Chapter 9: Elf Village

Chapter 9:
Elf Village

 

“GOOD MOOOORNING, Yuuuri!” said Filia as she woke up, though she looked a little sleepy yet herself.

Tired or not, her cheery mood didn’t really match this deadly forest where a monster could leap out at you any time. But then, Hihi Forest was Filia’s home, her birthplace. I suppose that was why she was less cautious.

“Looks like you slept well,” she added.

“Thanks to you.”

(By the way, I wasn’t watching Filia’s sleeping face when she conked right out, of course. As a perfect gentle muscle man, no way would I perform such a gaze of creepery!)

“It would be okay if you slept just a little bit though…”

“Huh? What’re you talking about?”

“Nothing really. Shall we get going?”

“Yeah, sure.”

The sun was fully risen, and Filia and I trekked through the forest once again. Right as we got back to our search, the trees started singing and dancing. Seemed the elves weren’t a great market for alarm clocks.

As I followed Filia deeper and deeper into the forest, the landscape changed. Only Doon Trees grew in the area facing the outside of the forest, but now, deeper, plants like ivy and fruited trees I didn’t recognize sprang up. Ah man, I loved eating mystery fruits for training purposes, but I had to restrain myself. I mean, what if we were just moments away from arriving at the elf village? I was hesitant to eat anything.

“Ah!” Filia broke me out of my juicy, fruity thoughts with a sudden shout.

“What’s the matter?”

“Yuri, I recognize this place.”

“Oh, so we’re not too far off?”

“That’s right! We should be there in about, oh, thirty minutes.” There was a hint of joy in Filia’s voice as she said that. What was she so happy about? Sure, we still didn’t know what would happen when she saw the other elves face to face, but when she’d told me the story of how she left, I’d assumed she’d been traumatized.

“Yuri, stay behind me,” said Filia now. “It could be any minute.”

“Got it.”

I stuck close as we walked, step by step, toward the elf village.

 

***

 

“Any minute now, you said?” I said, about twenty minutes later. Right now, I could see a trail underfoot, probably made by repeated foot traffic. Elves, I’d guess.

“Any minute till—ah!” Filia’s shoulders twitched.

Something was odd. “Filia? What’s the ma—oh.”

Moments later, I sensed a ton of presences, all about fifty meters diagonally to the left from us.

“You okay? I can switch places and take the lead if you want,” I said.

Filia had stopped in her tracks—maybe it’d make things easier for her if she stood behind me, keeping her from peoples’ gazes.

Filia just shook her head from side to side. “No, I’m okay. Elves are extremely cautious, so if a member of another species unexpectedly came close to them—by which I mean you, Yuri—it’s possible they could attack. No, this is my problem, and I’ll take the lead.”

“If that’s what you want, all right; I’ll leave it to you.”

Filia’s aloof nature might make you think her careless and detached, but she had a surprisingly childish side, too. And then, deep in her core, she was pretty dang strong. If this was the course Filia decided on, that was what we were doing.

Besides, well, there was a possibility that if I strode in first, the elves might think I’d threatened Filia into leading me to the village.

“Yes, Yuri, please do. Shall I remind you who you’re traveling with? I am the transcendentally beautiful elf, Filia,” she replied smugly, but the corners of her mouth twitched ever so slightly. She couldn’t completely hide her nerves.

“Don’t, uh, get on your high horse or anything.” I figured I would try to raise her spirits in my own way, so I tried to keep my response as normal as possible. Not that it really mattered, if she could read my mind whenever she wanted.

Whether or not she had, Filia let out a small sigh and walked forward. “Well, here I go.”

“Okay.”

We walked some little ways forward, took a left turn—and there before us we saw houses made out of trees.

One by one, a crowd of elves formed as they peeked at us from among the houses. Right. Filia had noticed the elves before we got here, so it made sense that the elves had noticed us too. Filia slowly advanced closer toward the village. She stepped on a tree branch—it cracked dryly.

The elves gathered by the village entrance in greater and greater numbers. By the time we actually reached the entrance, over thirty elves had gathered there. Absolutely all of them was almost perfectly beautiful. Weirdly beautiful, to the point where it seemed impossible.

“Lia… Lia, is that you?” A beautiful young man called out to Filia in a trembling voice. Was he a friend of Filia’s? He looked to be about twenty, maybe a little older than her. He had silver hair just like Filia, but his hair looked a bit, uh, tougher? Maybe that was a dude thing?

Filia turned to face the handsome young man and greeted him with a bow. “Yes, Father. It’s me, Lia.”

Uh. Father? Wait, there was no way he could be her father, because she—he—

“Lia! You just disappeared without warning! Do you have any idea how worried your mother and I were?”

No way, seriously? What I saw before me was a touching scene: a father rejoicing, embracing his daughter with tears in his eyes. But if you didn’t know that, they could’ve been a couple of lovers. Had to be, even! But nope, all the elves looked to be around the same age, so there was no complicated family situation here.

What incredible people. Did they just stop aging at some point partway? I was a little jealous. No matter how much you train, you can never out-swole old age. Elves are young for a long, long time. Maybe they were better than the rest of us, in that way.

The crowd was shouting out now too.

“Filia, you came back!”

“Such a beautiful face, as always!”

“Today is an auspicious day!”

They welcomed Filia back with open arms. I guess?

“Lia, who is that human?”

Ah, I’d caught the eye of Filia’s father.

“This is Yuri. He’s my…partner.”

“Hello, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” I said, demonstrating my sheer talent at respectful language. Perfect, huh? Look at how quickly I’ve mastered the art of speaking respectfully, like the true intellectual I am!

Filia’s father’s eyes widened in surprise. My perfect command of respectful language left him shocked, was my guess. “Partner?! I-I see…” He cleared his throat. “Well, I suppose there’s more and more to talk about then. Let’s go home. Your mother is waiting!”

“Yes, let’s. Oh, can I bring Yuri along too?” asked Filia.

Huh? Filia’s father gave me a little glare. Maybe he felt some kinda rivalry because of my muscles? But nah, it was hard to imagine that when he had such a slender body.

“Hm… Very well. Follow me.”

“Certainly, sir,” I replied.

Well, we’d sort it out. After assuring him that I totally got where he was coming from, we went over to the house where Filia was born and raised. There was a little nameplate that read “Windia” affixed to the front. Inside the cozy place, I sat down next to Filia. Across the table sat Filia’s mother and father. It was a bit of a long distance, that table.

Filia’s mother had collapsed to her knees the minute she saw Filia; she went over and hugged Filia tight, crying her eyes out. It took quite a while for her to calm down. She must’ve been real worried.

“I’m sorry for worrying you, Mother.”

“It’s all right, we’re just glad that you’re back! Right, Elgis?”

“Right. It’s so good to see you here.”

The two of them gazed at their daughter with true joy. I couldn’t imagine that these were parents who would just stop talking to Filia altogether, but… That was what Filia had described, so that was what must’ve happened.

As for how Filia felt about it? I snuck a sideways glance at her face. She looked a little strained. Her mouth was still, but her eyes darted nervously around the room.

“So, who is this?” asked Filia’s mother, turning toward me. She looked a lot like Filia, huh? Or, I suppose in this case, Filia resembled her mother. Either way, they seemed more like sisters than mother and daughter, what with the weird elf thing.

“This man is Lia’s partner, apparently,” groaned Elgis, like he had to squeeze the words out.

“Oh!” replied Filia’s mother, a wide smile on her face. “Oh my, oh my, oh my!”

“Wait…” Filia gasped. “Hey, you two! It’s not like that!” What in the world was going on now? Filia was getting redder and redder. “Jeez, Mother, come on! You gotta be kidding me.”

“Yes, exactly, that’s right!” Elgis exclaimed. “It’s still far too early for our little Lia to think about dating! Oh, Lia, your father’s heart was pounding out of his chest!”

That reaction—ohhh, they thought I was her partner in that way, huh? What a weird idea. Totally outta left field. It explained why her pops was glaring at me before, though.

Still, thanks to this misunderstanding, Filia opened up a bit more. She spoke respectfully as always, of course, but that was just her habit. Honestly, I had no basis on which to complain about how any family operated, what with the whole not really having one. This was surely one totally run-of-the-mill way for families to be, right?

“I’m sorry, Yuri,” said Elgis. “I got carried away and jumped to the wrong conclusion in all that excitement. I shouldn’t have been so rude to you.”

“Oh my goodness,” said Filia’s mother, “I’m so sorry about my Elgis, Yuri. My husband is a bit of an idiot, I’m afraid.”

“Ha! Compared to Fira, here,” he gestured at his wife, “I certainly am an idiot. Fira’s the most brilliant person in the village, after all.”

“Hush, Elgis! You’re giving me too much credit!”

What was up with this sugary, lovey-dovey stuff? I felt a little outta place. Huh. Here I was feeling queasy, and I hadn’t even eaten any raw meat!

“By the way, Yuri,” added Fira, “you’re certainly very, ah, unique, aren’t you? Your body, I mean.”

“Oho, so you’ve noticed? My body is a meaty temple to my unwavering discipline. Please, gaze upon it to your heart’s content.” Her parents had quite the good eye, eh? I took off my jacket and released my muscles, flexing my arms to show off my large and well-developed biceps.

“Oh…”

“Goodness…”

Then I rolled my arms back and turned my hips to emphasize my triceps.

“Hm…”

“Gracious…”

Next, I put my hands behind my head and showed off my abs.

“Oh…”

“My…”

Then I put my arms on my waist, and—

“All right, that’s enough, please!” shouted Filia, flailing her arms. What, had I done something bad? “Don’t drag my parents into your weirdness! And you two, don’t look at Yuri with such deep interest. You’ll catch the stupid.”

What, like I’d infect them or something? No bacterium is half as muscled as me, and—hmph. “Stupid,” huh? Not this intellectual muscle man.

“O-oh, I see, I’m sorry, Lia.”

“Ah, yes, I suppose I got carried away too. My apologies.”

I quietly got dressed. Just getting them a little bit interested was enough, I suppose. The seeds I’d sown would surely bloom into a fulsome flower of muscle. Just thinking about it made my heart skip a beat.

“What was Filia like as a child?” I asked, trying to dispel the awkward atmosphere. I’d only recently learned how to read a room lately, so to speak, so I figured I might as well give it a try.

“Well, now…” Elgis stroked his chin. It looked like he had some subtle whiskers, but no full beard.

“Elgis, let’s tell him about that one time. You know, when she was three years old?” Fira grinned.

“Oh, that’s right! Listen to this, Yuri: When Lia was three years old, she said, ‘Daddy, I want to marry you!’”

Fira lightly smacked Elgis on the head. “Elgis, stop messing with our guest! Lia never once said anything like that.”

“Sorry, sorry!” Elgis cleared his throat. “What we wanted to tell you about was the story of when Filia wet the bed.”

Filia went white. “What?!”

But Elgis and Fira were smiling. They seemed to really want to share memories of their daughter.

“Okay, get a load of this,” said Elgis. “When Lia was three years old, she came up with such a cute excuse for it. She told me, ‘I-It just rained in my bed! I was so surprised!’ Can you believe it?”

“Father?!”

“And here I was,” said Fira, “thinking I’d given birth to an angel.”

“Mother?!”

“Filia…” I said, “that’s adorable.”

“Y-Yuri, you too?!”

Wow, so there was a time when even Filia used childish excuses like that? She was completely red in the face from embarrassment, but I thought having memories of your family was a good thing. This was proof there’d been a time when they hadn’t been cold to her, too, and that was good to know. But Filia didn’t seem to agree.

“Now, Yuri, would you mind terribly if I erased your memory?” she asked.

“Um, yes, I definitely would?” Yeesh, talk about going from zero to terrifying, Filia!

Filia grinned sheepishly. “I didn’t say that you’d lose everything from the moment you were born. Just, ah, you know, this present moment, maybe? Please?”

So she wanted me to just forget about it. I supposed she couldn’t help it. “I didn’t see or hear anything. How’s that?”

“How’s what?” said Filia through gritted teeth. “We aren’t talking about anything at all right now.”

I needed to completely forget for Filia’s sake, eh? In order to really get the job done, I repeated it to myself over and over: “I don’t know anything about Filia wetting the bed. I don’t know anything about Filia wetting the bed. I don’t know anything about Filia wetting the bed…”

“H-hey, wait! That’s the opposite. If anything, you’re cementing it in your memory! L-Look, the weather outside is so nice—please look at that!”

Weather…the weather, huh? “Weather…rain…wetting the bed.”

“Agggh, darn it, never mind! Okay, just don’t think about anything at all. Clear your mind!”

“Clear my mind…mind…wetting the bed.”

“Agh, come on! That doesn’t even—how would that even lead to—argh! What kind of thought process do you have where ‘clearing your mind’ leads to ‘wetting the bed’?!”

Sadly, no matter what she said, the more that I tried not to think of The Incident, the more it just popped into my head. Humans really are mysterious creatures, aren’t they?

Elgis and Fira looked from Filia to one another.

“Lia sure is cute, huh, Elgis?”

“Lia sure is just adorable, huh, Fira?”

Man, talk about doting parents!

Filia groaned. “Why did it come to this?”

“Filia,” I said, “your face is completely red.”

“You don’t need to point that out!” Filia shouted, but otherwise, her house was filled with the warm laughter of a happy family reunion.

 

***

 

Elgis and Filia continued boasting about their daughter, and then, before we knew it, it was nighttime. They offered to let me use the living room as a bedroom for the night. Of course, Filia would sleep in a separate room. It seemed like the three of them were all on the second floor.

“You’re so big, though. Are you going to be able to fit on the couch?” asked Fira.

“No worries, I’ll sleep standing up.”

“I-I see…” replied Fira. She looked from her daughter to me, concerned, but I remained motionless.

I was in someone else’s house, so I couldn’t do any kind of training that would make noise. For the time being, I decided I might as well try some flexibility exercises.

I’d do some careful stretching first. I stretched my joints in my arms and legs, one by one, to make sure there wasn’t any discomfort. (Some people take this way too lightly, but stretching can be a tough and time-consuming thing if you’re actually doing it right.) By the time I’d finished checking the condition of my body, it was already the middle of the night.

“Let’s see, what to do next?”

After racking my brain for a bit, I figured I’d guess to what degree I could spread my legs apart. I sat on the floor and spread ’em. Ninety degrees… 180 degrees… 270 degrees…

“Three-hundred is my limit, huh?”

Interesting. Ten degrees more than when I lived alone in the forest. Your body’s flexibility affects your ability to fight, so being limber is always a good thing.

I was in a pretty good mood now. Around then, I heard someone’s footsteps as they came down the stairs. I figured it was someone coming down for a drink of water, so I stayed completely still so I wouldn’t startle them.

“Eek! What are you doing, Yuri?”

“Whaddya mean? Flexibility exercises. Ain’t it obvious, Filia?”

This was the first time in five days that I’d seen Filia in her pajamas. The pink polka-dot designs somehow made her look more childish than usual. Maybe the story I’d heard this afternoon about her wetting the bed was still fresh in her mind, but that was no excuse for her to shriek the moment she saw me.

“This is kind of grotesque, don’t you think?” she said, wincing down at my spread legs. “I mean, this isn’t exactly the way a person is supposed to, uh, bend…”

“These are the fruits of my training.”

“I see.” Filia grabbed a cup and generated water in it with her water magic. She then brought the cup to her lips and gulped the clear water down quick, her thin, pale throat bobbing up and down as she drank. It felt weird not to say anything as I watched her, so I decided to impress upon her the significance of this training.

“If you think of the combat power of an ordinary person as ‘one,’ then the combat strength of that same person holding a knife or sword would be approximately ‘five.’ Consider, then: What would that same person’s combat power be if they trained and strengthened their muscles? Right, Filia?”

Filia finished her cup, wiped her mouth, tilted her head to the side, and replied: “Who knows?”

“The answer is ‘muscle.’”

“You’ve gone from quantitative to qualitative assessments there, Yuri.”

Exactly. Muscle as a combat power can’t be quantified with numbers. That’s the nature of muscle. Pride in one’s own physical strength itself is a type of confidence that can’t be gained any other way. It was impressive that she realized that!

“Sounds like you’ve got it pretty well figured out too, Filia! Have you perhaps been making an effort to train your muscles day and night—and hiding it from me?”

“I’ve got what figured out now? And why are you so happy about whatever this is?”

“It makes me so happy that I wanna do a little jump for joy!”

“You’re a lot sometimes,” said Filia with a gentle smile.

“So, uh… How is it being back at your house after all this time?”

“Better than I expected. I’m glad I could open up with my parents. I don’t know if I can stop speaking formally around them yet, though,” said Filia, and now her smile was broad.

“Just don’t force it and things’ll be fine.”

“As for my abilities…” she just shook her head. “Let’s talk about that a little later.”

Right, yeah. That was our original goal here: regaining Filia’s abilities. “Yeah. From how things looked today, everything seems okay. Just remember that I’m here too. No need to get worried.”

“I’m counting on you, then,” said Filia before walking back up the stairs. “Good night.”

“’Night,” I replied as she walked off, opening my legs again. Ten more degrees was pretty good, but was it good enough?