(EP-194.2) Break #3
194 – A Short Break #3
At this moment, I heard someone harrumph. When I turned my head, I saw Elga, who had been watching the situation with crossed arms from the corner, finally spoke up as if she was unable to bear it any longer.
“Do you take Theo for a fool? We know you elves got something up your sleeves. So can’t you get to the point already?”
“…….”
Deneb’s eyes narrowed at those words.
“This person is?”
I answered honestly in regards to Elga’s identity.
“She is Lady Elganes Von Lioness.”
“Lioness Family…!”
The elves trembled, not out of fear, but rather with joy as if they just found a wild ginseng root during a leisurely mountain hike.
“I am Deneb. Here is my business card-.”
“Alright, if you’re done with your business, you can leave now. You’ve given your gifts, it’s done!”
“… Indeed, you have a fiery temper as rumored. Very well. I’ll be in Ark for a while, so there’s still another time, we’ll leave for now.”
Clap, clap.
As Representative Deneb applauded, the elves who had placed the items rushed out of the room once again.
* * *
My room, which was already quiet, felt even quieter after the elves left.
Still, the “Frostbloom” they gave had quite an effect, making the room pleasantly cool. It was really good. This just made me wish for a fan now.
“Hey, look at this. There’s melon too.”
Elga, rummaging through the fruit basket, picked up a large, round fruit like the ones she carried.
As Elga said, it was a melon. The only difference from the melon I knew was its smooth and golden peel.
“Isn’t this a golden melon? This is really expensive and hard to get… I only had it once on my seventh birthday.”
If Elga, who grew up with a golden spoon in an aristocratic household, was impressed, it really must be a rare fruit that was hard to come by.
Staring at it for a while, Elga began to speak in a soft, low voice.
“I personally don’t want to, but I think the fairy in my stomach wants to eat this?”
… Didn’t she act like this when she ate the ice cream earlier? Still, fruits and mothers went well together, so I gladly agreed.
“Please help yourself. Should I cut it for you?”
“No, I can cut it myself.”
Elga skillfully wielded the knife and divided the fruit into equal slices. The cold melon was much cooler and sweeter than the ice cream I had earlier.
Delicious!
「You have consumed a nymph-friendly fruit…!
Gained job experience for ‘Half-Fairy’. +50」
I could feel the fairy cells inside me rejoice.
It had a very fairy-friendly taste, and I felt as if my exhausted muscles and nerves were refreshed like being washed with cold water.
My muscle soreness seemed to be improving.
After finishing the melon in a rush, Elga, wearing a satisfied expression, looked around and said.
“So many gifts came in. See, I knew it would be like this.”
“Did you know this would happen?”
“They all want to curry favor with you. Mages above the 5th Rank would receive special treatment anywhere. Those cunning gray elves simply managed to come first.”
‘I see.’ Elga or Mirna did warn me that many people would visit me after my victory in the duel.
I had forgotten about it because I was sick in bed, but now I realized that my achivement had caused quite a stir.
“You might need to be careful now. You’re hiding your identity, but since you’ve become famous, there will definitely be people trying to dig into your past.”
“That’s true…”
“… So how long are you going to hide it? You can tell me.”
Elga gently wrapped her arms around my waist, trying to coax out what she wanted from me.
“You and I are family now. Do you still want to hide things from me?”
Elga seemed curious about what I was hiding. It was understandable. If I were in her shoes, I wouldn’t be able to resist my curiosity either.
But some things just couldn’t be revealed.
“Elga-nim, do you know the story of ‘The Fairy and the Woodcutter’? It’s about a woodcutter who married a fairy, while hiding her wings from her. He only returned them after they had children.”
“The Fairy and the Woodcutter? Are you talking about the Angel and the Hunter? The hunter hides the angel’s halo until they have three children, and then she flies away to heaven.”
It seemed that the story circulated here under the names “Angel and Hunter”. However, there was no problem because the content was similar to the fairy tale I knew.
Seuk.
I said confidently, raising one finger.
“That’s it. I can’t just have Elga-nim fly into the sky after recovering and learning the truth like the angel. I need at least four children to feel reassured.”
I explained. It was a clever story that fit quite well. It was a perfectly logical argument in its own way. Yet, Elga suddenly stopped hugging me and sat up, furrowing her brows.
“What are you saying, now? That’s fine if you don’t want to tell me.”
There was a pout on her face. Elga sometimes acted like a child, huh.
But it was easy to ease her sulking. All I had to do was tickle her armpits or sides with my fingers.
“Fuhuhu-! Hey, what are you doing right now? I’ll get angry!”
“I am looking for whether Elga-nim has wings or feathers.”
“Hey, where are you putting, hands, aang…! You are dead to me…!”
In the cool room. Whether it was because of Elga’s company or the effects of the golden melon, after a day of rest, I felt much better.
Edited by: faker
