Half-elves Fall in Love

"In the valley of Karlwyn, children are not welcome. 'Cause we'll be less dependent."

Naia takes the bandage out of her hips toolbag and wraps it around from above her half torn armor.

"Many old people who can no longer work can't live long. Because it won't help."

"... abandon, huh?"

"If you throw it away, not yet.... when I starve, I send them to a settlement. Unreachable children, old people."

"... that"

It was frightening.

"We can't have each other inside, but if we don't know each other... we can kill and eat. Grandma and Grandpa, they send it because they know it. It's a little better to nourish someone than be eaten by demons... laughing."

…………

"So in times of hunger there will be fewer old people, and fewer children. Poop, fewer humans in that generation.... I'm one of those generations. He was actually a child who was supposed to be dead and eaten."

A harsh past, pale.

Naia is not angry or sad or hateful.

"There are two reasons I survived. One, because one parent was an elf. The elf system can mature quickly and work longer, so under the same conditions it is only slightly more favourable. I guess some of the kids died in my place. And… at the time, the valiant Faria, who was based in our settlement, said he would take it."

"Is the brave a substitute?"

"When it came to parents, I ran a little too far. I said I'd pick it up, leave me in the settlement, I haven't been around for weeks, I haven't tried to remember to cook at all, I leave all the sewing, cleaning and cooking to people, and they still carry the meat of the demons I knocked down, and I was so admired because it was bright... she was a bright woman. Very much."

Naia smiled a little as she tried to tie the bandage.

I'll help you tie enough.

"Anyone with children is raised once away from their biological mother so that their parents' emotions don't shift too much...... so there was no obsession with being not a real parent or anything like that. Instead, Faria, the bravest of our time, told me to raise her, so I've been breathing since I was a kid trying to be a good warrior, too."

"It's hard to be a brave man."

"Yeah. Mostly, the kid who was conscripted as a brave candidate stayed out of tune, and you're not coming back. Eighty percent of them die in the training phase."

"... Isn't that a problem too"

"If you're trained to die, you'll most likely die in the first place."

"... how about you think that's normal. If you train slowly..."

"It's not a country where you can hold a lot of warriors for nothing. Guys, I know that..."

Too harsh to say nothing.

To Naia, who talks about it with her usual serene face, she also wars.

"Still, I had decided to be a brave man. I had the pride of being a child chosen by the brave, a daughter raised by the brave, and I assumed on my own that that must be the fate. From Faria, it just seemed to be because I was pathetic if I just looked her dead."

"... but it's happening."

"Yeah, well... seeing me practicing my sword like an idiot, I guess Faria got emotional too. Between my work as a brave man, you started teaching me the sword... heh, that was hard. Even though it's the usual bright tone and smile, the punch in is completely unharmed."

Naia lowered her hat. Maybe I was about to cry.

Listening to Naia, reconfiguring in me.

Naia was trained by the brave Phalia, and she wore an arm that could be described as a swordsman full of youth.

By the time he was thirteen, he said he was already able to defeat Hardwolf with a wooden sword, so I wonder how talented and mentored he was.

Without attending the royal brave training center, he began to wander around the valley with Faria and work hunting the demons.

... Later Naia found out that not only Faria, but the example of a brave man taking a disciple and teaching technology as a successor is not so rare.

It's just that regardless, he wasn't a formal brave man, so he was helping out with field work, and his training was very demanding, but like many other people, Naia, who believed that the people of Karlwin were the last human race in the world, still felt a great deal unlimited to the task of protecting the little "world," and he also did that training.

"Naia remembers things well. No. It's not the same thing as a rat."

That's what I always said with a laugh, Faria.

I guess it was a compliment.

But that will accelerate inner growth for Naia, who doesn't know the world.

I can be a brave man now.

I can stand alongside Faria and protect the world.

So the desire to be recognized as a brave man was growing stronger and stronger.

"You think kids are happy from there if they can be 'something', don't you? Adults, professions, the rest is the best. I'm sure I wanted to be 'something' like that, too. Not half a child, but a real 'brave man'... and I'm sure there's a glorious future ahead of me."

"... I don't know."

"I forgot. Maybe because I don't want to remember."

One day, Naia and Faria took to attack a nearby labyrinth.

Sometimes demons overflow when left alone from the labyrinth. Once every few years, it's quite different just to keep the demons hunted.

The fight went well, too. As usual, Naia was not allowed to have a proper sword, and this was also a training, said to be fought solely by wooden swords and martial arts, but I guess that included the fact that decent weapons were only paid to the brave, and the intention to brake on Naia.

Naia was unhappy with it.

As long as I have a proper sword, I'll make Faria fight no less.

It was also strange that Faria was waving a ready-made sword without a flashing sword lowered to her waist and made the kingdom's craftsmen strike her.

Flashing sword said to be a testament to the brave. Must be strong if used.

For Naia, who thought so, this labyrinth was an excellent opportunity for self-appeal.

Fighting in a broad labyrinth is a day, not a day.

Rest in the halfway room once you have made some progress. Repetition of that.

The labyrinth was scheduled to be broken in about three days.

at rest on that second day.

Naia silently took the flashing sword and set aside Faria, who was resting, and stepped out to the rest of the itinerary.

I stepped out.

In fact the flashing sword didn't have as much special power as I expected, but it was strong enough compared to a wooden sword who cares about breaking from time to time and chooses the beating badly.

Demons are also rock dolls and bloodworms at best (Sandworm's a little more fierce and quick-looking guy), and Naia's technology will never make it late.

Faria caught up with them after about an hour of repeated struggles with them and kicked Naia out of the blue.

"Drobeau's punishment.... and fighting with wooden swords is really training, so savory punishment"

That's all I'm saying, the spot forgives me.

It should have been.

but it was the giant monster that showed up there.

"Demon God" Ohn. At the time, there were bat wings in the body that couldn't be huge snakes, lizards or muckades, and five long arms, aimed at the brave and brave candidates who were alarmed from the back of the labyrinth.

"The first blow, Faria did not engage. To protect me from being kicked and fallen, I intercepted that light bullet with a normal sword that I couldn't bear if it were true. … the sword was broken, and Faria's arm was broken in the middle"

…………

It just hurt to hear it.

"And even in that body, fighting one another with the demon gods… I couldn't even try to join. Such a big demon, I don't know how to fight..."

"Right. You haven't been able to fight all sorts of enemies, and you haven't been able to apply. I was always worried that Faria had too many foundations."

The flashing sword supplements.

Naia kept her face hidden with her hat and continued ignoring it.

"Still, if Faria thinks she's going to die, her body is moving at some point... and that's when the flashing sword activated its power for the first time. But at best it was to the point where I cut one of the five arms. I wasn't the only one who could handle the performance of a sword."

However, in a gap made of that damage, Faria and Naia escaped.

but the broken arm faria is the limit to move unattended, poking her knee along the way. If you look closely, your whole body was scratched in a meeting with the demon god, and a regular person said it wasn't in a state where you could already move.

Still, to Naia trying to take Faria away, Faria wore the hat she always used.

"Survive. Last orders from Atashi"

"Faria!

"Children listen to their parents.... Give the flash sword to the next flash mount. I'm sorry, Flash Sword. My opponent won't be able to stand your power."

"I know."

Not long after being surprised by the sword he spoke for the first time, Naia is pushed by Faria, who perceives the signs of an approaching demon god.

"A brave man is. Protecting someone and dying is a profession. You see, Naia, one day you're going to die protecting someone.... So if you think you're bad for Atashi, survive. If you think Atashi is terrible, survive. Live, win, protect everyone, and then die, to the farthest possible future.... of Atashi as a brave man, the last teachings"

"But..."

"You can't beat him then. Atashi can't get away from him. The answer is yes. Courage is a decision, Naia.... go quickly! If I can't get away with it until you're dead, I'll die for nothing!

"Naia, run. Run if you think of her. Run away from here."

"So..."

"This is your punishment."

"It's the punishment I thought of for you. I thought I could wield the sword of a brave man. It's a punishment for you. Faria would have beaten him if you hadn't planned that. It's your fault. So be punished. Let Faria die, and run."

"Ah, you are with the sword of Pharia......!?

"I am the sword of the brave. Nothing more or less."

The flashing sword pulsed.

"Next brave man, survive until you can defeat him. I am angry. I'm angry from the bottom of my heart that I can't kill him."

"Huh..."

Naia's on tour.

And at the end of the day, I ran out.

Afterwards of Faria, I guess Ohn is the only one who knows.

"Then I delivered my sword to the royal palace...... I was officially appointed as Flash Riding Grance. And I retrained with other brave men and brave candidates at the Royal Training Institute, and after many battles as a brave man, it was a few months ago that I challenged Orn again"

…………

"I have to take him down, I can't face either the flashing sword or Faria. You'll be able to take up your flashing sword on the grounds of prolonged disappearance when you get back to Karlwyn...... before that I dived into the labyrinth again and was only going to settle with him. I can tell you that what I found here saved me a lot of trouble."

"But can you win, with that body"

I don't think his move was such a giant creature.

In destroying and reconfiguring a large part of your body, you're probably dealing with fast combat with a small body. The adaptability for that fight may be far above the breakcore.

"You can win. Without anyone else, there's a trump card that I couldn't have used then."

"... the liberation of the power of the flashing sword"

The flashing sword pulsed the rainbow light.

"Yes. If I release my powers, the battle will no longer be decided by a single blow"

But Naia can't stand it.

"I can stand it. It wasn't as scratchy as that in Dada or Hatter."

Naia casts a spell from above the bandage. And when I tapped lightly, the bandages and armor came together to make a metallic sound.

A curing spell?

"Mr. Smythson. If I may, please."

"... but what if?

"You, too, could be running away with a sword. If that happens, please, go to the royal palace in Karlwin."

"Then, fool, that's where I'm gonna tell you to watch because I'm gonna win"

"... Perhaps so. But now I'm the Avenger. Protect someone and die. Not enough brave men."

Naia grins like a self-derision.

"It's embarrassing, but my heart is pounding on the opportunity to defeat him with this hand"

"I don't have a choice. With me."

The flashing sword synchronizes.

I sighed.

"... the fool"

"Excuse me."

"In that case, we're going to talk about it after we win.... I'm telling you, I'm a lender to you, right?

Lending that I dragged her into the dark, made her take off her clothes, rubbed her tits and warmed her up.

... I'm sorry it doesn't sound like a loan.

"After winning...?

"I'm going to take a bath with you to thank you for this one, so I'm going to tell you something, but I'm going to tell you something."

"... you are quite comfortable with the brave. Is that courage, too?"

I don't think so, Flash Sword.

"So don't face the heroine of tragedy on your own. I don't want a boring ending for a hard worker."

"... Yes"

"Okay."

Return the cape to Naia and gently pound her head from the top of her hat.

"Well, let's call it a math to find him."

"Ha... ha"

"Well, the sun's setting, get me out of here."

We crawl out of the cave.

And.

Beyond the snowfield, I saw the grin of a blue and white monster.

(cont 'd)