第２８３堀：再会？ (Part1)
Chapter 283: A Reunion?
A Reunion?
Side: Alfin, Holy Sword User
I had become all alone.
Before I knew it, everyone was gone.
The cause was me.
My appearance was different from others: this white skin, white hair, and red eyes.
Not just gray, but white. Pure white.
My father and mother loved me for who I was, but they died protecting me from the nobles who had set their sights on my appearance.
I was sad. I was hateful.
But my father and mother had wished for my happiness until the very end.
That is why I chose to run rather than seek revenge.
However, even when I went to other villages and towns, my appearance drew attention. Strange men would approach me, people would call me a harbinger of disaster and throw stones, or I would be chased by nobles just the same. As a result, I ended up living quietly in the forest.
But it was there that I realized my own power.
I had no talent for swords or magic, and I had been living in the forest as if I were truly running away.
I tried to avoid being found by bandits and monsters, but that was impossible. One day, I encountered a goblin.
Normally, I would have run away immediately, but as luck would have it, I tripped. I thought this was the end.
"No, I don't want to die."
Yes, I whispered that.
Because I hadn't fulfilled a single one of my parents' wishes.
My happiness.
*"Someday, people who accept you, Alfin, and will live with you will appear."*
*"Yes. Just like your papa and mama, your fated person must exist in this vast world. So, live, survive, and be happy."*
I didn't want it to end in a place like this.
For my own sake, and for the sake of the parents who loved me...
But the goblin showed no signs of attacking; it looked at me, appearing bewildered.
The club it held wasn't raised, but hung limply at its side.
"...You're not going to attack?"
"Gob-gob."
When I asked that, the goblin nodded.
Nodded?
Wait, could it be that we were communicating?
"Um, do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Gob."
"I see. You're a smart goblin, aren't you?"
When I asked that, the goblin shook its head, as if to say no.
"Gob-gob."
"Eh, you mean I'm speaking the goblin language?"
"Gob."
"I see... I understand."
Yes, it seemed I had the talent of a Tamer.
I could communicate with the goblin, and I finally realized it.
Then, I asked that goblin many things.
Yes, many things. Where food was plentiful, how the goblins spent their days—I talked to it just like I would a friend.
It was likely the first friend I had ever made. It was an existence I should call that.
I felt like I had finally gotten closer to what my father and mother had wished for.
But that life didn't last long.
It seemed that my habit of talking to and befriending various monsters, starting with that goblin, had been exposed to a nearby town in a strange way. The army swarmed in, calling it a "Witch Extermination."
"Why? I just wanted to live quietly..."
I muttered, stunned.
"Gob-gob!!"
The one who pulled my hand and led me out of the house while I was in a daze was that first friend, the goblin.
While protecting me, it was giving orders to the monsters that had gathered.
But the content of those orders was something I could not accept.
*Take Alfin-chan and run; until then, we will be the decoys.*
It overlapped with the memory of my father and mother from that day.
"No!!"
I shouted reflexively.
I didn't want to lose anything precious ever again.
"There's the witch over there!!"
"Shoot! Shoot her!!"
My shout had given me away to the enemy, and arrows came flying.
I could see one flying straight toward me.
Slowly, so slowly, it flew toward me, and as it pierced my chest...
"Gob!"
It pierced the goblin that had shielded me.
"Ahhh!?"
I screamed and tried to approach the goblin, but when the goblin gave an order, the surrounding monsters placed me onto the back of a boar monster.
"Gob-gob."
*I'm sorry. It seems I can't go with you.*
It said that and shook its head.
"No, I don't want that."
Tears streamed down my cheeks.
From that day in the forest until today, I had spent every day with him.
He was like family.
"Gob-gob."
*It's okay. You'll make plenty more friends in the forest over there.*
Saying that, he turned his back.
"GOB-!!"
*Everyone, we defend this place to the death!!*
*OOOHHH!!*
The monsters who had decided to stay behind raised their voices in response to his words.
And the monsters who had decided to flee with me began to run all at once.
"Wait... him, the goblin..."
I realized then that I hadn't even given him a name.
I was such a fool! I had only told him my own name, and I hadn't given him—or any of them—a single name!
I couldn't even scream.
If I screamed, I would be wasting their resolve.
But reality was cruel...
"Oh my, a large group, aren't you?"
Where we had fled, a group of armed women was waiting.
There weren't many of them.
But I knew. They were strong.
Ever since I awakened to my Tamer powers, I could sense the magic power contained within others.
The monsters around me were growling in intimidation, but if the battle started, we would be the ones defeated.
"Everyone. Calm down. I will talk to them. Please, I'm begging you."
When I said that, the ones who had been growling quieted down.
"Ho. So it's just as the rumors said?"
The woman standing in front of them said that, looking me up and down.
I had to negotiate with this person, or at least buy enough time to let the monsters who followed me escape.
"Um, please. I don't care what happens to me, but please let these monsters go."
"Huh?"
"They won't attack any humans!! Please!!"
I said that, knelt on the ground, and bowed my head.
*Please, run while you still can.*
*Their goal is me, after all.*
That's what I had thought, but...
"Ah, no, no. We came to save you, and all of you."
"Eh?"
I couldn't understand.
The words themselves.
Because, other than my parents, no one had ever said such words to me before.
"Now, quickly, into this dungeon."
"In... into a dungeon?"
And to tell me to flee into a hole that eats people—a dungeon.
I didn't understand what it meant.
"Ah, as I thought, she hasn't caught up yet."
"Well, that's to be expected. You're being unreasonable as always."
"Though, there is the problem of how to explain it so she can understand."
While I was in a state of confusion, the armed women standing behind her spoke up one after another.