It was a mockery, yet it wasn't.
There was no overreaction. Think seemed to have not heard it and remained motionless.
She knew what the monkey under her meant. If he still had the strength to complete the words, he might have asked this question—Will the great Miss Nilvalen give up?
Give up or something... Have I failed?
When she really asked herself this question, Think found that her mood was unexpectedly calm. Even the temperature was not much different from the surrounding environment. It was dead silent, far from the anger or unwillingness she had imagined when she had asked this question.
Failure...?
She chewed on this special word.
Without any response from Think, Su'er's body swayed slightly, trembling like a resurrected stone statue. He leaned over slowly and with difficulty, moving upward inch by inch, and leaned on the rock behind him with his back rubbing, like a dying insect.
A pale breath kept coming out from his nose, and this difficult movement made Su'er more alive. Even his pale cheeks seemed to be a little rosier. He was staring at Think.
Think, who was lying on the ground on her back because of his action, could also see him.
The four Soul Stones on her forehead, which should have been crystal clear, had become dim.
There was no word, perhaps because she had lost the strength to speak. Think hated herself for being so smart.
In those golden eyes, Think clearly received the question—why.
Even if Su'er didn't say anything.
Why could she easily capture the thoughts of a monkey?
Why would she be upset by a mere monkey's question?
Why would she want to explain a meaningless question?
It was as if she was defending herself—she had not failed.
Was it just because he was a human from another world?
Different from the monkeys in this world?
Don't be ridiculous, would she care about the existence of such a thing?!
What does such an origin have to do with her?!
Yes, Think Nirvalen is such an Elf, she is extremely sure of this.
However, when Think came to her senses, she had been mumbling to herself in a trance for a long, long time.
"...I am the Flower Crown Lord who leads the entire Elves..."
"...I rebuilt the magic system of the Elves and led them to launch a counterattack against the moles..."
"...I am the current head of the Nilvalen family..."
"...I am the most talented person in the history of the Elves, the only eight-fold magician..."
For some reason, even though the monkey didn't say anything, when she saw the golden eyes, Think couldn't suppress the irritation in her heart. She just wanted to say something for what she had just said.
For the choice she made.
Her giving up, her...failure.
In this cold and lonely place submerged in Black Ash.
"So... if my life needs to rely on monkeys to survive... then it might as well end here."
Dryly and lifelessly summarizing, Think's always full and elegant voice seemed like a dead branch without moisture at this time. She suddenly stopped talking and pursed her lips tightly.
She wanted to maintain her pride and dignity, which might be ridiculous in the eyes of others, but for her it was the bottom line of her personality.
She couldn't stand being a pure burden.
She couldn't accept herself as such a waste.
If she still had two or even one magical strength, she could lie to herself with a clear conscience and tell herself that she was not relying on monkeys to survive, but that she still had strength, strength that could be used.
Strength—this weighty word is deeply rooted in the bones of every person in all races that have survived this war, even if they have never been on their lips, even if they are different from others.
That is the standard for measuring the value of a life.
An invisible standard recognized by everyone.
With her eyes closed, Think could no longer stand the irritation of looking into that kind of eyes, but the darkness and silence with only the sound of the wind when she closed her eyes only lasted for a few seconds before she broke it—why didn't you say anything?!
Why didn't you say anything?!
Are you looking down on me?!
"Monkeys must not understand, right?" already gnashing her teeth, Think rolled her eyes and looked at Su'er who was leaning against the rock. The man was motionless like a stone statue.
"Such complex emotions that only advanced life can have, my pride, my soul, and these things that are more precious than life!!"
Unlike Think who was gradually getting excited, what responded to her was always the air that was only blown by the sound of the wind... and the gradually compassionate sight.
It seemed that a fire was burning in her chest and lungs, and anger was burning in Think's cold body.
Finally, she responded to this anger with a slight cough. Su'er's weak voice was full of unquestionable firmness, and even weakness could not change this will.
"It's not a monkey."
"It's a human."
Coughing continuously, but without the strength to cough, Su'er's body seemed to be shaking constantly as if it was twitching. With trembling hands, he slowly took out a small piece of something from the pocket on the side of his leg, and slowly pulled Think's hand over and stuffed the small piece of thing into her hand.
He rolled Think's fingers back with all his strength, wanting her to hold the thing he gave her. Su'er pressed with all his strength, but he couldn't close her fingers.
Between his fingers, Think could see what Su'er put in her palm. It was the little food they brought from the sentry post. In such a cold temperature, it had been frozen harder than steel, and even the teeth would be broken—but it was still hope, the hope to continue living.
"I do... ahem... I don't know how you... non-human races think... Soul..."
Soul, isn't it a little too complicated?
Su'er wanted to laugh for some reason, but his body didn't move accordingly.
He lowered his head and tried his best to get close to Think. His voice was whispering more than a whisper, but fortunately it was quiet enough at the moment.
She could hear it and listened seriously.
"After all... I am just an ordinary human being... I feel pain, I cry, I collapse because of disasters... But I will wipe my tears and stand up again, endure the suffering and move forward..."
"...I am a human being..."
With a long sigh, Su'er was already exhausted.
Responding to the expectations of his family, carrying the pain and moving forward...
It has been like this since ancient times.
"If you fail, then you fail..."
"I am really in a trough right now..."
Trying to smile, but the frozen face is difficult to even move. Su'er can only pull the hair by Think's ear woodenly, so that she can faintly feel the pain.
"There are indeed things more precious than... life..."
"But... in this kind of angry thing..."
"... Isn't it a waste?"
With a weak breath, Su'er's words are already intermittent and hoarse, existing only between the bumps of lips and teeth.
There seemed to be a smile in the golden eyes. His cold fingers suddenly slid across Think's cheek and fell on her body with a dull sound.
The vision has become blurred, and the sky and the earth seem to have turned into a white world. There are pure white circles of light floating in the eyes that have not yet closed. Think seems to be shouting something, and the mottled figure flickers between the shadows in the eyes.
Even the sound of the wind that never stops in the ears is gradually fading away.
I want to listen hard, but Su'er can no longer hear anything.
Silence.
Being embraced in the sea without sound, quiet, peaceful, even the flow of thoughts has stopped.
Just enjoy this sweet comfort, forget all the sorrows, forget all the troubles...
Troubles... By the way, what are troubles?
It's like a chick that has not yet hatched, and it's like a cat curled up around a warm stove—what is a cat? What is a chick?
The slow thoughts were pulled into a long thread, and the end was not in sight.
But... there were still some places that were not warm enough...
Dissatisfied.
When such thoughts arose, sounds appeared in this quiet world for the first time.
Crackling, crackling, crackling.
It was so noisy.
However, no matter how impatient he was, such sounds never stopped, and even became louder and louder with the passage of time, and became more and more frequent.
It was as if he had difficulty raising his head from the sea surface solidified by glue. This quiet ocean was pulling desperately, not wanting to let him leave. One side of his body was burning, and there was even a little pain on his arm, but the other side of his body was still cold.
Su'er slowly opened his eyes, lifeless, as if he had lost the ability to focus, and all he could see was a blurry world.
Crackling!
Ah, it turned out to be the sound of burning firewood... Such thoughts floated through Su'er's empty brain. In this world without a benchmark, he also saw golden red sparks flying up and passing by his eyes like a meteor.
Really? Did it fall on the arm?
Suddenly, Su'er finally realized where the pain in his arm came from, and the heat that was enough to warm his body.
Moving his fingers with difficulty, and then slowly moving his body, Su'er wanted to turn his head and look for the woman... the Elf.
It didn't take too much effort, Su'er had already seen her, so close—Think was sitting next to his hair.
They were still alive.
They didn't freeze to death under the cold rock, and even lit such a huge and warm bonfire to warm their cold bodies. The blood was flowing again, and Su'er's nose had already smelled a delicious meaty aroma.
Did she save him?
When he had completely collapsed.
Staring blankly at Think beside him, Su'er's thoughts were flying.
"...Are you awake again?"
"Mr. Monkey's vitality is really too strong~"
Although Su'er's movements after waking up were not large, he was still caught by Think next to him at the first time.
The voice of the Elf with light golden hair was as elegant and full as always, and his words were still with the slightly piercing spiciness that Su'er was familiar with... but it was really the best.
Even if it sounded a bit like complaining about why you are not dead yet—but it was really the best.
"... Maybe... because I can't let go of... this world?"
After an unknown period of time, Su'er spoke again, and his voice became hoarse and dry like a spring that had run dry. He had to stop and rest in the middle to finish the sentence, but the man was surprisingly in good spirits and even had the energy to make a joke.
"After all, it's a rare opportunity to come to another world... Wouldn't it be a shame to die like this?"
The frozen face finally softened, and Su'er forced a smile.
He had too many questions to tell Think.
And his gratitude.
Although Think had never told him about her injuries, Su'er could tell her condition from her difficult movements and her involuntary slow movements.
And the thigh that was so badly injured that it couldn't be lifted.
How did she bring him from under the cold rock to this cave?
How did she collect enough firewood to light this fire that warmed the bodies and hearts of two people?
How did she...
Too many, too many questions. Su'er tried to support himself, wanting to let the still cold body on the other side feel the warmth of this fire. He also wanted to make a joke and tease this Elf who said one thing and meant another.
However, when he barely turned over, Su'er's movements paused, and the smile on his face also froze—he finally saw the scene that was previously obscured by the flames.
The thing buried in the shadows.
Where the beautiful light golden hair fell, on the side of Think's legs that could not be covered by the torn robe, the originally fair and tender skin was now black and wrinkled like charcoal, and lost its luster... Su'er knew what it was.
This was the mark of the fragile flesh being eroded after being stained with Black Ash. The poisonous Black Ash was enough to bring pain as if it was going to dig into the bone marrow, but Think's entire leg was now like this.
The charred mark extended to the base of the thigh, but it was covered by the robe, and the whole picture could not be seen.
His eyes were sore, and even his breath was stuck in his throat. Su'er stared at all this in a daze. He wanted to cry, but he couldn't squeeze out even a single tear... All that remained in his heart was a silent cry.
"What's that expression?" laughing softly, Think picked up the kettle that was placed next to the campfire. "Come on, drink some water."
Without any emotional fluctuations, Think just calmly put the mouth of the kettle against Su'er's lips.
Everything was normal.