Ellina's Home

The chilly north wind swept in with a trace of Melanacchira's fragrance. It was said that this flower grew in the deepest parts of Elrina Forest and bloomed only on the coldest day of winter. The moment Melanacchira bloomed, every elf living in Elrina Forest would come to witness its beauty.

However, ever since... the Demon King Rosa Kevin arrived, Melanacchira had ceased to bloom in Elrina Forest, turning the beautiful flower into a legend.

"Hurts... it hurts so much... Where is... my sword..." The severely weakened Tiadam lay on a wooden bed, receiving treatment from the Forest Elf Chi.

"Please don't move around, Hero..." Chi sat on Tiadam as she spoke. "I'm purifying the curse inside your body right now. Please be a little patient..."

"A... curse..." The weakened Tiadam closed his eyes and slowly recalled what had happened before. At the time, he and his brothers had been resisting an invasion of undead creatures when a traitor stabbed him in the back...

"My sword—" Tiadam suddenly sat up. "My sword was stolen!"

"Ow~" Chi's forehead was struck when Tiadam abruptly rose, and she fell to the floor. "Hero... didn't I say... please be patient..." Chi said, rubbing her forehead.

"I'm sorry..." Tiadam looked at Chi. "I lost control for a moment... Wait, where are my clothes?"

"Your clothes were stained with blood..." Chi said timidly. "But please don't worry. They're already hanging out to dry and should be dry soon. Please be patient a little longer..."

"Um..." Tiadam looked at Chi as she stood up. "You're a Forest Elf, right...?"

"Mhm~" Chi smiled and nodded. The sixteen-year-old girl had beautiful golden hair and snow-white skin. Her slender body looked somewhat frail, and a light green thin dress covered her feet. Her bright blue eyes possessed a mysterious sort of magic.

"Shouldn't Forest Elves live deep in the forest? How... did you end up inside Canfor?" Tiadam asked.

"That's because Rosa Kevin's Curse made the entire Elrina Forest uninhabitable—" A young woman entered gracefully from outside the door.

She had a long crimson braid, and her wheat-colored skin radiated vitality. Her strong, full figure was brimming with energy, while her purple eyes carried a sharpness like a man's.

"You're a Forest Elf too?" Tiadam asked.

"My mother was a Forest Elf, but my father was a Flame Elf..." The red-haired girl sat down beside Chi. "You're the descendant of the Hero? You seem pretty far beneath Okasht."

"Hey—Miss Elf, could you not lump me together with Okasht? I'm not that... familiar with him..."

"Um... let me add something..." Seeing that Tiadam was getting a little angry, the quick-witted Chi immediately changed the subject. "Her name is Deanna... She's the big sister of our Ellina's Home. She and Kilis were the ones who rescued you this time."

"Rescued me?"

"That's right... Kilis, that little bastard, and I rescued you from Yetara's freakish estate..." Deanna said casually.

"Yetara... the lord? But why is my last memory the sea of corpses in the south of the city..." Tiadam desperately searched his mind, but could not recall anything about being taken to Yetara's estate.

"How about this..." Deanna covered her face with a veil. "Do you recognize me like this?"

"The girl from my dream!" Tiadam recognized the veiled Deanna at once.

"I don't know how Yetara fished you out of that sea of corpses outside the city, but fortunately, we arrived in time. Otherwise, that old monster would have eaten you." Deanna stood up. "I never had any expectations for a Hero, but... since we saved you anyway, Ellina's Home welcomes you—"

As she spoke, Deanna extended her hand toward Tiadam.

Tiadam: "Ellina's... Home..."

"Hey—Deanna." A boy of around fifteen came from the left side of the house with two children of eight or nine on his back. "Bring that so-called Hero to the cafeteria. If we're any later, Torila will eat all the breakfast."

"They are...?"

"My name is Kilis. This goblin is Kesas, and this Wind Elf is Malidra. The two of them put in quite a bit of effort to rescue you too—" The boy introduced himself first. "My grandmother is the headmistress here—the Archmage Dilanna. My grandfather is Altami, the Water Elf seer. And my father and mother are two of the famed Forty Heroes: Arlanfa, the Archer of the Lake, and Zoula, the Sealing Mage."

"Um... I've heard so much about you..."

Tiadam looked the boy over from head to toe. He had short light-green hair and bright blue eyes, with Water Spirit totems painted across his slightly translucent skin. Yet his refined features truly fit human standards of beauty.

"Don't try to cozy up to me—" Kilis snapped. "If you really want to bear the Hero's name, show us what you're capable of. Otherwise, we won't follow you to fight the remaining Demon Kings!"

"Fight... Demon Kings?" Tiadam gave a helpless smile. "It's not that I'm trying to be ungrateful... Although you all saved my life, I usually don't have many grand plans, especially not things like fighting Demon Kings. Right now, I just want to go back to the streets in the south of the city, continue that dead-end job, and live a modest, worry-free life. Thank you all—until we meet again! Oh, and as for the medical fees, I'll personally bring them over once I have money."

Just as Tiadam was about to get out of bed and leave, Chi said with innocent confusion:

"Um, Hero... the south of Canfor is full of undead monsters now. Is your job hunting monsters?"

"Uh..."

"Hah—" Deanna let out a long breath. "Stop thinking so far ahead about fighting Demon Kings. What we should do now is hurry to the cafeteria for breakfast. If we wait any longer, Torila really will eat it all!"

"Okay—" Kesas, Malidra, Chi, and Kilis shouted in unison.

"Then... I won't stand on ceremony?" Tiadam said.

Everyone half-dragged Tiadam to the cafeteria where they usually ate. In the backyard behind the house stood hundreds of evergreen trees, each so thick that even seven people linking arms could not encircle one.

"Come on—Hero... follow us..." Chi said, taking Tiadam's hand. "This grove may not be large, but because of Grandma Headmistress's magic, it's still easy to get lost..."

Ellina's Home had appeared two years after Rosa Kevin's Curse descended. The decaying power of Rosa Kevin's Curse had turned the once-fertile Elrina Forest into a truly barren land incapable of nurturing life. The perennial Black Snow had claimed the lives of tens of thousands of Forest Elves.

Most Forest Elves who had barely escaped Elrina Forest had already left Canfor, while Ellina's Home sheltered those who remained in Canfor but did not wish to leave their homeland.

"This... is your cafeteria...?"

"That's right—" Chi smiled as she released Tiadam's hand. "Hero, please make sure to eat plenty."

"Uh... I'll do my best..."

Hundreds of deciduous trees had been planted in the spacious courtyard. At their center grew a magnificent rose, its thorns covered in emerald green climbing vines. Its purplish-red petals opened and closed, while numerous Forest Elves stood beneath it, greedily inhaling the rose's fragrance.

"These flowers are called Melanacchira. Forest Elves survive through winter by absorbing the vitality of these flowers..."

At some point, Archmage Dilanna had appeared beside Tiadam. "Ever since Elrina Forest was occupied by Rosa Kevin, these children have been wandering without a home. But even after Rosa Kevin was slain by Okasht, their homeland still did not recover... The curse spread across all of Elrina Forest, turning the once-abundant woods into decaying land. With nowhere else to go, they can only stay with me for the time being..."

"Even if you tell me all this, I can't change their situation..." Tiadam sat down directly on the grass. "I'm just a petty roadside bandit. I have no power, no magic, and no faith. Forget purifying Elrina Forest or defeating Demon Kings—I can't even secure my own livelihood right now..."

"So what..." Dilanna lightly waved a finger, and a loaf of bread smacked Tiadam squarely on the head. "When I was your age, I couldn't use magic either."

"So you plan to teach me magic?" Tiadam said as he ate the bread.

"You're not the type to study magic... I can tell." Dilanna smiled faintly. "You're a Hero... a Hero born to defeat Demon Kings."

"Heh—" Tiadam lay flat on the grass. "That might suit my father, but... saying it to me is like preaching to a cow..."

"Your father, Elandor, may not have been a Hero, but he was a hero..." Dilanna said.

"You knew my father?" Tiadam looked at Dilanna.

"When we were young, we often drank tea together. Oh~ I still remember when Okasht was a three-year-old who wet the bed." As Dilanna spoke of the past, her expression seemed to return to those bygone days. Her silver hair drifted in the wind. "The Holy Sword can only decide who its master is, or who can wield it. It cannot decide who is a hero, nor what the hero wishes to protect. Elandor could not lift the Holy Sword, but that did not stop him from being a hero..."

"So what? Who remembers him now... Everyone only remembers the Hero who slew the Demon King—Okasht—and forgets Elandor, who used his flesh and blood to stop monsters. Who cares that his son became a bandit, or that his wife died an unnatural death?" Tiadam let out a long, long breath. "Rather than risking my life to protect people I don't know, I'd rather protect only those close to me. Besides... you say you knew my father, but after he died, you never offered help to my mother or me. Even now, I don't even know your name. Yet you want me to become a Hero and slay the remaining Demon Kings to protect others. Isn't that a little unrealistic?"

"Remembering only the strong... and forgetting ordinary people... that is humanity's common failing..." Dilanna said nothing more to Tiadam. She merely pushed her wheelchair toward the giant trees and the elves. "My name is Mihar Dilanna. If you want to leave, tell me early, and I'll prepare food and some necessary money for you. It won't be much, but it will be useful. Of course, if you ever return, Ellina's Home will always welcome you..."

"Thank you for the food, but I'm already full. As for money, I don't need it. After all, I make my living without capital..."

"Is that so..." Dilanna smiled faintly. "Then may Luviel, the God of Peace, watch over you—"

Tiadam: "Likewise... likewise... I sincerely hope you live to be a hundred..."