I Can’t Run Away From the Girl Who Saved Me

79 – Green Woman (3)

＊

It took quite a while to calm down.

After pouring out shocking truths, the woman in green finished her last sentence and did not say another word, waiting patiently for me to calm down.

Perhaps she herself needed time to calm down.

Just as I lost her family, she also lost her children.

It must have been a very painful thing for her to say.

I could understand.

However, that didn’t mean that I had the determination and resolve that I didn’t have.

I asked in a dry voice.

“Why did it have to be me? Why…”

“…”

“I never said I wanted this kind of ability, I never thought I wanted to be a hero, and I don’t want to sacrifice it for humanity. I mean, I never wanted to. This isn’t a sacrifice. “It’s just…an offering.”

“…Ah, Ash.”

“What were your days with Sylvia like? A piece of cheese on a mousetrap? Was it just a justification to push me into this harsh fate? As for Sylvia… Did she really have to use her heart, which sacrificed everything for her humanity, like this? For humanity? I am? What about Sylvie? “My parents, Lila!”

I was also aware that I was being unreasonable.

Neither the green woman nor the goddess planned this fate.

If they had done that, they would have been able to avoid the misfortune that came their way.

But in the end, my heart was unable to find a place to blame, so I had no choice but to scatter those muddy, black emotions in all directions.

If I didn’t do that, I felt so unfair and resentful that I felt like I was going to die.

“I’m sorry… I’m so, so sorry…”

The woman in green gently hugged my head, which was lowered.

Her embrace, like the soft flesh of a tree or the peel of a fruit, gave off a fresh scent.

That pleasant scent seemed to lessen my anger, which had built up to the tip of her chin, just a little.

“…It’s natural to feel that way. “It’s natural to feel resentful.”

The woman in green apologized to me again and again.

Even though it wasn’t his fault, he just hugged me, apologizing without a single excuse or correction.

“Still, I have no choice but to ask you a favor.”

“…You can’t come forward?”

“I have work to do and no time left.”

“Time. “How can you, the queen of spirits, say that you have no more time than me, a mere human being?”

“Because I have to return to the embrace of nature soon.”

“…Yes?”

The spirit returns to the embrace of nature.

I could easily figure out what that meant.

It was said that all the spirits that helped me melted into the wind and sunlight.

It was a concept similar to death for humans.

“What are you talking about?”

“There is something I must do”

“If you say you’re going to die, then you don’t have to do it.”

“It must be done. That’s my role. Ash.”

“What on earth is going on that requires you, the owner of this forest and the queen of the spirits, to sacrifice your life?”

“It’s not a difficult task, but I’ve already used too much effort. “Like those kids.”

“…What on earth,”

She stroked my hair as she hugged me, laughing with a lot of sadness in my ears.

A very small voice escaped beyond the sound of laughter.

“Ash, there was no choice in order to remove the demonic energy accumulated in your body.”

“…Ah.”

That’s right,

I wasn’t dead.

This was not the afterlife.

A world of spirits that is neither heaven nor hell.

There was no way that the demonic energy that had filled my body and was killing me would disappear on its own just by coming here.

When I think about it, I didn’t come here following the fox.

I couldn’t remember when I was here.

“…No way.”

I remembered what she said as soon as she saw me.

She said she was waiting for me.

I guess that was all she could do.

I waited for me to come to this forest,

I followed the fox and waited for him to come to the spirit world,

After treating me after I collapsed, he must have waited for me to come to my senses.

“Again… Again?”

“Ash.”

“Again… Because of me.”

“Ash!”

She held my face and looked straight at me.

“Don’t misunderstand. “I’m not being forced to sacrifice myself for you, and I’m not driving those around me to destruction.”

“…But,”

“You are hope. Our hope. So have courage. “Your sympathy for us is so beautiful, but you should never blame yourself.”

“…”

“It’s not your fault.”

She slowly removed her hand from my face and held my hand.

“When you leave here, you must use me.”

“What on earth are you trying to do?”

“…This forest is already full of demon energy. “I can remove the demonic energy and create a place where you can feel safe.”

“Instead, then you…”

“No,”

She shook her head.

“The death of spirits is different from that of humans; we return to the embrace of nature. “After a very long time, you will be reborn as a new spirit, and my children know that, so they were willing to sacrifice themselves for you.”

No matter how much you are reborn, as long as your memories and personality are not maintained, it is the same as death.

Of course, this may just be a human sentiment, but I could only assume she was making a play on words to reassure me.

I shook my head and stubbornly refused.

“I don’t like it. “It’s like telling me to kill you.”

“Ah, Ash, that’s not true.”

“What’s wrong? “Why are you making me do this, why on earth!”

“Ash, because it’s you.”

“I’m just an ordinary person with no talent! “It’s ridiculous that I have a fate like this!”

“Ash…”

Her grip on her tightened.

She spoke in a firm voice.

“An elementalist does not have to be born with talent or destiny.”

“…Yes?”

“I often say it that way to make it easier to express, but there are certain things that an elementalist must be born with.”

She raised her hand and lightly placed her palm on the exact center of my chest and said.

“Even if they have the ability to manipulate us to their heart’s content, even if they can use us, a person who can sympathize with us becomes an elementalist.”

“…”

“Because we are such people, we are willing to serve and love the magician as our master.”

“That doesn’t make sense, that’s weird.”

“No matter how much you deny yourself and put yourself down, we know what a beautiful person you are. “Because he is our master.”

She looked at me with wide eyes.

The jewel-like tears formed in her emerald eyes slid smoothly down her lemon-like cheeks.

“And no matter how much of an elementalist he is, we don’t follow him blindly. Two hundred and thirty-seven years ago, one thousand three hundred and fifty-two years ago, I had no owner. No one served as master.”

“… Why?”

“I didn’t know then, but I know now. I, we want to do anything for you. I want to do anything to save you, this is not a sacrifice. Ash. “It’s hope, it’s wish.”

“…Please, please.”

I cried and shook my head.

But she slowly put my hand to her forehead and said,

“Ash, if this fate given to you is too burdensome, you can run away.”

“Yes, I’m scared, I can’t do it…”

“But even so, wouldn’t we have to meet the hero again?”

I couldn’t say anything.

Unless she was going to live in this spirit world her whole life, I had to use her to eventually get out.

Probably outside of this spirit world, the forest of lying trees is already covered with demonic energy.

“You may run away with her, even if you live in hiding with her in her world that has fallen into the clutches of her demon lord, I will not blame you. But, you want to see her again.”

“…”

“Then, first of all, don’t you need a place for you in this forest, so that you don’t get swept away by demonic energy and die?”

“…”

That was right.

I didn’t want to fight the Demon King, and I didn’t want to take Sylvia to the Demon King.

I didn’t want to become a gambler with the fate of this world, and I didn’t want to take care of my own safety knowing clearly that the green woman would die.

However, if I had only one wish, it was to meet Sylvia again.

She was living with her.

Because she thought I would die, she left her on her own feet, but if her I could live, she wanted to be with her.

As if she had read my thoughts, the woman in green looked at me and said.

“Does she want to break up with her like this?”

“…No.”

“Well, you know what to do. Ash.”

“…”

“Are you going to choose me over her?”

She said with a sad smile.

I nodded slowly and stood up.

“…Okay.”

“Okay…”

“I will do it.”

＊

She eventually explained to me how to deal with spirits.

As she kindly explained how to kill herself, I either listened or ignored it, but despite my insincere learning attitude, her explanation stuck in my head.

It wasn’t because the woman in green was particularly good at explaining things or because I was a great genius.

Unlike magic, which I studied intensely by struggling with books my whole life, I was able to understand everything about what to do just by listening to the words.

Although it was surprising, it was also the moment when I became convinced that becoming an elementalist was truly my destiny.

Perhaps, Maria felt magic this easily.

It was as if memories I had never experienced before were flowing into my head.

I trembled slightly at this very strange yet unfamiliar feeling.

Perhaps because of the nature of her spirit world, where there is no day or night, it took a very long time to talk to her and learn her spirit magic, but I did not fall asleep.

Is there a special power flowing through this place, or is the flow of time different from outside?

I don’t know which of the two is the correct answer, but the fact that time is passing has not changed.

The green woman who told me everything slowly got up and spoke calmly.

“There’s nothing more to tell you, now you can just leave whenever you want.”

“…”

“All you have to do is go out and do as I tell you. “There is a place in the forest where demon energy has been purified, so the warrior will definitely come to your place soon.”

“How do you know?”

“I told you that I know what happens in the forest, but she is still in this forest. “I live in the demonic energy, hunting monsters.”

“…”

“It seems like I can’t control the sadness of losing you.”

“…Yes, I see.”

The green woman looked at me with a faint smile.

“… You really love her.”

“Yes,”

“… I will be happy.”

“Happiness, I don’t think it’s a word that suits Sylvia or me very well.”

“Are you unhappy when she’s next to you?”

“No.”

“Happiness blooms even in despair, and that is why hope does not disappear. “Because happiness gives birth to hope.”

She slowly raised her head.

She looked up at the sky with a distant gaze, like her father who looked at the golden wheat fields of the Gold Fields stretching beyond her horizon.

It was as if I was looking beyond the outside of this world, which was entirely wrapped in turquoise.

“Now, it’s time to say goodbye.”

“Ah…”

I sighed briefly when I realized that that moment had come.

She looked down at me at the sound of my sighs, smiled, walked over to me, and hugged me.

Her scent, resembling fresh nature, came into my arms.

She said, rubbing her cheek against mine.

“Ah… Ash, my rightful master.”

“…Ugh”

“I was happy to meet you. “I was happy because he was really the person I thought he was.”

“…Queen,”

“Master,”

She kissed my cheek and said.

“Please don’t pity me. Because I will always be watching you. “No matter what choice you make, I will always be watching you.”

“…Another way too,”

“Goodbye, Ash.”

She slowly waved her hand in the air.

Like a lizard’s skin being torn apart, the turquoise sky was torn apart.

In an instant, I was in the middle of a forest surrounded by demonic energy.

.