Elias Ashcroft died a man who built machines that changed the world—and understood nothing about the people he built them for. Reborn in a rural village with his memories and genius intact, he has one goal and one alone: this time, he'll use his gifts to make his family's life easier. Bamboo water pipes. A heated bathhouse. A purification-stone toilet. For his tired mother, his aching father, his adoring little siblings, these small miracles are enough.
But small miracles don't stay small. The
An Old Soul's New Heart - Between Secrets and Trust
The day Elias Ashcroft found the burned ruins, he'd murmured "I'll come back tomorrow" before returning to the village. But in truth, he never needed to keep that promise.
The next morning, the moment he stepped into the forest, he found her — a girl with green hair, collapsed at the base of a tree just beyond the ruins. She was breathing. But her body was covered in wounds, and she was unconscious. Pointed ears. A face too beautiful to be human. Without hesitation, Elias Ashcroft hoisted her onto his back and carried her home.
His mother Fiona tended to her wounds with the skill of a healer, while his father Toma watched in silence. Lily Ashcroft had tried to touch the girl's ears and been sternly told not to. Three days had passed since then.
Morning light streamed through the kitchen window. Water flowed from the bamboo pipe as it always did.
Elias Ashcroft looked at Seraphina, sitting in the corner of the living room. Her complexion had improved considerably since that first day. Yet her eyes still held that distant gaze, as if looking at something far away.
(Today, maybe I can finally get her to talk.)
He approached with that thought in mind.
"Why don't we go outside today? Being cooped up in the house all the time will wear on you,"
Seraphina looked up, startled. Her jade-green eyes fixed on him.
"……Is that okay? Won't it be a problem if someone sees me?"
"Just wear a hood. Besides, it's troublesome, but unavoidable. We can't keep hiding you forever."
He answered curtly, and Seraphina gave a small nod.
Fiona appeared from the kitchen.
"Be careful, you two."
Her voice carried both worry and a hint of trust. For three days, the family had sheltered this girl. It was dangerous, perhaps. But they couldn't have left her alone. Elias Ashcroft felt the same way.
The two of them walked side by side down the village path. Seraphina wore an old cloth hood pulled deep over her head, hiding both her hair and ears. Yet there was something light, almost buoyant, in her footsteps.
By the well, the village women stood in a line. They carried buckets and waited their turn. Children helped draw water, staggering under the weight.
Seraphina watched the scene intently.
"……Do you do that every day?"
"Yeah. There are only three wells in the village. Morning and evening, there's always a line."
Crude wooden houses lined both sides of the road. Roofs of thatch, walls full of gaps. Come winter, the drafts would be terrible.
Seraphina's expression gradually clouded over.
(So this is how humans live. Nothing like the elven way.)
Elias Ashcroft watched her profile as he thought this. On her refined features, something like pain was becoming visible — pain she couldn't quite hide.
As they approached the house, the water pipe in the back garden came into view. Bamboo tubing snaked across the ground, clear water flowing from the faucet. Seraphina stopped for the first time.
"This……is that an application of Zeele mechanics? A human child creating something like this?"
Zeele mechanics. An ancient technological system lost some twelve hundred years ago. Elias Ashcroft felt his heart pulse strongly, just for an instant, deep in his chest.
(Again, that.)
She'd been surprised by the water pipe the day they first met too. He'd tried to brush it off as just an invention, but this girl saw through to the essence of things.
Seraphina stared at the faucet, then asked quietly.
"What are you trying to achieve with this technology?"
There was no playfulness in her voice. She was asking seriously, her eyes seeking a real answer.
Elias Ashcroft hesitated for just a moment.
(I can't possibly tell her the truth.)
The memories from his past life. Aleria, who dwelt in his mind. The fact that he could wield all six attributes. None of it was something he could share with anyone.
"It's nothing special. As long as my family can live comfortably, that's enough."
He answered flatly, in his usual ironic tone. Or so he thought. But Seraphina kept her gaze fixed on him and slowly shook her head.
"You're lying."
Just one sentence. Yet his chest shrank as if cold water had been poured over it.
"Your eyes are looking much further than that. To places no one else knows."
Elias Ashcroft couldn't say anything.
(I've been seen through.)
In his previous life, no one had ever truly understood him. Not his research colleagues, not his wife, not his children. They all saw only the surface, offering praise or exasperation in equal measure.
Yet this girl, after just days of knowing him, had already grasped it.
His heart stirred with something strange. Not anger. Not fear. A sensation without a name.
"……You're giving me too much credit."
It was all he could manage. Seraphina didn't press further, just smiled faintly. That smile was strangely gentle, and it only made Elias Ashcroft more unsettled.
That evening, as he was splitting firewood in the back garden, a flat voice echoed in his mind.
'Warning. A pack of Marna beasts approaching from Grünhorn Forest. Count: twelve. Individual danger level: B-class equivalent. Estimated arrival time: two hours.'
Elias Ashcroft's hands stopped.
(Twelve, and B-class at that……)
Usually, only one or two deer-type Marna beasts appeared near the village. But twelve of them, and a high-danger pack at that — this was different.
'Beast species: Fang Wolf — a wolf-type Marna beast inhabiting the mid-levels of Grünhorn Forest. Normally solitary, but group behavior has been confirmed this time. Anomalous.'
(Abnormal activation. Something's agitating the beasts.)
He didn't know why. But there was no time to think leisurely. The village livestock would be targeted. If things went badly, people too.
Elias Ashcroft stopped splitting wood and headed for the shed in the back garden. Scraps of lumber his father Toma had left behind, a broken pot, and several Marna cores he kept in his waist pouch.
(I've done this before in my past life. A device to drive beasts away with sound……)
Sound at specific frequencies caused intense discomfort in animal ears. The principle was the same as the pest-control device he'd made in his previous life. If he used Marna cores as a vibration source, he could produce sound without electricity.
His hands moved of their own accord. He carved the wood, assembled the resonance chamber. He sandwiched a Marna core between metal pieces, channeled wind-Marna through it to create vibration. Fine adjustments relied on instinct and experience.
Before he knew it, Seraphina was standing behind him, watching.
"……You can make tools in such a short time?"
Surprise colored her voice.
"Your hands move like a master craftsman. I've never seen anyone concentrate so intensely."
Elias Ashcroft answered without stopping his work.
"If you have time to compliment me, help instead. You're good with wind-Marna, right?"
"……Yes, leave it to me."
It was a brief exchange. But something new had entered Seraphina's voice. Trust, perhaps, was what you'd call it.
Night fell.
By the time he'd finished positioning three devices around the livestock pen, a low growl echoed from deep in the forest. Tree shadows swayed. Under the moonlight, beasts with gray fur appeared one after another. Their eyes glowed pale purple.
(They're here.)
Elias Ashcroft pulled the lever that served as the device's switch.
A high-pitched *Kiiiiin* sound pierced the night air. Humans could barely hear it, but the beasts were different. Several of them flattened their ears and backed away.
But the largest individual, apparently the pack leader, didn't flinch. It charged forward.
"I'm leaving that one to you!"
As he shouted, Seraphina raised both hands. Wind spiraled, taking the shape of thin blades.
"——Scatter."
The wind blade she released slashed across the leader's flank. The beast cried out and staggered. In that moment, Elias Ashcroft activated the remaining devices, using walls of sound to divide the pack.
Their movements fit together as if they'd rehearsed it. Elias Ashcroft would stop them in their tracks, and Seraphina would strike. Or Seraphina would pin one down, and Elias Ashcroft would finish it.
The last beast collapsed to the ground.
In the quiet night, only their ragged breathing remained.
Seraphina slowly turned to face him. Her hood had fallen away, and moonlight illuminated her green hair. Between the strands clinging to her forehead with sweat, her jade eyes looked straight at him.
"……Thank you."
Her voice was small. Elias Ashcroft didn't know how to respond, so he simply nodded.
Then — Seraphina's outstretched hand and Elias Ashcroft's lowering hand touched by accident.
Neither pulled away.
Fingers naturally intertwined. Under the moonlight, the two of them remained still for a long moment.
(What is this?)
Something pulsed violently in his chest. In his previous life, he'd never known such a sensation. It didn't fit into data or theory.
'——Heart rate: abnormal elevation confirmed.'
The usual flat voice echoed in his mind.
'Cause unknown. Shall I conduct a detailed diagnosis?'
(No. Don't bother.)
Elias Ashcroft hastily refused in his thoughts. Right now, having this situation analyzed mechanically was unbearable.
Seraphina's cheeks had flushed slightly — visible even in the moonlight. Without a word, they both gently released each other's hands.
"……Let's go back. It's cold at night."
"……Yes."
They exchanged brief words and headed home. No one said anything, but the silence between them was far softer than when they'd left.
The next morning, breakfast was laid out on the table as usual. Bread and soup made from medicinal herbs. Fiona hummed as she drew water from the bamboo pipe.
Lily Ashcroft sat at the table with her chin in her hand, grinning mischievously.
"Hey, hey, big brother. I saw you from the window last night."
Elias Ashcroft's hand froze, still holding his bread.
"……Saw what?"
"You were holding hands! Under the moonlight, for like, forever!"
Seraphina's face turned bright red. Elias Ashcroft felt heat rising to his ears.
"That was……after the battle, it just happened to——"
"You just happened to hold hands that long?"
Lily Ashcroft's teasing wouldn't stop. Fiona covered her mouth with her hand, smiling gently. Toma said nothing, just sipped his tea. But there was a faint smile on his lips.
"……That's enough about that."
When Elias Ashcroft turned his face away, Seraphina also looked down, speaking in a small voice.
"……I was just thanking you."
"That's a pretty long thank you~"
The table was filled with laughter for a while. Elias Ashcroft felt uncomfortable, yet he also thought this atmosphere wasn't so bad.
But that afternoon, in front of the general store, Martha from the neighboring house was raising her voice to the villagers.
"They're hiding an elf in that house, you know."
The villagers who passed by stopped in their tracks.
"Ever since that elf came, the beasts have been acting strange. She's bringing disaster."
Her voice carried undisguised thorns. Several people nodded, exchanging glances.
Elias Ashcroft watched from a distance, and something cold spread through his chest.
(This is troublesome.)
The village he'd protected last night was now threatening Seraphina in a different way. Elias Ashcroft clenched his fists, unable to move from that spot for a long time.
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