"Me?" Kokkoro met Megumin's gaze with a gentle smile. "Elves are not as finely attuned to matters of the heart as humans. Rather than feelings, what we cherish most deeply are promises. As Master's exclusive guide, I will remain at his side until the very last breath of his life."
"Th-That's... that's basically the same as being lovers, isn't it?"
"Not at all. As I said — Elves place their faith in promises." Kokkoro patiently explained the Elven worldview to the three of them.
For a race with no natural end to their lifespan, emotional bluntness was one of the most fundamental traits they possessed. And the answer the Elves had found for that condition was the promise.
Even if a companion merely mentioned offhand that they wished to see some rare flower, an Elf would spend decades searching for it, cultivating it — and then bring it before that companion, who had long since grown old, to fulfill what had passed between them. Friends, companions, comrades, lovers — all those categories that human society relied upon were, in an Elf's eyes, simply a series of promises, each carrying its own distinct meaning. Forging a true bond of friendship with a long-lived race was no easy feat, but once it took root, no matter how trifling the vow, they would carry it in their hearts and spend decades or even centuries seeing it through.
Kokkoro's relationship with Jhin was no different. She did not concern herself with what women stood at his side, nor with what role she occupied in relation to them. She was his exclusive guide — a promise set down by the goddess Eris when she was eleven years old.
And after the two of them had truly met, Jhin had layered a new meaning onto it: "family." However the stars might wheel and the seas turn to mulberry fields, she would keep that promise.
"After Master's life reaches its end, I shall erect a headstone for him, honor his final wishes, and continue traveling in the spirit of the Gourmet Edifice — or perhaps I will build a small cottage at the place where he is buried, and live on there, forever." There was no grief in Kokkoro's pale-rose eyes. She spoke of it with simple, unshakable calm, as though recounting something self-evident and eternal.
The weight of parting, of death, of the long years stretching out after — it pressed down on Megumin until she felt she could barely breathe. "Th-That's... such a heavy feeling... Is this really what Elves are like?"
"I suppose that's just the nature of long-lived races," Kyaru murmured. She hadn't imagined that someone as gentle and unassuming as Kokkoro could say something like that so matter-of-factly.
Pecorine, normally so cheerful and quick to smooth things over, could manage nothing more than a strained laugh. She, too, felt that this was a weight no ordinary person could bear.
It was as though Kokkoro had flipped some hidden switch. A peculiar light flickered in her eyes: "Even though, as his exclusive guide, I had no way of being present at the very moment Master came into this world — no way to stand by his side from that first instant, to watch him grow little by little, to pass on everything I know — it is fortunate, at least, that it is not too late. Master is only sixteen. By human reckoning, he is still a minor. I will have a great many years yet to remain at his side.
"It is a pity that Master is so perfect in his cooking and in everything else — there is so little for me to take care of. Only when he is being lazy can I truly fulfill my duties. Sometimes I think to myself: if Master were not so capable, not so accomplished at looking after himself, perhaps I could throw myself wholeheartedly into caring for him.
"Preparing breakfast in the morning, then waking Master up, brushing his teeth and washing his face for him, feeding him his meal, going out together for a walk to breathe the fresh air, following the prescribed exercise plan, having lunch together, napping together in the afternoon — and then waking in the soft afternoon light, and going to see the fountain at Central Park in Landosol."
"After dinner, drawing his bath, blow-drying his hair, helping him change into his sleeping clothes, spending an hour or so reading in bed to add to his knowledge, then brewing him a warm glass of milk before sleep, coaxing him off to dreamland, and welcoming the next morning's dawn together."
Jhin's gentle sky-blue eyes grew heavy with drowsiness beneath the lullaby she was humming to herself — his lashes, like a cat stretching after a long play, lazily dragged his eyelids closed. She would dab away the milk left on his lips with a handkerchief, then pull the covers up a little higher, tucking them over his shoulders so he wouldn't catch a chill.
Having given voice to the deepest wishes of her heart, Kokkoro drifted serenely inside her own beautiful reverie.
Kyaru took Pecorine and Megumin by the arm and drew them a few steps to the side. She dropped her voice low: "Kokkoro... she really is an Elf, right? I can't shake the feeling that if she had her way, Jhin would end up completely dependent on her — like, unable to function on his own at all."
"Going by her hair color and her ears — one hundred percent Elf."
"Maybe Kokkoro's outlook is just a bit different from other Elves."
"I understand the reasoning, but why is her whole attitude toward Jhin so..." Kyaru left the rest unspoken, but Megumin and Pecorine both grasped perfectly well what she meant.
From where all three of them stood, that feeling was as immense and crushing as a ten-thousand-meter mountain. Simply listening to it had left them struggling to breathe under the pressure. They genuinely had no idea how Jhin was going to face it when the time came.
Though, if anything, it was the girl who became his lover who deserved the most sympathy — because standing against an Elf who didn't care one whit about titles or labels, and who simply intended to remain at his side forever, she would already be losing on sheer emotional depth alone.
Speak of the devil — Jhin came striding over to the girls, carrying two exquisite gift boxes, each a meter in diameter and half a meter tall. "Everyone~! These are the special ingredients dropped by the Doromu Colossus!"
"Master, allow me to take the other box."
"Thank you, Kokkoro."
"It is what I am here for."
Jhin gave Kokkoro an affectionate pat on the head, then noticed that the other three girls were all staring at him with complicated, deeply peculiar expressions on their faces. Puzzled, he tilted his head. "What's going on with you all? Why are you looking at me like that?"
He had, of course, no idea just how tremendous the weight of the feeling Kokkoro had placed upon him truly was.
Is Jhin going to have trouble finding a lover in the future...?
Poor guy. Let's just hope he doesn't get crushed under Kokkoro's feelings.
Each of the three girls harbored her own private thoughts — and then, by unspoken agreement, they all acted as though nothing had happened at all, and the topic of lovers was never raised again.
Jhin set the enormous gift boxes down on the ground. The field test of [Elemental Armament] had been an overwhelming success: wielding his Void weapon in one hand and an elemental longsword in the other, he had activated dual-blade mode and solo-cleared the elite-tier Doromu Colossus in just over ten minutes — something that would have been utterly unthinkable before.
For an ordinary adventuring party taking on the Doromu Colossus, you were looking at anywhere from half a day to a full day of grinding — slowly chipping away at the weak points on its legs, shattering them one by one, and only then pressing the assault on the defenseless magic-crystal core at its center while enduring the dizzying, sweet-buttery aroma it emitted. And even among elite-tier monsters there was a wide spectrum of difficulty — if he were up against an elite-tier Forest Wild Boar instead, Jhin was confident he could break through its defenses in an instant and claim the rich, savory pork within.
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