The Agony of Time

Time had passed too quickly; Damian hadn't noticed and could confess that he cared little now that it seemed he had lost everything.

Everything happened so fast that he couldn't understand it.

Damian was about to say something when Frieren, beside him, in her flat tone said, "If you're going to feel bad about this, just think that it doesn't make sense. We can't change the past, so we should only work on the good things learned for the future. I suppose she was a pleasant friend, and as your friend, I wouldn't have wanted to see you in this state of lament."

"Honestly, you're right." Damian extended a hand to control the puppet he had given Adda once for her birthday.

Frieren leaned in to see the puppet and asked, "What's that?"

"Hmm, I'd call it a talking cat that likes to plant strange seeds in its giant tower. That story, I can say, I made up a long time ago. I made this puppet during my practice," Damian said, recalling some things from the past.

At that moment, there was nothing else he could entertain himself with other than wasting time creating ideas for future projects. As a newcomer from a modern world, not being in contact with the technology he was practically addicted to made the days certainly boring.

"I'm different from you in many ways; I'm human and feel things very differently since I haven't lived long," Damian wanted Frieren to understand.

The harmony that the elves practiced in this world was simply to adapt infinitely to others, never taking the initiative to find common ground or something that could harmonize with both parties.

True harmony involves a reciprocal act in which both parties adapt to each other, but elvish harmony is perpetually one-sided.

If the other party was friendly, they were too. If the other party was hostile, they were too.

Because of this, the current elves had distanced themselves from all other races, resulting in the stagnant "harmony" of the present.

Frieren didn't feel the need to be like others since she seemed to appreciate going at her own pace without considering others.

"I'd never thought about it that way." Frieren was impressed by how Damian described her race, which meant there were many more elves in this world than she thought there were.

Because of this mentality, the elves had disappeared from the world and now lived apart from everyone in some secret place on this continent.

"I only have your friendship now, Frieren. I have nothing closer than that... I would have gone crazy if we hadn't been together all these years. That is the true feeling that humans and elves can share."

"I wouldn't go crazy being alone; I think I might even enjoy solitude."

Damian looked at Frieren and said, "Well, if that happens, you will forget your motivations, give your life to leisure, and never have had all those adventures."

This was the feeling Damian had been harboring in his heart.

While watching the war and living a longer life than he initially dreamed of, he contemplated the elves and felt closer to them, given their long lives.

Is it really right to live so many years?

At times, he felt that all his purposes were simply to keep going; he knew that if he left all that, he would have a life similar to what Frieren intended to have when her master died.

"Aren't you tired of my presence?"

Frieren sat next to Damian and, looking at Adda's grave, said, "We don't spend exactly all the time together. I've never felt that you're a nuisance."

"At what age do elves get married?"

"I don't know, but I've never thought about getting married."

Damian instinctively smiled and said, "The dreams I had as a child were to have many children, get married, and live on a farm."

"Do you still think about that?" Frieren didn't understand the hints.

"Maybe I wouldn't mind doing it, but I would only have the condition that that person lives a long time. I'm sure that would give more meaning to my life." Damian said, standing up and deciding to leave all his frustrations for later.

"Now that you mention it, I've never imagined myself as a mom. What would it feel like?"

"Something nice, but I'm sure you're not ready."

Frieren looked at Damian's back and thought he was right; she barely took care of herself, so having children wasn't something that particularly excited her.