When I was a small child, I was born and raised in a happy family.

　Elves are a very long-lived race of people who live with nature.



　We had very little in the way of entertainment, but we were happy just to have a family and enough to eat.



　My father was one of the best sword fighters among the elves and my mother was a master of the physical arts.

　In an elven village where entertainment was scarce, swordsmanship and bodybuilding were practiced on a daily basis, and my father and mother were teachers and masters.



　I was not very good at magic, but as I grew up I became reasonably good at it.



　At that time, I thought that I would just continue to live in the elven village and grow older.



　Then one day a turning point came.



　I had a younger brother, Seth, five years younger than me.

　Seth always followed behind me, and although he was a bit of a bother at times, he was very cute.



　Then my brother went missing in the forest of love.

　The Forest of Loving-kindness is a forest just a stone's throw from the Elven village, so named because there is a story that it was once named after a friendship between a human mage and an Elf. I could not believe that Seth could get lost in the forest where he usually played.



　But recently there had been reports of an increase in the number of demons that I had never seen before in that forest.

　My parents had told me to wait at home, but I couldn't just wait.



　I had an uneasy feeling in my heart.

　I knew where my brother was going to go because I had often played in the woods with him.

　I went into the forest without telling my parents.



　I looked everywhere I could find him. But he was nowhere to be found.

　All that remained was a place called the Mage's House, which only a few of the elves were allowed to enter.



　It is said to contain magical tools and other magical items that we were forbidden to enter.



　The mage's mansion was hundreds of years old, but the exterior remained exactly as it had been when it was built.

　I decided to enter it with all my heart.



　But that was the beginning of my mistake.

　If I had consulted my parents at that time, the result might have been different.



　The inside of the house was spotlessly clean, not a speck of dust was to be found.



　It was very strange, though the rumor in the elven village was that no one lived there.



　Looking back on it now, I think there was a mysterious magic in the air there.

　I ran up to the third floor and went into the biggest room at the end of the house without any hesitation.



　In the room my brother was lying on the bed.



"Seth?"



　I called out, but Seth didn't wake up. Seth's face was blue or white. His breathing was shallow and rapid.

　This was not the Seth I knew.



　I was about to leave the room with Seth on my back when I noticed "it" looking at me. It" was a bright red sphere, or should I call it a red sphere?



　It was floating in the air and had no eyes, but I knew it was looking at me.

"You can't have Seth!"



　I carried Seth on my back and pointed my sword at it.

　It was weird to see it floating in the middle of the room, not blocking my way, as if it were something more sinister.



　I try to leave the room, being careful of the "it".



　But just as I was about to leave, the door to my room was unceremoniously closed.



　I try my best to fight back my panic and turn to face it.



"You're a sweet girl. Only you or your brother can save him. Which will it be?"



What?



Which will save you?



　I said, as quickly as I could.



"Save my brother."



　That's what I was yelling.



It" grinned and something entered my body.

　To this day, I still don't know what it was.



　I don't remember much after that.

　The next thing I knew, I was going home.



　Seth said he had been home too, and I was trying to convince myself that it had all been a dream.



　But then strange things started happening to me.

　At first it started with small insects dying.



　Then they became bigger and bigger, and then they became small animals. I got more and more scared and talked to my parents about it, but they didn't take it seriously.



　Finally, my white horse died.

　If I stayed at home, bad things would happen to my family.



　So I decided to leave the elven village without saying anything to anyone.

　I was an adult and I thought I would be fine on my own in the outside world.



　A journey with no destination.

　I didn't know where I was going.



　Anywhere. Somewhere where there's no one.




　I don't know what it was. I wander around just to survive.



　But the world was so cruel to me who had only known the inside of a village.

　I was so naive that I was quickly reduced to a slave, not knowing what currency to use.



　I wanted to die, but I could not do it myself.

　But the first person who bought me as a slave was very kind and gentle. He taught me the common sense of the world.



　If I had not met him, I would not be here today.

　But in the meantime, stranger and stranger things happened around me.

　And six months later.



　The man who bought me died in his sleep.

　I didn't know if it was really me.



　But the second died of illness within three months, and the third fell off a cliff within a week.

　The fourth drank poison. The fifth was attacked by a demon and died the moment I took my eyes off him.



　Everyone I care about dies.

　I didn't want anyone else to die.



　So I was happy to have my guarantor become a guild, and I wished myself into a prison.



　I would never let anyone die.

　But the guild would not leave me there.



　The guild wanted to make me an adventurer, and they registered me in the E class.

　I wanted to go it alone, but they wouldn't allow it and said I had to be partnered with a higher level adventurer.



　But when I told them about my background, they all distanced themselves from me, even the higher adventurers.



　It's not that I want anyone to die.

　So I thought the rejection was understandable, but it was not without shock.



　And I refused to join the party, saying that it had to be someone stronger than me. That way my heart would not be broken.



　I swore to myself. I swore to myself that I would never flirt with anyone. No matter how much stronger they are than me, if I don't say I'm with you, you don't lose. I will never form a party. I swore it.



　Then one day a while later, this man appeared before me.

　He wore a strange bracelet and told me that he was a man who had been fired as a courier from an advanced party.



　I thought that the guild had finally given up on me by making me work with a courier, no matter how much I didn't want to be in a party with him.



　So I said something terrible and refused to join the party.

　But the guy didn't listen to me at all.



　I had been told he was just a courier, but his sword was fast and straight, more powerful and gentle than any I had ever seen.



　He talked to me as if he could see right through my strength.

　I didn't want anyone else to die.



　I didn't want him to die, even though I'd never met him before.

　So I denied him.



"I haven't lost yet. If I admit defeat, it means you die. That's why I can't lose."



　No matter how many times I told him you would die, he didn't believe me.



　Unable to beat him with the sword, I challenged him with my body.

　But he threw me off that too.



　The party where he was made to carry all this stuff must have been filled with more people than I could ever imagine.



　Still, I didn't give up.

　But he said to me.



"I'll show you why I won't die. But please, don't die before I do."

　Everyone knows that elves live longer than humans.



　He told me not to die before him.

　His words penetrated deep into my heart.



　But I couldn't be honest with him, so I cut him a wide berth.



"Don't make me laugh!　I am an elf loved by life and trees!　If you want to make me give up, go get the Mad King."



　I would never bring a Demon Lord. It was like a statement that I would never accept defeat. But he exceeded my expectations.



　What appeared before me was Fenrir, a disaster, no exaggeration.

　Fenrir howled in front of me and released a bit of his magic, and all my strength left me, and I was shaking.



　A flying monster fell in front of me.

　The demon was a bird called "Skybird," which is said to fly the highest in the sky and is never seen above the ground. This rare bird is said to nest near the top of the world's largest tree.



　Few people, even elves, have ever seen one in the flesh.

　It was said that no one could bring such a bird down from the ground.



　But Fenrir had managed to bring it down with a simple release of his magical powers.

　With Fenrir at his side, he was no longer a being of common sense.



　And then the real fear of death.



　I realized once again that I had only talked about death.

　I don't want to die yet.




　And I don't want anyone around me to die.



　I don't know if there's anything I can do, but I'm going to rely on this man.

　He was powerful enough to make me think that.

　And this encounter changed my destiny.