𝓞𝑣𝔩xt.𝗇𝓔t

When Haletha said the Teleportation Gate near the Arena would take us outside, I thought it would take us outside of the dome covering Lysimork.

I remembered myself thinking how absurd it was for us to use a Teleportation Gate just to get out of a Magic Barrier. Little did I know at that time that I was underestimating the meaning of Haletha’s words.

“We really are outside… Like, really outside. Who knows there is a direct Teleportation Gate that can take us to the other end of Amizanima Forest?” I laugh softly in amusement. “This makes us the first group to arrive then.”

Turning my head to Eliseus, I find her and Vibiane setting up a campfire. I blink my eyes at that as I wonder what makes them think this is the perfect time to have a campfire.

“You are going to attract people’s attention with that campfire, you know?” I remark.

“Relax, we look human enough for any human to believe we are humans,” Eliseus answers nonchalantly. “Besides, it will be boring waiting for the others while doing nothing.”

“What are you going to do with the campfire?”

“Looking at the flame flickers, and the wood crackles!” Vibiane chimes in excitedly.

Turning my head to Vibiane as I wonder if she is secretly retarded, I say, “What is the fun of looking at those things? Burning a whole forest will be more interesting than that!”

“Exactly! This is why we set up a campfire.” Eliseus gestures at the campfire. “We can’t burn Amizanima Forest down, so this is the alternative.”

“… Have you actually burned an entire forest down just because you were bored?” I ask, somehow already knowing what the answer is.

“Yeah. Is there something wrong with it?” Eliseus and Vibiane say at the same time.

Sighing helplessly to myself, I eventually join the two sitting in front of the firecamp. Due to our tight financial state, I have never gone to a summer camp in my whole life, so this is actually my first time of sitting in front of a firecamp.

I didn’t know why people were so interested in sitting around a burning wood before, but upon experiencing it myself, I finally know why they are fond of doing it.

It is warm. It’s just as simple as that. There is no magical reason why people are fond of sitting around a campfire. The night is cold, so campfire is a good way to warm your body up.

“Are you still thinking about what Arieda told you?” I hear Eliseus says.

Crack!

The burning wood crackles.

“No, I am just thinking about why the people in my hometown like to sit around a campfire. They just tell stories and stuffs, and I don’t get why they don’t just do that inside the house.”

Humming to herself, Eliseus says, “I am wondering about that too. Being outside is the same is exposing themselves to danger. I have killed many humans sitting around a campfire, so I also wonder why they never learn to stay inside.”

“Because it is fun!” Vibiane chimes in. “When you tell stories about an adventure to everyone, it will be hard for them to imagine how amazing it is if you tell it inside the house. Being outside makes it easier.”

“It is still ridiculous in my opinion,” I state, prompting Eliseus to nod her head in agreement. “Their house gives them more warmth than the campfire gives them outside. It is more comfortable telling stories inside the house.”

“Well, that might be true, but you won’t get the ‘feeling’ if you do it inside. Sitting around a campfire while listening to each other’s stories and talking to each other gives you something that you will never get when you talk to each other normally.”

“What is it?” Eliseus asked, intrigued.

“Togetherness. It’s the feeling of sharing the same fate—the feeling of knowing that your heart is really connected with the heart of the person beside you. Sitting around a campfire creates something that we can’t describe exactly with words.”

Smiling softly, Vibiane says, “It is fun… That’s all to it.”

“…”

Silence descends upon us after listening to what Vibiane has said. Eliseus and I didn’t expect such a fairly poetic string of words would ever come out of Vibiane’s mouth.

Vibiane tilts her head at our silence, and that makes us nod our head in understanding. For the first time, we find what she has said makes sense.

Sitting around a firecamp really makes you feel closer to each other. Because of that, we now know that Vibiane is brighter than we give her credit for.

“How could you know about such things even though you have no friends?” I ask after some time.

“I USED TO not have any. Now, I have two! Wait, it’s three with Arieda.” Vibiane grins.

“What about Haletha? She seems to like you.”

“Ah, Lady Haletha is too scary for me to befriend. I don’t feel worthy enough to be her friend.” Waving her hand afterwards, Vibiane continues, “Anyway, the reason why I know about such things is my firecamp experience.”

“Okay…?”

“I like to visit orphanages, you see, so setting up a firecamp has always been a must whenever I come there in the evening. We will sing, trade stories, and roast meat. It is very fun.”

“In other words?”

“I have always closely observed them and that is the conclusion I have reached.”

Vibiane hums to herself. “… I have never had the ‘feeling’ that they described whenever I sit around a campfire with the other Warriors, but with you guys, I can feel it! It’s indescribable!”

Lightly snorting in amusement, I shake my head faintly and turn to the campfire. I have just seen a new side of Vibiane—I know her better than before, so I guess she is right about what sitting around a campfire entails.

Still though, I can’t stay idle forever; my body is itching to move. I feel the need to cut something, and a tree will not suffice.

Humans came up in my mind, but I immediately shake that off since it is not good to randomly kill humans without any intention to wipe an entire human village out. It will only hinder our mission if the Kingdom detects our presence now.

“See, I told you. You really are still thinking about what Arieda said to you,” Eliseus remarks. “Are you that excited that you are going to marry a Dark Elf?”

“Excuse me?” I quirk my eyebrow. “As far as I am concerned, Arieda only kissed me on my MASK, and told me to wait for her until she is 20 because she wants to have a JOURNEY together.”

Before we stepped in the Teleportation Gate, Arieda told me she wanted to bid me her one last farewell. She ran to my side, and told me to kneel.

I agreed to it, and she ended up saying and doing what I have mentioned. I was slightly surprised at that time, but I figured it was just something innocent, so there is no need to read too deep into it.

“That is the same as saying marry me in the Elven Culture.” Eliseus nods her head simply. “This is a really great opportunity. We will be able to expand our territories after you marry Arieda. Lysimork will be ours soon.”

“Hold your horses, Madame. We have made the Queen of Lysimork feel indebted to us. We have got her in our cluth, so there is no need for a political marriage.”

“It’s faster that way.”

“It makes me feel like I am an object—I don’t like it.”

“It’s alright.” Eliseus pats my shoulder. “Marry me too, and I will accompany you through your hardships.”

“Ah, me too! We’ll be there to comfort you when you find marrying a Dark Elf exhausting. You should be grateful that we are your friends!”

“… I honestly can’t tell if I should be moved or distance myself from you two from now on.”

The two look at me weirdly as if I have just said something weird. That makes me barely able to hold myself back from massaging my forehead.

Deciding to mind my own business afterwards, I take out the Essence Peach I have got from Arieda’s garden. Luxia immediately turns rowdy again, but I ignore her and cut a slice of it with a cheap knife I have.

The inside of the peach is just like any other normal peach, but it is golden in color. The smell tells how sweet it is, but I am not too eager to eat it now.

Deciding to eat it when I get the urge to, I store it inside my Spatial Storage.

‘Hey, what have you done?! I know there is still two years, but you have got the Princess’ cherry to pop—why are you eating my peach?!’

‘Excuse me, what the fuck are you talking about?!’

Luxia is pulling on my hair now that I have taken a slice of her Essence Peach, so to immediately settle the matter, I give her the Essence Peach she wants so bad.

She stops nagging on me afterwards, and the only sound I can hear is the sound of her munching on the Essence Peach.

I turn my head to observe my troop mates’ reaction at what is happening on my head, but none of them seems to know what is going on.