Today, was the last day that Alicia and I stayed in the Elf village. It's been more than a month since we settled here and I've given them all the knowledge I have about how to reforest forests.
Not only, I even created a crystal that can protect them from monsters' attacks. It's just that the effect is not as strong as the previous Crsyta, it can't resist monsters of the same class as Rodan and Estella. But, it should be enough to keep the other monsters at bay.
Luckily there was something like that in my [System Alchemist] skill.
"Are you really going to give all these [Heal Potions] to us?" asked Tia a bit doubtfully when I gave her hundreds of high grade [Heal Potions] for free.
"Don't worry, I still have plenty. Please feel free to use them however you like. I'm sure it will also help speed up the restoration of this forest," I replied with an awkward smile.
However, Tia still seemed unable to accept it. "You know what, Riku-sama. If you sell all these in the human market, you can just buy some nice land and a small castle. Are you sure you're giving it to us for free like this?" She looks really bad.
But, really, I want her to accept it.
I even thought that it still wasn't enough to pay for all the mess we caused.
Please accept my good intentions or I will be the one in trouble.
"Tia-san, I'm not doing this because I want you to repay me. I'm doing this because I already consider all of you as my friends, isn't it a natural thing to help a friend."
"Riku-sama…"
Tia looked very moved when she heard what I said, as well as the two other Elves who were also there, they brought the box of [Heal Potion] that I gave them.
A moment later, Tia closed her eyes for a moment and she walked slowly closer to me. At that time, she gave a hand signal to tell me to lower my head, I was confused, but I lowered my head the way she wanted.
After that, Tia grabbed my palm and she suddenly kissed it.
"Eh?"
I was shocked, my eyes opened wide.
What's this?
Why did she suddenly kiss my hand?
It's so soft— No, that's not it, what's the point of this?!
While I was confused about the meaning of those actions, Tia raised her head and looked at me with warm eyes.
"This way, if Riku-sama intends to return here, we Elves can recognize you. This will be a sign that you are our friend."
"Sign…"
What do you mean by sign?
Out of curiosity, I saw the marks from Tia's previous kiss. There, I felt a lingering warm glow— No, it wasn't like I could still feel hers kiss marks, but it was something else.
Right on the back of my palm, I saw a symbol that was shaped like a wind spiral and decorated with leaves. It was still there, but the light had dimmed. I looked at her with a beaming face.
"This is cool..." I exclaimed reflexively.
"Fufu, I'm glad you like it. Alright, let's leave this for later. Now let's enjoy the party again," Tia said, and we quickly left the room to go out.
When I came out, the beautiful moonlight immediately fell on me and the excited voices of the Elves in the village square could be heard all the way here.
"Woy~ Riku, hehe~ have you finished your business? Hic~! Hurry up and come here or I'll finish all the dishes you know~"
"Ugh, are you drunk yet?"
As soon as I walked into the party, Alicia immediately came up to me and put an arm around my shoulder in a drunken stupor. In her hand she held a glass full of red wine, it spilled slightly when the woman staggered down another drink.
I frowned and quickly shoved the drunk woman away from me. She obediently left me and returned to drinking with the Elves.
Even though it hadn't been a few minutes since the party started, but the goddess was already drunk. Had she lost her dignity as a goddess?
Didn't she say she was immune to any bad effects?
"Hey, Riku, come over here!" Someone called me.
I turned around to see who it was. There, Regim waved his hand at me, so I walked up to him after taking a glass of red wine alcohol from it cask.
"Sit here, I'm sure you're pretty tired after all that hard work, right? Relax now, and enjoy yourself," Regim said as he took a bite of the grilled meat from the hunt and offered me a seat.
I sat beside him and drank my red wine. It deliciously went down my throat and instantly blew away all the tiredness I had.
"Aaaah~ this is refreshing."
"Ahahaha, that's a nice way to drink it. You really get used to it, even though you were coughing when you first tried it."
"Well, that's because it was my first time."
In this world, you can drink when you're 15, whereas now I'm 18, so there's no rule against me anymore.
I had tried it before, but it was so loud it made me want to cry and pass out, it instantly made my brain boil. I thought I'd never be able to enjoy a drink like that again, but now I'm totally used to it.
"Come on, you don't need to bring it up anymore, do you?"
It was an embarrassing story, so I hope he forgets about it.
"By the way, how are the conditions over there? Was there no problem while you were planting the tree seeds?" I asked, changing the subject in another direction.
Regim bit into the flesh once, after he chewed and swallowed it, he answered, his voice relaxed. "Well, nothing serious. As usual, we ran into some monsters, but no one got hurt. So pretty much smooth sailing. How about you, I heard you ran into a Medusa ant nest, isn't it a lot more chaotic there?"
"Uuh, please don't remind me again. Even now I still feel like my hands are petrified. Thanks to that I can't sleep well."
"I-Is that so? Well, keep up the good work bro."
This forest is really not an easy place. If it wasn't for Alicia's [Recovery] magic, which can remove all ill effects, I would have turned to stone by now.
Seriously, not that I hated this place, but I wanted to quickly get out of here and entertain myself in the human city using all the money I made selling my potions. I'm sure it will be a lot of fun.
"Oh yeah, Riku, how was your relationship with Elvy after that, did you manage to meet her?" asked Regim while taking a sip of his drink.
But, hearing that I averted my gaze and gave a stiff laugh.
"No result."
"My goodness, what exactly happened between you two? Weren't you two very close before."
"That…"
I scratched my cheek awkwardly, at a loss for how to explain it. There's no way I'd say if I made that girl cry. I'm really really bad.
Since then, I've never been able to talk to Elvy again. I've tried to approach her, but she always avoids me. It took a whole month and even now I still can't make up with Elvy.
"Could she be angry because I left her…"
"Hmm, I guess not only that."
"... Not only that? What do you mean, Regim-san?"
Is there anything more than that the reason she's avoiding me?
"Well, you know, that girl seems really restless lately. How should I put it, she looks like she really wants to see you, but she can't."
"Wait, what does that mean? I'm just getting more confused."
"Ahahaha, well, I also don't know what kids nowadays think. You don't need to be so worried, I'm sure it's fine!" said Regim, who took another gulp of his drink, making him completely drunk.
This man can't be relied on, even though I'm in a lot of trouble here.
Well, I guess I can't get my hopes up too much either. This is my own problem, so I have to solve it with my own hands.
Originally I intended to apologize at the party this time. But, even after I waited for Elvy until now, she still hasn't shown up. I really lost my hope.
"Elvy…"
The more I think about it, it just makes me worse off. Even though Tia and others have tried to make this party, but I really can't enjoy it.
My thoughts are now only occupied with Elvy.
***************
Meanwhile, on the other hand, Elvy was currently talking to the village head.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about, Elvy-chan?" Tia asked, she had guessed this would happen, so she was waiting for the girl in her room.
Elvy clenched her fists and raised her head with a stern look.
"Tia-sama, I—"
After that, they started talking at length together.
***************
The next day, it was time for us to leave.
"Okay, let's go first. See you later, all of you. I promise that if I have the chance, I will definitely visit you again," I said, to all the Elves who escorted us away.
Just then, Tia stepped forward, as the representative of all of them. Sh took my hand and smiled gently when she saw me.
"Take care of yourselves, Riku-sama, Alicia-sama. We will definitely miss you guys," said Tia while holding my hands tightly.
Alicia and I smiled.
At that moment, everyone started shouting at us. One by one they said their sentences to escort us.
"Riku, take care of yourself!"
"Commander, be careful on the road!"
"Alicia-san, thank you for healing me!"
"Take good care of yourselves!"
"Let's party again when you get back!"
"Thank you for saving us!"
"See you again!"
I widened my eyes in amazement when I heard all that. I'm really very happy. I can't believe that they love us so much, if at this moment I was just a little off guard, I would have shed tears.
"Well, see you later! Thanks for everything!" I waved my hand and gave a bright wide smile.
After that, I turned around.
It feels a bit painful and sad to leave them. Even though it was only one month, but it was really a very long time. It seems that I really have become attached to this village.
"Okay, let's go" I said and started to walk away with a feeling of complete satisfaction.
But—
"Well, you're right, let's go."
—As if it were only natural, Alicia said that and she immediately climbed onto my back as if breathing.
"…."
I paused and glanced at her.
"Hm, what? Did you forget something?" However, the goddess only tilted her head in confusion without noticing anything. I can only sigh tiredly.
"No, nothing. You're still you, I'm relieved to remember that again."
Alicia was still confused by what I said, but I ignored her and started walking away while carrying the goddess who couldn't read the atmosphere on my back.
Until then, I still heard the voices of the Elves who escorted us.
Finally, after a long stay here, we resumed our journey again.
But, before leaving, I glanced back for a moment.
As I expected, the girl wasn't there.