My First Errand Infinity

“We need mou milk I see.
Understood, let me go buy some”

Reia volunteered herself for the task of going to town to buy milk for the potato soup.
Somehow her confident tone made me more worried.

“Nah, don’t worry about it.
I’ll head out so please look after the house”
“No no, I cannot trouble Takumi-san with such things.
Please leave it to me.
I’ll invoke the god Idaten and return as swift as possible”1
“Just go normally!”

Yup its doomed.
If I don’t do anything my unnecessary troubles will increase.

“Wait a moment, I’ll write you a note.
2 litres of mou milk, and with the remaining money, get a cheap sword and shield”

I hand her a bag of money along with a map of the weapon and milk store.

“Leave it to me.
I’ll risk my life to complete this errand”

Yeah, I don’t think that’s necessary.
Somehow it gives me a complicated feeling, like I’m sending my child to the battlefield.

“I- I’ll leave it to you then.
I’m trusting you okay”

It was only afterwards that I would deeply regret trusting her.

How did it come to this.

Reia returned late into the night, when the surroundings were already dark.
I was just about to pick her up as it was getting late when I heard a noise outside the cave.
She’s finally returned I thought.
However the moment I walked outside I felt faint.

“I- I’m back”

Announced Reia as she avoided my gaze.
She’s definitely done something.

“We- Welcome back”

While replying so, I rub my eyes and confirm the situation before me.

Ahh, it wasn’t an illusion.
The situation was difficult to accept.

Reia should have been buying mou milk, so why is she carrying an actual mou.
The mou, which was many time larger than Reia, was yawning care-freely on her back.

Not to mention the sword and shield that was supposed to be bought with the leftover money.
There shouldn’t have been enough remaining after buying an actual mou, but in Reia’s right hand was a sword that at a glance seemed considerably expensive.
A jet black longsword.
The guard and hilt was adorned in gems and the scabbard was also engraved and decorated.
But even more concerning was the charms plastered over the sword with the words ‘forbidden’ and ‘seal’ on them.
An extremely sinister aura could be felt emanating from Reia’s right hand.
I suppressed the urge to retort that it was clearly a cursed sword.

The reason being there was something even more important to bring up.

“That isn’t a shield is it”
“Uh, uhh, no, it isn’t”

Reia continues to avoid my gaze.
Sweat trickles down her face.

The thing Reia was holding in her left hand.
Well, not a thing.

“I’m not, a shield”

It spoke.
While holding Reia’s hand, It looked at me.
It smiled at me with its eyes closed.2

Standing there was a young elf girl.

“How did it come to this”

I finally ask Reia.

“Young lady, how old are you?”
“Ummm, ummm….”

The girl was counting on her fingers.
She didn’t look older than three or four, but she was counting a lot.

“Dunno, lots”
“I see, lots huh”

Elves are a long living race who can be much older than they appear but their development during childhood is similar to humans.
Its from around 20 to 100 years that their appearance doesn’t change.
This kid is probably around three or four years old.

For now I tie the mou outside and rest the sword in the corner of the cave.
This needs to be dealt with first.

“Then can you give me your name?”
“Uhhhh, ha, ru, nu, uhhhhh, chi, haru………”
“Chiharu?”
“Yes, Chiharu!”

It seems the girls name is Chiharu.

“That’s great.
You know your name.”

I glare at Reia.

“I- I’m sorry”

According to Reia, Chiharu was left in the custody of the town, but she had lost her memory and forgotten her parents.
They were troubled as there was no elven settlement nearby when Reia walked by and Chiharu called out her name.

Thinking that Reia knew her, they forced Chiharu onto her it seems….

“You really don’t know anything about this kid?”
“Yes this should be the first time we’ve met, but somehow I feel like I’ve seen her before”

Now that she mentions it, when I look at Chiharu, I also get the feeling I’ve met her before.
However, where I would have met her I have no idea.
The elves distinctive long pointed ears, semi-long silver hair, slightly sleepy looking grey eyes, plump lips.
Her features were far greater than a humans.
In the future she would surely be a beauty.
Recently, very recently, I feel as if I’ve seen her, but I cannot tell why.

While staring, Chiharu pointed to me and yelled in a great voice.

“Takumi!”

That surprised me.
Reia had yet to call me by name since she returned.

“You know me?”
“Know, Reia and Takumi, know”

The mystery deepens.

“Ha…”

Reia seemed to have an epiphany.

“Takumi-san, could it be that this child is…..”

‘I’m glad you understand, that’s exactly right’ I prepare to respond.

“Takumi-san and my child that has come from the future”

My preparations were for nothing.
How did she arrive at that conclusion I wonder.

“W- Well if that was the case then everything would make sense.
In order to change a hopeless future, this kid has returned to the past in order to warn us.
No it would be presumptuous for someone like me to be married to Takumi-san but, maybe the reason why she looks familiar is that she looks similar to us, something like that, it’s possible that such a future exists, it would be nice if that was the case, just kidding, n- n- n- not that I was thinking about anything like that, how do I put it, uhh”

Somehow Reia was turning bright red while making some passionate speech, I couldn’t really understand so I chose to ignore it.

“Reia, are you alright?”
“I’m fine.
I just went a bit strange”

I pat Chiharu’s head.
She’s cute.
If possible I’d like to find her parents somehow.
If Nuruhachi or Chloe comes I’ll ask them to help out.
As a fellow elf maybe Nuruhachi will know something.

“Okay, for now lets get some mou milk and make potato soup”

Lets leave the troublesome things for later.
I’m hungry, and things won’t be solved immediately anyway.

“Oh yeah, why did you bring back a whole mou rather than just the milk”
“Eh, ah, yes.
When I went to buy the milk, the farm was under attack by goblins, so I hunted them down and was given the mou as thanks”

So something like that had happened.
Well Reia is strong so mere goblins wouldn’t be a big deal.

“I see, good job”
“Th- Thanks”

At that time, I thought that Reia had defeated two or three goblins at most.
I’d never have expected that Reia had subjugated hundreds of goblins, enough to threaten a country.

Or that the deed would be attributed to me.

A fierce battle against the goblin king that threatened to swallow the world was, without my knowledge, beginning.

Translators Notes:
1: Skanda, called Idaten in Japanese, is a Buddhist deity known for his great speed.
2: The description used here is nipaa which is a smile like this.
Originating from a character in Higurashi who would say that when making this face.

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