Chapter 52: Tears

"Huh? No, this wasn’t anyone’s fault. You were away because of work. Even so, you still came to save me, and I was really happy about that. Besides, this only happened because I wasn’t strong enough. There’s no reason for you to blame yourself..."

"You were one step away from losing your life!" Viktor raised his voice slightly, cutting him off. But Qiu Nuoya still believed that everything had happened because of his own choices.

Viktor had done nothing wrong.

To Viktor, he should have been nothing more than a child from another world whom he had happened to take under his protection.

There was no reason for him to go this far.

Perhaps Qiu Nuoya possessed an unfamiliar form of magic, but that alone did not justify all the kindness Viktor had shown him.

Instead, it only made him feel guilty.

"Let’s stop talking about this," Qiu Nuoya said gently. "I’m alive. That’s all that matters."

Viktor looked straight into his eyes. "You made a promise to me, Nuoya. You promised that you would stay by my side, and that you would be waiting for me with a meal prepared. Yet after making that promise, you still treated your own life as though it had no value."

"Ah..."

He had forgotten.

He really had made that promise.

Although, if he remembered correctly, Viktor had been drunk at the time.

Qiu Nuoya had not expected him to remember it.

"You’re a child who always thinks of others," Viktor continued softly. "But you are still only a child. You were the one who faced that danger. You were the one who nearly died. So why do you keep worrying about everyone else while neglecting yourself?"

His expression tightened.

"I cannot accept that."

"You went through something so terrifying, yet you never shed a single tear. Even your familiar, a monster that should not cry, was in tears. Yet you..." Viktor lowered his gaze. "To me, it almost seems as though you’ve left your emotions behind somewhere."

...

"So I’ve left my emotions behind..."

Qiu Nuoya had heard those words once before.

It was at his mother’s funeral.

Even after losing the last member of his family, he had been unable to shed a single tear.

He had never been good at expressing his emotions.

Ever since he was young, he had buried his feelings deep inside because he knew that if he acted selfishly, it would only make life harder for his parents. But this was the first time anyone had ever spoken to him like this.

"I was scared too..."

"I know."

"When I thought I was really going to die... I was terrified."

"I know."

"But... there’s actually something I’ve been hiding from you and the others."

"Hm?"

Qiu Nuoya took a slow breath.

Part of him still thought it might be better to keep the truth hidden.

But continuing to deceive people who cared so deeply about him made him feel guilty.

"I may look like this, but I’m actually much older. When I came to this world, I think the God made me young again. So... I’m really not the kind of child you need to worry about this much." He let out an awkward laugh.

"I see... Is that true?"

"Yes. I might even be older than you, Viktor."

Viktor looked as though he were in his late twenties or early thirties.

As an elf, however, he was said to age much more slowly than humans, so Qiu Nuoya had no idea how old he really was.

Still, he was certain that his own true age was older than Viktor’s apparent age.

"Then... may I ask your actual age?"

Qiu Nuoya gave another embarrassed laugh.

"I have a feeling you’re going to be angry when I tell you."

"How old are you?"

"...Forty."

He lowered his head slightly.

"Sorry."

After a long silence, Viktor let out a deep sigh.

"I did think you were an unusually mature child for your age. Now it all makes sense."

He paused before looking directly into Qiu Nuoya’s eyes again.

"But that doesn’t change anything."

Viktor tightened his grip on both of Qiu Nuoya’s hands.

"No matter how old you really are, the fact remains that you nearly died. And it also doesn’t change the fact that you treat your own life as if it has little value. Human lives are fragile. You need to rely on other people more."

Rely on other people...

Qiu Nuoya had never been good at that.

His entire life, he had solved every problem he could by himself.

That had always seemed normal to him.

"I... Is it really okay for someone like me to rely on others?"

"Of course it is."

"But I’d only be a burden."

"I would gladly accept that burden."

Qiu Nuoya looked back at Viktor, who met his gaze without the slightest hesitation.

His vision began to blur.

No.

He could not cry.

At least, that was what he told himself.

"The truth is... I was scared." His voice trembled. "This world is completely different from the one I used to live in. My body is so small now, and I kept wondering if I could really survive here. I’d never even seen monsters before, and when they attacked me like that... I was so afraid..."

Before he could finish speaking, Viktor gently pulled him into an embrace.

The moment those arms wrapped around him, the tears he had been holding back finally overflowed.

"A grown man... crying like this..."

"There is nothing shameful about crying after something terrifying," Viktor said softly. "Age has nothing to do with it."

"But... it’s embarrassing."

"You don’t have to worry about appearances."

Being held securely in Viktor’s embrace, Qiu Nuoya could no longer stop crying.

He could not even remember the last time he had cried in front of someone.

"You did well," Viktor whispered.

Qiu Nuoya had always believed that working hard was simply expected of him.

No one had ever praised him for it.

Even so, he had continued pushing himself because he believed that if he stopped, everything around him would fall apart.

Yet now...

For a long time afterward, Qiu Nuoya could not say another word.

He simply cried.

Throughout it all, Viktor remained silent, gently stroking his back until the tears finally began to subside.