第２６掘：残る苦味 (Part2)
"...!? Don't apologize!! Doing that won't bring anything back!! ...Don't apologize... even if... even if I killed you... nothing would come back, so..."
After saying that, Milly sank to the floor, her voice failing as she let out only muffled sobs.
She understood it herself. It wasn't that everything was Elju's fault, but she had nowhere else to direct her feelings.
"Excuse me, Big Brother, can we continue this talk tomorrow? To be honest, I don't feel very well either."
"Me too. I'm sorry, but please give us some time to process this."
Ratz and Eris said this while supporting Milly.
In the end, while it wasn't all Elju's fault, she was the root cause. There was no mistake about that. It was the truth.
"Yeah, you've all got a lot to deal with. Rest for now. I'll have food brought to your rooms. You should take a dip in the open-air bath to clear your heads."
"Thank you for your concern. Well then, Big Brother, we'll be heading back to our rooms."
As Ratz and the others left, the beastman trio followed.
I noticed just now that Tori and Riel were holding Kaya back.
"...Don't mess with me. Because of you, everyone in the village..."
"Kaya, calm down."
"Kaya-san, please endure it for Yuki-san's sake."
Kaya's voice was flat and quiet, making it hard to hear, but this time it sounded incredibly heavy.
They left the room, practically pushing Kaya out.
Left behind were me, the three children, Mauve and his group, plus Elju and Oriel.
"Lady Elju..."
Oriel spoke to her, but Elju remained with her head bowed.
The ones who broke the silence were Aslin and Firia.
Holding hands, they stood before Elju and said:
"U-Um, Lady Elju. Thank you very much!!"
"Thank you for saving us!!"
"Eh?"
Finally, Elju looked up. Her face showed she had no idea why she was being thanked.
The two continued.
"Lady Elju might not remember, but you healed the injuries Firia-chan and I had!!"
"That's right, my arm was cut by a soldier, and the bleeding wouldn't stop. That's when Lady Elju rushed over and healed it!!"
Aslin and Firia recounted the event with animated gestures.
"I didn't really understand the difficult talk from earlier. But the magic Lady Elju used to heal us was warm. So, thank you. We're only alive here today because of Lady Elju!!"
"Exactly!! I don't quite get what Milly was saying, but Lady Elju is kind. You're not bad!!"
When the two finished speaking, tears began to stream down Elju's face, which had been as expressionless as a Noh mask until then.
"...I'm sorry. ...Thank you. ..."
She pulled the two into an embrace and repeated those words.
"U-Um, Lady Elju. Why are you apologizing? We're the ones who should be thanking..."
"???"
The two were completely bewildered.
"I'm sorry, you two. Please stay like that for a little longer. I'm sure Lady Elju will calm down soon."
Oriel watched the scene with tears welling in her eyes as well.
"Well then, I guess we'll head back to our rooms too."
With that, Mauve and his group left the room.
"So, what are you going to do, Labyris?"
"I'll wait for those two, of course. Aren't they adorable?"
"Are you planning to sit on top of me until then?"
"...Of course. This is my special seat."
Labyris said that as she settled deeper onto my lap.
"Can't be helped. I'll think about tonight's dinner then. What do you want?"
"Anything Yuki makes is delicious."
Man, this girl just casually requested a home-cooked meal.