"Grrrr!"
The elf holding Rain looked at Chris, who started taking side steps while growling lowly, with an expression as if she was seeing something interesting.
The elf who was chuckling soon gestured to Chris.
"You're Chris, right? Come here and look at this."
"..."
How does that wicked elf know my name?
Chris, who was growling towards the unfamiliar woman who took Rain from her, approached her stealthily while still maintaining a defensive posture.
"Heh."
A silly laugh flowed from Chris's mouth. Her expression softened upon seeing Rain's sleeping face.
Soon after, the two women sat down together and lovingly looked at Rain's sleeping face.
"Isn't she too cute?"
"Haah... Right? Right? She's totally an angel, I tell you... Ah!"
Chris, who was agreeing with the elf's words, suddenly came to her senses and glanced at the elf again with wary eyes.
The white-haired elf lightly bowed her head and introduced herself.
"I'm sorry for the late introduction. I'm Elaine."
"Elaine?"
"Yes. I'm an elf who held the position of World Tree priestess in the past."
The words Rain had blurted out while drunk at the gathering of all Red-White guild members some time ago flashed through Chris's mind.
World Tree priestess, Elaine.
The person Rain had mentioned appeared here.
Is this a coincidence?
A character from the game's worldview. AI. NPC.
If she just dismissed it as a game, it felt like she would never be able to understand Rain for life.
Whether knowing Chris's complicated feelings or not, the elf named Elaine just stroked Rain while smiling.
"I understand. From the perspective of higher beings, this world might be nothing more than a momentary amusement."
Elaine looked at Rain's face with a slightly sad expression.
"I hope Rain sees it that way too."
Chris had no choice but to acknowledge at this point.
Even if understanding comes later, she needs to start by accepting.
Elaine.
Not as an NPC in the game, but as someone related to Rain's past.
Chris composed herself and asked what she was most curious about first.
"...What is your relationship with Rain?"
"Hmm... Companions?"
"Companions?"
"Yes. Companions of the hero who gathered under the mission to defeat the Demon King a thousand years ago."
"The hero's companion."
Demon King. Mission.
Rain's past.
Rain's past that couldn't be found in reality revealed itself here.
Chris and Elaine had many conversations.
Elf Elaine. Priestess of the World Tree.
She met Rain, traveled with her and her companions fighting demons, and finally defeated the Demon King.
And in that process.
"..."
The story she heard from Team Leader Han Yeoreum.
The hero's past.
Today it approached Chris more realistically.
Should I think the development of AI technology is really amazing?
But why is this game's worldview connected to Rain?
Chris soon shook her head vigorously.
Didn't I decide not to think about such things for now?
Now, I need to know more about this continent and Rain.
"...But, you said a thousand years have passed since the hero party's battle with the Demon King? And in that process, companions... Oh, then what's in front of my eyes is a ghost...!"
Chris was shocked. Elaine chuckled.
"As I heard, you're an interesting person, Chris. I don't know as much as you might think either? Most of what I know is because of my position as a World Tree spirit."
Elaine made a regretful expression.
"This world lost its god at that time. Only the shell remained, and it started flowing arbitrarily after falling off from the absolute flow of time. It's the fate of lower dimensions that rely on many things including the world's continuance on the goddess's divinity. I heard about 2 years have passed by higher dimension standards."
"2 years..."
"Is Rain's body okay there?"
"...Her legs."
"..."
Elaine's expression sank into deep sorrow. Green light scattered from the spirit's eyes. Elaine wrapped Rain in her arms. She called Rain's name incessantly.
"Rain, Rain."
2 years ago.
The time when traces of Seulbi started to formally reveal their existence on Earth.
Rain's past.
Another actually existing world.
The world that becomes the background of the game.
If you accept this, many questions are resolved and all links are connected.
But.
Chris closed her eyes tightly.
"This isn't right."
A story she wants to cover up in the name of conflicting with her common sense.
A story she wished was a lie.
A young girl with an unsound mind received a hero's mission and fought while getting injured and hurt.
And at the end, she lost everything.
She lost her companions.
She lost her legs.
Her mind collapsed.
She turned her eyes away from the world she was living in and escaped to her own world.
It was fortunate she didn't completely collapse before meeting her.
Chris and Elaine's conversation stopped.
For a while, they just silently looked at the sleeping Rain.
Chris gently stroked Rain's hair. Rain whimpered and snuggled into Elaine's arms. Chris's face distorted. Elaine made an embarrassed but pleased expression.
They started to talk about memories with Rain little by little.
"...Rain was really an amazing child. Even at an age when she could barely hold a sword, she was always immersed in many thoughts."
"..."
"Sometimes seriously adult-like, sometimes acting like a child of few words. Always looking somewhere far away. When she cuddled in my arms, she made a kitten-like expression while seeming somewhat confused."
"Kitten...! Kukuk, I think I know what you mean."
"Right? She's totally like a baby cat? ...What was sad was that she seemed to have grown up without receiving love. She didn't seem to know how to accept kindness coming to her."
"..."
I think I know that too.
Considering how much effort Chris put into breaking down Rain's walls.
Elaine suddenly made a puzzled expression.
"There's one behavior I still don't understand, it was when I was bathing Rain. She made cute crying sounds while covering her eyes, trying not to look at my body."
"Bathing Rain...!?"
Chris's guard radar reacted again. Chris made an aggrieved expression and chewed on her sleeve.
"I-I bathed Rain too!?"
Don't think you've won!
Elaine tilted her head at Chris's reaction.
"Ah!"
Then she let out an exclamation.
Mischief started to frost Elaine's eyes.
"I see...! Well, when Rain talks about you too. Hmm, hmm. Her body is still small, but already at an age to know such things...!"
Chris sharply glared at Elaine who started nodding her head.
What's with that expression?
Elaine continued speaking with a slight smile.
"Isn't Rain really pretty?"
"U-um. Right?"
"She's a beauty rarely seen even by elf standards, who are called the race of beauty. Huhu, don't you think she must have charmed several people?"
What is this? Suddenly praising her appearance?
Of course, Rain is pretty, but?
"The reason I became talkative in conversations with companions was to protect Rain from Melissa and Elena's clutches. Even though I said she's still young. Huhu, they were really obsessive, I tell you?"
"Melissa? Elena?"
Chris's guard radar sounded a danger signal.
Who are those girls?
"Don't worry. I'm, um... I'm not sure if I should say this, but I'm like Rain's mother?"
"Mother!"
Thud!
Chris hit her head on the World Tree's floor.
Time flowed gently as the three women shared memories of Rain.
The regret that rose on Elaine's face started to deepen.
"I'm a person of the past, someone who shouldn't influence the current Rain. I'm grateful just to be able to see Rain again like this."
"What?"
Chris looked blankly at Elaine who started saying incomprehensible things.
"Rain is living well there, right? Huhu, I can tell how much you cherish Rain just by how she's become better at smiling."
"Yes. I, I, want to make Rain happy!"
"I'm someone who has to leave. For Rain to live happily in another world, I shouldn't be by her side."
Chris became urgent.
Rain was sleeping in Elaine's arms with a happy expression never seen before.
Even if not all day like now, wouldn't it be good for Rain to come meet occasionally?
"Why, why do you have to leave?"
Elaine didn't answer that question and looked straight at Chris.
"Chris. In that world where she's living a new life, what is Rain's name?"
"...Seulbi."
"Seulbi."
Elaine, who rolled that name in her mouth once, stroked Rain's hair.
"Mmm."
At that moment, Rain's eyes opened carefully.
Lovely obsidian eyes wandered between the faces of the two women with bewilderment.
And she smiled brightly.
"Wow, it's unnies."
But despite Rain's radiant smile, the sorrow lingering in Elaine's eyes didn't disappear.
"Rain. I'm sorry."
"...Why? Sister Elaine, why are you apologizing?"
Anxiety started swirling in Rain's eyes.
Elaine stroked the girl's head and spoke with difficulty.
"I have to leave."