Volume 1, Epilogue
A chilly wind blew across the mountain.
The sky was as blue as could be and wildflowers blossomed on the elevated land surrounded by beautiful mountains.
And a singing voice carried endlessly from the slope.
“Hero, oh Hero, lu la la la la, how we adore you.”
Natalia was singing her favorite nursery song.
“How we adore you, oh Hero, how we adore you, lu la la la la, always will we do so.”
She was picking flowers as she sang. Those flowers with a beautiful white radiance were known to ward off monsters. She had brought the seeds from an elf village and sown them here until the village had eventually become known for them.
(Has he arrived yet?)
She put the picked flowers in a basket and looked up to the sky.
Would she be able to see his wagon if she could look down from those clouds high in the sky?
The Hero’s Cave gaped open on the mountain face nearby.
She turned around, thinking someone had appeared from within like they had back then.
But there was no one.
“No, someone did come from there.”
She once more faced the sky and spoke to the clouds.
She had made sure everything was ready.
She had planted these monster-repelling flowers so the Hero would have no trouble when he did return.
That man had done the same. He had come here to make sure there was a village to greet the Hero when he returned to this world.
He had built an inn and built a road to make sure people could come and go with ease.
His work had paid off. The small village had survived and gradually grown. Ultimately, that simple vagabond had become an irreplaceable part of the village. So much so that the village had taken his name as its own.
Those two who so adored the Hero had ultimately been wed and worked together to support the village. Until they were parted by the difference in life span between humans and elves. And once she was alone again, she had continued their work for years and years.
“Yes, the Hero has finally arrived.”
She stared off into the distance once more, but then she turned a gentle look toward the foot of the mountain.
“The Hero has arrived, just like we always believed he would. Such a wonderfully cute Hero at that.”
The small but prosperous village could be seen in the valley there. The water filling the terraced paddies on the slope shined beautifully in the sunlight.
“And he has left to do his duty. Just like we always believed he would.”
When she spoke into the distance, the feelings hidden on her face gave her a smile reminiscent of her childhood days from so, so long ago.
“But he will return to this village…to see me again.”
Yes, Natalia knew that allll too well.
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