of the bonfire, look up at the night sky.

"... selenium. Dad, he's dead."

I said it pompously.

"... was it"

"Did Selene not know?

"... Didn't I tell you? We weren't really interacting openly with polka people. Except since Apple got shot."

"... well"

Speaking of which, we shouldn't even have been able to get into the city until Celesta won.

Even when my father died, he wouldn't have been able to walk much of the city.

Besides, they just swore to enslave themselves, and I have no stepfather to care about. Half the elves say there are many who have also been neglected by their parents and that they will not try to care about their parents' generation even if they can relate to someone.

"What kind of father was that?"

No, you're my father.

I answered instantly.

"I like liquor because you're weak and I like cards, I don't like to think about difficult things, I don't want to do very fine calculations, I was always on the Dombri account when my mother wasn't around, and my mother used to piss me off. There's a bump over there, and when my beautiful sister uses her eyes, she gets a cheap job as soon as possible. Four times I just know that someone else's debt guarantor made it easy for me to escape."

"Oh, that's..."

"But everyone in the city always said, 'Smythson, my parents are in trouble. Bye.' He helped me, he was such a gainful father. Even in the Thread Workshop, my father owed me money. I didn't have enough craftsmen, but nobody tried to take it back from me."

Nostalgic, my father's pitiful loving laugh and the appearance of the city folks who are making a lot of write-offs about "I can't help it" comes up in the night sky.

"I don't know, but he was always my father who took care of people and made it easy to work for anyone for that matter"

"... sounds like Mr. Andy"

"Oh, I like booze, but I don't owe you anything."

"You can be so desperate for anyone, you can be nice to them, and you're taking care of everyone for that."

"... I wonder if I look like my father"

"Maybe."

Selene laughed as she dull.

"... but..."

Wrapped in Selene's gentle voice, touch the plumpness and softness.

My feelings finally began to return to my chest, where the gas seemed to have slipped.

"I still didn't give anything back to my father."

Tears, they come out.

When I heard from Mr. Jackie, there was also the aftertaste of Apple being cold, even though it was shocking but I didn't think it was sad at all.

"I... come on, I wanted to be more filial to my father. Dad, he was telling me. Let's not cooperate with Kensei's armor one day, or treat him to a drink every night when he grows up, or let me think about his grandson's name because Jijii gave him your naming rights, or when you're older, the shoulder rub will also work, or... all, I wanted to do. I wanted to return the happiness my father had given me. I wanted to come back here and tell you I was happy to be born in Polka, and I'm glad I'm your kid."

On the way, I got a nose.

I couldn't stop crying.

Dropping tears and snot in the Spirit Springs, I was finally realizing I'd lost my father forever.

"... Nice, Mr. Andy"

"... hiccup... uuch..."

"Father, you were a really good man"

…………

I tried to answer something, but I couldn't.

Embrace me like that from behind, and Selene starts talking tenderly.

"I thought, when I was in the mood, that Elf's grandmother was dead... and that my father was a pain in the ass. I grew up realizing that there was no place for a half elf. The only person who accepted me was Apple, who didn't have the same place. Guys, we're looking good, so we're not coming any closer just for one night. But I get it. He said he was willing to step on it the next day.... Andy was the first one who didn't"

…………

"Trent's disease, you know?

…………

Sieve, and shake your head to the side.

"An illness in which the body is becoming more and more like a tree...... it is also said to be a form of curse. I received the arrow poison that underlies the disease from the forest elves of Affilm."

"... inside...?

"Yeah.... because the elves over there are bigots. We don't recognize the existence of blood clans that are out of our will. So I was destined to remain a tree....... I thought that would be good though. 'Cause I got tired of traveling every day."

…………

"But Apple tried to help me like that. Apple is like half a body to me, and I guess it was to Apple. But don't abandon us like that, I didn't expect anyone to show up trying to stay by your side forever. That's why Mr. Andy is important. Even if Mr. Andy marries his own kind, he's irreplaceable as much as he wants to be kept all the time. So we wanted to be female slaves."

Gyu, and Selene hugs me.

"When I was a kid, I knew it was an exclusive greed because I didn't know anything. But that monopoly craving was enough. We wanted to remain monopolized. In a dirty way, Apple was even trying to educate you the way you think it is."

"... I don't need that. You're mine."

"Yeah. So when Mr. Andy found out in Celesta that Half Elf was still publicly proclaimed his lover, he was so happy to tear. Because you found out that even our owners are really like that. So I thought Apple would be happy."

…………

"Why is this happening?... we don't want that luxurious happiness"

"... selenium"

I told her to squeeze it out, feeling Serene plush.

"I'm not giving up. I will never dream of my memories here that I didn't. One day, I want Selene and Apple to be happy.... So if Apple can't remember me, that's fine. Apple and I will make you fall in love again. I'll turn you around."

There's no place left in this city for me to stand. Neither the house to inherit, nor the girl who was supposed to have waited, was waiting for me.

But I was born here, I fell in love here, and I lived to come back here.

I don't remember any more. I don't have a home.

I haven't beaten reality yet. I'm not struggling with one thing.

I want to be happy.

Ten bells rang in the distance.

The bonfire burned out half the time, and after this, no one would come in anymore.

But there was a water noise somewhere far away.

Someone may have seen Selene naked, I thought, but Selene couldn't possibly have noticed the good ears, and she didn't seem to care, so I kept getting hugged by Selene without saying anything.

"... Andy, Smythson..."

…………

"I don't know... I can't remember at all..."

"Why do you feel this way..."

(cont 'd)