Chapter 117: Kindness That Carries Over A Thousand Years

Right now, Lulu was overflowing with joy—so much that she could hardly contain it.

Her dream, the one she had carried in her heart for years, had finally come true.

All around her, the chickens she had raised, loved, and cried over were floating in the air like a flock of goofy, round birds fulfilling their destiny.

Her dream, and theirs, had been achieved.

But then it hit her.

None of this would have happened by itself.

Someone had made this possible, someone who had gone out of his way, thought of her feelings, and worked hard to bring this miracle to life.

Her gaze instantly turned toward Luca.

And witthout a second thought, she ran.

“Lulu, wait—” Luca said, startled as he turned to see her sprinting straight toward him. “Wait, hold on—”

Before he could finish, she launched herself into him, nearly knocking him over, and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

“Thank you, Luca!” She cried, pressing her face into his chest. “Thank you so much!”

He blinked, caught off guard, and then smiled softly as her words continued to pour out like a waterfall.

“I-I thought you were joking!” She said between sniffles, her voice trembling with emotion. “I thought you were just trying to cheer me up. But you actually…you actually made it happen! You made my dream come true!”

She looked up at him, her eyes wide and glistening, her lips curling into the most heartfelt smile.

“Thank you, Luca! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Luca chuckled lightly, resting one hand on her head.

“You’re welcome, Chicken Queen.” He teased gently.

But before he could say more, Lulu tightened her hug, still trembling with excitement.

“No, seriously! How did you do it?!”

She asked eagerly, looking up with awe.

“You actually made chickens fly! That’s incredible!”

Then, puffing up her chest, she added proudly,

“You know, I actually thought I might have the potential to be a Hero. I mean, I’m powerful, you know! I can lift boulders, bend trees, I even once scared a snake away just by yelling at it!”

“But even I couldn’t make chickens fly! How did you do it, Luca?! Tell me!”

She looked at him with sparkling eyes, still clutching his shirt tightly.

At that point, Luna approached, equally fascinated.

“That’s what I want to know too.” She said curiously, pointing at the sky. “It’s obvious those chickens can’t fly naturally. Those round things tied to them must be what’s keeping them up.”

“But what are those? And how can something so small carry an entire chicken?”

“And wait…if those things can lift a chicken…” She said slowly, looking at Luca. “..then what if I hold on to one too? Would that make me float in the sky too?”

That immediately made Lulu gasp.

“Wait, really?! I can fly too?! Tell me that’s true, Luca! Tell me I can fly too!”

She said, shaking his sleeve eagerly, her face glowing like a child who had just found candy.

“Yes! Please tell us!” Luna nodded quickly beside her.

But Luca could only sigh with a small smile.

“Sorry to disappoint you both.” He said, scratching the back of his head. “But those balloons won’t work on you two.”

“What?!” They shouted in perfect unison.

“They can lift chickens.” Luca explained. “But you two are a little…well, heavier so I don’t think it’s possible.”

Instantly, both sisters froze—and then glared at him in shock.

“Excuse me?! Heavier?! Did you just say heavier?!”

Lulu let go of him immediately, puffing her cheeks in outrage.

“Are you seriously calling a lady heavy right now, Luca?!”

“I—wait, that’s not what I meant—” Luca began.

Luna turned bright red and quickly waved her hands.

“I-I’m not heavy!” She protested, flustered. “I’m actually quite light! In fact, I’m lighter than Lulu!”

“What did you just say?!” Lulu snapped, glaring at her sister. “You think you’re lighter than me?! That’s a bold claim, Luna!”

“It’s true!” Luna said, pouting. Then she held out her hands to Luca. “Here! Pick me up and see for yourself!”

Luca froze. “Uh…what?”

“You heard me!” Luna said confidently. “Go ahead, lift me! I’ll prove I’m not heavy!”

“Then you better lift me afterward too!” Lulu crossed her arms. “You’ll see who’s really heavier!”

By now, the surrounding elves were barely holding in their laughter.

“Ladies, ladies.” Luca interjected quickly, holding up his hands. “I didn’t mean it like that! You’re both not heavy, okay? You’re both perfectly fine.”

“But what I meant is that compared to chickens, you’re not light enough and there isn’t enough helium in those ballons to carry your weight.”

Hearing this made both of them stop.

“Balloons? He-li-um?” Luna repeated, tilting her head curiously. “Are those the things making them float?”

“Yep.” Luca said with a smile. “The colourful things you see up there are actually the balloons that are actually holding the gas called Helium.”

“It’s lighter than the air around us, so when it’s sealed inside those balloons, it makes them float upward. We use it in many ways—sometimes for science, sometimes just for fun.”

“Fun?!” Lulu’s eyes sparkled again. “You mean we can play with it too?!”

“Sure.” He said, pulling two small balloons from his pocket and handing them to the sisters. “Go on, try it yourselves.”

Lulu and Luna eagerly took one each.

“So we just…blow into it?” Lulu asked.

“Yep. Just find the hole and blow air into it until it gets big.”

“Got it!” Lulu said, puffing her cheeks as she blew hard and to her surprise, the balloon started to expand.

“Look, look, Luna! It’s getting bigger!”

Luna smiled, blowing into hers too. “Whoa…it’s actually becoming bigger!”

“This is amazing!” Lulu cheered, holding her balloon proudly. “Now, let’s see it fly!”

Before Luca could stop her, she let go.

FweeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEE—!

The balloon zipped around in wild circles, screeching like a banshee before deflating completely and flopping pitifully onto the ground.

Everyone snickered at the horrible fail.

“Wh-What?!” Lulu’s face fell. “Why did it do that?! Why didn’t it fly straight?!” She asked pitifully.

“You dummy.” Luna sighed, shaking her head. “You were supposed to tie the end first! Otherwise, the air just escapes.”

“Oh!” Lulu said, realization dawning. “So that’s why!”

She blew up another one, this time carefully tying the end into a knot.

“There! Done!” She said proudly, holding it up. “Now it’s going to fly!”

She tossed it up eagerly—

And it floated for barely half a second before falling back down with a sad little bounce.

Luna froze, not expecting it to go down like that while Lulu cried out.

“What?! Why didn’t it fly?! I tied it properly! I did it right this time!”

Luca chuckled softly, crossing his arms.

“That’s because the air you’re blowing inside isn’t special, Lulu. It’s just the regular air that’s already all around us—the same air you breathe.”

“Helium, on the other hand, is a purified form of air or rather, a specific component of the atmosphere that’s been separated and refined. That’s what you actually need to make a balloon float.”

“Ohhh…” Luna’s eyes widened in realization. “So that’s what you meant earlier!”

“I thought maybe the balloon itself somehow changed the air inside into that…helium stuff. But now it makes sense. It’s a different part of the air entirely.”

Then her brows furrowed with curiosity.

“Wait, but how do you even get it? Where does it come from? Do you just…split open the air or something?”

Lulu joined in, her eyes big and eager.

“Yeah! How do you filter the air like that? Do you squeeze it really hard or something?”

“Not quite.” Luca shook his head. “There are a lot of industrial processes that go into it, complicated stuff that needs machines. It can even be found underground, in certain caves or gas pockets.”

He paused, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“But luckily for you two, you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Huh?” The twins said together.

Luca grinned and gestured toward the side of the clearing.

“Because I brought a few tanks of helium with me.”

When they turned, they nearly gasped.

Behind the henhouse were dozens of metal canisters, lined up neatly—around fifty of them.

Each had a long nozzle and a colorful sticker that said “Helium – Handle with Care.”

“There are so many!” Luna said in awe.

“Yep.” Luca said proudly, patting one of the tanks. “About fifty of them. Each one filled with pure helium.”

“Now watch carefully—I’ll show you how it works.”

He picked up a balloon and held it in one hand, then grabbed one of the tank’s nozzles and carefully inserted it into the balloon’s mouth.

“You just press this lever gently.” He explained, pushing down.

A soft hiss filled the air as the balloon began to expand rapidly.

“And that’s it.” Luca said while tying the balloon. “Once it’s filled, tie the end—like this—and…”

He let it go, and the balloon rose gracefully, floating higher and higher into the sky.

Lulu and Luna’s mouths fell open.

“It’s…flying.” Luna whispered.

“It’s actually flying!” Lulu squealed. “And you didn’t even blow into it! The gas itself did it!”

“Exactly.” Luca nodded, pleased that they seems so enthusiastic about learning. “And I will say that normal helium helium itself can lift a chicken as long multiple ballons are added to it.”

“But the helium over here though, is a little special—kind of a supercharged version, so they can lift something heavier with one balloon. Like your feathered friends.”

“Supercharged helium?” Lulu repeated, amazed. “That sounds so cool! Can I try? Can I try next?”

Luca chuckled. “Of course. Go ahead, Chicken Queen.”

Lulu eagerly stepped forward, grabbing one of the colorful balloons while Luna held it steady.

“Okay, so I just put this thing in here?” She asked, fumbling with the nozzle.

“Yeah.” Luca said, leaning down to guide her hands. “Right there. Press that button.”

“Okay…here goes!”

The moment she pressed the nozzle, the balloon began to swell up fast.

“Oh my gods, it’s filling up! It’s filling up!” She shouted excitedly. “Look at it, Luna! It’s actually working!”

“Don’t fill it too much!” Luca quickly warned. “It’ll burst if you overdo it.”

“Ah—right!”

Lulu quickly released the button, her face flushed with excitement. She tied the end tightly, then turned to Luna, her eyes gleaming.

“Here! Take it! Let’s let it go together!”

Luna smiled and took the balloon carefully.

“Ready?”

“Ready!”

“Three…two…one!”

They both let go.

The balloon shot upward into the sky, soaring higher and higher until it became a tiny colorful speck among the clouds.

“It’s going!” Lulu cried joyfully, jumping up and down. “It’s going, it’s actually going!”

Luna smiled softly, shading her eyes with her hand.

“It’s beautiful…Do you think it’ll keep going? Maybe all the way to the heavens?”

Luca chuckled at her innocence.

“Sadly, no. It’ll go pretty far, but eventually the pressure will drop and it’ll come down. Even helium has its limits.”

Then he turned toward Lulu, smiling gently as he reached out to pat her head.

“But now…your chickens’ dreams have come true.”

Lulu looked up at him, blinking.

“From now on, the burden of chickens passing away without ever knowing the joy of flight will never happen again. And in fact…”

He straightened up, his tone turning playful yet sincere.

“…I think we should make this a tradition.”

“From this day forward, before any chicken becomes a meal, it will first fly. It will float in the air, just like today. That’ll be their final wish come true.”

The elves nearby murmured in awe, exchanging smiles at the sentiment.

“So? How about it, Lulu?” Luca turned to Lulu. “Does that sound like a good compromise?”

Lulu hesitated, her expression turning to a little sad.

Part of her still hurt at the thought of her chickens being eaten.

But as she looked around—at her sister, at her mother, at her aunt, and at all the smiling faces of the villagers—she realized how important this was.

Without meat, without proper nutrition, her people would grow weak, maybe even fall ill.

And the thought of her loved ones getting sick, all because she couldn’t let go of her attachment, made her heart ache.

Finally, she looked back up at Luca, her eyes filled with resolve.

“All right, Luca.” She said softly, a tender smile forming on her lips. “Even though it still hurts a little, I understand. If it’s for the good of everyone and if my chickens can fulfill their dreams before they go to heaven…””

“…then I’m okay with it.”

Then, raising a finger with a playful yet firm look, she added,

“But! They can only go to heaven after they’ve flown, got it? That’s the rule. No exceptions!”

Luca laughed and gave her a playful salute.

“Of course, of course. From now on, every single chicken that’s turned into food will fly first—I promise. The Chicken Queen’s decree shall be honored.”

“Good!” Lulu said proudly, puffing up her chest.

The elves clapped and cheered, touched by the heartwarming exchange.

And though Luca smiled along with them, a quiet thought lingered in his mind—that this little tradition might not last forever.

He had brought enough helium to last a few years, maybe more, but he knew that someday, the memory of this moment would fade.

Or so he thought.

Because little did he know, thousands of years later, long after his name had turned to legend, the elves of the future would still follow this tradition—

—sending every chicken into the air, letting them float, if only for a moment, before honoring them as food.

No one would remember exactly why. No one would recall who had started it.

But every elf would look up at the sky, smile, and whisper the words passed down for generations—

“Let them fly first.”

—all because one kind-hearted girl once wanted her chickens to know how it felt to fly.

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