-19-

“Yes, now I’m perfectly fine.”

“Is that so?”

Roan said this and then approached me. Being in a carriage, I had nowhere to escape.

“If your heart raced that much, should I do it again?”

What, what is he going to do again?

“Stop teasing me!”

I turned my head sharply. I could feel his gaze on me, but I stubbornly kept my head turned away.

Roan chuckled softly and returned to his seat.

“I can’t have the lady unable to speak.”

…I really shouldn’t have said anything. I felt a wave of regret.

Nevertheless, the atmosphere had become much more relaxed than before. Even though my mental state felt completely exhausted.

***

“My Lord, My Lady, we’re almost there.”

The coachman, who had been driving the carriage, called out from outside. Finally, the moment was approaching when my hard work would pay off.

We soon alighted from the carriage.

This was the village closest to the Dwarf Forest. The Dwarf Forest was deep within a mountain range, making it inaccessible by carriage.

So, it meant we had to walk there.

I took out the map that the dwarf had given us.

Looking at the map, there seemed to be something between the village and the Dwarf Forest, and it appeared to be the hill right in front of us.

It seemed certain that we had to climb over this hill to get there.

I already felt exhausted just thinking about climbing this hill.

“It seems we have to cross this to reach the forest.”

I said to Roan with a heavy heart.

Surprisingly, Roan’s expression didn’t show much surprise. He nodded calmly, as if he had already expected this.

Am I the only one feeling hopeless here?

We began to climb the hill. My prediction that it would be tough was entirely correct. Why are my predictions only right in these situations?

I panted heavily, gasping for breath.

It really hit me that Delis wasn’t accustomed to physical exertion, being a noble lady.

In contrast, Roan, who was climbing beside me, didn’t even seem to break a sweat or breathe heavily. Not a drop of sweat in sight. Truly a superhuman.

When I seemed on the verge of respiratory distress, Roan looked at me.

“Are you struggling?”

Does it look like I’m not struggling? He seemed unable to understand my plight.

Is Roan exceptionally fit, or is Delis just incredibly unfit? Suddenly, a large, solid back appeared before me.

It was Roan’s back. I couldn’t believe it.

“If you’re struggling, you can get on my back.”

I blinked, torn between the impact of my weight on him and my immediate physical exhaustion. Then, I quickly realized I couldn’t miss the chance to get on his back.

“I might be heavy.”

With a mix of anxiety and excitement, I climbed onto his back.

Suddenly, I recalled a time when I had asked him to hold my hand in the carriage.

I had never imagined a situation where he would offer his back like this. Roan’s back was both solid and comforting. Wow, look at these muscles… am I being too perverted?

“Roan, am I heavy?”

“Yes.”

Oh. Roan answered bluntly. If it were the old Delis, she wouldn’t have been heavy, but I must have been eating too much lately. Plus, this steep slope made it hard to climb.

“If, if it gets too tough, you can put me down.”

I thought I heard a sigh from Roan.

There was no helping the feeling of guilt. After all, I was very comfortable on his back right now.

Even though I kept telling him it was okay to put me down, Roan simply readjusted me a few times and said nothing.

The summit came into view. It seemed much easier to climb while on Roan’s back.

Even though I was worried about being heavy, Roan, the superhuman, didn’t seem tired at all.

“We’re finally here.”

I spoke with overwhelming relief. Reaching the summit made me appreciate the value of fresh air. The distant villages, mountains, and sky all looked incredibly beautiful.

“Roan, have you ever yelled ‘Yahoo!’ at the top of a mountain?”

“‘Yahoo’…?”

“Yelling ‘Yahoo!’ after reaching the top. Have you never done that?”

Roan looked as if he didn’t understand why anyone would do such a thing.

“I haven’t.”

I could imagine that he had a rather dull childhood.

“You must have been a good child. Actually, I’ve heard that shouting at the top of a mountain can stress out the animals in the forest.”

“So, you were a bad child.”

“What?”

I never expected Roan to respond to my joke like that.

But then, I felt an odd sense of unease. What is this feeling?

…Wait? I’m supposed to have lost my memory. But I just talked as if I remembered my past…?

Roan almost didn’t notice my mistake, and I had to quickly cover it up.

“Well, um, I don’t remember. Haha.”

I made a hasty excuse. I had to be more careful. I’ve been too relaxed lately.

Luckily, Roan showed no change in expression. It seemed he hadn’t noticed my slip-up. Phew, what a relief.

We decided to descend the hill on the opposite side. Hopefully, we’d find the path to the Dwarf Forest from there. It wasn’t exactly a path made for people, though.

We began the descent, which proved just as taxing as the climb. I felt like I might collapse the moment we arrived.

The landscape around us was dense with trees, an overwhelming sea of green.

I pulled out the map again. We were definitely in the right area. We had long since left any marked trails behind.

“We’ve been circling this area for a while now,” Roan observed.

“It’s definitely around here somewhere.”

Where exactly is it?

A red dot marked the Dwarf settlement on the map, and it was supposed to be somewhere around this area. But all we saw were trees.

I was getting more frustrated. If we got lost here, it could be dangerous by nightfall. This place was likely full of wild animals.

Roan took the map and studied it.

“It seems we’re in the right place, even if we can’t see it.”

That was a small comfort.

“Let’s keep searching carefully.”

Just then, something whizzed past our field of vision.

“Huh?”

“…?”

We both saw it. It wasn’t a butterfly or a bird. It was a tiny figure with wings, almost like a miniature person.

“A fairy…?”

The beings that lived alongside the dwarves.

“Did you see that?” I asked.

“Yes, did you?”

“Yes.”

Our eyes met, and we wordlessly agreed to follow the fairy.

The fairy flitted between the branches and leaves of a tree near the edge of a cliff.

If we hadn’t seen the fairy go in, we might have missed the hidden path entirely.

Pushing aside the leaves, we entered, and instead of darkness, we found light.

A new world opened up before us. We had found the Dwarf Forest!

***

As we moved further in, a village came into view. The fairy headed straight for it. That must be where the dwarves lived.

We followed the fairy until it suddenly turned around, sensing our presence.

“Humans?”

The fairy spoke in a language that wasn’t Imperial, yet I understood it perfectly.

“Hello.”

I greeted it on impulse. The fairy’s tiny face showed a mix of caution and curiosity.

“Why are humans here?”

“We’re not dangerous.”

I tried to assure the fairy. Roan, watching from beside me, asked in surprise,

“Can you understand the fairy?”

“Yes. Can’t you?”

“Not at all.”

Maybe this was some sort of possession bonus?

“Human, can you understand me?” The fairy flew closer.

“Yes, I can hear you.”

“How is this possible? Humans don’t know our language.”

“Haha, I’m not sure either.”

“What are you?”

“We were introduced by a dwarf named Reb. He told us to come for a sword.”

“Reb!?”

The fairy’s eyes widened.

“He left for the human world and hasn’t returned yet. Do you know where he is?”

“Yes. He almost had a rough time—he did get a little roughed up—but we found him in time and he’s at our home now.”

The fairy looked visibly shaken.

“Is that true?”

Still skeptical, I pulled out a lock of Reb’s red hair that I had brought as proof.

“If you don’t believe us, Reb said to show you this.”

“This is… really Reb’s hair.”

The fairy, her face still uncertain, said to us,

“Come this way.”

We followed her, and soon other figures came into view. They looked similar to Reb—dwarves.

The dwarves froze in shock when they saw us, then one shouted,

“Why are humans here?!”

Their faces turned red with anger, and it seemed like they might pull out weapons any second.

“Wait a moment,” I quickly interjected, trying to calm them down.

“We were introduced by Reb, the dwarf.”

“Reb?”

“You were introduced by Reb? Do you know where he is?”

Hearing Reb’s name, the dwarves’ eyes widened, and they bombarded us with questions.

“He is safe now. He’s at our home.”

“Is that true?”

They looked skeptical. The fairy from before stepped in, holding the red hair I had shown her.

“They showed me this.”

“That’s…!”

“It’s Reb’s hair!”

The dwarves looked confused.

One dwarf, still wary, said, “How do we know you didn’t get that by threatening him?”

The other dwarves murmured in agreement. Roan spoke up in a firm voice.

“We didn’t threaten him. My wife saved him, and in return, he promised us a sword.”

“Then where is Reb now, and why didn’t he come with you?” asked the wary dwarf.

“He’s injured and currently receiving treatment, so he couldn’t come with us. He will come once he recovers.”

“…”

The dwarf’s face softened a bit. It was clear they cared deeply for Reb.

An elder-looking dwarf spoke up. “They don’t seem to be lying.”

The other dwarves seemed to agree.

“Indeed, they seem cleaner than most humans.”

“But that human man…”

“He doesn’t look like he wants to harm us.”

“If they really saved Reb, we should be grateful.”

The elder dwarf smiled kindly. “Come in first.”

The dwarves led us to what appeared to be a reception room. There were a few more fairies there.

“Humans!”

“How did they get here?!”

The fairies only said a few words, but the place immediately felt chaotic. They turned to the fairy who brought us, addressing her as Cindy.

“Cindy, what’s going on?”

“These humans saved Reb.”

“Reb?!”

They exclaimed in unison.

“And this human woman can understand our language.”

“What?!”

The fairies looked at me in shock before one of them cautiously approached.

“Um…”

“Yes?”

“Eek!”

“How?!”

I’d like to know that too, I thought, giving them an awkward smile.

“Can this human man understand us?” one fairy asked, pointing at Roan.

“Apparently not.”

Roan, who had maintained a neutral expression, looked puzzled as the fairy pointed at him.

“Let’s use the human language then.”

These fairies could speak the Imperial language too? Although they were younger than the dwarves, it seemed they had learned it.

“Hello?”

“Can you understand us now?”

“Are you understanding us?”

They were speaking in somewhat broken Imperial, looking at us expectantly.