粉红的窗帘

"No, I said no,"

The whole room was heated by the argument between Nikol and Usha. Eva and Lydia looked troubled as they didn't know what to do. Eva was obviously on the side of Nikol but, she could easily understand where Usha is coming from considering her own background.

"Listen to me, if we stay here, we die, this wall is too weak, our defences are not omnipotent, I'm not asking you to abandon this city, I'm just asking for a temporary retreat to a safer place," Usha closed her eyes hearing Nikol's words.

At first, both Usha and Nikol calmly talked with each other about the matter of the elven kingdom but, for some reason, Usha had a short temper.

'What's happening with her?'

Nikol never thought that out of everyone, calm and cool Usha would jump on him like this. He wanted to properly discuss things and get a proper answer but Usha's temper didn't allow it as both of them started to fight verbally.

"This is the land where I was born and this is the land my mother fought to protect, I won't leave here, even if it kills me," Even Alva was surprised by her mother's behaviour.

She never expected to see this side of her which felt strange for some reason.

"Again, didn't I tell you? We are not going to abandon here, we are just moving temporarily,"

"I don't care, I'm not even taking a single step from here, do as you like,"

Their argument only got heated more and more as time went by. Others didn't know what to do, so they kept looking at them until both of them went out of breath.

"Fine, do whatever you want, " In the end, Usha had to accept defeat because most of the girls in the room supported Nikol.

Even they didn't see why they should stay in a dangerous place without leaving for a safer one.

"Nym, come here," As soon as they finished their argument, Usha shouted calling out Nym's voice.

She was hiding behind a wall but hearing Usha's voice, her legs automatically worked as she quickly walked and looked at her with a guilty look.

"You!" Usha stood up from her chair with an angry look.

"What did I say before you disrespected all our orders and broke our rules to join Nikol's group?"

Nym didn't even bother to argue as she knew, this was her fault. She had no excuse to give. Even Nikol was silent because they agreed that Nym should be punished for what she did even though she was a great help in the Elf vs Dark elf war.

"Damn it, say something, will you," Hitting the desk with her hand in anger, Usha shouted.

Nym twitched as soon as she heard the voice, but quickly she opened her mouth reflexively.

"You told me that, you will help me with the herb and I just have to give you details,"

"Then why? Why are you pissing me off then?"

"..."

Without having an answer to her question, Nym stayed silent as she didn't want to piss her off.

"I will give you a proper punishment after all this, don't think you will get away with a restriction this time," Meeting ended with her words, and everyone left the room except Nikol and Usha.

Nikol asked everyone to leave as he wanted to talk privately with Usha. He wanted to see why she was unusually angry and unreasonable.

"Usha, what happened? Why are you getting angry this easily?" Wrapping his hands around her hips, Nikol questioned as he got close to her face from behind.

Feeling the strong hands supporting her body, Usha calmed down for a minute as she started to think about her own action.

"I'm sorry Nikol, lately I don't feel good, as soon as you left I was hit with this overwhelming loneliness that I wanted to run into your arms," Nikol felt happy hearing her words.

Who won't be happy when their lover murmurs such sweet words, but this was confusing for Nikol as Usha was the last person, he expected something like this.

"Believe me, Usha, everything will be alright, you have to believe me and follow me, Ok?" Patting her head without doing anything extra, Nikol convinced her, Usha also nodded her head feeling her heart filling with satisfaction.

At this moment, she knew she was no good woman. The moment Nikol showed a little bit of affection, her whole idea of holding onto the ancestors and land turned around without even giving it second thoughts.

"Mmmh~ I believe you, I'm sorry for shouting at you,"

Both of them kept enjoying each other's embrace as Eva, Lydia, Nym, Emily and Alva peeped through the gap in the door to watch what was happening.

"Tsk~ what was this whole argument about? The moment he pats her head, she gave up her ideals and accepted the defeat," Eva said in a mocking tone.

"Well, can't blame her, that playboy really knows how to handle us,"

"Woah, it's embarrassing to see my own mother like this, I'm going back," Alva left the place with an angered face, she didn't want to see her mother's love life anymore.

***

The time went by rather quickly as all the humans and dark elves were busy preparing for their departure. It was hard for most of them like Rebecca, who developed shops in this city with their blood and tears to leave them but knowing they are going to be compensated and Nikol was going to be with them, they had no choice but to agree with this idea.

While everyone was getting ready for their long trip to the elven kingdom, Nikol looked at his pocket where Arti was resting.

"You have been awfully silent lately, what happened? Hit your head or something," He didn't enjoy her outgoing personality but still, it worried Nikol to see her like this.

It was almost like she was thinking about something rather deep. Even though she had a smile on her face most of the time, Nikol knew it was just a phoney one.

"Hehe~ did you miss my voice or something? Well, it's expected because how can you survive without listening to your mother's beautiful voice," As soon as Nikol questioned her, she answered him with the same teasing tone.

"Geh~ I should have kept my mouth shut," Regretting his decision to talk with her, Nikol looked at the crowd in front of him.

'It's almost time'

There were more than ten thousand humans and a few dark elves among this group. He had no idea how to transport this many people without making a huge scene in the forest, so they decided to dispatch them to different groups of thousands under several commanders' control.

They had to use carriages for older people and a special carriage for Nym's mother. At this point, letting someone see her face would freak them out as it had no resemblance to humans whatsoever.

With the dark lines and bloody complexion and injuries which cannot be healed, none of the elders or chiefs could afford normal people to see this as it might cause trouble for them.

"Eva, our army is ready?" Walking around the city, Nikol encountered Eva who was in charge of the army.

"They are ready, I don't think any monster or anyone would be foolish enough to attack us with this many forces except dark elves," She didn't want to imagine what would happen if they encountered dark elf forces with this many unprotected individuals in the rank, as Nym couldn't even make mana stones for half of them.

"I will personally deal with them, so if something like that happens, order everyone to fall back and switch to long-range weapons,"

Just like this after saying farewell to their old home which protected and sheltered this for many years, all the humans started to advance into the forest without breaking their groups.

"I will come back to you soon mother," Looking at the city full of memories, Usha muttered as she started to follow Nikol and others while strengthening her heart to face whatever is going to happen.

Through day and night, they kept advancing through the forest, time to time killing monsters they encountered for protection or food. It was hard for most of the girls, who are not used to spending their time in the forest but with everyone's support, most of them managed to get by without complaining.

By the end of the third day, they managed to reach the elven forest. This time they didn't need Nym's support as Nikol was more than welcome in this forest. It was a strange feeling as most of the vines and trees looked like they were blocking the road earlier, made the way for him as soon as he contacted them giving them a clear path.

"At last, we are here, without anyone suffering from our journey, we managed to reach here,"

As soon as the heavenly wall entered everyone's vision, they understood why Nikol insisted on coming here. It was a miracle. Something that shouldn't be seen by humans like them.

"This is-"

"This is the heavenly wall of the elven kingdom, which was gifted by the goddess herself to our queen,"

It was a familiar voice. Nikol and Lydia didn't even have to turn their heads to see who this voice belonged to. They already knew the owner of this voice.

"Zenda,"

"Welcome back everyone," With her sweet smile, Zenda welcomed everyone in the group, especially Nikol quickly getting close to them.