TO AND FRO

IT FELT like a good hour before the little elf girl was finally able to settle down. I didn’t blame her; being forcibly kidnapped would be traumatic even for adults, and she seemed to be only a bit older than I was.

As I comforted her, I realized how bizarre this scene must be—a four-yearold boy tenderly patting the head of an elven girl in the back of a carriage as beasts devoured four bloody corpses just next to them.

“W-What happened to those bad guys?” she sniffled, her voice still raw.

I didn’t know if telling such a young child about killing was appropriate, so I avoided it by telling her simply, “They had a… very unfortunate accident.”

She studied the hesitant expression on my face with a raised brow, then looked back down and whispered, “Serves them right.” Perhaps it was merely my reaction to seeing an elf for the first time, or perhaps, even then, I felt some inborn connection that bonded me to the girl.

Whatever it was, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Her disheveled state couldn’t mask the innate beauty that seemed to radiate from her.

She had long, gunmetal grey hair that I had mistaken for silver in the sunlight. A pair of gleaming teal eyes shaped like perfect almonds sparkled beneath long fluttering lashes, and her perky nose was so red from crying that it matched the color of her rosy lips.

Each of her individual facial features seemed to be carefully molded gems, but the fair, creamy skin of her face was the canvas that brought her features into a surreal, almost phantasmal work of art.

I helped her up to her feet before speaking again. “The people who tried to kidnap you aren’t going to chase you anymore. Do you think you can make it back home by yourself?”

She drew back in fear as a panicked expression covered her face. Tears welled up in her eyes, and both her hands clenched tightly to my shirt like claws. Her answer would have been clear even to an infant.

“Look, I need to get home too. Aren’t elves generally safe in this forest?” I sighed, trying to pry her fingers from my shirt.

She shook her head violently, like a dog drying itself, and said, “Beasts are only scared of grown-ups. My parents told me children get eaten by hounds or tree golems.”

I would normally have been amazed and intrigued about something like a tree golem, but after witnessing a demon king metamorphize into a dragon, it was becoming difficult to find anything that could surprise me.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose, trying to come up with a solution. “How long does it take to get from here to where you live?” Still holding onto my shabby shirt, she looked down and admitted, “I don’t know.”

I fought the temptation to release another sigh, since the poor girl looked like she was about to cry already, and agreed to take her back home.

The kingdom of Elenoir was quite some distance to the north, so my only hope was that there would be a teleportation gate there that could get me back to somewhere—anywhere—in Sapin.

I instructed the elf girl to wait inside the carriage while I gathered some necessities; I didn’t want her to see the mangled carcasses of the slave traders, the sight of which even I found hard to stomach.

I finally found a backpack small enough for me to wear without it dragging on the ground. I carefully folded and stuffed a small tent into it, and added a leather water skin and some dried rations.

I picked up Pinky’s knife from where it had fallen when I’d fought Danton and George, and strapped it to the front of my waist to balance the awkwardness of the heavy equipment on my back.

I thought briefly about taking the carriage back to the elven kingdom, but it was too dangerous—we would stick out like sore thumbs in the forest—so I freed the forest hounds. While they were domesticated enough to pull a carriage, they couldn’t be ridden.

When everything was ready, I stuck my head back into the carriage. “Let’s head out now,” I said, trying to sound more enthusiastic for the girl’s sake.

“Okay!” She hopped out of the carriage and I led her away, trying to steer her around the area where all the dead bodies lay.

I learned a lot about the elf girl along the way. Her name was Tessia Eralith and she had just turned five, so she was about a year older than I was— physiologically, that is.

Most elves reached puberty around age seven, but even though she was much closer to physical adulthood than I was, I still had the advantage of an adult mind in my four-year-old body.

Tessia was also a reserved girl, almost to the point of being shy. She was very polite to me, especially considering that I was younger than her, and never complained, which made her a very agreeable traveling companion.

If not for the fact that I was traveling away from my destination, I might have actually enjoyed having her with me.

When the sun began to set and the fog gathered thickly around us, we pitched the tent underneath the exposed roots of a particularly large tree for the night.

Centuries of soil erosion had washed away the earth surrounding the massive trunk, leaving its spreading roots elevated like archways.

I hadn’t been able to fit any of the supporting rods in the backpack, so I used the long rope I’d brought with me instead. I stretched it between two of the roots and hung the tent canvas over it, weighing down the canvas edges with moss-covered rocks.

After I finished setting up the tent, we sat next to it,

underneath a tree root, and I took out the dried rations.

I handed some to Tessia, and she gave a slight bow.

“Thank you very much.” “You know, you don’t have to be so polite to me. I’m younger than you, and I’d feel a lot more comfortable if you weren’t so on edge,” I replied around a mouthful of the dried rations.

“Okay, I’ll try.” She gave a shy smile.

I began wondering if she had been raised in a very strict household. Perhaps it was simply customary for elves to be so formal—maybe by telling her to be more comfortable with me, I was inadvertently inviting her to marry me.

Giving her a shrug, I continued stuffing my face with food.

“Can you tell me about the human kingdom?” she suddenly asked, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.

“What did you want to know?” “What is a human city like? How are humans? Is it true that all male humans are perverts and have more than one wife?”

I choked on the dried fruits I was chewing, spraying them out before they got caught in my windpipe.

“No. Although it isn’t against the law, usually only the nobility and the royal families have multiple wives,” I said after composing myself and wiping my mouth.

“I see now.” Her eyes were still sparkling.

Do you really? I went on, explaining a bit about the town of Ashber and my family to pass the time, then I asked her the same question. “What is it like living in Elenoir?” She pondered a bit before finding the words to explain.

“I don’t think it’s too different from what you told me about where you grew up, except the children all have to go to school to learn about our history and how to read and write. When we awaken, we get mentors assigned to us and we become their disciple.

From there, a lot of it is just training with your master.” “I see.” I pondered the differences between the education systems of the humans and elves.

While the educational method of the elves was a lot more advanced and undiscriminating, it only worked because the elven kingdom was much smaller and tight-knit by comparison to the human kingdom, but it was clear to see how the early foundations were laid for cultural differences in the older generations.

I got up from the ground and held out my hand to help Tessia up. She hesitated, and I thought she turned a little red, but decided it was just an effect of the rapidly dwindling light.

“You sleep in the tent. I’ll keep guard next to you, outside.” I could see her thinking; then she fixed her eyes on me, full of resolve.

“I don’t mind sh-sharing the tent, if you’re okay with it.” She tried to sound nonchalant but her voice betrayed her.

I replied much more quickly than I had meant to. “No, don’t worry about that. I’m not very sleepy right now anyway.” “All right.” Did her ears just droop a little?

I waited until I was sure she was inside the tent, then leaned against the massive tree trunk and began meditating.

I started inspecting my mana core. Sylvia had left me with something she called her “will” but how would it affect my mana core? Inspecting even closer, I noticed some faint markings in my mana core. Just then, I heard a noise.

“Arthur?” Tessia’s head poked out of the tent.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked.

“W-well, you see… beasts will more likely appear if they notice you, because they will see that you are a child. So, for our safety, it would be better for you to come inside the tent.” Tessia had covered her face with the tent’s opening flap, peeking out with one eye.

“Pfft.” I chuckled. Then something occurred to me. “Tessia, are you scared to sleep by yourself in the tent?” “A-absolutely not! I was just suggesting what the best choice would be for both of us to be safe,” she insisted. She nearly tumbled out of the tent.

“If that’s the case, then I’ll hide up in the tree and stay on the lookout. You know… for our safety,” I said with a wink.

“Um…” She hid herself back inside the tent for a moment before muttering softly, “…I’m scared to sleep by myself in the tent.” Smiling to myself, I opened the flap and crawled inside.

Caught by surprise, Tessia let out a small yelp, then immediately lay down with her back to me. Seeing how red her ears were, I thought about teasing the poor elf girl a little more. I easily could see myself enjoying it.

After a few silent moments, she peeked over her shoulder. “Can I hold onto your shirt?” Then, seeing her trembling, I remembered that she was just a child. I couldn’t imagine how hard it must have been for her—getting kidnapped, being separated from her family and carried off, not knowing if she would ever see them again.

Scooting closer to her, I gave her head another soft pat as she turned her body and clutched the edge of my tattered shirt. Her eyes closed in contentment and, after a few minutes, her breathing became more rhythmic.

I began drifting off to sleep too, still sitting up.

My eyes fluttered open on their own and it took a few seconds to remember where I was. I looked down to see Tessia’s head on my lap, her body curled up comfortably.

Gently shaking her awake, I whispered, “Tessia, we should head out now.” She slowly stirred awake, but when she realized the position we were in, her body shot up and she gave a surprised shriek.

“I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to!” “Don’t worry about it,” I replied with a wry smile. “Let’s fold up the tent.” With slightly pink cheeks, she nodded in response and we began packing everything up to resume our journey.

The time passed by uneventfully until, out of nowhere, I was struck with deep aches in my abdomen. The first pains occurred on the third day of the trip.

We were inside the tent, Tessia already fast asleep, when a sudden searing ache spread out from my sternum.

It disappeared soon enough, but even that brief moment was painful enough to leave me in shivers. I worried that there was something seriously wrong, but my concerns seemed unfounded when the pain did not return.

The most exciting occurrence otherwise was when a couple of forest hounds tried to get close, but I chased them away with a throw of my manareinforced knife. Our pace wasn’t impeded by any tree golems or stronger mana beasts looking for children to snack on.

I continued sleeping in the tent with Tessia at night, and she grew more comfortable around me—at least comfortable enough not to get embarrassed every time she woke up.

Our conversations became more natural and had fewer awkward silences, and she began joking around with me, even teasing me about the way I talked. In her words, I was “trying too hard to sound like an adult.” “Can you tell how far we are from Elenoir now, Tessia?” I asked, one clear morning. It was the fifth day of our journey.

Her elongated ears twitched as she began surveying our surroundings. Then she darted to a particularly crooked tree and ran her fingers over the trunk. A few moments went by in silence before she returned to me, visibly excited.

“That tree is one I used to come visit with my grandfather sometimes! I remember carving my name into the trunk when he wasn’t looking,” she said,

pointing to the tree. “We’re not too far away. I think if we quicken our pace a little bit, we’ll be able to make it by tonight.”

“Sounds good,” I answered, following behind her. As lovely as the journey had been, I needed to make plans to somehow get back to my family, and that wouldn’t be possible until I got her home.

I had to admit, though, I’d probably miss her after our time together. “Arthur? You said your family and the people close to you called you Art. I have gotten pretty close to you on our journey.”

We were on a moss-covered log bridge, crossing a stream, when she suddenly stopped. “So… can I call you Art, too?” Tessia turned around, revealing a wide smile.

“Hmm? Sure, I don’t mind,” I said, returning her smile.

“You ‘don’t mind’? You could sound a little more enthusiastic.” She stuck her tongue out at me.

“I would be honored to have you call me Art, Your Highness.” Despite my tattered clothes, I made a bow gracious enough for a noble.

“And you may also have the honor of calling me Tess,” she giggled, curtsying back at me before turning around and hopping off the log.

We continued to make haste toward our destination, with only a few quick stops to rest and replenish our stomachs. Constant use of mana rotation had kept my body from being over-strained, but it was obvious that Tess was growing wearier.

After a quick rest on a soft patch of moss, we continued forward for the last stretch. Tess and I had gotten quite close on this journey; the once shy and reserved elf girl now often wore a bright smile, which was contagious despite our less than comfortable conditions.

She continued teasing me, too, saying that I should call her ‘older sister,’ since she was a full year older than I was. I returned the teasing and imitated her crying, rubbing my eyes and yelling, “Waaa, mommy, I’m scared!”

She turned bright red and smacked my arm, then started to pout. Crossing her arms, her lower lip protruding, she stomped off before yelling, “Meanie!”

By dusk, the fog around us was getting thicker. My sense of direction was all but useless in this blasted forest—enough so that, if I were to get separated from Tess, I could easily wind up traveling in circles without even realizing it.

Then she turned to me, her face a mixture of happiness and trepidation, and said, “We’re here.” Looking around, the only things visible to me were clusters of trees and fog.

Confused, I was about to ask where ‘here’ was, but I saw Tess place both palms on a tree. She began muttering a chant, and suddenly, the fog around us was sucked into the same tree. What came into vision was a giant wooden door, which seemed to be propped up by itself on the ground.

Tess grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door. When she opened it, I was reminded of the portal Sylvia had pushed me through. The experience didn’t feel any better the second time, but I at least knew what to expect.

As we softly landed on our feet at our destination, I began rummaging through my bag to make sure I still had the stone Sylvia had entrusted to me.

Only after confirming that it was safe did I finally look up and take in the scene around us.

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