Chapter 6: What Is Life?

Dusk began to fall, and the bright moon hung high.

The new moon dove into the lake, and the water’s surface was sprinkled with a layer of powdered sugar.
The bonfire by the lake burned brightly, its curling smoke rising like a ribbon, carrying the aroma of roasted meat into the night sky.

As darkness falls, close your eyes.
The wolf… is cooked~

Looking at the golden-brown steaks on the bonfire, a sense of accomplishment welled up from the bottom of my heart.

In my past life, I had only ever handled live fish.
This was my first time butchering a creature like a wolf.
Skinning, gutting, and then chopping off the two wolf heads—the movements were as smooth as flowing water.

Although I was the one directing Elvira, that meat was something I had baited with my life.
So my contribution was indispensable.

Speaking of which, the eating habits of dragons were truly something else.
When that giant wolf died, Elvira’s first reaction was to eat it raw!

My goodness… isn’t she afraid of getting sick or having an upset stomach?

I immediately stopped her and repeatedly emphasized the need to eat cooked food.
Finally, under my firm insistence, Elvira compromised.

After that, because we had to gather firewood, build a grill, and prepare the ingredients, it was almost evening before we put the food on the rack.

And now, it was time to reap the rewards of our labor.

Holding a corner of the steak with a leaf, I habitually blew on it before slowly bringing it to my mouth and chewing slowly.

Hmm… the meat is a bit tough.
Because there’s no seasoning, the taste isn’t great either.
It’s not salty at all, but rather gamey, and the more I chew, the gamier it gets.

It’s not good… I’m a little unhappy…
The sense of accomplishment hadn’t even warmed up before it vanished with a “pop”.

But Elvira beside me was truly starving.
Her face was full of anticipation.
Seeing me pick up the steak, she immediately asked.

“Can we eat it now?”

“We can, we can,” I looked at the steak in my hand with a complicated expression, very reluctant to admit that I had messed up the food.
“But the taste of my grilling is a bit off… you’d better be mentally prepared.”

Hearing this, Elvira didn’t care much.
She directly picked up a piece of meat with her bare hands and put it in her mouth, squinting her eyes to savor it.
Her manner was so elegant it was almost excessive.
She even managed to make eating a meal look like a work of art.

“It tastes very good,” she commented, then quickly took a few bites.
In the blink of an eye, only a bone was left in her hand.

But I felt like she was just comforting me.

“Really? You don’t have to force yourself if it’s not good. I know my skills are average.”

After that, Elvira proved to me with her actions that she wasn’t lying.
She ate almost all the meat by herself.
That was an entire wolf.

In contrast, my appetite was very small.
I felt full after just two or three pieces.
Most of the time, I just quietly watched Elvira elegantly demolish the food.

After a long while, the cold wolf carcass had turned into warm protein, leaving only a skeleton behind.
We threw it into the lake, which would reduce the chances of being tracked.
As for the bonfire, we would clean it up in the morning.

The evening breeze blew in gusts, the chirping of insects was leisurely, and the light of fireflies danced in the air.
The forest at night was ethereal and dreamlike.
I added a few more handfuls of wood to the bonfire.
The orange flames burned brighter in my eyes, warming me and Elvira beside it.

On the second night in this new world, the moon had become as pure as silver frost, as if the blood moon from before was just an illusion.

It seems that things like a blood moon are not common in this world, which is for the best.
A blood moon would only increase the “monster spawn” rate, which is not something to be happy about.

Gazing at the full moon, I was lost in a daze.
I was still a bit confused about my reincarnation.
I had been given a chance to live again, but I didn’t know what to do next.

I don’t even know where I am right now!

I only know that a group of church members is hunting me!

So, I turned my gaze to Elvira, wanting to ask her if she had any plans for the future.

“Elvira, what should we do next? That organization called the Church of Mancius… they probably won’t just leave us alone, right.”

She nodded in response, continuing the topic that had been interrupted earlier.

“The Church of Mancius is extremely hostile towards other races. They even publicly execute the other races they capture.
So, I want to take you away from here, to cross the sea by boat to another continent.
There is a place for other races there.”

“Another continent? But can’t you fly? Why do we need to take a boat?”

Hearing my question, Elvira turned around, revealing her smooth back.
It was as tender as water, delicate enough to break with a single touch.
The elegant curves and faintly visible muscle lines were captivating.

But, at the location of her left shoulder blade, I saw a large, deep purple bruise.
That was also where her wing was attached.

Her wing was injured, and badly.

“In the previous battle, I was injured by that lump of iron.
Originally, as a dragon, an attack like that shouldn’t have been able to hurt me…”

Elvira was silent for a moment.
When she spoke again, her tone was filled with self-blame.

“But according to the growth rate of dragons, I am not yet an adult.
The strength of a dragon before and after adulthood is on two completely different levels.”

“Then we’ll just have to beat them back later!”
I waved my pinky fist, cheering Elvira on.
“You’ll definitely be very strong in the future. Once you become an adult, you can pin him to the ground and wipe the floor with him!”

I thought this would make her feel better, but for some reason, Elvira’s mood seemed to drop even further.
She nodded slightly, staring at the fireflies in the air, her tone quite indifferent.

“I hope so. I am still very far from adulthood… so far it’s unreachable, yet so close. As long as…”
Her golden vertical pupils looked back at me, her gaze fervent.
“Verona, I don’t know you yet. So, tell me about yourself, okay?”

Tell her about me…
Indeed, today it had always been me asking Elvira questions, and I hadn’t talked about myself at all.

So… how should I explain it to her?

This reincarnation thing… should I tell her…

Maybe… I’ll tell her a little? But not everything…

After organizing my thoughts, my fingers unconsciously twirled a strand of my hair.
Staring blankly at the bonfire, I began to speak haltingly:
“You can probably tell that I don’t know this world, and I don’t have any related memories…
I… I’ve actually died once before.
Of my past life’s memories, I only have scattered fragments from before my consciousness faded.”

“Died?! Why? Who did it!” Elvira looked at me in shock, her eyes full of doubt, confusion, and a faint hint of anger.

“…It was… myself…
At that time, I was truly desperate…
Because of all sorts of things… I couldn’t see a future…
So, my dream shattered, becoming worthless, and so did my life.”

I had never told anyone about this.
The pressures of my past life had suffocated me.
As times change and people mature, the last vestiges of fantasy in their hearts disappear.
This is why romantics have vanished.

Even now, when I think back on those magnificent, gleaming skyscrapers, I can feel a sense of oppression weighing on my heart.

I knew that place didn’t belong to me, didn’t belong to someone indecisive and whimsical.
Perhaps, I should have slept peacefully beneath its foundations, watching the bricks and tiles pile higher and higher above my head.
That would have been my grave.

But if I were to break free from my shell, cast off my mortal coil, and escape the clamor of the world, how would they judge my soul?

“Why didn’t you hold on?!” Elvira suddenly shouted, her voice a few notches higher than usual.
“As long as you’re alive, there’s still hope. Life is more important than anything. You—”

“Elvira,” I interrupted her, then continued on my own.
“I understand… but if life weren’t truly painful, who would choose to end it all?”

In my vision, the bonfire gradually blurred.
A sourness welled up, and a warm stream flowed from the corners of my eyes, down my cheeks, and into the earth.

“Every day is the same. Today is the same as yesterday, and tomorrow will be the same as today.
When life operates like a machine, what meaning is there left?”
I said in a self-deprecating tone, but these were my truest thoughts.
I didn’t want to be bound, didn’t want to live a conventional life, but my own abilities were not enough to resist the cruel reality…

Elvira had never seen a world like that.
She probably thought I had died in this world and was then reborn in this world, so she wouldn’t understand.

I began to mutter to myself unconsciously.

“Since life will eventually end, what is the meaning of living…”

Suddenly, a gentle touch covered the back of my hand.
I looked up to see a pair of eyes as brilliant as molten gold.
The black-haired, golden-eyed girl had come to my side at some point, her gaze filled with a tender affection.

“But in this life, your life already has meaning.”

Her words left me completely bewildered.

“How long have I been awake? How can my life have meaning already? This is ridiculous…” I mumbled, trying to pull my hand away, but Elvira held on tightly.
After a moment of silence, she continued.

“You will understand in the future.
And now, I want you to know that death is never a release.
No matter what, it is the dark side of life.
To prevent you from going astray again, I will stay with you from now on, and we will never be separated.”

These words, which were infinitely close to a confession, I didn’t know how to answer.
I only felt my heart race and my cheeks flush.

No one could handle this!

“Don’t, don’t… I might have my own plans later.
You’ve already saved me once, there’s no need to waste any more time on me,”
I averted my gaze, no longer meeting Elvira’s eyes.

But her personality was stubborn, or rather, strong.
A simple sentence from me couldn’t change her mind at all.

Elvira’s slender, delicate hand cupped my chin, forcing me to look at her again.
She said, word by word.

“Just as you said, my actions are based on my own will.
Therefore, you have no right to refuse.”

The firelight illuminated her flawless face.
Her thin lips were slightly curved, her eyes slightly narrowed.
In her eyes, more brilliant than the flames, confidence and cunning complemented each other, like a child who has seen a beloved toy and is determined to get it at all costs.

For a moment, I felt like I was being targeted by this dragon.

And that I would never be able to escape…

Speaking of which… she said before that she was looking for the ‘Seed of Genesis and Extinction’ to eat it, and she thinks I’m made of that stuff…

…She doesn’t actually want to eat me, does she…?