"Mm..."
Perhaps after enduring loneliness for so long, he had finally found someone to confide in. Perhaps on this special night, those deeply buried feelings simply needed an outlet more than usual.
Whatever the reason!
Folu, who seemed a little senile, didn't care that his listener was only a little girl, nor did he wonder why a little girl was up on the mountain in the middle of the night instead of sleeping. He simply gazed wistfully at the moon, his eyes gradually growing distant.
After a long while, he began to speak in a slow, halting voice, telling his story in fits and starts:
"Back in the day..."
"It was a long, long time ago. Maybe two or three hundred years?"
"I remember..."
"It was a night just like this one..."
"The moon was just as bright and just as round as it is now..."
His voice carried an echo from a distant past. Annie found herself breathing more quietly, afraid to disturb him.
"I..."
"Saved her here."
"Pretty cliché, isn't it?"
"She ran into a monster in the mountains, and I just happened to be passing by, a Dwarf adventurer..."
"Heh..."
"But anyway, we met, and we fell in love soon after. And I settled down in this village from that day on."
As he spoke, he smiled, perhaps at some memory. There was a trace of sweetness in that smile, but far more confusion and daze. It was hard to tell whether that was because he couldn't remember clearly.
"Only..."
"Before long, in the blink of an eye, many years passed. So, so many years..."
His voice sank as he spoke, as if burdened by a deep sense of helplessness and regret.
"She left me."
"After all these years..."
"Her appearance... her voice... the way she looked