06. The Last of The Elves

"I still can't believe you shot at Lord Drav... Lord Lucien."

"Look, I don't know how that happened. I swear I was aiming for the target in front of me!"

In vain did the man try and calm the angry girl. She wouldn't have any of it.

"As I said, it's fine. Little Averin, you shouldn't treat our guest so harshly." Lucien cut in with a calm demeanor. His dignified look, young face, and long pale white hair radiated the superiority he was trying to hide.

"Haha! Little Averin! That's a wonderful nickname! I have to start using it more!" the mountain of a man calling himself Garron proclaimed.

"Stop it, Garron! We don't want to see our little hero get mad. Or do we? I bet that would be cute~."

The playful lady who made her presence known with her sultry intervention was Thorne Velmira, a renowned sorceress whom Averin had mentioned earlier to Yumino. From the way she was presented back then, the elf decided to keep his distance from her; at least until he could get a clearer read on her personality.

"Hey~! Why does the cute elf walk so far away from me?" the sorceress asked in a coquettish voice. As things stand, regardless of how much Yumino tried, the lady already seemed to have her eyes set on him.

"Shouldn't we let him calm down a bit? Lord Lucien also seems to have a hard time getting a word in around us," a man smiling bright enough to rival the shining sun said.

"Ahem, if the hero says so, then that's what we shall do!" Garron answered jokingly.

Hearing the word hero, something clicked inside Yumino. Looking at the group following him, he couldn't help but see what seemed to be a hero party pulled out of fantasy stories. Every one of them fit their role perfectly.

The huge man carried a claymore to match his size, dressed in light armor—his skin was probably thick enough to stop bullets.

Then there was the lazy witch, unfazed by anything around her, having reached a level of power that made everything seem trivial—except for the stunning looks she took great care of.

And finally, the surprisingly average-looking hero, carrying only a sword that was probably infused with an ancient curse.

Together, they formed the perfect trio.

The only one who seemed out of place was...

"You just thought of something really rude, didn't you?" the little girl—whom he met dressed in heavy armor just a day before—said with an angry face.

"Oh~. Looking at our dear Averin? And here I thought I had a chance... I guess her cuteness can't be turned down by anyone these days~," the taller lady said as she played with her long, dark hair, her attempt at playing vulnerable having been seen through by everyone.

"All right, now that we have calmed down, let us show Yumino why I've brought him here."

Lucien took advantage of the moment of peace and directed everyone's attention to the modest wooden house at the end of the road.

"There she is!"

"Hm?"

Yumino did not know what to say. No, he did not even know what to expect, so he looked behind at the adventurer group—his eyes asking for a hint at what, or who, was about to come out of that house.

"I'm sorry, brother! I feel like this has to be a surprise for you," said the hero—the man going by the name of Hale Gavin.

Turning his gaze to the house, Yumino felt his heartbeat quicken more and more. He couldn't explain the excitement, but the mere thought of a surprise was enough to capture his full attention.

As he looked at it, the door of the wooden house slowly opened, and a girl with pointy ears ran out.

"Her name is Nima. Fernbelle Nima."

Before the tall, pale lord could introduce her, the girl had already sprinted up to just a couple of steps away from Yumino.

Her eyes shone with excitement as she was staring at the elven features of the man, but it was not long before her face turned bright red and she took a couple of steps back with her head bowed.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" she said in a high-pitched voice.

"Ahem. Nice to meet you! Call me Nima! I am the last elf of Alenrius. Or, at least that's what I thought until you came here."

The elven girl was trying her best to hide her excitement, even if she had failed to do so ever since running out the door.

"Er... Yumino! Nice to meet you too."

But Yumino could not bring himself to be as excited as her. And the others caught on quickly.

"Oh... He must be tired," Lucien intervened. Maybe we should let them talk for a bit, and then let our dear Yumino gets some well-deserved rest.

"Rest? How did we jump all the way to that part? Do I even have a place where I can sleep around here?" Yumino asked.

"Well, I was thinking that since the two of you have a lot to catch up on as fellow survivors, you could stay with Nima for a while."

"Huh? Me and her? I don't even know... No... Is that even cool with her?"

Yumino looked at Nima for support, but the girl just shily nodded in agreement at what Lucien proposed.

"No way... And you guys?"

"No need to worry about us, my guy! We came here just to meet the brave survivor," Garron answered.

“That’s right, dear. We’ll leave the two of you to it. Just don’t forget about this poor little witch, okay~?” Velmira said, cutting Garron off. 

“You should let me have a look at you when we get the chance~. I’m dying to know what kept you going for so long~,” she ended with a wink.

"That's not what I meant at all..."

But the cries of help coming from the elf being thrown into an awkward situation did not reach the group. They all kept their distance and threw suggestive looks their way—all except Averin, who covered her face with her palms, letting only the tips of her red ears pop out of her hair.

Defeated, Yumino watched as the others left, and then turned to the girl he had just met.

"So...Nima, was it?"

The girl who was avoiding his gaze until then suddenly lifted her face. Her innocent smile and small nod of the head made Yumino feel a bit more relaxed.

"Yes! Fernbelle Nima! I am an elf of Alenrius, just like you! To be honest, I was a bit surprised when they said they'd found another survivor after such a long time... I thought they may be pulling my leg, but you're really here! I'm so glad I am not the last one left!"

The hyperactive girl had once again unconsciously gotten too close to Yumino; only this time, he was the one who took a step back.

It was hard for Yumino to tell the difference between elves from different elfdoms, and this was the first time meeting another one of his kin, but he did notice some similarities between his clothes and hers, from accessories all the way to the color—the only difference being how her clothes were adjusted to fit a lady's body.

"Is that so... I take it there really is nobody else from Alenrius around?"

The girl's smile turned upside down after hearing his question.

"No, they're all gone. The undead attack had already wiped out most of our kin, but even the few who survived started disappearing one by one. For the longest time, I thought I would also poof out of existence, but for some reason I alone remained."

Nima remembered her rich experience of unsaid farewells.

"Even the last one who came here... For some reason he decided to betray us and tried to assassinate Lord Lucien. He was exiled from the castle together with the other conspirators. A few days later, news came of their mysterious deaths..."

"Er... It's ok. You don't have to force yourself to remember...Hm?"

Yumino couldn’t finish his sentence, because as soon as he started speaking, a pair of big, glassy eyes turned to him—and made the elf suddenly lose his train of thought.

At 24 years old, Yumino was well past the age where something like this could make his heart falter—or so he thought. But it turned out that Nima’s small face and the straight white hair fluttering slightly above her shoulders had caught his attention long ago.

"Ahem... Well then, for now, how about I get some shut-eye?"

"Oh? How could I not notice? You must be so tired. Being all alone out there… Of course! Let me prepare the bed!" the girl said as she ran inside.