Chapter 2: Together for Life (Just Killing Time)

"Even if you say it's been 400 years, Miki—no, I mean Claire—I’m just as shocked, you know? I never imagined my best friend I was searching for would turn out to be a female elf."

"Miki is fine. You're my best friend, so you get special privileges. Besides, I’ll keep calling you Kazuya too."

"Huh? Well, I guess that's okay... Still, I mean, I invited an elf out for a drink, and she actually said yes. Who would've thought?"

"What, did you think you had a chance? Tough luck, Kazuya. You really think an elf is that easy to pick up? And alcohol doesn’t affect me, so I don’t even get drunk."

"Hey, that’s not fair. And why’d you come out drinking with me if you had no intention in the first place? You got my hopes up for nothing."

"Hmm? Simple. I was bored. Just wanted to hear some interesting stories from an adventurer, that’s all. And hey, it worked out—thanks to that, I finally ran into the best friend I’d been looking for."

"Well... yeah, I guess that’s true."

"What, is there something else bothering you?"

"Nah, forget it. Thinking of you as Miki kinda kills the mood. Such a shame, considering you’re a gorgeous elf and all."

Kazuya looked at my face and let out a sigh. How rude.

But that’s for the best. Honestly, even with a close friend, I couldn’t stand being around someone who's all hormones and no control.

"Come on now, don’t look so down. I’m your best friend, remember? I’ll be sticking with you from now on, so relax. I searched for you for about 50 years myself, you know—granted, that was around 350 years ago."

"Fifty years... That’s incredible. I see... fifty years, huh... Thanks, Miki."

Kazuya smiled back at me with that same warm, friendly grin from our past life. It really brought back memories.

That smile is a powerful weapon. Makes it hard to say no when he asks for something.

"By the way, are you sure about this—us being together? I mean, I was looking for you too, hoping we could travel together, but didn’t you have some kind of goal when you left the village?"

"It’s fine. I was looking for you because I wanted to be close again, like before. And from an elf’s perspective, even if we stay together until you die, it’s not even a hundred years, right? I’ll stick with you for your whole life, at least."

"My whole life, huh... Yeah. Alright then. I’ll take you up on that. It’d be a huge help. I’m counting on you, bestie."

After lowering his gaze for a moment, Kazuya looked up again, his usual grin on his face, like a weight had been lifted.

From my perspective as an elf, a human lifetime is but a fleeting moment. It’s not something Kazuya needs to feel bad about. I have all the time in the world.

Besides, with Kazuya around, things are bound to stay interesting. Looks like I can put off going back to the village for a while longer.

"Yeah, same here. Looking forward to it. By the way, what now? You can still try picking up other girls if you want. I won’t get in your way."

I said I’d stay with him, but I’ve got no intention of getting in the way of his fun. If he wants to have a good time at night, I’ll just pretend not to notice.

But Kazuya didn’t even hesitate before answering.

"Nah, I’m good for today. More importantly, we finally reunited after seventeen years. Let’s drink. Wait—you can’t taste alcohol, right?"

"No, I just don’t get drunk. I can taste it just fine, so don’t worry. And it’s been 417 years, not 17."

In this world, people are considered adults at 15 and can drink from that age. So even though Kazuya wouldn’t have been of legal age in his past life, he can drink just fine here.

We both raised our cups, filled with alcohol.

"Kept you waiting long enough... Alright then, to our reunion—cheers!"

"Cheers!"

And so, the two of us stayed up late into the night, lost in nostalgic stories, laughing and reminiscing to our hearts' content.

The next morning, I woke up to an annoying racket.

Opening my eyes, I saw Kazuya next to me, freaking out about something.

"Miki! Why the hell are you naked?! Don’t tell me we—"

"Calm down, Kazuya. Nothing happened. You got completely wasted last night, so I carried you back to your inn and just slept next to you. That’s it."

Right—last night, Kazuya passed out from drinking. I asked around for his inn, brought him here, and just ended up sleeping beside him.

"Wait, wait—okay, even if I passed out, why are you in bed next to me and naked?"

"Because, one, I just got to this town and don’t have a room of my own yet. And two, I always sleep naked. What other reason would there be?"

Back in the village, the environment is kept at the perfect temperature through magic, and since elves rarely feel lust, most of us sleep naked. I’d gotten completely used to it.

Of course, no one walks around naked or anything like that.

"Miki, seriously... Even so, isn’t that dangerous? Don’t tell me you sleep naked when you’re alone too?"

"I already answered that. Of course I do. But I always put up a barrier before bed so no one can get in—so it’s perfectly safe. Come to think of it, there was one time I woke up while camping to find myself surrounded by bandits. Just remembering the way their eyes were gleaming still gives me the creeps. Ugh, disgusting."

Kazuya looked at me with a mix of disbelief and exasperation.

"Then maybe don’t sleep naked outside in the first place. Were you okay?"

"Yeah, I wiped them all out with magic. Still, I guess they got to see something nice before they died, so maybe they died happy."

"Huh... Well, I’ll admit you’ve got a great body. Are all elves built like that?"

Kazuya looked me up and down, his gaze unabashed.

Even so, I didn’t bother to cover myself. I was confident in my body, and to be honest, I didn’t find it all that embarrassing.

There were two reasons for that: one, Kazuya wasn’t just some stranger—he was my best friend and he knew I used to be a guy. And two, being an elf, I’d spent so long in a culture with low sex drive that being seen or seeing someone naked didn’t really feel like a big deal anymore.

Of course, I wouldn’t just go flashing strangers for no reason. No point in arousing unnecessary desires.

"Nah, having a chest this big is pretty rare. Smaller ones are more typical, actually."

I lifted my breasts from underneath with both hands.

Even after 400 years, they still hadn’t sagged one bit—still youthful, firm, and soft. I was proud of them.

"Man... You really are Miki, huh..."

Kazuya muttered with a sigh. What a rude guy.

"Don’t sigh so dramatically. I’m a naked elf girl right in front of you—doesn’t happen every day. Especially to someone who never got anywhere with girls in our last life."

If I remembered correctly, Kazuya never dated anyone before. Neither did I, for that matter.

But Kazuya just snorted through his nose and crossed his arms with a smug look.

"Sure, in our last life I probably would’ve looked away in embarrassment. But this life’s different. I’ve got a good-looking face, I’ve been hitting on girls nonstop, and yeah—I’m pretty popular now. I’ve even got some real experience under my belt."

I was genuinely impressed. He did have a well-formed face, and it looked like he’d made something of himself.

"Wow, so you must be used to seeing naked women by now, huh?"

Kazuya scratched his head at that.

"Yeah, I should be... but even I gotta admit—your body, no, Miki’s body, is beautiful. Not even close to what human girls can compare to."

"Hey now, are you trying to flirt with me? Don’t bother—it’s not gonna work."

"What? No, I didn’t mean it like that! I’m just saying—it’s really on a whole different level!"

He let out a deep sigh as he said it.

"Well... yeah. I already knew that."

Compared to humans, elves are different not just in lifespan, but in appearance too.

Long, pointed ears. Thick, long lashes. Lustrous golden or silver hair that sparkled like starlight. Translucently fair skin, soft and flawless. Without doing anything at all, we looked better than human women who spent their lives on skincare.

Elves are also generally tall and slim. Though in my case, my chest was especially large, even by elven standards.

Long, beautiful golden hair, flawless pale skin, a full chest, and light, somewhat revealing clothing—it’s no wonder I caught the attention of men everywhere I went.

I sat up and pulled clothes from my magic pouch and began getting dressed.

Kazuya also put his clothes on, and the two of us headed off together to the Adventurers’ Guild.