...Consciousness rises to the surface.
Beginning at the extremities of my body, control slowly returns, and one by one, my senses settle back into place.
First comes pain, along with the screams of agony ringing throughout my body... except there are none. They must have treated me with some rather expensive medicine.
After my sense of pain returns, my hearing comes back. Perhaps the window is open; I can faintly hear birds chirping and trees rustling in the wind.
The third sense to return is my sense of smell, though I almost wish it had not. The room is thick with the medicinal stench of disinfectant and ointments.
Next comes taste. Thinking back, blood had kept flowing into my mouth, yet I had not noticed its metallic flavor. My sense of taste must have gone dead at some point as well.
Finally, I lift my eyelids, which feel as heavy as a thousand pounds. A stark white stone ceiling comes into view, confirming that my sight has fully returned as well, and I let out a sigh of relief.
I try to move my body, but even though there is no pain, all strength must have drained from me during the treatment. Turning my head is my limit.
When I barely manage to turn my head and look around where I am lying, I see a cabinet full of medicines, a wall with an open window and white curtains, and a neat-looking wooden door.
Then, a slight tingling comes from my left arm, where my sense of pain has returned. When I look over, someone is holding my hand and lying face-down against my side...?
Who is this?
Hair somewhere between orange and yellow, tied in an upturned ponytail; a pink shawl draped over her shoulders; and, jutting proudly through her neatly arranged hair, the pointed ears unique to an elf.
If my memory is right, this little girl is the [child] whom I—and [he]—wanted to protect.
I try to speak, but my throat is too dry for words to come out. To wake Lefiya, I put a little strength into my left arm and shake it.
"Mm...? Ah, did I doze off again...? What if my savior wakes up and sees me making such a spectacle of myself? Why do I keep..."
"...(twitch, twitch)"
"Eek?! Y-you are awake! I-I need to get a doctor first!"
She flusters around, clearly trying to do something but unable to accomplish anything, so I point at the cup of water with my eyes and strongly convey that I want a drink. Somehow, she understands and slowly tilts the cup to my lips, giving me water.
Gulp... gulp... gulp...
Once my throat is wet enough, I signal back and forth with my eyes again. Thankfully, she understands this time too and sets the cup down.
"Ahem, ahem. Ah. Ah. ABCDEFG. Ah-ya-uh-yuh-oh-yoh-oo-yoo."
"...?"
"My voice is... ahem. Fine."
"T-that is a relief!"
"Your name is Lefiya Viridis, right?"
"You knew my name?"
"The Loki Familia and I have had a business relationship going back nearly eight years, and I have quite a few friends there too."
"..."
As we speak, her complexion suddenly darkens, and she falls silent. What is it? Is something wrong?
"...I am sorry."
"Hm?"
"I am so, so sorry!"
"..."
"When we fought that new monster yesterday, you blocked its attacks for me and reached out your hand to me, but I avoided that hand!"
"Yesterday...? So I was asleep for an entire day..."
"Yes. You suffered such serious injuries during that desperate battle that even after being treated with an elixir, you had to sleep for a full day. Before we administered the elixir, your heart stopped once. We were about to try chest compressions when it started beating again. That was how severe your condition was."
"I... see."
"Yes, you were hurt like that because of me. If I had not frozen up like an idiot, if I had not tried to run away like a coward just because I saw some blood, if I had not stood there stupidly, terrified and blank-minded!"
"..."
"Smith... would not have been hurt so badly, would not have... collapsed... Sniff... waaaah..."
I looked at the little [child] before me as she slowly poured out the guilt and self-reproach piled high in her heart, tears streaming endlessly down her face.
How worried must she have been? How much must she have agonized?
How crushed must she have felt at the thought that the adult who saved her might die because of her?
Suddenly, I remember the original setting concerning Lefiya.
Wyshe Forest, where Lefiya had lived, received many outsiders, so she was not especially averse to contact with other people, was she?
Then when she had stepped back after I held out my hand earlier, had she simply been startled by my blood-soaked appearance?
Well, she is still a child. Even if she is an elf who has already reached Level 3, she is only fifteen years old—not even twenty. She is just a [child], at an age where there is much she does not know and much that frightens her.
No matter how much people praise her as a genius, she is still a [child] who needs protecting. A [child] who has not experienced much and cannot yet judge for herself what is right and what is wrong.
An adult ought to have the generosity to understand a child's actions.
I raise my hand, trembling because I have no strength in it, and with a soft plop, place it on Lefiya's head as she continues to sniffle, slowly stroking her hair.
I cannot stroke it gently, merely waving my hand around this way and that because I lack the strength, but it is enough to bring Lefiya back to herself before she completely sinks into guilt and self-reproach.
Meeting the wide eyes of Lefiya, who is still shedding big tears in surprise, I speak to her.
"It is okay."
"...There is no way it is okay. You nearly died because of me! If only I had kept my head straight!"
"An adult's role is not simply to work and watch from the sidelines."
"...?"
"Adults have a duty to make sure every child does not fall, does not get hurt, and does not become sad until they can stand on their own. I fought with everything I had because I wanted you to survive—because I wanted you to live and smile again."
"I am not a child."
"Pfft. You may think so, but that is not the reality. Anyway, as an adult, I wanted to protect you, and I succeeded. I was protected like that when I was a child too, so I protected you for the sake of the future."
"But... even so..."
"Now, now, do not cry. I said that an adult's role includes a duty to keep you from being sad, did I not? So smile for me. Smile brightly enough to send thoughts like that flying far, far away into the sky."
"Okay... I will smile. For you, Smith, I will try to smile brightly!"
"Good. That is all I need. I may not be able to make every child smile, but if I can make the children around me smile, that is enough. Keep smiling that brightly from now on too, all right?"
"Yes!"
That is right. It is not when a child cries, but when they can smile that an adult can truly be said to have fulfilled their role...
I am... getting sleepy...
"I am going to sleep for a while... Wake me later... You will show me a smiling face when I see you again too, right?"
"Yes. Sleep well."
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Lefiya Viridis's Side
He fell asleep.
Until the very end, he spoke of smiling faces... He said an adult's role was to let children smile.
"[Adults have a duty to make sure every child does not fall, does not get hurt, and does not become sad until they can stand on their own]... Really, if you say something like that, how can I cry anymore?"
My eyes fall on that large, sturdy hand, scarred and now resting atop the bed, which had stroked my head just moments ago.
...His hand was warm.
Stroke, stroke.
It does not feel the same with my own hand...
I quickly poke my head outside the door to check whether anyone is coming.
Swish, swish.
No one is coming, right? Then...
I lift the large, rough hand resting on the bed and use it to stroke my own head.
Mmm... It is a little lacking, but it is warm and feels nice.
I hope he will stroke my head himself again sometime later.
"Have good dreams, M-Mister."