"Got a tasty animal here~"
That voice made Yukito wake up— (N)
"W-WHAT IS THIS!?!?" (Me)
My hands and feet were tied to a pole, laid flat, and below me there was a fire burning!?
"It's rare to get such a tasty catch like this."
That voice didn't sound unfamiliar to me. Since it was soft, it had to belong to a girl.
"H-hey, let me go!!" (I shouted)
She only looked confused and puzzled. But I still couldn't see her face.
"Wow~! I found a rare animal that can talk!" (She said happily)
"I'm human!!" (I shouted)
"E-eh, really?" (She said a little shocked)
She's this quick to believe… maybe she's someone who can help me…
"W-wait-wait, I'll let you go first." (She said)
She immediately put out the fire that was supposed to be used to cook me.
And untied the ropes on my hands and feet.
I looked at her directly this time, her body was as tall as mine.
She wore white clothing with green patterns.
Her clothes were long, reaching down to her knees… and her ears were long and pointed, similar to—
"Yuu….chan?" (I said to the girl)
She looked at me in confusion.
"Yuu…chan?" (She said)
"The one you mean… is me?"
I nodded my head.
"Stop making things up! My name's Cyve!" (She said)
Isn't she Yuu-chan? Her posture and even her face looked exactly like Yuu-chan.
The only striking difference was in the ears.
"Cyve… why were you about to cook me just now?" (I asked Cyve)
She averted her gaze.
"W-w-well, I thought you were an animal… since you fell into my trap…." (Cyve)
"You're… stupid, aren't you?" (I said)
She didn't answer.
I could only sigh and think about what I should do next.
I couldn't just suddenly leave her without getting some information.
"Um… Cyve, you're an elf, right?" (I asked)
Her face looked shocked and her eyes sparkled.
"How did you know I'm an elf!?!?" (She said)
Her face was way too close to mine, geez!!
I pointed to her ears.
"Hm?" (Cyve)
I kept pointing at her ears.
"??" (Cyve)
"Sigh…. your ears, your e-a-r-s!" (I said)
She finally understood what I meant.
"Ah, you're right! Elf ears are longer than other races' ears!" (She said)
Honestly… I could call her Yuu-chan's dumb version.
It feels kinda weird… seeing Yuu-chan turn into someone like this.
"Forgive me, Yuu-chan." (I muttered)
"Um, Uncle! What are you doing here?" (Cyve asked)
Wait a second… Uncle? Who? Me? Did she just call me uncle? Huh? UNCLE!?!?
I put on a slightly annoyed face at Cyve.
"Cyve, who did you just call?" (I asked)
Could be someone behind me, maybe her uncle.
But that was just a wild hope, because Cyve pointed at me.
"Of course you." (She said)
Yukito's body immediately froze and turned into dust, as if ready to be blown away by the wind.
"Uncle? UNCLE!?" (Cyve)
——
I could only keep looking calm even though it felt a bit bitter….
"Cyve… may I ask you something?" (Me)
"You can ask anything! Ah, but… if you're going to ask anything pervy, that's not allowed!" (She said)
The longer I spent with her… the more annoying she became.
"How old are you?" (I asked)
"I'm only 48 years old." (She said with a smile)
"I just turned 18…." (I said)
She looked truly shocked, like she had just seen a ghost.
"18… you're making that up, right?" (Cyve asked, starting to panic)
"Does my face look like I'm lying?" (I asked)
Cyve's body started to freeze and turn into dust, like she was ready to be blown away by the wind—
"HEY!!" (Me)
——
I left Cyve right after she looked calm again.
My instincts told me, I shouldn't get too involved with her.
But… why is she secretly following me from behind??
Did she think I wouldn't notice? With the way she was following me, anyone would know they were being tailed.
She even followed me all the way back to my small hut. And I started to get annoyed, so I looked back at her.
"Oi." (I said while looking behind me)
But Cyve had suddenly disappeared who-knows-where.
"Heh, good thing she's gone—"
When I looked toward my small hut—
Cyve was inside, inspecting every corner of it.
"Uncle, what is this place?" (She said innocently)
"Sigh…." (Me)
I couldn't stand being with her any longer.
"This is my house, what about it?" (I said)
"Even though it's small and ugly, this is all I can build with the skills I have now." (Me)
"Would you let me live with you, Uncle?" (She asked)
(Would you let me live with you, Uncle? Would you let me— Would you—)
"Cyve, there are a few things I need to make sure of first." (I said)
She saluted me.
"Ready!" (Cyve)
"First, why do you suddenly want to live with me?" (Me)
"Boredom." (She replied)
"Second, don't you have your own house?" (Me)
"No." (Cyve)
"Third… ugh, can't think of one." (Me)
Her eyes started sparkling again.
"So, I can stay, right~?" (She asked)
"No—" (Me)
Wait-wait, what if I let her stay with me?
Then at midnight, I'd leave her alone, and in the morning I'd watch her panic because I disappeared.
Then when she cried, I'd come back and tell her she's pathetic. Then leave her again.
Hehe… not a bad plan.
"For now, maybe it's fine—" (Me)
"YEAYYYY"
Cyve immediately hugged me.
"From now on, please take care of me, Uncle!" (Cyve)
"Can you stop calling me that?" (Me)
"Just call me Yukito or Yuki… whatever you want!" (Me)
She looked at me in confusion.
"Why? Why should I call you Yukito?" (She asked)
See? This trait of hers is seriously annoying.
"That's my name!! So, I want you to call me Yukito from now on… GOT IT!?" (I said, clearly angry now)
"Ehm… fine then, Yukito-chan." (She said)
I grabbed her hair and pulled it up. (Just to threaten her)
"Can you drop the -chan?" (I said)
"In my family, we all have to call younger people with -chan, to show respect." (Cyve)
"But, you're still young, aren't you~?" (I asked)
"Of course! I'm still a young maiden!" (Cyve)
I smiled a little.
"If your current age were converted into human years, how old would you be?" (I asked)
"Ehm… maybe about 16 years old…?" (Cyve said, confused)
Got her!
"Then you know what that means, right?" (I said)
"Uncle said he's 18, and I'm 16… AH!!" (Cyve)
"Got it now, huh?" (I asked)
"Y-y-yes, Yukito-sama…" (Cyve)
For some reason, the way she called my name ended up being exactly the same as Yuu-chan….
Couldn't it just be Yuu-chan saying it instead…
——
I washed my face, hoping it would calm me down.
"Yukito-sama, if you want, I can build you a new house." (Cyve said)
I immediately refused strongly.
"No! If you want to build one, then build your own house." (Me)
"Order accepted!!" (Cyve)
God, how dumb is this elf girl…..
——
While waiting for Cyve, who had gone who-knows-where, I decided to check on my little tree.
Today, it had sprouted into a tiny shoot.
I gently patted the sprout—
"… Hahahaha…" (I laughed after smiling at it)
"Ah right, we need to give you a name… how about Mori-chan?" (Me)
"A fitting name, Mori-chan." (I continued)
After chatting for a bit with Mori-chan, I rested under my little hut because the weather was getting hot.
And without realizing it, I fell asleep.
——
"Yukito-kun, come here~"
"Wait for me, darling~"
"You're so slow~"
KNOCK KNOCK (The sound of wood being hit by something—)
"Sorry, sorry~"
KNOCK KNOCK
"It'll be dark soon, Yukito-kun~"
"But I still want to be with you longer~"
KNOCK KNOCK
"Want… to go to a hotel~?"
"I even brought protection~"
KNOCK KNOCK
That noisy sound woke Yukito from his blissful dream.
"What the—" (Yukito)
Yukito was shocked by what he saw in front of him.
He stood and started walking toward it.
"Cyve, what is this?" (Yukito asked)
"My house." (Cyve)
A small house, but its design looked like an ordinary house in Necvalion.
And of course, it was confusing… how did Cyve build this house in less than half a day?
"Just need to tidy up the inside… and it's done!" (Cyve)
"Yukito-sama, want to see inside? It's not filled with my things yet, but I think the inside isn't too bad." (Cyve invited)
Yukito just nodded.
"Yosh! Follow me!" (Cyve)
CLICK (The door opened)
A fairly large room was revealed once the door was opened.
There were two rooms, one bedroom and another bathroom.
"You built all this?" (Yukito asked, still in disbelief)
Cyve smiled proudly at him.
"There's still one more, a basement!" (Cyve)
There was a small door placed on the floor of the bedroom, and it led to the basement.
The walls were the same as the upper part of the house, made of wood.
There were several support pillars, and the rest was just empty space.
"I plan to use it to stockpile food for the winter." (Cyve said)
"Ah, since it was only me building it… this is all I could make." (Cyve said innocently)
After that, they went back upstairs and out of the house.
———
I was still confused by what I had just seen.
From morning until noon, an elf could build a house like this?
I had read once while playing online games that elves had extremely intelligent minds.
Because of their long lives, they gained lots of knowledge and most importantly… experience.
But I never expected, that their intellect was so advanced they could even build houses in such a short time.
"Cyve, what did you make this house from?" (I asked)
Looking at the materials, the house should be 100% made of wood.
"Hmm… wood, then stone for the foundation… and also sand…" (Cyve)
"There were more materials too, but those three are the main ones." (Cyve)
I looked at the house once more.
"But still, you're amazing… I didn't think elves were this skilled…." (I said)
"Hm? I only helped gather the materials." (Cyve)
"Huh? Then who built it?" (I asked)
I never expected that my question at that moment… would affect Cyve's fate.