Chapter 68: Elise, the Best Partner!
“The person I want to adventure with… is you…”
Peiya felt a little dizzy, her face slightly flushed, like she was tipsy.
It was as if something deep in her heart had been touched.
So… this is what it feels like to be cared about?
Why does it feel… so sweet?
Peiya raised her head again and looked at Elise seriously.
“Are you serious? You came here not for the Ice Bear King, but for me?”
She pointed at herself, the uneasiness in her heart still not calming down.
This answer was completely unexpected. She had thought she had messed everything up.
Elise sat back down, very close to Peiya. The distance between them was only about the width of a fist.
That small distance gave them space to steady themselves, to look into their own hearts again, and understand what kind of future they really wanted.
Elise’s chest rose and fell slightly. Saying those words had taken a lot of courage.
Between them, someone had to take a step forward first.
Elise didn’t want to miss Peiya.
She didn’t want things to end up like in storybooks, where a small misunderstanding causes people to miss each other for a lifetime.
So this time, she chose to step forward.
Just like she had once promised, to protect her from the storm.
After sorting out her feelings, Elise’s gaze became firm again.
“Miss Peiya, you might have misunderstood me. If I really cared about that thing, I wouldn’t have retreated just now. I would’ve gone down and cut it down myself. Can you guess why I didn’t?”
Peiya looked up, confused.
“Was it… also for me? But I don’t really understand. You’re so strong, it feels like you don’t need me at all…”
Her voice became softer. She lowered her head and looked at her feet, which were pressed together awkwardly. Maybe because she was nervous, even her shoes were slightly deformed from how hard she was pressing them.
Her emotions bubbled up inside her like little bubbles, popping one after another.
Elise shook her head.
“That’s not true. You should recognize your own ability. Without a doubt, as a support, you’re already ahead of many others. I respect everything you’ve done in the past. That’s also why I didn’t step in too much. Not because I wanted to make things hard for you, but because I didn’t want to help in the wrong way…”
“...Flowers can’t grow beautifully inside a greenhouse. The trials you face may be something that had to happen. You have your own future. How you walk that path depends on you, because your life doesn’t belong to me. Opportunities have to be held in your own hands.”
Elise gently pressed Peiya’s fingers together into a small fist.
Looking at her curled hand, Peiya’s eyes trembled slightly, her lips feeling a bit dry.
Elise’s words were like a deep explosion in her heart, creating huge waves.
It felt like a lock inside her suddenly broke open.
She stood up as well and looked directly into Elise’s eyes.
“Compared to you, I’m the one who needs to learn. I think I’ve been too tied to my past. So… can I get to know you again?”
Peiya moved a little closer to Elise and, under her hopeful gaze, reached out her hand.
“My name is Peiya. I hope I can become your partner, and we can defeat the Ice Bear King together!”
“It already changed from ‘friend’ to ‘partner’?” Elise laughed softly as she took Peiya’s hand.
“Then let’s be partners for now. Of course, you’re also my best friend.”
Peiya pressed her lips together.
“Calling you ‘friend’ feels a bit distant…”
For some reason, she suddenly felt that calling Elise just a “friend” was too formal.
After everything Elise had done for her, calling her only a friend felt a bit… lacking.
But if not “friend,” then what?
After thinking for a while, Peiya remembered the word “partner.”
In books, great adventurers often called the people they treasured most their partners.
Without a doubt, Elise was someone important to her.
So why not follow those adventurers and call her “partner”?
Elise smiled, looking at the reflection of herself in Peiya’s eyes.
“Alright, I accept it. Let’s be partners. But I still like the name ‘Peiya.’ It was the first name I heard when I met you, and I remembered it right away. I didn’t expect it to actually be your name.”
“You still remember something like that?”
Peiya also started recalling the past.
Back then, she was just short on money, and whenever she heard about a job that could earn some, she would take it.
She never expected that the gears of fate would start turning.
The future was walking toward her in a completely new way.
Elise lowered her hand that had been hanging in the air, her lips pressed into a thin line.
“Of course. Are you feeling better now? Do you still think about the past?”
Peiya let out a soft sigh.
“My past… it’s already very blurry. Very, very blurry. It’s like my mind has blocked out some things on its own. I only remember how much I learned back then. But those memories… for some reason, I don’t want to think about them anymore. Maybe I’m just too weak and want to escape. Or maybe… I just want to remember the memories with you now…”
Thump—
Elise’s hand, which had just lowered, lifted again. Her heartbeat skipped, her ears turned slightly red, and even her fingertips felt numb.
Hearing sweet words from someone she cared about was really overwhelming. But at the moment she heard them, it felt truly sweet.
Her emotions were like a roller coaster. Even after realizing it, she still felt a little restless.
She wanted to swing her sword a few times to release the feeling, but she was also afraid that moving away would make her miss something important.
After hearing Peiya’s words that touched her heart, Elise wanted to hear them again.
She clenched her fingers and stepped forward.
“Did you say that on purpose to make me happy?”
Peiya paused, then shook her head. She crouched down slightly and buried her face between her legs.
“No… I just don’t understand why I’ve become like this. Before, I only thought about dungeons… or the knowledge in books. But now, in my heart…”
After hesitating again and again, Peiya bit her lip and forced herself to gather courage.
All her thoughts gathered at her lips. Finally, she decided to say it.
She didn’t want to stay silent.
She didn’t want this awkwardness to become a regret for both of them tonight.
“In my heart now… it feels like there’s a place for you. Or maybe… that place was always yours. I know how good you’ve been to me. So I’m saying all this because I don’t want to become a burden to you. You don’t have to worry about me so much…”0
“...Actually sometimes, because of my personality, I might cause you trouble. I’ll try my best to fix that. You’ve seen it too, I’m not doing well enough. Maybe I’m just a fool who only knows how to study.”
Elise listened carefully and understood what Peiya meant.
In some ways, it was even more serious than what she had gone through before.
People who feel inferior for a long time often close themselves off.
This kind of insecurity isn’t just about being shy or afraid of people. It’s more like trying again and again but never getting any positive result, until you slowly start to deny yourself.
This doesn’t happen in one day. It builds up over time, like scars, hurting someone again and again during an age when they shouldn’t have to suffer like that.
Every time they reflect on themselves, it becomes another way to deny the part of them that wants to grow.
Over time, they shrink more and more, until one day they realize it and think, ‘Forget it. I deserve this. The world is just like this. I shouldn’t even exist.’
Elise lowered her eyes, falling into her own memories.
Back then, she also liked to observe nobles and studied many ways of speaking.
But when it came time to actually talk, she failed. She couldn’t even open her mouth, so what was the use of all those techniques?
Elise gently placed her hand on Peiya’s shoulder.
“The fact that you can tell me all this already means you’re starting to change, doesn’t it? I used to struggle with a question too. What is the meaning of a journey? Is it the result, or the scenery along the way? If it’s only about the result, then I could just kill all the bosses along the road. Some of them would be difficult, but as long as I had time, I could find a way to defeat them. Once, to find this answer, I went alone to the far north, to the territory of the Frost Demon Eagle. I wanted to find someone who could defeat me… to prove myself wrong.”
Elise paused and stopped speaking.
Peiya, who was listening closely, suddenly felt uncomfortable when she stopped.
“So what happened? Did you win?”
“Neither win nor lose. I killed it, but its ice curse permanently damaged my body. If I have to say… I think I lost. The moment I wanted to lose, I had already lost…”
“Then I think you shouldn’t have fought it at all. It hurt you so badly.”
Elise looked at Peiya and smiled faintly.
“I used to hate it too, just like you. I even thought about giving up on myself. But recently, I finally figured it out. Maybe the past me cared too much about the result and ignored the scenery along the way. I ignored the courage I had when I first picked up a sword… and I also ignored…”
Elise raised her hand and blocked the quiet moonlight above.
“…that there was already someone by my side who cared about me this much. You don’t need to apologize to me. We’re both just children who haven’t fully grown yet. We’ll slowly find our way forward together, in this unknown wilderness called the future.”