Chapter 42: Guiding Fragrance

Remember, what the System put at my disposal, the Guiding Fragrance? It kind of worked the same way as Mana Perception, or that's how I understood it anyway. When I concentrated on it, on my destination or quest, I could feel the System's directions. It only demanded I paused and focused on it, really. And using that fragrance thingy, I could tell we were nearing the end of the trip.

Oh, and aside from that... "Hm." Upon focusing on Mana Perception, I could also noticeably feel one restless elf's anger and negative emotions in my vicinity. "Hideous," I called his name. "What is it, Hideous? Hm, Hideous? Is something the matter—what are you being all agitated and fidgety for, Hideous?" Shoot, what could possibly be wrong with my Hideous henchman? Was the bullying too much? I was seated on my bed and observed him on his own bed, his back turned to me. "I can feel you're being disordered as we speak. Speak up your mind, Hideous. What could possibly bother you here, eh?"

But the elf only sat. Other than that, he did absolutely nothing. Heh, it wouldn't take long before he would act, however. After brutally throwing two raging eyes at me. He was being unnaturally silent, now he snapped. Punching his bed, he turned two heinous eyes at me. Meeting his glare, my eyes turned to a slit. "Acting up again, Hideous? Come on. Be my guest and speak—"

"Th-This comedy...! This comedy you're playing with us...!"

"That's the way, Hideous," I grinned at him. "Help yourself and speak."

He thrust a jerky finger at me. The man's frown deepened so much. "Th-That right now!" All the more restlessly, he agitatedly waved his arms around, stood up with a stomp, and bared his hatred at me. "Th-That's precisely what I'm talking about! ...You, the weak, helpless princess... acting all high and mighty with us... your petty minions...! A-As if you were some—"

"Enough, you!"

"White-haired! Let the man speak." I couldn't tell why, but some part of me wanted to hear him out to the end. I waved a hand to Hideous, letting him know he was allowed to continue. No, I rather let him know I wanted him to continue. Just out of curiosity... Probably.

"You and your... self-sufficient attitude! You better remember that...!" The man grew more restless by the minute. Man, if anything, I was glad he could get it all out right now. I was sure he would feel better afterward. With a rush of adrenaline and trembling limbs, Hideous then growled at me. "You better remember that you're father's dead! Dead an' buried!" I didn't expect that at all, however. It shocked even me. "All of this... A-All of what's happening to this day—all this mess we're in! Don't you dare go thinking you're the only one affected by it! Everything! Turned to shit—"

"Hey! You have to calm down now. Hideous! But do speak... Just lower your voice."

"Tur—Turd—Turned to shit... all because of him! Your father...! The Great King! Hadn't he been this self-righteous, hypocritical dumbass of a... shitty leader...! We'd not have lost to them demons in the first place! His goddamn rules... about what ain't supposed to be fair... or not fair!... or some other crazy shit—that's what got us dragged in the shit in the first place!"

"Sh-Shut up, Hid—er, I mean, you. That's enough." White-haired had to stop him. Well, I had the feeling that he was done getting all his animosity out of his system anyhow. Hideous cursed and finished his speech. Well well well. Let's just hope he had taken that heavy load off his heart.

Hideous bared his heart to his princess, so beautifully and wholesomely, but man, I had no clue about what he spoke about. I didn't react to what he said, naturally. I couldn't actually care less about the contents of his complaints.

The simple fact that, knowing the man, he'd probably feel better after this, and maybe also unfortunately a little scared of terrifying-me, was a good result. I sure as hell didn't want him to snap out further down the road right in the middle of a fight or anything. Fights were to come. The guy being on edge like this wasn't reassuring, to be perfectly honest. I preferred to have him calmed down and under control. So anyway... that little exchange was a win for me. I was sure of that.

But hey... why were my eyes... crying?

Some kind of glitch? It had to be that, right? I could sense two warm streams running down my cheeks. Why were these tears flowing down so abundantly, I didn't know. I swear I didn't. I didn't even feel the slightest amount of sorrow in me. I just somehow knew that part of me wanted to cry. Crap. That was bad. White-haired sat down next to me and desperately shook his head. Glaring at Hideous for a second, he turned back to the helpless princess. If he had had any doubts about the identity of his princess, now they were all swayed away by such a childish and girly display of grief. His princess was only in her young adult years (in the elven culture). He was dismayed to see she had to suffer this much.

"Princess," he calmly said, massaging my shoulder. "Don't shed tears. It's not like what your subject says at all. Far from it." His soft hands now came and wiped the tears off my red cheeks. In my panic, I brushed his hands away and turned to the side. That's when I understood I had to snap out of 'that', whatever caused it.

"I-I'm not... shedding tears or anything... you know. Sniffle."

Whatever these tears meant, they weren't mine. They weren't.

"S-Stop staring at me!"

"M-My apologies—"

"Same goes for you, Hideous."

That was embarrassing. I felt so embarrassed I couldn't take it. It was the first time such feelings invaded and paralyzed me. So much terrible it was that I tried to banish them right away. Many thoughts flashed through my mind as I tried my best to move on to something else.

I thought of the old man, the journey, our quest... How many days it had been, the immense superficies of the forest... I thought of the North, where I'd meet the old man at the end. To the North, the old man had told me, there weren't so many trees and forests anymore. Many plains, lowlands, and valleys. In about two days, if things went all smooth, I would be there and see such landscapes. I thought of the dryads. Dryads were at the end of our road. Oh, I also thought about the fears and worries of a certain white-haired elf, about some recent conflict between the orcs and humans taking place within the woods on our path... and many other fleeting thoughts.

The elven princess... Was 'she' crying... inside? Was 'she' alive...? Did 'she' need help?

The atmosphere had grown silent and quiet. I preferred that better to grownup elves blatantly staring at me and my tears. Hideous already tucked himself under his blanket and faced the opposite side of the room. Seeing that, I guessed I should be doing the same. Sleeping it was then. But just as I started to get down to it, I looked White-haired up. "What are you doing down there?" He had just extended one large sheet on the floor.