Absolutely Do Not Touch Eldmia Egga

A news that a hero was selected at the Imperial Holy Council spread throughout the village.

That the evil Demon King would fall and peace would finally arrive, that they were already assembling the greatest geniuses of the continent and were preparing a counterattack.

That light would finally return.

But just when?

The hero was said to be around my age. It would literally be a legendary feat if a tiny kid that just turned 12 defeated the Demon King, but there was no sign of that happening.

Assembling the geniuses must be to teach the hero. If so, when would the hero enter the battlefield?

5 years later? 10 years later? If we had to focus on the hero even while enduring that time without a known end, wasn't that instead proof that we couldn't stop the Demon King Army's invasion until then?

What about people who were dying in the meantime like me? What about my parents and poor relatives who were already dead? What about our servants who were simply kind? When would we pay respect to our fief's people whose only crime was simply living on each day the best they could?

It didn't take long for the abrupt thoughts to reach that point. And the rage quickly cooled before reality.

I knew. There might be a god, but there wouldn't be a salvation for myself and the dead for a while.

I would grow like this, and when the chief wanted it, I'd lose my innocence. If the chief died before then… well, it would still be similar.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Eldmia Egga."

The days thinking and just living on like that shattered.

The rare black hair cut short looked similar to mercenaries and adventurers I sometimes saw. The back carrying a sword looked wide, and his size also looked big for his height. The clothes that perfectly fitted as if tailored made him look a step cleaner despite not being brilliant. Because of that, I only thought that he was a slightly short adult despite the high voice.

But when he turned his head, the face that appeared was simply younger than my first impression. 11? 12? I had predicted him to be one or two years younger than the chief by looking just at his height and size, but just by his face, he was closer to my dead second little brother. The one thing clear was, he definitely wasn't an adult.

It's a completely unexpected result. When I looked at him like that, he felt not like an ordinary boy but something foreign.

But his eyes at least were simply sharp. I was merely checking him out slowly like that without any thought. Because of that, my mind couldn't follow even when the boy aimed for that brief moment and jumped.

"And now goodbye you son of a bitch."

He didn't even shout it and merely murmured quietly, but I clearly heard it.

Even while instinctively realizing that the chief that flew backwards had died at a single kick at the end of a movement I couldn't even follow with my eyes, the only thought that occurred was that his words were unexpectedly rough.

Just, what would come had come. The stronger person, had fallen a strong person. Like how the Demon King Army trampled our fief.

Just… the chief had changed. It had changed from a chief that was ordinarily strong, to a chief as strong as an apprentice knight that had been at our fief. It looked like he used aura, so it should roughly be about that much.

"Do you want to get a chance to live honestly, or would you like to crawl out as a half-crippled?"

I thought like that, but.

"Yeah, vagrants. They just didn't look right, so I'm gonna give them work."

Something completely different began to unfold.

"Did you see? Uncle Tex discounted 2 more copper coins that don't even grow on trees for you guys."

"This is the owner and the chef of the inn you guys will be sleeping in, madam Alisha. If you guys have the thing called a head on you, you should easily feel the love overflowing between madam's loud voice and expletives, so always be thankful to her."

"If you wake up early, then the things you can do also increases. Because places that work all day have higher wages, and because, even if you work just half a day, you can do another work in the rest half of the day. The things I'll teach you are those kinds of things."

He didn't take anything, didn't touch us, and gave us things I hadn't experienced once since leaving my home.

It took far too long to understand that that was kindness. So I couldn't hold it. I couldn't help but bring the question to my mouth.

"I'm the historical war orphan who, at 8 years old, had his village burned, friends and neighbors killed, and even lost his parents at the first attack of the Demon King Army that had been the beginning of all of this. In a sense, I'm your senior."

The story that the Demon King Army had assaulted a small village. I had definitely heard that story before too. Even my parents who had always remained calm couldn't help but be shocked at the event of 3 years ago.

I'd heard that no one had survived.

"I thought that you guys were like that because you haven't met Asileye… I mean, someone like the elf who's my benefactor. You merely haven't gotten the chance. So I'm just giving you a chance."

Tears almost welled up.

The boy was a boy but wasn't a boy. There was no way he was a boy. It was impossible that a boy younger than I was telling us, giving us, and understanding the things the adults hadn't told us, hadn't given us, and hadn't tried to understand.

Just how was that possible? Even more so, when he had experienced such a thing at a far younger age than I?

When he wasn't even a noble, but just a boy from a small mountainside village?

"Of course the village people here are closer and more precious to me than you guys. If you work like shit or don't seem right, I'll just flip everything and kick you out. So I still don't know if this really will be a help for you guys."

The boy was light.

A real light, that shone when I gave up everything at the end of despair.

How much did I despair?

When I threw away the pride and self-respect of a noble and lied about my status pretending to be a commoner just to live. When the wage that I'd received at the end of clenching my teeth and enduring through was robbed and taken from me. When I couldn't even properly resist those who obstructed anything I did and made me unable to do anything. When I struck down with a rock and killed a vagrant trying to rape me. When I cut my long hair that had been my pride with my own hands and hid. When I ultimately got caught by the man called the chief and ended up following at his side like a doll.

In every moment I endlessly despaired. Enough that I wanted to cry and shout and ask just how could it happen in just that short a time. I internally wailed to be helped.

But.

When I was going to give up everything, salvation approached really suddenly.

The boy's name was Eldmia Egga.

Always chattering that he would leave the village as an adventurer 5 years later, and with acts and work that looked not even a little like a child, he was a celebrity that had more people who knew him than not in Ogwen.

He was someone who did what not even the hero could, who raised again the fallen hope… a light I absolutely couldn't let go.

🔷

As time flowed, seasons changed, and within simply peaceful days, I became 14 years old.

That's right! I'd met the roaring teenage years, the pub.er.ty!

Kukukuk… an uncontrollable urge was twitching.

"500-3 set 5 reps, just wait. It really isn't far."

In that time, my height passed 175cm. I'd grown around 5 cm in 1 year. My heart began racing at the thought that not just 180 but 190 might really not be a dream too at this rate.

Since, even if it was a world where extraordinaires that used magic and aura existed, strength and stamina that was the basis couldn't be ignored. So long as I wasn't becoming a flagpole that was only tall, I became more advantageous in fights each time I grew 1 cm.

And I wasn't a flagpole that was only tall. The effects of the exercises I'd followed through every day while intentionally giving stress to muscles through magic power was incredible.

The biggest reason I was slack with exercise in my last life was of course because I was busy trying to eat and live, but at the same time the effects being unnoticeable from failing to invest a lot of time also played a role. But because the thing called training using magic power had a clear sensational difference every week, it was addictive.

Most of all, because obstructing factors like a child's wandering and laziness and the urge to play were all something that didn't apply to me, literally the time was completely on my side.

Although the war with the Demon King Army still hadn't ended, Ogwen and its surroundings at least were quiet since that day 6 years ago.

"…Eldi? You aren't just going around and picking up and eating something strange, are you?"

"Eng? Now of all time?"

"No but, even if your height growing like some tree or something is understandable…"

My relationship with Asileye became closer and stronger enough to call each other by nicknames.

Since we weren't farming nor making a settlement, the jobs I could split with Asileye increased the more I grew, and our spare time also grew the more we split jobs. Asileye, who while enjoying that increased leisure had made a hobby of watching me exercise alone, formed an odd expression and stared at me.

"Your muscles just growing like a barbarian warrior?"

"What, a barbarian warrior? If they have this refined and civilized mind, then it's a civilization warrior."

"Really, that mouth of his…"

I did understand what she meant. Just looking at my body, you couldn't even think a little that this was a 14 years-old kid wandering through puberty, after all. My body at least wouldn't look small even when compared to an extremely seasoned warrior.

"Just where did you find and learn those exercises? Most of them were ones I've never seen in my life too.'

"Eldmia-"

"-Chan-ce. Yeah. Yeah."

Now she read my mind. When I cheerily smiled at the comedy of it and went to hug her, Asileye jumped up.

"Hey! Hey! You're sweaty! Wash first, wash!"

When I got playful and rushed like that, she shrilly laughed and busily ran. For both Asileye and I, the shadow over our hearts from the things 6 years ago had diluted a lot.

When I washed myself clean and dried up because it was already slowly getting to the time I should head to the city, Asileye smiled and hugged me. The fact that she was now looking up at me felt strange.

"You're now good with spirit sorcery too."

"It's all thanks to sis."

Now I too could use the amazing trick-like spirit sorcery that Asileye had shown on the first day we met.

The thing I couldn't use in any way until recently had abruptly became possible and then explosively began to grow. According to Asileye the human race itself was apparently on the especially low side of the spirit affinity. At the least, it was definite that even the spirits had become familiar with the brat called me as I lived and slept together with Asileye for 6 years of time. This at least was really something solely thanks to Asileye and separate from my efforts.

"Hm? But that's not really true, though?"

"Eng?"

"Yeah. There also were humans that sometimes married and lived together with elves until their death, but there wasn't particularly a case where spirit affinity that they didn't have explosively increased."

"Couldn't it be that they simply didn't think of using spirit sorcery?"

"Hmm. That might be."

As I quietly stared at Asileye rolling her eyes and wondering in my arms… my nerves began swarming towards the elf's unique scent coming from her and the feeling of her skin! Emergency abort! Emergency abort!

"Putting! That! Aside! I'm going to the village!"

As naturally as possible, I lifted her by her armpits and spun and spun two, three times and then lowered her as I casually wore a shirt and smoothed out the wrinkles. Unlike my meticulous mind, the phallus in puberty utterly refused to follow my brain's control. Thanks to that, the worries and troubles these days had me speechless. However much I chastised it that the other was my benefactor and a 126 years-old elf, it didn't even pretend to listen.

Aiming for that gap, the bad Eldmia and even badder Eldmia appeared and simultaneously whispered in my ears.

– It's actually better.

Huuuhng. I, it's not like I didn't like it but fuck that's not it! It's a crime a crime! Were you trying to make Asileye a criminal!

– Tch.

The fucking bastards clicked their tongues and disappeared. Just where could the kind Eldmia be? It would really be good if it saved me from those devil bastards' sweat talks.

Certainly, the morning was the most difficult time for the battle with my lower half. When I acted as casually as possible and climbed onto a horse with a variety of stuff with me, Asileye who was brushing its head spoke as if she abruptly recalled.

"Come to think of it, Eldi. Did you hear? They discovered a noble in the village."

"Isn't that bit of a weird phrase? Did it mean a bastard child or something got unexpectedly found?"

It was sort of nuanced like some dungeon or a hidden treasure got discovered.

"No, literally a noble. I don't know exactly 'cause I also heard it from rumors. The last direct descendent of the house and sole survivor, was it?"

"Isn't it just a rambling of storytellers? It's a topic those guys would exactly like."

"Huhu. You're right."

It really was a topic for a story.

It was definite that, once a few days pass, 'that house actually wasn't just any noble but a famous mage house or whatnot', 'that they were called a genius but ran from factionalism and evil foreign treachery and was hiding until the day they became an adult', 'they'd rise up and correct the house again', and all sorts of stories would be added.

Was it because there was little entertainment? The people here liked extreme things way too much.

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