Tias was cleaning up the treehouse when she suddenly felt uneasy. A terrifyingly powerful energy had appeared somewhere in the forest.
What was going on? The Nue had already been defeated, so why was there such an abnormal presence again?
Could it be that a new, terrifying monster had appeared? That would be far too frightening. Right, Noel was still here today.
She needed to find Noel immediately and ask for his help. There was no way she could handle such a powerful creature on her own.
Tias rushed to Noel's camp, only to find Noel collapsed on the ground, his face pale and completely drained of color.
She recognized the symptoms immediately: mana exhaustion. But it puzzled her—why would Noel have exhausted his mana?
Noel's mana reserves were actually quite decent, and what was with the destroyed trees all around?
The destruction was severe, with the trees closest to Noel torn apart, a clear sign of immense power.
Further back, while the trees were still standing, they were covered in scratches, scattered and chaotic, clearly unnatural.
A random, indiscriminate attack. Who would use such a wide-range, indiscriminate attack?
Wind magic. Tias thought back, recalling that the one collapsed before her was a wind mage.
She stared down at the culprit lying there, piecing it together in her mind. There was no mistaking it: the one responsible was right in front of her.
Humans really couldn't be trusted after all. She had thought she'd met a good one, but here he was, recklessly damaging the forest.
And yet, even though this human was different, he still had such a reckless side to him. She wanted to be angry, but she simply couldn't bring herself to truly hate him.
Tias had no choice, though. Her small frame couldn't possibly lift Noel on her own.
She summoned four vines to wrap Noel up tightly, considering it a suitable punishment for damaging the trees.
She did, however, leave two holes for his nose, so he could breathe—a small act of mercy in her "design."
Looking around, she quickly assessed the area. The ground was scorched black, the wood charred.
A fire had clearly burned here recently. Nearby lay the carcass of a small animal—judging by the bones, likely a rabbit.
So it was true: humans really were meat-eaters.
Nearby, she discovered a small treehouse, surprisingly similar to the one she had back home, though much smaller. This discovery delighted her.
Still, human craftsmanship was far too rough; for a truly beautiful treehouse, the wood elves were unmatched. Until now, she had always thought treehouses were a tradition passed down exclusively among the elves.
A sudden thought struck her: Did humans all live in trees like elves did? The idea was so ridiculous she almost laughed. There was no way humans could live like elves.
The vines carried Noel and dropped him onto the bed. But it didn't feel satisfying enough to Tias. This human had damaged her forest, after all.
Ah, right—the table. She remembered how, the last time she had passed out, this clueless human had left her lying on the table, leaving her sticky with fruit juices.
She had ended up having to take a bath, and even now she could still faintly smell that sour-sweet fruit scent on herself. It was so annoying.
Why not put Noel on the table too? It was childish, but who cared? He deserved it.
The four vines picked Noel up again, wrapping him tightly, and dropped him onto the table.
Noel felt a sharp pain as he cracked open his bleary eyes. "Ow…"
But due to extreme mana depletion, he only managed a moment of consciousness before slipping back into darkness.
Yet, in that brief instant, he saw a familiar figure. It looked like Tias.
"Huh, I thought I heard him say 'ow' just now… was it my imagination?" Tias mumbled to herself.
She glanced at Noel lying on the table. He hadn't woken up. Maybe she had thrown him a bit too hard, but he would probably be fine.
Besides, he had her blessing, which gave him incredible regenerative powers. There was nothing to worry about; she could toss him around, and he'd still recover.
This confidence came from her faith in the wood elves' blessings—among the strongest of the tree elf clan's magic. Even a body in near-total ruin could recover within a month under its effects.
Of course, the only thing more effective would be the legendary panacea.
She had heard of the panacea before—an alchemist's ultimate goal, something so rare it might take centuries to produce a single vial, truly a priceless treasure.
Tias glanced at Noel lying on the table. This human was an alchemist, after all. Humans were troublesome enough, and alchemists were even more troublesome.
They caused problems and dragged others into their messes, leaving her to take care of them even when she didn't want to.
But she owed him—an enormous debt she could never fully repay, no matter how hard she tried.
She didn't have much to give either. The forest's resources were limited—mostly fruits and the water of life.
She couldn't just give away the water of life freely, so she had given him fruits instead. She knew Noel liked meat, but as a wood elf, she could never take a life herself.
"How can people eat animals when they're so cute?" Tias sighed.
Tomorrow, this human would leave the forest. Would he ever come back to see her? It was lonely, living in the forest all alone.
She knew nothing of the world outside. She had never cared about it before, but now, everything had changed. Maybe the world outside was truly wonderful, and she had simply never known.
You couldn't judge an entire people by a single person—nor could you trust an entire people because of one person.
The world was complex, but she hoped someone would tell her what it was really like out there.
Tias leaned down and gently kissed Noel's forehead.
"Take my thoughts with you, far away. I'll be waiting for you in this forest, hoping the wind will carry back your stories of the world to me."
She whispered softly to the unconscious Noel, then cleaned up the little house before quietly leaving.
In truth, Tias was finally ready to admit to herself that she cared deeply for Noel. It had only been two days, but feelings couldn't be faked.
She knew Noel was going to leave, but she couldn't even muster the courage to say goodbye. When the moment came, she knew her heart would break.
Tias didn't want to be sad, didn't want to cry out loud when he left. Sometimes, running away was the only way to ease the pain.
No one could blame her for that. But why were her tears falling, unbidden? Was it because of these emotions?
She couldn't let go—not anymore. Yet elves and humans were like parallel lines, visible from afar but destined never to meet.
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