Was I dreaming?
"I know you hate me… and I'm not asking you to forgive me… I just,
wanted to apologize… I'm truly sorry…"
To think the Elma went out of her way to see me just to apologize…
"..."
No, it actually wasn't impossible.
She used to be able to apologize as a kid.
It was so long ago that I'd completely forgotten about it, but at first
Elma was worried about me, too.
Because of"Substitute"skill, I'd always be covered in wounds each
and every day, and she'd always be there beside me, worried about
me.
Sometimes she'd also refuse to train because she didn't want me to
get hurt.
She was a kind child, she really was…
But the adults didn't allow her.
Our hometown was a completely ordinary and small mountain
village.
In such a place, a saintess, who was the hope of people, was born;
everyone'd naturally place their expectations on her.
――"Elma will bring us prosperity", or something along that line.
Now that I thought about it, that should be a lot of pressure.
Although she was worried about me, the adults kept telling her about
the duty of a saintess in a strong tone.
The then still young Elma must've been scared, and had no other
choice but to obey.
And so, shouldering all the expectations of those around her, Elma
grew up as a saintess.
She no longer worried about me before I knew it, and I—having been
indoctrinated that serving the saintess was the natural thing to do—
spent the days without uttering a single complaint.
――This was the result.
Therefore, although she surely had me going through a terrible
experiences, Elma herself was probably also a victim in this case.
Well, those days sure were rough…
I mean, really, really rough…
But—
"I don't hate you."
"Eh…" Elma weakly raised her face.
I released a small sigh and said, "We'd been with each other for so
long. I know well about your good points, and I don't hold any
grudges towards you. Well, I was so shocked that I almost had a
heart attack suddenly seeing you here, though."
"Uuh.."
"But you came all the way here to apologize. So, I forgive you. Or
rather, thanks for coming."
When I smiled at her, Elma said with a slightly confused look, "Wwhy do you thank me?"
"Nothing, I'm just happy. I mean, I don't want to be in bad terms with
an old friend forever, and I used to look up to you."
"You used to look up to me…?" Elma was stunned, blinking.
I scratched my cheek, "Well, it was back when we were kids. Back
then, you were so kind, and the way you smiled was so charming,
too—like a real saintess, the hope of people. I genuinely wanted to
help you."
"I see… I must've totally betrayed your expectations, then…" Elma
made a self-deprecating smile.
I shook my head, "No," and said, "You are no longer the old Elma,
aren't you? I'm sure that the current you can be a real saintess. A
saintess who can make everyone smile. A kind saintess who I
looked up to."
"…Thanks. I'll do my best." Elma's face turned red, and she averted
her eyes.
I nodded with a smile, "Yeah, I'll be cheering on you."
Then, with her cheeks still flushed, Elma glanced at me and said,
"Still, aren't you doing too well now?"
"Y-you think so? Well, a lot happened… More importantly, what
made you change this much? I mean, it wouldn't have been possible
without some sort of considerable hardship, right?"
"Well, yeah… I went through a lot of such 'considerable hardship'
thanks to that…"
When I followed her dead-looking eyes, I spotted the man with a
plump body whose eyes were still rolled back.
He seemed to be a carrier that you could contract through the guild
but, I wondered why he was he lying unconscious here…
Well, looked like Elma was going to explain about that too.
"Thanks to that pig lying down over there, I noticed… that taking care
of someone is such a pain…"
"But didn't you hire that pig… I mean, that man to assist you…?"
"Yeah, that's right… Yet before I knew, I was the one taking care of
him, instead… He got me covered in his vomit from head to toe while
we were in a stormy sea, he took my first yukadon—not even
a kabedon—and worse still, he had this misunderstanding about me
being in love with him and tried to hold my hand…"
"I-I don't really get it, but good work enduring all that…" I wasn't sure
what to say to Elma who was hanging her head with a gloomy aura
surrounding her, so I decided to just praise her for her hard work.
Well, various things sure could happen in life….