After that, Teto and I moved to another room with Elnea and Althea. We took a seat on one of the sofas, while Elnea lay down on the one opposite us.
“I am exhausted,” she muttered with a sigh.
“You did good, Miss Elnea,” I said.
“Are you okay?” Teto inquired.
She had looked so majestic in front of the elven kids, but now that everything was over, she seemed to have run completely out of steam.
Waving a hand dismissively at Teto’s question, she replied, “I am fine—merely a little tired from our lengthy discussion with the elders and my speech from earlier.”
“You are also almost completely out of mana because of all of the spirit corridors you opened,” Althea pointed out, a worried look on her face as she prepared some mana-replenishing herbal tea. Unlike mana potions, which topped up your MP instantly, mana-replenishing tea was a traditional elven drink that allowed your mana to regenerate over the course of a few hours.
Elnea let out a strained chuckle, although she sounded amused nonetheless. “It has been so long since I last exhausted my mana that I had forgotten how it felt,” she said as she sat up slowly to accept the teacup from Althea.
She took a sip and a relaxed sigh escaped her lips.
“I owe you an apology, Chise, Teto. Because of me, you had to get involved in this unfortunate affair,” she said.
“I agreed to help you because it was kinda my fault things got to that point in the first place, but I don’t intend on poking my nose in other nations’ affairs ever again,” I replied.
“But it was fun to spend time with the kids in the forest!” Teto chirped, thinking back on the days we spent watching over and making small talk with the elven teens.
Elnea squinted as if dazzled. “Spending time with one’s friends, talking about everything and nothing, hm? As an immortal being, I have to admit that I am rather jealous of the youths,” she said.
Elnea must’ve had friends too when she was younger. However, it was highly likely that they passed away a long time ago, and making new friends must’ve been difficult due to her rank.
However, her words made me pause. “Huh? What are you saying? You are spending time with friends right now, aren’t you?” I said.
“Lady Witch and Miss Elnea are friends!” Teto chirped. “And Teto is your friend too, and so is Mr. Great Elder!”
I was a bit embarrassed to admit it, but Teto, the Great Elder, and I did indeed think of Elnea as our friend.
A shocked expression flashed across Elnea’s face. “Chise...” she breathed in surprise. “Then let us act even more like friends, shall we? We should see each other at least once a day! This is what friends do!”
“Rejected. I like to keep at least a bit of distance even with my closest friends,” I said, quickly shutting her down.
“You did not even pause to consider my proposition, did you?” Elnea replied, throwing her head back and bursting into laughter.
“Of course she didn’t,” Althea said, looking at Elnea like one would look at a pitiful child. “That would be a huge inconvenience to Miss Chise.”
“You can’t take Lady Witch away from Teto! Besides, Teto and Lady Witch want to travel the world more, so there might be times when you can’t see her,” Teto said.
Teto had a point: I fully intended to resume my travels at some point, which would mean there’d be stretches of time where I wouldn’t be able to visit Elnea or have her come to the forest.
“Well, we’ll send you letters and drop by to give you souvenirs from our trips from time to time,” I said nonchalantly.
“We’ll have lots of interesting stories to tell you about!” Teto added.
“I shall come to visit you whenever you have free time as well. And should you encounter any troubles, do not hesitate to rely on me! As your friend, I shall spare no effort to aid you!” Elnea declared, throwing out her chest.
At one hundred years old, I was only at the beginning of my immortal life. But I had once again succeeded in making a friend with whom to share the passage of time. Things would undoubtedly change in the decades—no, in the centuries to come, but Elnea and I would have each other’s backs throughout this journey.
When the time comes, it’d be nice if we could reminisce about the memories we’ve shared with each other, I thought.