This takes place after the start of Part Three.
Polka, a town at the northernmost edge of the Trot Kingdom, is experiencing a brief summer. Flocks of sheep visit the lush green meadows, and as the shepherds take a breather by the spiritual spring, they find themselves gasping in amazement at the changing face of this town.
“Welcome… Ah, Jeanne. Do you need anything today?” “I’m practicin’ my sewing, tryin’ to make a skirt for a kid. Somethin’ that looks nice but’s cheap enough.” “Sewing practice…? I knew you were handy, Jeanne, so I figured you could sew clothes, but…” “I’ve done patches a few times. But makin’ a garment from scratch is still new to me. Grandma Bella said she’d teach me, so I decided to give it a go.” “Ah, the midwife… But a skirt? Not for little Peter?” “It’s for Elenia. Besides, once I figure out how to tailor, there’s more demand for clothes around Andy from the women folks.” “Are you planning to make clothes for all the adults, too…? Are you planning to become a tailor instead of a blacksmith?” “I ain’t thinkin’ that far ahead. But it never hurts to know how. Since Selene and Apple take turns with the babysittin’, I got plenty of time. Might as well hone my skills.” “Sigh… I can’t let myself fall behind, then.”
As Jeanne and Oregano chatted amiably while checking the inventory, a passing shepherd stared at them with a look of sheer shock. ”…Now this… a Dwarf and an Elf chatting so friendly in a human town… that’s a rare sight to behold.” “Ah, welcome! Would you like a waterproof cloak to prepare for sudden rain? It’s a bit pricey, but it’s made of high-quality cloth woven in the Northern Forest—light, soft, and incredibly water-repellent. It won’t soak through even in a downpour, yet it won’t make you feel stuffy. We have hats made of the same material, too.” “Ah, no, well… I’d heard that Elven crafts were becoming available lately, but… is it really okay to sell them to someone like me?” “We supply the large merchant guilds, like Sylphid, through a separate channel. …This isn’t some Elven direct-sales shop; it’s just a regular local human shop, and I’m just an employed clerk. As long as you can pay, I don’t discriminate among my customers! ♪” “I see… Still, to think even a Dwarf could be this friendly.” “Jeanne is like family to us.” “Family…?” The shepherd wore a look that said, I have no idea what you’re talking on about.
Normally, that is how it is. When it comes to Elves and Dwarves, they typically despise one another. An “Elf who is sociable toward a Dwarf” is rare enough on its own. To go as far as calling them “family” was equivalent to pointing at an apple and calling it a fish.
“That’s just how the world is, I suppose. Especially in Trot, folks tend to look at non-human races with prejudice.” “Mm, it’s such a shame… It’s always better when everyone lives in harmony. If individuals could just understand each other deeply, we wouldn’t have to bring racial animosity into it.” “Well, I can’t exactly talk. If Sister Lyra and Andy hadn’t brought me out here, I can’t say I wouldn’t have held some strange biases against Elves myself.” “Speaking of which, if Master hadn’t been so active in the forest, we wouldn’t be…” “Andy really is an incredible man, isn’t he?”
Between the female slaves, conversations often turned into these moments of reaffirming Andy’s greatness. While it was unknown how much of this he actually understood, many had had their environments—and their entire lives—changed by him. In particular, the fact that the Elven territory had begun to look outward was something that could never have happened without Andy’s intervention. To the Elves of the forest, that event—which was like a rift appearing in an eternally cloudy sky—was an achievement worthy of being called a world-changing feat, regardless of what he himself thought. Being close to such a person felt, to the Elves, like stepping into a myth. No matter how much they spoke of his splendor, their pride never faded, and hearing such stories only renewed the devotion of the other female slaves. It was a practice akin to self-indulgence, yet by sharing it, their bond was strengthened. And because of this, the consciousness shared among them was beginning to diverge significantly from that of the residents of Polka, the visitors, and even Andy’s own perception. However, the title of “female slave”—a status that was inherently incomprehensible to outsiders—allowed this divergence to grow wide and deep without causing much of an issue. As a result, in Polka, the more time Andy spent away, the more the number of girls who were utterly devoted to him and lost their resistance to extraordinary behavior increased… To some, it was the beginning of an inexplicable trend: “the progression of the female slaves’ training.”
Elsewhere, at the Baron’s manor. ”…” ”…Hey… Selene? Um… hasn’t things been… a bit strange lately?” ”…Mmh.” As Apple rocked Peter to sleep, she found herself unable to endure the strange gaze Selene was directing toward Elenia as she rocked her.
Recently, Selene had been staring at Apple with a serious expression… or perhaps “observing” would be a better word. Such gazes were becoming more frequent.
Apple had known Selene for a very long time. She was well aware that, beneath the surface, Selene was actually a very straightforward person. While Selene possessed the skills and eloquence to bewilder others, she fundamentally never used them in her daily life. She would immediately distance herself from anyone she disliked, and she spoke her mind directly. Aside from a tiny circle of companions, she thoroughly disregarded almost everyone else—or rather, she was quick to decide that “there is no longer any need to expend effort on this person.” Having been oppressed and looked down upon because of her half-elven heritage, she had become adept at discerning which people and matters were worth her time.
She ruthlessly omitted any parts of a conversation that felt like mere social niceties. It wasn’t that she lacked manners—in fact, if forced to perform them, she could execute any etiquette perfectly—but if they weren’t necessary, she ignored them entirely.
Therefore, there was almost certainly no way that her staring at Apple was simply a case of her being lost for words. There had to be some special meaning behind it.
Yet, Apple couldn’t think of anything.
As usual, Peter was happily nursing Apple’s nipple, but it wasn’t likely that Peter was the cause. Selene had only started looking at Apple with this particular expression a few days ago.
However, Selene said nothing.
It was rare for Selene to take such an ambiguous stance. Apple began to feel anxious, wondering if she was suspecting something… she wasn’t sure what, but something serious.
While nursing Elenia herself, Selene let out a low, expressionless groan, “Hmm…” After a moment, she broke eye contact and spoke in a murmur.
“Apple. …When you and Andy-san were doing… naughty things… you did it in quite a lot of different places, didn’t you?”
“Eh? U-um… yeah… I think… so?”
Not quite understanding the meaning of the sudden question, Apple answered vaguely.
“Not just in the hunter’s cabin, but behind the hot springs, in the forest thickets… Now that I think about it, how did we not get caught in places like that? If things had gone badly, someone passing by might have seen you sucking on Andy-san’s cock.”
“Eh, but back then, Selene was already healed, so you were using magic to hide us secretly…”
”…”
“Selene?”
Selene turned her gaze toward Apple once again.
And then, after a moment.
”…Apple. …Your memories… they’ve come back, haven’t they? Why are you pretending you don’t know?”
”!!”
Apple froze. Peter, held against her breast, let out a muffled, “Mmph!”
She hurriedly loosened her grip upon realizing what was happening, but fortunately, Peter showed no signs of crying. Instead, with an expression like he had received a divine revelation—as if thinking, “Enjoying massive breasts with your entire face! There’s a way to enjoy them like this!”—he slowly pressed his face against her with full force again, letting out another muffled “Mmph!”
“W-what are you doing, Peter-kun!”
“Apple. …Don’t deflect. When… did your memories return?”
”…”
Apple let out a small sigh.
”…It wasn’t that long ago. It was while I was adventuring with Andy-san in the Carlwin Kingdom… no, actually, a little before that. I started feeling… hazy. Like I could almost remember something, but I couldn’t find a foothold, so it would just slip away. That feeling.”
”…And that happened in Carlwin?”
”…Yeah.”
Apple nodded.
“There was a time when everyone was about to give up, and I had to act like Andy-san. …I was trying to encourage everyone by imitating him… and while I was trying so hard to remember exactly what Andy-san would have said… suddenly, the image of Andy-san as a child flashed into my mind.”
”…Why didn’t you say anything about that?”
“Because I didn’t know. I didn’t know if it was a true memory or just a delusion… I had already heard the broad strokes from you, Selene, so I thought maybe I had just fabricated a memory using that knowledge.”
But, Apple continued. She smiled wryly while stroking Peter’s head as he continued to grind his face into her breast, fully testing this new way of enjoying her cleavage.
“Gradually, the pieces before and after began to clear up… memories I’d never heard before, the connections between events… all of that started to resurface. I was wondering why it was happening. I didn’t know Andy-san, and I knew my memories were gone, yet he still said he wanted me… and as a new version of myself, I fell in love with him all over again. Since that resolved everything, I wondered why all of this was resurfacing now.”
”…I’m sure, that is…”
Selene attempted to provide an interpretation.
It was surely because, deep down, Apple had never truly been able to love Andy.
Since Selene had expressed her desire to live that way, Apple had no choice but to follow her lead, become a female slave alongside her… and live her life accordingly. In truth, Apple had no other option.
The reason she had become a female slave was perhaps partly due to the lingering remnants of her feelings for Andy, but more than anything, she had simply made her resolve. She had made that decision once before; she was simply reaffirming it.
To be honest, Andy’s childhood had not been particularly bright. Yet, when she leaned into her dependence and envisioned a future, a happy scene would appear nonetheless. For a rootless half-elf, that was enough happiness. It was this realization, which she had accepted once again, that led to the slave contract… and it was what drove Apple to serve him with such desperation.
However, as she accompanied him on his journey through extreme circumstances, struggled to be of use to him, and came to recognize his strength and virtues from the bottom of her heart… she believed that the memories, which until then had felt like a disconnected dream, had finally clicked into place.
But Selene stops herself before trying to explain.
It would be gauche—to have someone smugly lecture her on “why you love him.”
”…I think if you told Andy that, he might treasure you even more than he does now.”
”…It just feels like I’ve doubled myself, and I can’t quite wrap my head around it. The feeling of newly falling in love with Andy, and the feeling of my old obsession with him… they’re both strong, but they don’t quite mesh. It’s like… even though I’m in love with the same person, two different versions of ‘love’ are living together as separate entities… Do you understand what I mean?”
”…Sorry, that might be a bit difficult.”
He could imagine it, but empathy would be hard. Two divergent, yet similar, emotions directed toward a single person. Apple had been carrying this burden all alone.
”…So, you can sense things like that, Selene.”
“Hmm… I just thought that since we returned, the atmosphere felt a little different. I wasn’t sure if it was because of that incredible journey, or something else… I’d been lost in doubt for a while.”
“What would you have done if things weren’t what you expected?”
”…I think… I just wanted to know the truth.”
Selene gave a bitter smile.
Perhaps this, too, was the nature of a lonely half-elf. It wasn’t that she had intended anything ill toward her best friend; she simply wanted to understand why things had changed. Realizing now that she had caused her friend anxiety, Apple tapped her own forehead, thinking, I still have a long way to go.
”…I hope you can tell Andy about that someday.”
”…Yeah. Though I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not.”
“I’m sure it will be.”
Cradling the infant, the two shared a gentle smile, as if forgiving one another for their doubts and their lies.