Chapter 23: A Lesson in Business and Life

“Selling the grain this time was incredibly unwise.”

I said, looking at Vilya across the dinner table.

Even though Vilya had decisively sold the grain directly to Lucia, leaving me no chance to intervene, I still felt compelled to impart a crucial lesson: we absolutely could not conduct business based on personal favors.

The entire North was currently struggling through a devastating famine, and selling off grain at such a time was utterly senseless. Only someone with Vilya’s straightforward, almost naive, way of thinking would agree to such an absurd transaction. If this pattern continued, our town would soon be unable to trade at all.

“When we adventured together, we always shared our food.”

Vilya, however, appeared utterly unconcerned. She lowered her head, took a sip of broth, and continued, “We can just buy more grain.”

“The problem is, where would we even buy it?”

Vilya tilted her head in confusion, looking at me. “Don’t you know the way? I can lead us there.”

I reached up, covering my face. I knew I couldn’t communicate with Vilya like this; she simply wouldn’t understand. I took a deep breath, then continued, “The entire North is in the grip of famine right now. It’s uncertain if any city would even have grain to sell us, and the journey to transport it would be incredibly perilous. Who knows what desperate people might do?

“Our own town should never be short on grain, yet now, because of this, our townspeople will become refugees themselves… if they run out of food.”

Vilya looked at me calmly. After a moment of silence, she asked, “Did I do something wrong?”

“…Alright, it’s good that you can even grasp that much…”

“But I don’t believe I did anything wrong. Helping a comrade is an honorable thing to do. And Lucia is my dearest battle companion; I couldn’t possibly stand by and do nothing.”

“But the issue now is that Lucia is no longer the Lucia of the past…”

“Has Lucia changed in some way?”

“No… I mean her allegiance… Lucia is an elf now.”

“Wasn’t she always an elf?”

Well, it seemed Vilya hadn’t noticed any problem with Lucia. Lia, on the other hand, watched her with a look of sheer terror. Although Lucia had always been kind to Lia, and Lia didn’t harbor any animosity towards her, the mere mention of the former hero’s party still frightened her.

I reached out, gently pressing my hand over Lia’s, enveloping her small hand to soothe her. I then added, “Vilya, don’t you think there’s something seriously wrong with Lucia?”

“What’s wrong?”

Vilya didn’t seem to have given Lucia’s actions a single thought. She dipped a piece of bread into her broth, then picked up a strip of jerky from the table, wrapped it, and put it into her mouth. Chewing, she said, “Lucia is a very upright warrior, and her archery is exceptional. I can confidently trust her to guard my back. Besides, Lucia is incredibly charming. If possible, I’d love to live with her.”

“…I don’t quite understand your fascination with living with charming girls, but that’s not the point, Vilya. Lucia’s purchase of grain this time is clearly highly suspicious. The exact amount of money she brought was too precise, indicating she’d obviously inquired about current market prices and arrived with just enough.

“Furthermore, she alone doesn’t need such a vast quantity of grain. Why would she buy all this to transport back? It’s clear Lucia is buying grain to send back to the elves, and I have no idea what she intends to do with it.”

Something was definitely happening on the elves’ side, otherwise Lucia wouldn’t have bought grain to take back. Unfortunately, I hadn’t noticed it at first. It was only when I saw how perfectly preserved the gold coins Lucia left behind were that I realized there was absolutely a hidden agenda.

But what exactly was Lucia planning now?

“In short, agreeing to this was far too reckless. This entire situation is a disaster for you as a lord! You’ve personally condemned everyone in this town to the abyss of starvation!”

I was filled with exasperation. Perhaps it was because I simply couldn’t communicate with Vilya, leaving my resentment nowhere to go, choking in my throat and making me restless.

“Helping my friend is also what I should do. This is my decision.”

Vilya set down her soup bowl, which she had refilled six times, and said, “We depart tomorrow morning.”

My words caught in my throat. It seemed Vilya was completely uninterested in anything concerning Lucia. In fact, Vilya seemed uninterested in anything at all, currently only showing interest in Lia, though Lia wasn’t interested in her. My argument with Vilya was pointless; our ways of thinking were fundamentally different.

Vilya was not someone who knew how to live. She was like a blank slate; she could effortlessly sever a person’s head or tear out a heart, yet she was utterly incapable of understanding a person’s heart here.

I remembered Vilya telling me she wanted to experience a real life. In her past, she had always been in the army, fighting as a knight, as a hero. Now the war was over, but she still couldn’t escape that battlefield. She sat here now, yet her heart remained on that battlefield of blood and corpses.

She couldn’t break free.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to.

Rather, no one was there to help her. She fruitlessly searched for direction on the battlefield, yet all around her were corpses and flames. She had lost her way, unsure where she should go, how to leave this place. She tried to have Lia lead her away, perhaps because she felt that by living with Lia, Lia could show her what a normal life truly was. She might also have believed that the cheerful and lively Lucia was what a normal girl should be.

In her mind, when Lucia, her comrade and friend, made a request, she should do everything in her power to grant it. She had never managed food before, which was why she was so generous.

I watched Vilya stand up and said, “Vilya, you’ve always said you wanted to live a normal life, yet aren’t you still thinking and acting according to your past life? The war is over, Vilya, the war is over! The Lucia of today is no longer your comrade and companion. The Lucia of today is merely an elf.

“You cannot sympathize with the current Lucia because of your past. If you still think this way, aren’t you just a monster who only knows how to kill?”

My voice rose considerably, thick with anger and resentment. I didn’t even know why I was so furious; perhaps, in another sense, I was simply angry at Vilya herself.

She knew nothing, yet she insisted on making decisions based on her shallow experience, unwilling to understand.

My words were the last sound in the room. Vilya stood motionless, while Lia looked at me in a panic, whispering, “Papa… Papa… wasn’t that a bit too much… calling her a monster… even if she is one… you shouldn’t say it directly to her face…”

Indeed, I regretted those words the moment they left my mouth.

I had truly gone too far.

As I was about to apologize, Vilya turned back to look at me earnestly. “What is a normal person’s life? I’ve never had any experience. I don’t know how to live a normal life, nor do I know what kind of girl is a normal girl. Do you know? I’ve always been treated as a monster, but I want to live as a person. I want a family, too. I want all the things everyone else has but I don’t. Do you know how I can get them?”

Vilya looked at me with immense sincerity. If anyone else had said and looked at me like that, I would have thought they were joking, but now I knew Vilya was genuinely asking these questions.

“I don’t understand why the current Lucia is no longer Lucia, why what we did before is now wrong, why you disagree with what I used to believe. What has happened to this world? Why, after the Demon King died, did the world not become better? Why are people still starving? Why, why, when it’s all supposed to be over, do I not feel any difference at all?”

Perhaps my initial words had utterly confused Vilya, so she blurted out all the questions she had. She looked at me, ceaselessly posing questions, yet her expression remained unchanged, even her tone. She looked at me and Lia. Lia stared blankly at Vilya, seemingly shocked by why she had become like this, why she had suddenly asked so many questions.

I stared blankly at Vilya, silent for a moment, then stood up and said, “Vilya, I don’t know you well, but I do understand what constitutes a normal life, and what a normal girl is like. If you can trust me, I am very willing…”

At that moment, I no longer knew what I should do. My anger had been completely dispelled by Vilya’s calm demeanor.

“I want to see those flowers, too.”

Vilya suddenly spoke, making Lia tremble in fright and stare at her in shock. But Vilya paid no mind, continuing to look at me intently, saying each word clearly, without shyness or excitement, “The flowers you promised Lia, I want to see them too. If I get along well with Lia, then would I also have my own family? I said I want a normal life; I also want a normal family.”

I looked at Vilya before me, feeling somewhat at a loss. I had never imagined that Vilya had overheard what Lia and I had discussed. Did this mean Vilya also knew that we would eventually leave? Yet, Vilya didn’t seem to care about those things; instead, she was looking forward to leaving with us.

How should I describe Vilya? She was clearly a very easy girl to understand, yet, at the same time, so difficult. I could never fully grasp Vilya’s thoughts, but her actions always surprised me.

“Alright.”

However, I nodded.

“Papa!!!!”

Lia let out a desperate wail. Her eyes, fixed on me, were filled with despair. I knew what she meant: this was supposed to be our future destination, a place just for the two of us. But now, I had agreed to a third person joining, and it was Vilya, whom she could least accept, making the situation even more unbearable for Lia.

“Lia, it’s alright. If Vilya were just a normal person, would you still not accept her?”

I looked at Lia, held her hand, then turned to Vilya and said, “Then, after this incident, all your decisions, Vilya, must be discussed with us before they are carried out. And from now on, I will also teach you what it means to be a girl and a lord.”

Vilya looked at me and nodded seriously.

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