Just how many years I have to keep going. I've been looking the same for 200 years." Aeren said that as soon as he woke up. Aeren had been living alone for 200 years. He was wanting to die.
He hadn't spoken to anyone in two centuries. A lone elf with no acquaintance at all could find no meaning in living a life.
Aeren had a cozy cottage left over from his mother. He had never left home. Because his house is surrounded by a mountain and a river. At the back of the house is a snow-capped mountain, and in front it is surrounded by a long river. Since the middle of the mountain and the riverbank was a very large area, and his house was located on the side of the mountain, Aeren had never suffered from flooding. A very cozy place. It is a hose built of timber, with 4 large windows. Enough for one small family. Unless Aeren leaves this place, it's as if his entire life will pass safely and peacefully in this small place. A wooden house that has endured 200 years seems to stand for another 200 years.
But is that really the case? It's just a house. He has no reason or obligation to endure for Aeren. This house goes with a flood if it is a flood, and a hurricane if it is a hurricane. Still, why did Aeren trust this house so much?
He got up, washed his face, and looked in the mirror.
-The last look I see must be the reflection of mine.
After 2 seconds, Aeren started to hate the reflection in the mirror. She would always see Aeren in the mirror angry and being disgusted.
-The day when my reflection smile at me will probably be the day I die.
He didn't notice it again. As always. Like every day. He never notices the first two seconds. He never thought about the first two seconds. He never puts himself in Aeren's shoes in the first two seconds. He just hates. He just disgust. From Aeren in those first two seconds.
Aeren walked out to his house and looked at his field. All the food and drinks are prepared by Aeren himself. In his field there are all kinds of crops: carrots, potatoes, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes and another world of sweet vegetables.
Aeren was fond of vegetables. They stretch tall without any affection, or any emotion. Of course, Aeren will provide them all with water and create conditions for them to grow. But he was doing these things for himself, not for vegetables. After all, he will be hungry without vegetables. There is no warm affection or emotion behind what he does. Just a stocking for cold tomorrow. To a sentient being, it meant nothing. Who would ever want kindness without an actual kindness?
But the vegetable does not cease to grow. They grow to the best of their ability for the person that grows them. They get used to life and try to live. To die someday. That one day he might be food for the people he had given them affection. But there is no stopping. They grow. They're going to be big. They will gradually become more and more convenient to be food.
That's why Aeren wanted to look at him if he had a depressed friend and say, "Be like a vegetable."
A friend. Aeren had read a lot of the books in his house, and so, even if he didn't have a friend, he knew what friendship was. He wanted a friend. Even if he is weak, tired, and crying. But he could not believe that he would one day leave this remote part of the world. As he thought of the friend, Aeren realized one thing: if he didn't find a friend, a friend would find him. Of course. After all, one day someone might find him. So, what he wanted was to be found, not to found.
But who would find him in such a lonely place? Somewhere, someone might end up in this place? Maybe. Because on the other side of Aeren's home lay something human-like in shape.
Aeren went and looked. There the human's daughter lay unconscious. She was a girl with black hair and a very, very beautiful girl. It's as if this girl is looking at Aeren laughing, he would lose his conscious. The girl had a flexible dress for fighting and a green blanket. It looked as if she had fainted from starving. Aeren had also read about medicine and was well aware of what kind of face human girl would have when she was starving.
But that was not the cause of Aeren's noticing. Aeren stared straight into the unconscious girl's face and very close. The sword in his hand was clutching at the girl's throat.
Why? Why Aeren cannot kill this girl? Just why?
Because this girl's current face was the same as her mother's face when she was dying. The face when people were killing him.
Weak.
Innocent.
Lifeless.
Aeren slid his sword into its sheath. Putting his head on the girl's chest, he checked to see if her heart was beating. Her heart was beating. She was alive.
Aeren carried the girl into his house and laid her down in his bed. The girl had to eat quickly to survive, and so Aeren held a strong vine to her nose. After a few breaths, the girl opened her eyes. He looked around at a high speed. Aeren asked him. "Hey, can you hear me? Look at me. Who are you? What are you doing here?"
The girl approached Aeren's face without answering and grabbed his long and pointed ear and said, "Elf. Why didn't you kill me?". Aeren froze at that question. He didn't know what to say. On top of that, this girl said such a thing with serious and emotionless face. "If you didn't kill, you can hear me out."