Chapter 15: Present
Chapter 15: Present
ELIAS led Aki by the hand as they weaved through the crowds of people, when suddenly vibrantly colored gems caught Aki’s eye as they neared the city square. Necklaces and bracelets crafted from precious metals neatly lined a street stall’s storefront in front of them.
How pretty. I wonder what kinds of jewels exist in this world. But it’s not like I have any money on me. I’ll just want what I can’t have if I look.
Aki stopped in front of the store, accidentally tugging Elias back through their connected hands. He curiously turned toward her. “Is something wrong, Aki?”
“Ah, um, it’s noth—”
“You’re saying it’s nothing when it’s actually something again. Don’t be so shy. Did something catch your eye?”
Not sure of what to say, she quietly pointed at the jewelry store. Elias nodded understandingly.
“Oh, that makes sense. Shall we take a look since you’re interested?”
“Why?”
“Because Arnie once told me ladies love jewelry. We have plenty of time until we have to meet up with Johann and Leo. We can take a little detour,” Elias cheerfully exclaimed.
He said it was okay, but they still needed to go shopping and drop by the Adventurers’ Guild before the day ended. They weren’t in any position to pretend they had spare time. Aki wondered if it was all right for Elias to indulge her.
Seeing past her reluctance, Elias forcefully pulled her along by their connected hands.
“Whoa! Elias! Hang on a minute!” she raised her voice in a hysterical squeak, surprised by her body suddenly jolting forward.
Elias proceeded toward the jewelry shop without heeding her call to stop. The way he stubbornly wouldn’t change his mind once he decided something was one of his traits as the Hero.
He turned only his face toward her as he continued leading her by the hand. “Our adventure is, assuredly, very important, but we also need to take a breather now and then. If there’s anything you really like, I’ll get it for you as a present.”
“Whaaat?! Y-You don’t have to! Really! I wouldn’t look nice wearing jewelry anyways!” Aki frantically objected as she tried to stop the overeager Elias by pulling back on his hand.
Honestly, I would love to check out this world’s jewelry, but we have more important things to do right now and, most of all, I feel bad letting Elias buy anything for me. As his inexperienced Right-hand, I’ve only slowed the others down.
Elias abruptly stopped with a conflicted look at her hesitance. He turned toward her as she almost smacked her nose against his back again and snapped his fingers as if he came up with a great compromise.
“Okay, how about we do it this way? I’ll buy the same item and we can both wear something new. You won’t have to feel bad about it that way, right?”
“No, no, no! How did you come to that conclusion?!” Aki promptly corrected Elias’ off-kilter suggestion.
She was thrilled at the idea of wearing matching accessories with him, but a man and woman wearing matching jewelry usually signified something more about their relationship.
Elias probably isn’t concerned by stuff like that though. He’s terribly dense when it comes to anything romantic. He most likely suggested the idea without any awareness of the double meaning it could have. It’s quite horrible having someone as remarkably handsome and skilled as Elias be utterly oblivious.
Aki sighed heavily and put her hand to her head again. Elias watched her, befuddled by her adverse reaction to his suggestion.
“Aki, jewelry is a form of armor in this world. A lot of jewelry provides status enhancements, which is why I would feel better if you equipped a piece too.”
“Status enhancements?”
“Yes. You can dress up with jewelry, but it’s also armor. For example…” Elias brushed away the hair covering his left ear. A tiny aqua blue earring pierced his ear. “This earring and the emblem brooch keeping my cloak in place are both jewelry armor. Leo has lots of rings and earrings on, right? Those are all for increasing his magic power levels.”
“Oh, now that you’ve mentioned it…”
Rings covered fingers on both Leo’s hands and several earrings pierced both his ears. Aki thought he wore them as a fashion statement, but apparently they each served a purpose. Elias won her over and snatched up her hand again.
“Now that you know, you can stop feeling bad about it. Let’s go, Aki!”
“Aaaah, Elias! Wait a second!”
As one would expect of the Hero, once he decided something was for the good of others, he rushed to do it without listening to anyone else’s opinion. Aki eventually ended up in front of the jewelry shop after being dragged there by Elias. She hid behind his back, when the large man who owned the shop noticed them and spread his arms open in an exaggerated greeting.
“Welcome! Welcome! We’ve got lots of high quality pieces here unlike other shops! Oh?” While the owner welcomed them, his jaw dropped. “Man, oh, man, we’ve got a drop-dead gorgeous young man here. You took me by surprise. Is he your boyfriend, miss?”
“Uh…what?!” Aki slowly and quietly gazed up at Elias. Him being a drop-dead gorgeous young man is a fact, but…why did he think he’s my boyfriend?
Aki ran her eyes from his head down to his hands and realized he was still firmly holding her hand. It was hard not to see them as a couple when they were strolling down the streets hand in hand. She knew it was their fault they were seen as a couple, but having someone ask if they were together…was embarrassing. She shook off his hand.
“H-He is not my boyfriend. I swear! Elias is…um…just a friend! Yes, just a friend!” she explained in a desperate attempt to vindicate herself.
The shop owner leaned back a little, grinning ear to ear. “You’re kidding! What friends hold hands like that?”
“Friends like Elias do.”
“Aki, what do you mean—”
“You keep quiet, Elias,” she snapped to hide her shyness. Elias visibly hung his head in dejection. She thought his puppy-like reaction was as cute as ever, but it wasn’t the time to be admiring him.
The shop owner stared at Elias hard enough to burn a hole through him after hearing what Aki said. “…Elias? You couldn’t possibly be the Hero Elias, could you?”
“You know Elias, mister?” Aki asked.
“I’m not old enough to be a mister, call me—er, let’s not get into that. If there’s someone in this world who doesn’t know about the Hero Elias I’d like to meet ‘em. This is my first time seeing him in person. I’ve heard the rumors about him having blond hair and green eyes, and it looks like they were spot on. I never thought he’d be so storybook handsome though,” the owner answered in amazement.
“I see. You're renowned to the point there’s no one who doesn’t know your name in this world, but your appearance still isn’t well-known, Elias?”
He only just embarked on his journey to defeat the Dark Lord under the Hero title—it made sense no one knew what he looked like yet.
“Probably. It could be due to the fact I’ve been trying not to stand out. The Hero can be conspicuous in a bad way sometimes,” Elias assented.
The shop owner frowned sympathetically. “It makes sense the world’s Hero would have it rough too. Well, if every city and town you went to clamored over you as the great Hero like they do in the capital, you’d suffocate. But I’d say it’s safe for you to relax here.
“This city hasn’t deified the Hero as much as the capital has. There’s a tendency for folks around here to view the Hero as just another Job class among Adventurers. We flourish on international relations compared to the capital and are a hotbed of people from different countries, so the folks here have a more flexible outlook on the world.”
The shop owner picked up a single bracelet and forthrightly held it in front of Aki’s face.
“Um?” Aki bleated, her eyes rounding on the bracelet.
He gave a jolly laugh, showing his white teeth. “As sympathetic as I sound, I’d still gain a lot of prestige if the great Hero did his shopping here. What do you think of this bracelet, miss?”
The bracelet was made of silver that had been straightened with starch syrup and then twisted. A closer look at the exterior revealed narrow letters carved in tight rows around it. Troubled over how to react, Aki looked at Elias. She couldn’t bluntly refuse the owner, but she had no intentions of buying anything either.
Elias smiled at her and accepted the bracelet from the shop owner. He brought it to his face and ran his eyes along the letters running from the right to the left.
“Hmm. This bracelet has been engraved with a Solar Magic spell.”
“Oh, that’s the system of magic Johann is skilled in. The one for restorative and support class spells, right?”
“Yeah. From what I can deduce from this character string, this bracelet will increase the vitality of the wearer.”
“It increases vitality?”
“Yup. For instance, even if you take a fatal blow from a monster, you can escape death with this bracelet’s divine protection. Maybe it would be easier for you to think of it as increasing your resilience.”
It might be reassuring if I equip more defense items because my offensive abilities are close to nil. But I’m not capable of buying it right now… It’ll be impossible to buy until I can start earning this world’s currency.
Aki went to turn down the owner, when Elias softly took hold of her dangling left hand. She blinked at him. “Do you need something, Elias?”
“Yes, can you lend me your arm for a moment? I think it should be just right, but…”
He lifted her wrist and slid the silver bracelet in his other hand on. The bracelet swayed around her wrist with just the right amount of room between the metal and her skin.
Elias gave a satisfied nod. “As I suspected, it looks great on you. Very cute. So I’ll buy—”
“Whaaat?! Hang on!” Aki grabbed Elias’ arm.
She had never received a present from a man before. Not to mention it would be a present from Elias, who she was just beginning to see in a romantic light, so she simply couldn’t accept it from him. She quickly removed the bracelet and pushed it back into his hand.
“Elias, I really don’t need it! But thank you for thinking of me! I will be sure to buy it for myself when I start making money!”
“Why? You don’t need to be concerned about—”
“U-U-Ummm, I will go ahead to our next destination now!”
“Wh-What? Wait a minute, Aki!” Elias called out to her.
Aki dashed from the shop like a lizard abandoning its tail to flee.
She was honestly thrilled he wanted to buy her a bracelet. There was no greater joy than receiving a present from someone you like. But how could she receive a present from him when she still hadn’t done anything to repay him yet? She didn’t dare inconvenience him further.
I ran away thinking not letting him buy it for me would be less of an inconvenience, but maybe it would be better for Elias if I had the bracelet protecting me because I can’t protect myself… If that’s why he wanted to get it for me, didn’t my actions just now actually do the reverse of what I wanted? Maybe that was a thoughtless reaction on my part, Aki gloomily berated herself as she tottered aimlessly through the city, unable to face him the way she felt now.
***
LEFT behind by Aki who ran off in the blink of an eye, Elias stood dumbfounded as he watched her back grow smaller in the distant throng of people. He had no idea why she objected so strongly to him giving her a present.
“…Did I do something offensive?”
Did she dislike the bracelet’s design? No, no. Maybe she couldn’t accept the bracelet’s status enhancement effect? I thought increasing her vitality was for the best though. Or maybe… just maybe, she was disgusted over receiving a present from me?
Elias paled at his terrifying conclusion. If that’s true, it’s going to be quite the blow to me. Honestly, I think of her as a kind and incredible girl. As I told her, I want her to stay smiling beside me forever. That’s why I wanted to see how happy she would be if I gave her a present. I wanted her to wear what I got her. But my gesture ended in a crushing failure…
Feeling like the world had ended around him, Elias stood there unmoving.
The jewelry shop owner couldn’t hold back his laughter after watching the whole fiasco from beginning to end and seeing how depressed Elias was about it.
“Pft! Ahahaha! Even the only Hero in this world, who’s a man of peerless good looks, and thought to be unbeatable and irresistible, can be rejected by a lady! I just got a front row seat to the spectacle of the year!” His booming laughter echoed down the street.
Elias tried hard not to be recognized as the Hero, yet he had to go and stand out in this terrible way—he wanted to cry for all sorts of reasons now. The shop owner spread his arms out to comfort the weakly deflated Elias.
“Lord Hero, it’s no big deal if you get rejected by the lady only once. Love requires tactics. It’s too soon to give up.”
“Tactics?”
Tactics have always been hard for me when I love to charge straight at the problem. But he’s right. What’s one loss? It’s too soon to give up. Isn’t it a key trait for the Hero to never give up? Elias tried to pump himself up, but let out a heavy sigh from the heartbreak and grief as he pulled a gold coin from his money pouch. He handed the coin to the shop owner.
“I will buy this bracelet. Is this enough to cover it?”
The shopkeeper nodded taking the coin. “Oh, do you plan on giving it to her? Good luck.”
“She might hate me for being too persistent, but…she is someone I owe a debt of gratitude. I want to do something to please her, even if it’s not much.”
Yet my efforts are turning out to be fruitless in that regard, he thought sadly.
“I see, I see. The great Hero has his hands full with love and adventure.”
Elias weakly shook his head at the owner’s comment.
He deeply cared for Aki. But if he were put on the spot to answer whether his feelings were love or not…he couldn’t give a clear answer. He had never developed romantic feelings for someone before. He felt he didn’t have the qualifications to love someone anyway.
I’m different from everyone else in this world.
“No, we really do not have that kind of relationship. She is someone I can never have no matter how much I yearn for her,” he said quietly as if to convince himself.
“Is that so? If you’re holding yourself back because of your duty as Hero, I think you don’t have to let that bother you. Even if you shoulder the responsibility of being the Hero who saves the world, you’re still just another human being. If you’ve got your heart set on a girl, you should pursue her.”
“No…I am not qualified to have a special person in my life. The Hero protects the world, but not one specific person. Because even if I can save the world, I might not be able to save the person dear to me.”
The Hero exists for the world and fights for the world. Even if I find someone I want to protect, there may come a time when I have to prioritize my duty over the person I love. It’s possible that will result in me fulfilling my duty without being able to protect the one I love so dearly. I’m dreadfully frightened of that happening.
In which case, it’d be better to never let anyone become important to me. I just have to live without getting attached to anyone or anything in this world. I’ve lived following that conviction. By doing so, I can fulfill my duty alone, detached from everything else. Everything can finish without anyone getting hurt, including myself…
I’m an anomaly created by the Goddess. The anomaly can continue being an anomaly by fighting alone until the end of its days. I was born for that sole reason. The Goddess created me only for that.
Elias bit the inside of his cheek and stored the bracelet he accepted from the owner in his pouch. He needed to look for Aki now and apologize if he had offended her somehow.
If she doesn’t mind, I hope she will accept this bracelet from me. If she did, it would… Elias exhaled shortly, bowed his head to the owner, and gallantly slipped out of the square.
***
ELIAS found Aki absently staring at the ocean near the pier. What was she thinking as she stared unmoving at the horizon with her brown hair swept up by the sea breeze?
How should I call out to her? Elias stilled for a moment to debate the best approach, but decided there was no need for forced formalities.
“Aki, what are you looking at?” he asked with a natural cheeriness in his voice.
“Elias…” Aki looked over her shoulder apologetically at him before returning her gaze to the sea. “Um, I was looking at the scenery. No matter how much of this world I see, I’m always taken by its beauty.”
“Thank you for complimenting our world,” he said, stepping forward to stand beside her. She quickly bowed her head to him.
“Um, Elias, I’m so sorry for running off out of the blue like that. I was just so embarrassed.”
Embarrassed? The word caught him off guard.
“I didn’t mind, but…did I do something to upset you? If so, then I’m the one who needs to apologize.”
“N-No! I just, um, overreacted…”
“Overreacted?”
What does she mean by that? Elias tilted his head in confusion. Aki lowered her reddening face. Perhaps the gentlemanly thing to do is to not pry any further.
Elias let the conversation end there and squinted at the distant horizon.
This is the world I have to protect. It’s beautiful, vast, and truly a heavy thing to carry on my shoulders. But it’s something only I can carry. Now that I think about it, what kind of world was she raised in? Elias glanced at Aki beside him, his curiosity suddenly piqued.
“Aki, what kind of world are you from? Is it similar to my world?”
The historic legend about the world, known as The Tale of the Hero and the Dark Lord, spoke of the existence of a parallel world, but didn’t specify anything about the kind of world it was or where it was. The only thing garnered from it was that the other world wasn’t threatened by monsters and was unbelievably peaceful.
The reason Aki’s world was only written about like a fairytale was probably on purpose to keep either world having too much influence on the other. But the idea of an unknown world tickled at Elias’ adventurer’s heart. Immensely curious, he leaned forward excitedly to hear what she had to say. Aki giggled at him.
“Oh, Elias, please don’t look at me with that twinkle in your eyes. Boys and men alike love this kind of topic, don’t they? My world, huh…” Aki looked at the sky as she reminisced about her world. “I believe it isn’t all too different from this world. People have established and built up their countries where there was once nature… A lot of novels and storybooks depict monsters and magic, so it’s possible some of the books in my world are actually about things in your world.”
“I see. Maybe our worlds are connected by being secretly conveyed through fairytales. What kind of place did you live in, Aki? Was it similar to this Port City?”
“Hmm, I lived somewhere with a lot more buildings than here. I lived in a metropolis—a flourishing city of sorts—and spent every day slaving over my work. I never imagined my monotonous routine would end by suddenly getting summoned to another world, meeting you and the others, and setting off on an adventure. You never know what life has in store for you,” she mused with a smile.
Elias was profoundly relieved. He worried all along that they had destroyed her life by forcing her into their messy circumstances. But from the look on her face, she had taken favorably to her current situation.
“I hope you can come to my world someday too, Elias,” Aki playfully suggested.
“Me? Go to your world?”
“Yeah. You’re so cool you would probably stand out just by walking down the street in my hometown. I want to see what you would look like wearing my world’s clothing. I think you’d look great in jeans and a T-shirt. Jeans and a hoodie are a must try as well!”
“Jee-ens? Whooo-dy? Are those the names of armor in your world?” Elias marveled.
Those are surprisingly fashionable sounding armaments. Seems like it’ll take me some time to remember her world’s equipment.
Aki stared at him blankly before she bent over laughing. “Ahaha! Armor! I never thought of it that way!”
“Did I say something funny? Anyways, there’s a possibility I could get summoned to your world too. You were able to come to this world, so I might be able to go to yours if the opposite terms are met. I would love to go. I want to go on an adventure in your world, Aki.”
“An adventure, eh? If we put it in my world’s terms, maybe it would be like a date. We could go shopping together, eat delicious food at a café, and go for a stroll through a rose garden—aw shucks, this is too embarrassing!”
“OW!” Elias fell forward at Aki’s sudden hard whack to his back. Flabbergasted, he rubbed his aching back.
Aki flashed him with the most radiant smile. “But it would be amazing if that day came! Anywhere would be fun if I went there with you, Elias!”
“Yeah,” he nodded, taking in her adorable smile.
He was certain it would be a lot of fun to travel around exploring her world with her. He also wanted to know what kind of life she lived there. Did she have a family? Friends? A romantic partner?
I see. I must be fascinated by her more than I thought. Attracted to the girl who kindly extended her hand to me in the solitude I’ve lived in as the Hero.
Elias took a deep breath to steady his resolve and took the bracelet he just bought out of his pouch.
“What’s up?” Aki asked.
He bashfully turned his gaze away from her as he held out the bracelet. “…Um, Aki, I wanted to give this to you.”
He timidly stole a peek of her face to see her eyes were as wide as saucers.
“Did you buy the bracelet we were looking at earlier?”
“I-I did. You would honor me by accepting this modest present. It’s full of my feelings of gratitude to you for saving me from my loneliness in this world.” Elias gently took hold of Aki’s hand and slid the bracelet onto her wrist. The instant it snuggly fell into place, the letters engraved on it glowed platinum.
“Oh? Did it just light up?”
“Yes. Thank goodness. Looks like the invocation worked well. I added a smidge of my power as Hero into the bracelet. I let some of my energy flow into it. It should act as a bonus to the enhancement effect already on the bracelet.”
More like triple the original effect, rather than just a mere bonus. He put the strength he was endowed with as Hero into it as he thought of her. His small bud of developing feelings for her would only strengthen the effect further. He laid his hand on top of the bracelet swaying from her wrist.
“I put my energy in it while thinking of you, so the effect I added to it won’t activate unless you wear it. That’s why this bracelet is one of a kind that only I can give to you.” He smiled sanguinely, leaning over to peek at her face—she had her hands covering her mouth and tears in her eyes in an expression overcome with emotion.
Oh no! Did I make her cry? Was I too forceful in my attempt to give it to her after all?
“I-I’m sorry, Aki! I wasn’t trying to make you cry—”
“N-No! You have the wrong idea, Elias!” Aki interrupted the panicking Elias. She wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up at him. She stepped forward and leaped into his chest.
“Whoa! Aki?!”
“Thank you! Thank you, Elias! I absolutely, positively will treasure it! I will think of you every time I look at the bracelet!”
She looked up at him with a blissful smile in his arms. He found her small figure nestled up in his arms irresistibly adorable.
Even if I can never have her, am I allowed to stay by her side protecting her? Elias wrapped his strong arms around her in a tight embrace. It’s an unchangeable fact that I am the created Hero who isn’t qualified to be loved by others. Thus, I can never tell her my feelings. Instead, I will protect her to the utmost limits of my power. I will become a Hero worthy of standing beside her.