Chapter 161 – Isolation
She, who had changed a lot from her memories, soon regained her original complexion from her embarrassed face and asked.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s been a while since I came back to my hometown, and I heard from Timmy that you’ve returned to town, so I visited him once.”
Then Helen muttered, “Timmy guy…” But then she opened the door and she said.
“Come inside. I haven’t seen you in a while, but I can’t leave you at the door.”
“Thanks.”
I stepped into her redbrick house, thanking her for what might have been an uncomfortable visit, but for her willingness to let me into her home.
It is a house in the form of a large living room, kitchen, and two small rooms, which can be seen in a typical home.
As I entered the house, the child who was sitting on the sofa playing with dolls and the older child found me and opened their eyes wide.
“Who are you?”
I was moved by the voice of the man I heard again, but since they were my friend’s children, it wasn’t particularly wrong, so I answered with half-giving up.
“I’m your mother’s childhood friend.”
“Eh”
The big boy burst out exclamation as if he was surprised.
I asked with a hearty smile, realizing that he looked exactly like the childhood Helen.
“Would you like me to show you some magic?”
Then, the two children’s eyes lit up.
“Magic!”
“Mister, are you a wizard?”
“He’s a very good wizard in the capital.”
As I said that, I created a small whirlpool with my right hand.
Originally, wind is not an element with visible properties, but if it is deliberately colored with magic, it becomes visible to ordinary people like other magic.
The two children looked at it with their mouths wide open, perhaps wondering how the whirling wind twisted and rotated in my hands.
“This is possible.”
I clenched my fists and released the wind, and at the same time opened them again to show the flames.
The flame that bloomed on the palm changed into various forms as if it had life, then returned to its original form.
Then, two children applaud as if they were amazed.
“I’m sorry. I don’t have anything to treat you at home.”
Meanwhile, Helen, who had prepared her tea in her kitchen, brought the kettle and teacups on a tray to the living room.
I asked as I extinguished the flame in my palm.
“Who is the father of these children?”
Then Helen said with her wry smile.
“During the Manma War, he was conscripted and dragged to death.”
“He was said to be the son of a well-to-do family, but what happened?”
“Someone in the family has to do part-time work, but my husband went to the battlefield in place of my older brother, who will inherit the family because he is the second child.”
Like my stepmother and Helen, I realized all over again the impact the battle between humans and demons had on the world.
“Then why did you come back to the village…”
Helen nodded her head.
“At first, I tried to stay with my in-laws until the end, but my parents-in-law started neglecting me more and more. So I returned to my hometown with my children.”
Hearing those words, I naturally turned my eyes to Helen’s hand.
In the past, her hands, which would have never been wet with a drop of water, were already full of all sorts of scars and wrinkles.
Even with the help of her parents, it would not have been easy for a woman to support two children alone.
When I think of that, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her as a friend before she was her first love.
But she tries not to show those feelings as much as possible, and I told her.
“Come to think of it, a lot has changed while I couldn’t see it. Helen.”
Then she sat across from me and Helen looked at me with a smile.
“That’s right, Kaldrasch, you don’t seem to have changed much?”
I shrugged her shoulders and said.
“Well, since I’m a wizard, I age slowly.”
This is possible because the mana that fills the body always keeps the cells in a healthy state.
I asked while sipping her tea, which she made herself.
“What are the children’s names?”
Then Helen said, stroking the heads of the two children clinging to her side.
“The big one is Lena and the small one is Nikki.”
When I heard that, I waved my hand slightly to the two children.
Her eldest daughter, Lena, resembles her mother, with brown hair close to red, and her second daughter, Nikki, has slightly dark blonde hair.
Perhaps her dead husband’s hair was blonde.
Said Helen over her tea.
“Honestly, I’m a bit confused even now. I never thought I’d meet you again. And now that I’ve gained a lot of weight, I thought I wouldn’t recognize you right away.”
I giggled when I heard that.
“Certainly compared to when you were young, you blew a lot left and right. What do you do now?”
“I’m running a little bakery in town.”
“Indeed.”
I can understand why Helen gained weight so rapidly.
It was all about carbohydrate poisoning.
“Well, I’m not going to say this for the first time in 10 years, but if you have leftover bread from selling, don’t eat it because it’s a waste. Instead, lower the price the next day and sell it. I think it’ll be good for your health.”
“You really don’t mean anything.”
“Well, because I thought this kind of reaction would come out.”
I said that and shrugged her shoulders, and Helen looked at me dumbfounded.
“You have the same shameless personality as you did in the past and now.”
“Because that was one of my few strengths.”
“About that part… Let’s not talk about it.”
Helen said that and she hastily ended her conversation.
It must be because the young daughters are listening by the side.
After drinking the tea before I knew it, I decided to get up.
“It’s good that you look healthy though. It’s nice to see your face after a long time.”
“I was really glad to see you after a long time.”
We shook hands one last time and decided to end it.
Me and her rough hands with traces of the years intact.
But I was never ashamed.
Because my hands are the result of rigorous training, and hers are hands full of her mother’s motherhood.
Rather, it feels like a decoration.
“Then let’s go.”
“Yes. Goodbye.”
I told Helen, who was about to get up from her seat, that she didn’t have to come to meet me, and then she left the house alone.
Maybe it’s because I met my first childhood love, it feels strange.
Although it has changed a lot now, the old face has not completely disappeared.
Feeling nostalgic for a long time, I returned to Timmy’s Tavern where the wives were waiting.
***
“So how is it? How does it feel to meet your first love?”
When I entered the tavern, this was the first question that came to me.
After hearing Dorothea’s words, I naturally turned her gaze to Timmy.
Because no one else could have known that Helen was my first love.
Timmy then subtly avoided my gaze.
She probably confided in Dorothea because she was being interrogated, but as her friend, she couldn’t help feeling a little betrayed.
Anyway, there seemed to be no reason to hide in the yard, where everyone was already caught, so I sat down next to Dorothea at the bar.
“To be honest, I’m still a little flustered.”
“What?”
“Helen has been hit hard by the passage of time.”
Timmy, who was cleaning the glass in her bar, burst out laughing.
It must be because you understand what I mean.
“What is it? If it’s a funny story, let’s laugh together.”
I shrugged her shoulders at her question and ordered a whiskey.
“It’s a bit difficult to explain in detail because my childhood friend’s honor is at stake, but roughly speaking, it’s very different from what I remember from the past.”
“Ah~”
Only then did Dorothea get an understanding expression.
Well, I didn’t say the subject, so maybe this is safe.
I said, running my fingers through the glass of whiskey Timmy had given me.
“To be honest, most of the people around me are people who are aging slowly or have stopped.
“You mean it wasn’t?”
“Right.”
Immediately after answering, I swallowed the whiskey in one gulp.
Hot fire ran down his throat.
“Dorotea, have you ever experienced anything like this?”
Then Dorothea, who sat next to me, sipped her beer and raised her eyes.
“Hmm~ I don’t think there’s anything special. Unlike you, Kaldrash, I’m a pure-blood witch who grew up in the Ruby Tower since I was born. Rather, Vanessa should know better than me, right?”
After hearing that, I looked around the tavern.
However, Vanessa was not out, or her nose was not visible.
“Vanessa went to see your stepmother. We met for the first time yesterday, but we seem to have something in common.”
“Yes?”
If it’s okay, I tried to get some counseling from the seniors in her life, but it turned out to be a pity.
Timmy, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, asked curiously.
“Kaldrasch, but am I not included in that story?”
“I honestly saw you last when you were really young. Whereas I haven’t seen Helen in 10 years.”
The appearance of a person you know is completely different from your memory.
It’s a similar case, but compared to Timmy, who changed from a child to an adult, the case of Helen, who became an aunt from her virgin, was more shocking.
It must have been because I thought of myself and my surroundings as standards.
‘This is why Master is usually reluctant to make friends.’
I feel like time is still standing still, but once I felt a sense of alienation from the fact that the surroundings were moving fast, I felt as if I was not normal.
It seems that high-level wizards do not become hermits and loners when they get old.
I had an amazing realization.
