Chapter 21: Separate

「Whoa! You really are all shriveled up!」
「My bad for being all shriveled, huh.」

At Ultramarine throwing both hands up in an exaggerated show of surprise, Light Blue answered in a disgruntled tone.

「...I had heard as much, but seeing it in person is quite a shock.」

She might not have been as dramatic as Ultramarine, but she seemed just as shocked; Violet‑san said it with some difficulty.

Well, of course.
It’s been thirty years since she bore Yuuka. Light Blue had aged and withered to a degree anyone could plainly see.
Her beauty hadn’t changed, but even so, multiple wrinkles marked her face and spots had surfaced.

Yuuka, seated beside her, was the opposite. Now thirty, Yuuka still looked exactly as she had at sixteen or seventeen. Nina says that growth pattern is exactly like an elf’s.

But not everything was the same as an elf.

「Does she have... a flower name?」
「No.」

Nina answered crisply to Violet‑san’s question.
Just as my breath was fire, elves are born with a native form of magic.
For Light Blue, it’s a branch that blooms light‑blue flowers. For Violet‑san, brambles bearing purple flowers.

Yuuka had no such inborn magic.

「Then, as I thought... she is not an elf, is she?」
「Probably not.」
「Aniki, that—」

At my nod, Yutaka couldn’t let it pass and, though mindful of me, spoke in a sharp voice.

「Yutaka. I understand how you feel, but facts are facts. Yuuka is neither human nor elf.」

It’s foolish to discriminate over skin color, race, or culture.
...But to treat Yuuka—who doesn’t age and has no flower of her own—as one or the other would only invite unhappiness.

「She’s our proud daughter who carries the best of both humans and elves.」

At my words, Yutaka’s expression relaxed in relief and brightened at once.

「Carries both...?」
「Violet‑san. What can a thirty‑year‑old elf do?」

She thought a moment, then answered.

「Let me see... merely a child. You couldn’t say they can do very much. It’s only been a dozen‑odd years since they took on an adult form.」

Right. Up to around twenty, humans and elves grow at the same rate—but that’s only physically.

Thirty years flash by for an elf; thirty is practically an infant. But not so for a human.

「Yuuka is now stronger than anyone in the Sword Clan. And by ‘anyone,’ I don’t mean just the living—I mean stronger than anyone in the clan’s entire history.」

Violet‑san drew a breath. Being strongest in history means stronger than Yuuki—stronger than Dalga. She knows the weight of that perhaps even better than the Sword Clan themselves.

Thirty is enough time for a human to reach full maturity... and at the same time, the age when the body can no longer hide its decline.

From her mother, Light Blue, she inherited an immense reserve of mana.
From her father, Yutaka, she learned a keen sword technique.
And paired with the inborn talent to wield them freely and a body that knows no decline—

—there stood someone who lives time as a human while bearing an elf’s toughness.

「I see... that may prove a blessing for us.」

Violet‑san gently closed her eyes and spoke softly.

「And yet—no, precisely because of that. We must not intermingle any further.」
「...Yes.」

I answered with a sigh.
We’d known this day would come for over twenty years—ever since we learned Light Blue was no longer an elf.

If an elf bears a child, she ceases to be an elf. The child born is not an elf either.
In other words, from the elves’ point of view, to couple with humans is to die.

Light Blue herself likely feels neither regret nor fear toward that fate.
But the same cannot be said for the elven race as a whole.
Handled poorly, it even carries the possibility of extinction.

Light Blue’s case wasn’t some unique exception limited to her.
Even after it became known they would lose their longevity, several elf–human couples formed in the village—though they stopped short of having children.
Because everyone had watched Light Blue grow old happily.

So I could understand why the forest elves, who didn’t know that, chose the path of severance.

「...So. The fact you came yourself—don’t tell me you’re here to take me back.」
「No.」

When Violet‑san shook her head at Nina’s sidelong glare of a question, I let out the breath I’d been holding.

「By covenant, Nina‑sama’s person is entrusted to Sensei’s care. We will not go against that. ...And if Nina‑sama does not wish it, we also know it’s impossible to force her back.」

She flicked her gaze my way as she said it.
...Well, fair enough. Six hundred years ago would be another matter, but now I’m close enough to a mature fire dragon. My size still has a ways to grow, but I wouldn’t fall behind even against all the elves at once. I’m truly glad it didn’t come to a fight.

「There’s more. We do not deny those who have chosen to live with humans. Surely that, too, is something elves need.」

Violet‑san smiled at Yuuka.
They aren’t fools—if anything, they’re much more astute than humans.
Just seven hundred years ago humans didn’t even have language, and yet they developed in a blink and came to possess a high civilization. They grasp what that means. They also understand that if they hole up in the forest, they’ll eventually be overtaken and left behind.

「Therefore we will divide the village in two: those who, as before, will live together with you... and those who, as before, will live in the forest.」

I see. In other words, create a buffer zone.
So long as there are elves living in the forest, elves as a species won’t die out.
So long as there are elves who mix with humans, they won’t be abandoned by civilization.

I honestly thought it was a clever move. And yet... the tone in which Violet‑san announced it was filled with sorrow, and I understood.

「Violet‑san. You’re... heading back to the forest, aren’t you?」
「I am the Warden of the Forest.」

Lowering her eyes, Violet‑san smiled.
—A terribly fragile, sorrowful smile.

「Farewell, Sensei, Nina‑sama. ...Though for bodies that know no decline, we may yet meet again at the far end of ages.」

We both knew that was a long shot. Elves are awfully set in their ways and stubborn. Once they decide, they’ll see it through.

「Please, take care.」
「Yes... you as well, Sensei.」

When I held out my right hand, Violet‑san enclosed it with both of hers.
How much feeling she poured into that... in the end, I never did figure it out.

「So, Ultramarine, you’re heading to the forest too?」
「Yeah. Obviously.」

In her usual high‑handed manner, Ultramarine nodded.
Somehow I’d expected as much. For all her freewheeling words and deeds, she’s unexpectedly conservative and hates parting from people. As long as someone she knows was alive, she’d never come to the village.

Well, she never quite grasped human lifespans, so she miscalculated that all the time.

I see... thinking we might never meet again, I’m going to miss you.

She’s a noisy pain in the neck in all sorts of ways, but we’ve known each other a long time. The thought of never seeing that face again makes my chest tighten.

「Huh? No, I’ll just keep coming like normal.」

Why?!