51 . The truth of the elves
Thanks to the luck of the carriage to Brach, we arrived earlier than expected in the southern large city.
After paying the price to the coachman and passing through the gate, Brach, called the fortress of the sea, appeared.
Birds chirping in the sky, lively sailors shouting, towering buildings in between. It is an antique style that does not suit the seaside, but it is not an exaggeration to say that its heterogeneous aspect contributed to the revival of Brach.
Occasionally bird droppings fell on my head, but that’s just bad luck for the one who gets hit.
It’s a city I’ve visited before, but the feeling was quite different since I came here for peaceful purposes.
I spoke briefly as I looked at the sentimental children and Rihanna.
“It won’t be long. Let’s start with the lodging.”
They planned to stay for one day, two or three days at the most, but the accommodations in such a big city were far more expensive than they thought.
On the outskirts of the city, I found a moderately shabby inn and went out as soon as I checked in.
Rihanna was still looking around her, turning her head.
Her reaction was understandable because a lot had changed since she had been here before. Looking straight at me, Rihanna asked a question with her eyes shining.
“Then where are you going from now on? Are not you hungry? Do you want to go to the restaurant first? Ain, you remember too. The fish dishes here are so delicious!”
It felt good to see him excited for the first time in a long time, but I couldn’t afford it right now. I listened to Rihanna’s offer and declined by shaking her head from side to side.
“No, eat first and go to the dorm. I have a place to stop for a while.”
“Really?”
Rihanna seemed to agree without questioning it, but her children weren’t.
Elia looked melancholy right in my eyes and gently grabbed the end of her sleeve.
“Dad, can we go too?”
I bent her knees slightly, met her gaze with Ellie, and smiled as I gently caressed her hair.
“I’ll be back soon, so hang out with my sister for a while.”
Elia didn’t have seizures like before, or showed any signs of wanting to stay by my side.
Could it be that he gave her confidence in her while mixing her body? Elia smiled and nodded her head with a gentle expression unlike before.
“Yes! Then I’ll be playing with my sister. Dad, do you have to come soon?”
“Yes, Rihanna. Take care of the kids.”
I felt that Rihanna’s complexion turned pale for a moment, but soon I thought it was nothing and left them behind and headed for her original destination.
There were many reasons for coming to this city.
The only big city where you can stock up on supplies, take a break, eat delicious food, and rest before going to the Great Forest.
But this was the one I valued the most.
Brach Great Library.
It is no exaggeration to say that all the knowledge in the world is gathered.
A place where scholars who crossed the sea and learned knowledge in an unknown land naturally gather.
After arriving in front of the Great Library, I tidied up my clothes. With a magnificent building like a church in front of me, I became nervous without realizing it. I took a deep breath, carefully opened the elaborately decorated door, and the pleasant smell of books wafted through my nose. Leaving behind my sentiments, I went straight to the librarian and asked a question.
“Where can I find a book about elves?”
Books about elves.
The books I read in the countryside were written by the elders of the village for their children. There is no problem with basic education, but the professionalism is definitely low.
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For me, who has always believed that the content was true, the existence of the children first aroused my doubts.
The librarian told her to wait for a while and eventually told me where her book about elves was put, and I thanked her and moved in the direction she pointed out.
“E-7… Oh, is this place?”
A bookshelf full of books about different races, I held in my arms six books with the story of an elf written on the cover, and found a secluded place to put my buttocks on.
Elves, who are they?
About the ecology of the elves and the Great Forest
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Far and Near Great Forest
The elf said this
Two other books.
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First of all, I opened the book titled ‘Elves, who are they?’.
I read it slowly so as not to miss anything, but overall it is similar to what I know.
‘Is it really my mistake?’
It was the moment when I finally decided to read just one more chapter and read another book.
‘There is an opinion that elves grow quickly, but this is wrong. Elves basically grow much slower than humans, and their abilities slowly bloom after 100 years, and they had weak abilities compared to humans before. One of the reasons why they end up being held as slaves by humans….’
Bang!
As soon as I saw that passage, I kicked off my desk and got up.
“What… ?!”
Excited enough to forget the basic fact that I have to be quiet in the library, I only came to my senses after receiving glares and teasing from people around me, and only after bowing my head was I able to sit down and look at my book again.
There was no way this book would lie.
‘Wait a minute, if this is true, what about our daughters?’
I thought it must be an elf. It wasn’t just me, everyone in the village unanimously said that these children were definitely elves.
However, none of the contents in this book fit the four children.
With a trembling heart, I turned the pages again.
‘There are differences between individuals, but elves basically do not eat meat. Therefore, we do not commit any acts of killing animals that live in nature. The exact reason is not known, but perhaps the special value of the species…….’
I have never seen a child who eats meat well or who enjoys hunting like Olivia.
‘Elves are proud and never depend on anyone. They can be enslaved by violence in childhood and poisonous drugs that even humans cannot bear, but they can never be brought under humans in any other way or naturally.’
There’s nothing to go under?
Then what about Elia? The way she was obsessed with me? Does that mean it’s all lies?
Stella? What about Noah? No, she didn’t even have to mention her name. The children I raised myself always depended on me and lived with the words that they couldn’t do without me.
It’s dizzy.
Nausea rises.
It felt like the world I believed in was collapsing.
Seeing me screaming and staggering in place, the librarian approached me with a worried look.
“Guest, are you okay?”
I asked for an apple with trembling eyes.
“I’m sorry. I’m not feeling well… Could I borrow all these books later?”
The librarian lifted the corner of her mouth into a smile, then nodded her head.
There is still time left. Before she borrowed the book, she decided to skim through the rest of the book.
The second book was almost the same.
There was no way the book in the big city could go wrong. The authors were well known scholars. It was hard to imagine that they would tell lies about elves, as they were too busy risking their lives for other books.
Moreover, the content written in common to all books. It was written that it was common knowledge that elves grow quickly.
If this book is correct, if what they say is true, then what on earth is the daughter I have raised?
Are the girls I raised with all my heart are elves?
There was a record of them saying they were elves in the first place. I also definitely thought they were elves.
The problem I feel now is not their race. I could confidently say that I could love them equally regardless of whether they were Orcs, Goblins, Humans, or Demons.
The real problem is that they hid the truth from me.
“Dad, what are you reading?
“Noah!?
I was startled by the familiar voice and stood up. Why are you here? No, what about the other children?
I looked behind Noah. Fortunately for her misfortune, she seemed to have come alone.
People around me once again glared at me for having a noisy conversation with Noah, but now I couldn’t notice such trivial things.
Before I knew it, Noah, who was standing behind me, shifted her gaze to the book I was holding.
I hurriedly covered the book with my whole body, but Noah seemed to have already read the contents of the book.
I moved my gaze to Noah’s face. The corners of her mouth went up slightly, but the corners of her eyes went down.
I thought.
Yes, you’d rather say with your mouth that this book is a lie.
Scholars say that even monkeys have a way to fall from trees.
Then I was able to relieve this unpleasant energy a little. I could trust them. It was the responsibility of parents to believe in the words of the children I raised with my heart rather than books like this.
However, Noah opened her mouth with a grin as if to trample on my expectations.
“… I got caught.”