CH 137

“…… Hey Eleas, you don’t have to be so scared, you know?”

“……………………”

“Ughh.”

Using [Akashic Compass] I easily pinpointed Eleas’ location, and after catching him, we returned to where we fought. But for some reason, as soon we got back, Eleas hid behind Tia with a face like a puppy that had been abandoned.

No, well, it’s because I scared him. … This makes it hard for me to talk to him.

“Look, the mock battle is over. It’s not scary, it’s not scary, okay?”

“….I feel like you are making fun of me, and I don’t like it.”

“Then what should I do… Anyway, come here and listen to me. Huh?”

“Don’t worry. If Ed does something weird, I’ll take care of him!”

“Yes. ….”

With my coaxing and Tia’s cheering, Eleas came to me. But there was still a hint of trepidation in his demeanor, and a subtle sense of guilt welled up inside me. No, no, no. I just did what I needed to do by turning my heart into an ogre.

“Fuuu… then, I’ll ask you again, how was the mock battle just now?”

""

“That’s… I understand now what you were saying, I’m still weak.”

“Uh, no, that’s different …, but it doesn’t matter right now anyway. More importantly, how was it confronting me?”

“How …… it was, um …… scary. ….”

(T/N: This is without any skills sheesh Ed)

“Yes, that’s it! Fighting is scary. You’re fighting for your life, after all. And that’s the feeling you’ve forgotten so well in the last few days.”

“Wha….?”

Eleas’ mouth dropped open when I pointed this out. The sense of crisis had been missing from his mind to such an extent that he took such an attitude. Ah, I’m glad I did it here after all.

“Hey Eleas, you never felt scared in your recent battles, did you?　You may have thought you were in danger, but you never once thought beyond that …. that you would die. Right?”

“That’s …”

At my words, Eleas looked a little puzzled.

Because of this, He easily won the battle, even though we chose a demonic beast with only a margin of safety as his target for defeat. That was why I had chosen a slightly stricter approach this time, but even so, he got through it unscathed.

There’s no way a kid who just became an adventurer wouldn’t get drunk on his power. So, I was not going to scold him, and if possible, it would be better to take the time to slowly teach him how big the world is,……, but there were circumstances that didn’t allow that to happen this time around.

“If it’s normal, well, that’s okay. That kind of growth is a privilege of youth, and whether or not you can recover when your talent is defeated by reality is one of the qualities of an adventurer, so even failure is a valuable experience. But in your case, you became too strong too quickly. You couldn’t make any more mistakes because you skipped all the opportunities to experience that kind of thing and became stronger. Do you understand? You beat a Darlton Bear unscathed, but it wasn’t an easy victory. You just didn’t realize it, but you managed to beat an enemy who would have put you in a tight spot and left you to die with just one small wound. What if goblins or something else had intervened?　What if you get caught on muddy ground after a rain? What if you accidentally step on a tree root and stumble just a little? Those ever-present little bits of bad luck and carelessness can easily kill you.”

“Ugh! B-but then, you could have just said it with your mouth…..”

“Idiot, that doesn’t make any sense. Because you knew that much, didn’t you?”

“Hah!?”

“I am more surprised that you are surprised! Eleas you’ve hunted with adults in the elf village before, right? Then there’s no way you wouldn’t know such an obvious thing. If you’ve been hunting for years, you’ve seen, heard, and experienced it all. Even against wild beasts that are not even demonic beasts, it is easy to kill people if you are not careful. That is why a hunter must be extremely careful when facing any kind of prey, and hunt the prey seriously. That is why a hunter, no matter what kind of prey they are confronted with, takes precautions and hunts their prey seriously. Or what? Did the guy who taught you how to hunt teach you that the prey is just a small fry that runs away when it sees you, so just shoot a bow at random and it’ll be alright?”

(T/N: Kinda new for Ed to be this serious)

“That can’t be true! There’s no way… That’s right, it can’t be true…”

At first, Eleas raised his voice, but soon his voice became quieter as he reflected on his past actions. Although he may look about 12 years old, the elf Eleas was 50 years old. In fact, on the way from the village to the town, he had been fighting even goblin-sized enemies with great caution.

Then how could I not know? It was impossible not to remember. There was no way that one could really forget in a week the common sense that had been accumulated over the past years.

“This time you remembered your fear of death for the first time in a few days when you fought me. You realized yourself what it was like to fight and how careless you were. So, well, now you just have to make sure you don’t do the same thing again. Now you are just a long, thin branch of strength grafted on top of a big tree forged in the village. When you climb up on such a tree and look down at the earth with pleasure, it will soon break and you will fall. So water it well, pay attention to it, and let the branches grow into a big tree worthy of the tree’s stump. Don’t just make it grow taller, make it thicker, sturdier, and with a solid foundation. Then your tree will become a giant tree that will pierce the heavens. I guarantee you that.”

“Ed-san…”

I gave him a thumbs up, and Eleas gave me a look that cleared his doubts.

""

“Thank you, Ed-san. Your advice really hit home.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I’m relieved that you agree with me. Some people don’t get it, even if I say so much.”

There are a certain number of people who, once they become stubborn, will never listen to the opinions of others. No matter how sound the advice is, it is meaningless to such a person. If you still want to help them, the only way is to somehow build a relationship of trust with them in a very roundabout way, and then gradually guide their opinion….. To be honest, if it is not a very important partner, I would consider abandoning them.

“Fufu, If Ed-san hadn’t beaten me so easily, I might have thought, “What’s a guy who is weaker than me talking about the obvious?” I might not have taken it seriously. Even so, I’m sure I would have realized it at some point, but it seems very likely that when I realized it….that’s when death would be inevitable”

“Oh, it’s standard for the villain of a story to say something like, ‘If only I had done that back then’ . I mean, I went through a period like that myself.”

“Eh, Really!?”

“Well, when it comes to getting carried away with sudden power and doing stupid things, I don’t think there’s anyone who can outdo me, you know?”

There was a time in the latter half of my first round, when I was getting stronger with all my banishment skills, and I was getting on a roll. It hurts too much to think back on it now, but that’s why there’s no shortage of stories of failure, and it’s safe to say that it was necessary, considering that I understood how Eleas felt because I had been there. … okay? Yeah. Let’s put it that way.

“Well, what can I say about that ……?”

“Ha! Stories about stupid things done by fools are just something to laugh off with a drink! Besides, it’s not like it’s a story worth telling sober… Unless, maybe you want to hear it?”

“I’d love to!”

“Oh, you’re not going to leave me out of such an interesting story, are you?”

After the sparkling eyes of Eleas, even Tia, smiling with a grin on her face, was impatient to talk about my failures.

“Well, I don’t really want to talk about it too much, to be honest. …”

“You brought this on yourself, you think you can get away with it without talking? Now, that’s enough for today, let’s go back to town and hear what Ed has to say!”

“Yes! Let’s go Ed-san, Tia-san!”

“I don’t have an option to not speak, huh….”

“Eleas-kun, you’ve worked hard today, Ed’s going to treat you to anything you want.”

“Really!? Thank you, Ed-san!”

“And it’s on me!? Isn’t it usually the one who listens that buys the drinks?”

“What, Ed, you’re not going to let Eleas-kun buy you a drink? That’s not exactly the way you want to treat your elders, you know?”

“Guu!? I didn’t mean to do that…I understand. I’ll pay for it”

“Yay! Thank you, Ed-san!”

“I’d like you to do the same for me, then, when you’re done talking and you’re depressed, I’ll pat your head, okay?”

“No need! I am not definitely paying for you!”

“Yes yes. I’m looking forward to it.”

“………… tsk.”

Even though this incident didn’t happen during the first round, I can picture in my mind’s eye me being forced to buy a meal for two. Biting back the unreasonableness of the world, I followed them back to the town with a wry smile on my face.