Chapter 44 - To the Great Forest - 2

For once, Bera looked flustered.

“Bera.”

“Yes.”

“Bera.”

“... Yes.”

Naturally, Renée was the reason.

Just one minute ago, he had resolved to get her upstairs somehow and put her to bed if she became too drunk to know what she was doing.

Yes, one minute ago.

Renée had become utterly, senselessly drunk after her very first glass.

“Bera.”

“... Yes, Saintess.”

“I'm not Saintess.”

Renée lifted her head, her hand still clutching Bera's collar. Swaying her head in circles, she declared,

“I'm Renée. I'm not Saintess.”

“My apolo—”

“Now, repeat after me. Renée.”

Bera closed his mouth.

Her face flushed with drink, Renée giggled and shook the collar she was holding.

“Reeenéee!”

“... Renée.”

“Hee!”

Renée began laughing, her shoulders bouncing.

Bera felt utterly at a loss.

How was he to get her upstairs? What should he say?

After pondering these questions for a moment, he firmly took the hand clutching his collar and spoke.

“Saintess, I believe it is time for you to go upstairs.”

“Renée.”

“... Renée.”

“Heehee.”

The corners of her mouth lifted.

She kept giggling, then suddenly scrunched up her face and asked,

“Bera, are you a woman-chasing buffalo?”

Bera jolted. So did Norn and Hella, who had been watching the exchange. Cold sweat poured off Norn as he warily studied Bera's expression.

Of course he was worried. Had anyone ever uttered the word “buffalo” in front of Bera and walked away in one piece?

Even the Saintess would be no exception. Bera was sure to lose his temper.

With that thought, Norn started to rise to restrain him.

“... I am not.”

Norn witnessed a miracle. His eyes went wide.

Right before him, Bera was soothing Renée with an expression Norn had never seen before.

He looked deeply wronged. Norn had never even imagined him making such a face.

“I am not a woman-chasing buffalo. Nor, of course, do I indulge in women.”

“Liar.”

“... Pardon?”

A bead of sweat trickled down Bera's face as Renée tightened her grip on his collar and frowned.

“You're head over heels for the elves.”

He had never been.

“You're all excited to go play with them.”

He wanted absolutely nothing to do with those people.

“You're... going to settle down in the Great Forest...”

Just as Bera was about to protest this utter nonsense, Renée hiccupped, and her voice grew tearful.

“You're going to marry the elves...!”

Bera's pupils trembled as though an earthquake had struck.

“Sai—”

“You'll have... one son... and one daughter...! Waaaaah!!!”

At last, she burst into tears. Bera had been listening in bewilderment, wondering what on earth she was talking about, but this was so absurd that it left him utterly speechless.

What could possibly be happening inside that head of hers to make her say such things?

Completely unable to understand the situation, he floundered in confusion before finally laying his hand over hers and speaking.

“That is not true. I have no intention of settling down with the elves.”

“Waaaaaah!!!”

“Saintess, please calm—”

“I'm not Sainteeeess!!!”

Bera stopped dead.

As her cries rang through the room, people at the other tables began glancing at Renée.

Even amid the commotion, Bera's keen hearing picked up their remarks.

“Oh my, what's going on over there?”

“The poor girl must be very ill. At such a young age, too...”

“Is someone mistreating her? Why else would she cry so pitifully?”

Bera felt terribly wronged.

He wanted to protest, but there was no way to soothe Renée now that she was drunk out of her senses.

Uncharacteristically, he glanced at Norn and Hella for help, but they were just as flustered.

The two leaned far back, turned to face each other, and began sipping their drinks.

GRIND!

Bera ground his teeth.

Knowing he had to soothe Renée somehow, and fearing that something disastrous would happen if this continued, Bera began patting her shoulder with stiff, awkward movements.

“... Please, do not be angry.”

He moved so stiffly that merely watching him conjured the sound of creaking in one's head.

The thought of daring to touch Renée filled him with a sense of impropriety. This was different from evading their pursuers while bringing her to the Holy Empire three years ago.

Back then, circumstances had left him no choice, and he had asked her permission while she was sober. Now, wasn't he taking liberties by touching her while she was utterly drunk?

For some reason, Bera felt he was committing a grave sin, and he fidgeted anxiously as he continued patting her shoulder.

Only after a long while did Renée stop crying.

“Are you feeling a little calmer now?”

Bera asked the question as he watched her, still hiccupping.

Renée gave a small nod in answer, then rested her head against his shoulder.

Naturally, Bera went rigid. Across the table, Norn and Hella watched the scene while crunching on dried snacks.

Still frozen stiff, Bera let out a short breath as relief finally began to seep into him.

But perhaps he had relaxed too soon.

“Huuu...”

Suddenly, Renée began sobbing again.

Bera stared at her, his eyes stretched almost painfully wide.

“What is the matter?”

“Beraaa...”

Renée tightened her grip on his collar. His face taut with tension, Bera laid his hand over hers and answered,

“Yes, Bera is right here.”

She flinched. Then her shoulders began shaking and her sobs grew louder, until she finally wailed,

“I can't seeee!”

Tears streamed from Renée's eyes. Her nose ran, too.

This time, Bera could think of absolutely nothing to say to comfort her. He simply squeezed his eyes shut.

* * *

The next morning, Renée woke late. As memories of the previous night flashed through her mind, she pulled the blankets over her head and trembled.

'... Should I die?'

Her grip on the blankets tightened until the tendons stood out on the backs of her hands.

'Let's die.'

Yes, dying would be better. Rather than live in such shame, she should die and attain glory.

She entertained that thought for a moment.

[“Bera, are you a woman-chasing buffalo?”]

The words she had spoken surfaced in her mind once more.

'... Why did I do that?!'

Renée wanted to cry. Squeezing her eyes shut, she prayed to the gods again, something she had not done in some time.

'Please!'

Please, give her divine powers that could turn back time. Not these useless powers, but the divine powers of Regression. That was her wish... but if wishing could make things come true, her eyes would have healed long ago.

Once again, the heavens remained indifferent, and her wish went unanswered.

Despair swept through her whole body for a moment. Then more remembered words came, leaving her struggling to breathe.

[“You're... going to settle down in the Great Forest...”]

Renée knew perfectly well that Bera had never said anything of the sort.

[“You'll have... one son... and one daughter...!”]

And why had she been so specific about his plans for children?

As those memories sent heat flooding through her body, she recalled the final, clinching words she had uttered.

[“I can't seeee!”]

She began kicking the blankets and screaming.

“Aaaaaaah!!!”

After one good, forceful kick, Renée began rolling around on the bed.

'Of course I can't see!'

How could a blind person possibly see? Why had she suddenly started crying about that?

She thrashed about, wishing she could go back just one day and kill her past self.

Meanwhile, Hella sat quietly in the chair beside the bed, watching Renée's antics and thinking absently.

She had been watching because she wasn't sure whether Renée was awake or merely talking in her sleep. But seeing her scream and roll around like that, she must certainly be awake.

It was time to get her ready to leave.

With that thought, Hella rose and spoke.

“Are you awake, Saintess?”

Renée's thrashing stopped abruptly at the sound of her voice. Her eyelashes trembled.

A question escaped her lips in a shaky voice.

“... How long have you been here?”

“Uh... I've been beside you since you pulled the blankets over your head.”

Renée squeezed her eyes shut.

“Did you see?”

“I'm glad you seem to be in good health.”

Renée wanted to cry.

* * *

“Are you awake?”

Bera's voice. Renée, who had just opened the door and stepped out of her room, jolted in alarm at the sound.

“Yessir...”

“About last night...”

“I'm sorry.”

Cutting him off before he could mention her disgraceful behavior the night before, Renée added stiffly,

“Please stop. I'm begging you.”

Her words were thick with desperation.

Bera pressed his lips together and looked at her, then gave a small nod.

“... Let us leave drinking until you are older.”

“Yessir.”

Renée's face flushed, and she hung her head toward the floor in shame.

Letting go of Hella's hand and taking Bera's instead, Renée kept her mouth firmly shut. She desperately hoped he would say nothing more and erase yesterday's events from his memory. But...

“Saintess.”

“Yessir...”

Bera seemed to have no intention of doing so.

What was he going to say now? What words would he use to desecrate her corpse?

As that thought set her trembling, Bera spoke.

“I do not like elves.”

At those words, Renée lifted her head sharply and turned toward him.

Watching her turn her face toward him, Bera continued.

“I will not live in the Great Forest. Nor do I have plans for children. My place is by your side, Saintess.”

The words kept coming.

For Bera, this was an attempt to clear his name after the unfair accusations of the previous night.

He did not know what Renée had been thinking... but really, how many people in the world could like those who had tried to kill them?

Time had already rewound, making those events never happen, and their attempts on his life had been justified. Yet even though he understood all that, Bera could not look upon them favorably.

And so he drew on everything he knew to dispel Renée's suspicions.

“Above all, elves cannot reproduce. They are sexless.”

This fact was not yet widely known. It would only become known later, after the elves emerged from the Great Forest.

When Bera told her, Renée stopped short.

“... What?”

“Elves have no sex. Since they are a species born from the flowers Aedra brings into bloom, it would be more accurate to say they have no need for reproductive functions. Thus, there is no possibility of my falling for an elf. I am human, and I am attracted to women.”

Renée's mouth fell open as she listened, her expression blank. Then she suddenly realized why Bera was speaking at such length, and her face flushed again.

“... I'm sorry.”

She must have been quite a nuisance.

If Bera, who rarely spoke at length, was saying this much, she must truly have outdone herself.

As she trembled with self-reproach, Bera continued.

“I only said this because I did not want you to misunderstand, so please do not trouble yourself over it. I understand everyone makes mistakes the first time they drink.”

Everyone. At that word, Renée hesitated, her lips moving uncertainly, before asking,

“... Did you make a mistake too, Bera?”

“Yes, I did.”

How could he not have? The first time Bera drank, he had snapped the neck of Doran, the leader of the beggar gang who had abused him.

Recalling that past, which had now ceased to exist, Bera added,

“So please do not dwell on it. If anything, I believe I should be the one apologizing. I caused you distress, Saintess. I must have said or done something that made you uncomfortable. I apolo—”

“N-no!”

The words burst out in a shrill cry. Startled by what Bera had said, Renée hastily added in a booming voice,

“U-um! Yessir! Then it's nothing! Yesterday never happened! Let's leave it at that!”

“... Yes.”

Renée ended the conversation, unwilling to pursue the subject any further. Yet even as her face burned, Bera's explanations brought her relief.

Elves were sexless. His place was by her side.

Ridiculous as it was, those two statements melted away all the worries of the past few days.

Suddenly, a soft, silly laugh began spilling from Renée's lips.

The first crisis of her first love.

Bera's infidelity thus ended as nothing more than a misunderstanding of her own making.