Celine glanced in the direction where the children had disappeared, then at the red-haired elf’s now-deflated coin pouch, feeling that something was not quite right.
Giving away all her money only to turn around and ask a stranger to treat her to a meal—this elf was a bit too bizarre.
However, Celine happened to want some information about this place, so she could use this opportunity to sound out the bard.
“No luxurious lunch,” Celine said. “A normal lunch is fine, though.”
The red-haired elf’s eyes lit up. “In the eyes of a starving poet, any lunch that fills the stomach is luxurious enough.”
She popped her soft hat back onto her head and walked lightly to Celine's side. Her gaze lingered on Moon as she let out an exclamation of admiration.
“What a beautiful black horse.”
Moon chewed its sweet fruit expressionlessly. The red-haired elf experimentally reached out a hand, wanting to stroke its braided mane.
Moon looked up at her, its eyes flashing with a silent warning.
The red-haired elf’s hand froze in midair. She naturally pivoted her wrist and adjusted the brim of her hat instead.
“And a very principled black horse at that.”
Celine didn't miss the fleeting look of surprise that had crossed the elf's eyes when she looked at Moon just now.
As an elf, she should be able to sense that Moon was out of the ordinary, but with Celine's passive skills active, the elf wouldn't be able to confirm its true identity or race.
Celine suddenly asked, “What is your name?”
“Excellent question!”
Upon hearing this, the red-haired elf looked as though she had finally stepped onto her perfect stage. She immediately stood up straight, pressed a hand to her chest, and cleared her throat.
Even her red hair, which had been hanging casually at her sides, swayed gently as she tilted her chin upward.
“My name is—”
She dragged out her voice on purpose, her fingers sweeping across the strings of her lyre at the same time.
A clear, resonant chord rang out, providing an overly grand opening for her self-introduction.
“Nolani Mowindori, Daughter of the Forest, Star of a Thousand Blossoms, Companion of the South Wind, the Blessed One Favored by Fate yet Ever Unfortunate!”
As the final note faded, Nolani kept her hand raised, maintaining her slightly exaggerated pose as she waited for Celine's reaction.
Celine and Moon merely stared at her in silence, neither human nor horse showing the slightest ripple of emotion.
In the quiet air, only the rustling of awkward, falling leaves broke the silence.
After a moment, Celine asked hesitantly, “Your... name is what, again?”
“...”
The smile on Nolani's face froze for a fraction of a second. She slowly lowered her hand, and the aura of someone expecting thunderous applause instantly dissolved.
“Nolani,” she said, quickening her pace. With a slightly helpless smile, she pulled her soft hat back over her head. “Just call me Nolani.”
Celine suspected that out of the incredibly long string of names she had just heard, only those three syllables were her actual name. She asked, “And the rest?”
“Of course they are part of my name!” Nolani perked up again, raising a finger to explain patiently. “Mowindori is my family name. 'Daughter of the Forest' is an honorific bestowed upon me by the clan elders when I first used my lyre music to revive a withered patch of flowers.”
At this, she tilted her chin up slightly, her green eyes shining with unabashed pride.
“As for 'Star of a Thousand Blossoms,' it is to commemorate all the flowers I have saved during my travels.”
“And 'Companion of the South Wind' represents my free, unrestrained soul that is forever chasing the next journey.”
While the first few titles were long, they at least seemed to fit elven customs.
The truly bizarre part was the final phrase. Celine strongly suspected she had made it up herself.
“What about 'the Blessed One Favored by Fate yet Ever Unfortunate'?”
The pride on Nolani's face faded slightly. She looked up at the sky, her expression suddenly turning solemn, as if recalling a particularly turbulent past.
“That is a long story.”
“Make it short.”
“Simply put, fate truly does favor me.”
Nolani's solemnity lasted for less than two seconds before her tone became cheerful again.
“I always manage to encounter strokes of luck that others can only dream of. For instance, finding a coin pouch stuffed with gold on the road, winning the grand prize at a casino with a single copper coin, or, when starving, happening upon a generous lady willing to buy me lunch.”
At the end, she glanced at Celine and sighed. “But the catch is, a pouch full of gold coins usually belongs to the most dangerous person around. The grand prize at a casino sometimes turns out to be a fake.”
“And as for the generous lady willing to treat me to lunch—she usually brings along a heap of trouble far more expensive than any meal.”
Celine narrowed her eyes. “Are you talking about me?”
“I am merely praising the exquisite hand of fate in orchestrating our meeting.” Nolani spread her hands, completely shameless. “In short, whenever good fortune lands on my head, trouble is usually already lurking right beside it. It might be a little late, but it never misses its cue.”
“But you don't seem to hate it?”
Nolani plucked a string, letting the crisp note drift on the wind.
“Though unwrapping a surprise sometimes turns into a shock in the end, isn't a life where you never know what the next moment will bring quite interesting?”
Celine couldn't help but admire her optimism. If it were her, knowing that good luck always came with a curse of misfortune, she would probably spend her life wallowing in gloom.
Celine said, “You elves seem to love making your names incredibly long.”
Nolani shrugged. “Well, you know, just like our lifespans.”
“Every time we experience something to be proud of, we want to tuck it into our names. Some add their homeland, some add their achievements, and some even throw in their favorite trees and wines.”
“We wish we could cram the forests, rivers, moonlight, and everything in the world into our names.”
Celine said, “So your current name only holds... these things?”
“Because I'm still young,” Nolani replied quickly. “In another two hundred years, when I introduce myself, I might need to find a chair and sit down to tell it slowly.”
Celine couldn't tell for a moment whether she was seriously explaining elven culture or just talking nonsense.
Judging by how this elf had demanded a luxurious lunch from a stranger the moment they met, it was probably a bit of both.
Nolani seemed to have finally finished introducing her name and turned her gaze back to Celine.
“After speaking for so long, I still don't know your name.” Nolani extended her hand toward her with a smile. “Your turn, generous lady from afar.”
Celine looked down at the flower Nolani was offering, but she didn't reach for it.
“Celine.”
“Celine...”
Nolani repeated the name, dragging out the last syllable slightly, as if tasting it on her tongue.
Celine watched her expression closely, worried that this elf had noticed something.
A second later, Nolani seemed to accept the name and beamed once more.
“It seems we understand each other perfectly now. Well then, Miss Celine, let us go.”
“Go where?”
“To save a poet who is about to starve to death, of course.”
“You still had the strength to hop down from that low wall just now.”
“That was the final afterglow of my life.”
Rate on N.U.
