After we were done with the potions, Emeraldine and I realized it was already midnight, so we just moved back to my carriage while eating some of the porridge left and some tea alongside a loaf of bread.
There, she continued her conversation with me. I was very interested in her and, well, her story. I’ve always been with her, and being my third companion ever. She had been someone that has always been there to help me and had even participated in many important fights.
I do remember that her mother was someone interesting, but she decided to elaborate further on what she taught her.
“I remember that my mother always used to tell me to use my power and wield it to help other people in need. She always said that empathy was the greatest virtue and what made us people. It was one of the things that differentiated us from monsters and beasts, and something that broke through the barriers of race, ethnicity, and even language…” said Emeraldine.
“Your mother… Was quite wise. I suppose there is a beautiful thing about such virtue as empathy. You’re probably one of the nicest people I’ve met in my life… In a world , filled with monsters and dangers everywhere, it’s pretty hard to find people , you know?” I said.
“Yeah, I know… I’ve… gone through my fair share of that harsh world, with people only filled with selfishness, indifference, and aberrancy…” she sighed.
Emeraldine looked at the floor rather sorrowfully all of a sudden. She had gone through a lot of ugly stuff herself… A lot of… traumatic things that I wouldn’t really want to go through myself.
But because I had not gone through such things, I cannot completely relate to her suffering. Nonetheless, I’ve also suffered in other things, and I’ve grown a strong empathy for the things she had gone through and even more for the strong will she possessed.
Even after going through becoming a slave and being forced to work in the underground alchemy facility and then made into a sex slave to satisfy the lust of the grotesque monsters she was with before, she was doing so well… she was very strong-willed.
Despite the adversities that people go through when you see them still standing and looking in front of their path, and walking through that path, even with all the scars and traumas holding them back… it’s when you realize that these people are really the strong ones.
“Your mother must have been an amazing person, Emeraldine….” I said.
“Ah… Yeah… She was a strong woman… She raised me well…” she sighed.
“What… about your father?” I asked.
“My father? I… I never meet him. Mother said that father perished in battle,” Said Emeraldine.
“Oh… And what happened to your mother? Maybe we could go visit her one day,” I suggested.
“Ah… Maybe we could go see her in the grave… I wonder if you could see her soul?” Asked Emeraldine.
“Oh… She’s… I didn’t know….”
“Ah! I-I should have told you… Mother… My mother died when I was 12… She passed away after protecting the village from an Owlbear attack,” Said Emeraldine.
“I see… She was a strong warrior. I bet she was doing it for you too,” I said.
“Hmm… Mother was a former royal soldier of an Elven Kingdom… She moved on from that, though, when she got pregnant and moved to live inside a small elven village with me, but father had passed away before she moved out, sadly… even before she could give birth,” Sighed Emeraldine.
“That’s… I am sorry for your loss,” I said.
“Oh, don’t worry about it… it has been such a long time since then,” Said Emeraldine.
We stopped talking as we ate for a bit. I began to think about what I should say now as I had just made her remember the death of her mother and father, and now I felt terrible!
But I couldn’t help but wonder where that village of hers was located. If her mother died when she was 12, she was surely raised by the people there, right? So I really want to meet them…
I wonder if there are elves in there…
“I wonder where is that village of yours… Are there elves there?” I wondered.
“Oh? My village? Yes… It is located close to the small Elven Kingdom within this continent I mentioned earlier. We Elves originate from the Alfheim Continent, but the Midgard Continent is in the middle of the world, so races all around the world have traveled here. There was once a large immigration of elves thousands of years ago. They moved into the unscathed woodlands and formed a Kingdom of their own. It is one of the few demi-human Kingdoms that have an important position in the continent!” said Emeraldine.
“Oooh… That’s interesting, you know? I had always thought this continent was rotten. Maybe it is just the Albraun Kingdom?” I wondered.
“I don’t really know, but I moved to the Albraun Kingdom looking for work as an Adventurer. I mostly just wanted to explore the world since I was a little girl. I’ve always wanted to wander through the world and see everything there has to be seen… But I ended up spending my money badly, and I ended up sticking to that Duchy for over two years while slowly saving money by doing small works like hunting smaller monsters or collecting herbs for the Adventurer Guild…” sighed Emeraldine.
“Ah… That must have sucked,” I sighed.
“Yeah, money is very important, and although I was someone that could take care of myself in the wild, I wasn’t strong enough to go into a Dungeon on my own, nor was I strong enough to take down many enemies at once… I had tried making parties before offering my services as a healer, mage, and archer hybrid, but the parties I acquired were always filled with horny guys that only wanted me for my body…” sighed Emeraldine.