Love Letter From The Future-Chapter 386: Bread and Dagger (84)

“I have a way.”

Elder Poff said these words during our meeting with the village elves.

I was in the middle of a heartfelt reunion with the elves at the time.

They showed quite the dramatic reactions upon seeing me after so long.

The tender-hearted Isha broke into tears, while Rugetand Old Dolph pulled me into a tight embrace—like they’d found a long-lost family member.

Not to mention Aviang, who was closest to me.

The young girl’s clear eyes were brimming with tears. Only after wiping away her tears for quite a while did she greet me in a sobbing voice.

She missed me.

I silently patted and comforted the elf girl.

I deliberately didn’t ask how she was doing.

Her sister had been consumed by an unknown monster. And now, that creature was endlessly growing and spreading itself across the land, as if intending to devour the entire world..

I could roughly guess how she felt.

Moreover, there was no suitable place to vent that bitter resentment.

The enemy was beyond our comprehension.

No, was there even a way to kill that monster in the first place?

The enemy was a mass of flesh flowing along the horizon. The term ‘natural disaster’ suited it more than ‘living creature’.

Could the very concept of ‘death’ even apply? There was no means of wiping out such an immense mass of flesh.

No matter how I calculated it, the possibility of Aviang’s revenge seemed slim.

It was in the midst of such despairing outpouring.

That Elder Poff spoke up.

At that brief declaration, all eyes turned to him.

He had the usual stubborn look on his face.

Despite appearing to be merely a boy on the outside.

Of course, his inner self had long since rotted and necrotic.

He was a man who lost his wife and daughter to a human raid many years ago. The storms of time he endured alone must have been cruel.

From that day on, Elder Poff claimed he had never once forgotten his family.

And perhaps that was why he couldn’t age.

Time had stopped for him since then.

The old boy.

The phrase naturally came to mind as I looked at Elder Poff, with mixed feelings of expectation and skepticism.

He was a seasoned hunter—a man who had spent countless years surviving in the coniferous forests.

It wouldn’t be strange if he knew something I hadn’t thought of.

Only one question remained.

How, exactly?

Even armies of tens of thousands couldn’t turn the tide of battle. It felt impossible to believe there was a miraculous solution that could reverse this situation.

Yet, Elder Poff appeared confident.

“It’s thanks to you that we could survive… And also, the safety of the village elves was guaranteed. That blonde woman agreed to look after them.”

“Are you saying you want to repay that debt?”

“Bread for bread, dagger for dagger.”

A phrase I’d heard too many times before.

First, it was advice given by an elven captive. It later became part of my life after falling into the elven village—and eventually, the final piece leading to victory.

It was a strange feeling.

Who would’ve thought so many fates could be weaved together by such a short phrase?

While I was lost in these thoughts, Elder Poff continued his story.

“The village doesn’t need a hunter anymore. The retirement I’ve waited for is finally here… So helping you will be my final duty.”

“No, is there really a way? How exactly……”

“You don’t need to know.”

My brow furrowed slightly at that firm response.

It was only natural. If we were to prepare for a decisive battle with those minions of the Evil God, I was the one in charge. Hadn’t the Saintess herself said as much last time?

The forces gathered in the North—including the Yurdina family—weren’t waiting for me.

They were waiting for the Sword Duke and the Saint.

An agreement had been reached to maintain the current situation until the two arrived.

But to suddenly say that he would go and deal with that monster on his own?

I naturally had to bear the burden that came with it.

Moreover, the Evil God’s minion was not something one could face alone.

At least an army had to be mobilized and tens of thousands of people could lose their lives at my word.

Before that, to review the detailed plan was not a choice but rather a necessity.

But he said I didn’t need to know the details.

I had no choice but to voice my complaints.

“Elder, I know you don’t like me because I’m human. But what we have to do is not play with soldiers but war. There is a need to share the plan in advance…….”

“I chose to trust you.”

That unexpected confession left me speechless.

If it were the Elder Poff of before, such words would have been unimaginable. And as proof, everyone else in the room—except for me—was staring at him in shock.

Elder Poff was the only one who maintained his composure.

Once more, he spoke to me.

“It’s been like that since I acknowledged you as the village’s hunter. The position of ‘hunter’ in the village is a very honorable one…… Protecting the village and procuring food.”

Each word carried weight.

For now, I closed my mouth and stared blankly at Elder Poff.

He seemed particularly calm today.

Maybe because he was liberated from his long-standing duty.

“There isn’t a single task that doesn’t directly affect the villagers’ lives. To be honest, I wasn’t sure back then… but now I know—you’ll become an excellent hunter.”

“Elder……”

“For anyone, but especially for a hunter, trust is important. It’s the same for me.”

It wasn’t meant to be a roundabout way of speaking.

The meaning was so obvious that I had to let out a small sigh.

He was asking me to trust him.

Normally, it would be nonsense. Even I had a limit to how much I could push unreasonable demands.

Trust one old elf and ask people to risk their lives?

How many people would agree to this?

But the moment I met Elder Poff’s eyes, I ultimately gave up on arguing.

His eyes were filled with strong conviction.

If he still wasn’t telling me the details, it was right to interpret that there was a reason.

In the end, a fragment of a question was the only thing that came out of my mouth..

“Is there a reason you can’t tell me?”

“Yes.”

Then, I had nothing to say.

Just as Elder Poff trusted me, I had no choice but to trust him in return.

Persuasion was my responsibility, after all..

I spoke simply, as if surrendering.

“Alright. I’ll trust you.”

I had a debt to settle with Leoric.

The lives of Aviang and the other elves and all those who had been sacrificed by his machinations.

I had decided—I would be the one to deliver that bill.

***

Elder Poff stood on the plain.

A storm was blowing in from afar. The snowstorm blurred his vision, but the seasoned hunter instinctively sensed.

The decisive battle was at hand.

It was now his turn to step up.

Beside him, Isha and Aviang stood —Elder Poff had deliberately called only these two.

Isha showed no sign of questioning this.

She was originally the talent that Elder Poff had chosen to groom as the next hunter. Although it was said that Ian would take up the mantle, he was humanity’s hero.

He couldn’t forever stay in the North to protect a few elves.

Thus, naturally, Isha was the only one who could carry on the hunter’s legacy.

It was customary for a successor to witness their mentor’s retirement.

If anything raised questions, it was Aviang’s presence.

She looked utterly baffled as to why Elder Poff had summoned her.

She was just staring at the distant place with an anxious and restless expression.

This was a battlefield where lives hung by a thread. To worry about Ian’s safety was only natural.

So Elder Poff decided to keep things brief.

“Isha, I leave the village in your care.”

“Yes, Elder. I’ll continue to do my best.”

At her relaxed answer, Elder Poff softly chuckled.

He had no idea how long it would take for this young elf to become a proper hunter.

But it was okay.

Time was always on the side of the elves.

The next person he asked for a favor was Aviang.

“And Aviang, young elf… I have a request for you too.”

“Why me?”

Her question came immediately.

The elf girl, who had been staring beyond the horizon, now looked at Elder Poff with confusion.

Aviang had no particular connection to the village.

She had only briefly stayed there, and she certainly didn’t possess skills like Ian’s.

Yet, Elder Poff did not retract his statement.

“I hate humans.”

This was a fact known to every elf in the village.

Aviang was about to ask what that had to do with anything, but she then shut her mouth.

It was because Elder Poff’s tone was different from usual.

A voice filled with lament followed.

“I was like that even before I lost my family. Countless neighbors were killed by their hands. I couldn’t help but hate them… No, actually, unless I hated them, I couldn’t stand it.”

With that, the old man took a step forward.

Night and death.

He had been afraid of the burning flames since long ago. The day his family was murdered, Elder Poff vowed to curse humanity for the rest of his life.

But deep down, he knew.

It wasn’t humans he cursed.

It was himself—his powerless self who wept before his family’s corpses.

“That’s how I’ve lived my entire life—hating others, harboring resentment… Yet, part of me desperately sought forgiveness from the family I failed to protect. I wanted to believe that death would bring salvation, that enduring this harsh life was my penance.”

“……Elder.”

With each word he uttered, Isha’s expression changed moment by moment.

Isha, who had been with him for over a hundred years, instinctively realized.

What decision Elder Poff had made.

Aviang, however, still had a puzzled look on her face.

“But Aviang, little one… You don’t have to live like that. You love a human, don’t you?”

It was impossible to pretend not to know the intention of that blatant question, so Aviang’s face flushed instantly.

She was so red that it seemed like steam would rise from her head.

Just before Aviang stammered and waved her hands.

Without even listening to the answer, Elder Poff took another step.

“Cherish that feeling… I’ll take the old grudges with me.”

Right after that, the sound of wind whipped past their ears.

Elder Poff’s body shot forward, crushing time itself as his limbs pushed beyond their limits.

A scream-like cry rang out from behind.

Probably Isha’s voice.

Such a sentimental woman. She was meant to be the pillar leading the village elves, yet her heart was too soft. How would she manage?

No, perhaps it didn’t matter.

Wouldn’t a world come where no one needed to hate or resent anymore?

The war was over.

The coniferous forest was completely in that monster’s hands and most of the elves were devoured. Elder Poff wasn’t free from that sin either.

After all, he too had been a follower of Leoric once.

The ‘blessing’ left on his body served as proof.

With a panting breath, his vision gradually narrowed.

It was oxygen deprivation.

His body should have stopped obeying him by now, yet he felt an odd sense of relief.

His body was gradually becoming lighter.

The pain subsided, replaced by a languid sensation that overtook his entire being. At some point, Elder Poff slipped into a kind of delirium.

Was he standing on the ground or flying through the sky?

In his blurring vision, the scene from that night was being replayed.

He lost his wife and child.

It had been a miserable life, converting that wretched feeling into hatred and using it as fuel for living. Every night was painful, and his self-loathing was so overwhelming that he sometimes made wrong judgments.

Even so, Elder Poff didn’t regret the choice he made that day.

On the day he received the ‘blessing’ from Leoric, he had told him:

“Brother, this is proof that we are truly one. The day your atonement ends, this ‘blessing’ will grant your wish.”

Hearing those words, Elder Poff swallowed a bitter laugh.

His wish had been so painfully obvious.

*Pak—*a blinding flash of lightning struck his mind.

By now, Elder Poff was rolling on the ground. His body, completely covered in snow, was losing heat at a rapid pace.

But it didn’t matter.

Because he finally reached it.

He could see the hideously bubbling flesh ahead.

Elder Poff crawled over and placed his hand on that flesh.

He recalled an old desire.

My wish, yes.

It is…

“I…an… Percus…..”

Muttering the still unfamiliar name, Elder Poff reached into his bosom.

Then, the dagger he always carried was caught in his hand.

Tentacles surged threateningly from the mass of flesh, as if they wanted to devour him right away.

Seeing that appearance, Elder Poff faintly smiled.

Is that the God I once served?

It was truly a pathetic faith.

And so today, atop the grave where blind faith was buried, Elder Poff resolved to plant the seeds of a new belief.

“…….I believe.”

At the same time, strength entered the arm holding the dagger and a dull pain pierced his spine.

But only for a fleeting moment.

Elder Poff felt a cool sensation fill his bones. Freed from the prison of flesh, his soul scattered into the heavens.

And now, he could see his beloved wife and children.

The bright faces he hadn’t seen since the day the village burned and Elder Poff shed tears of blood.

Ah, yes.

He desperately wished…

…to go back.

…to that day when he could see his beloved family.

The world was dyed in monochrome and time began to reverse.

With the scream of the mass of flesh that covered the ground.

The volume of the monster, which was impossible to even estimate, was rapidly decreasing.

***

“What, what is this… KYAAAAAAAK!”

Hearing Leoric’s wail, I crouched down.

The flesh that surrounded us was disappearing in an instant. The flesh elves that surrounded me were the same.

Even Leoric couldn’t resist the trend.

After wailing for a while, his body crumbled and was swept away, far off into the coniferous forest.

As if waiting for this moment, I pulled a potion from my pocket.

It was a reagent developed by Emma while I was kidnapped.

“It’s time to end this.”

Finally, the end of this accursed battle was at sight.

***

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