Joel Garland

Joel Garland (ジョエル・ガーランド Joeru Gārando): was a widowed old man who took care of a rose garden. A vampire resided with him, and while he didn't have the ability to see her, he was somewhat sensitive to her presence on a subconscious level.

Appearance
An elderly man with wrinkled skin and gray hair. He often dresses modestly and has glasses that cover his blue eyes.

Personality
Joel was a man who felt as though his life wasn't worth living since his wife's death and he was moving on sheer inertia. He didn't feel an especially deep affection for his wife since it was arranged, but considered her family regardless and was left alone when she was gone.

While he had no desire to die, he no longer had enough ambition to do anything other than live and thus stopped writing despite it being something that he loved. That changed when he came across Redcurrant by chance, spotting her among the roses, and felt entranced by her presence.

He was an avid lover of books, though the abundance of time had left him struggling to fill in his time after reading through his collection and finding new books was difficult for him.

History
He married his wife in an arranged marriage and they moved out to the countryside when she came down with tuberculosis, to help with her recovery. They tended to the garden together until she died only a few years later, leaving him alone. He continued to tend to the rose garden even after her death out of habit. One day, while watering this garden, his eyes, briefly, saw a girl of silver hair and otherworldly beauty, a leánnan sídhe vampire who stayed with him thereafter. Through his life, he kept the image of her, yearning to see her again, and writing a short story about their short meeting and fall in love.

Main Story
Redcurrant wakes Chise to ask for her help. Joel is nearing death. Drawing closer to death, he voices his fears to Elias while Chise overhears. He mentions seeing a women with eyes the color of redcurrants, regretting he would not see her again. With a week left to live, Chise creates a fairie salve so that Joel can see Redcurrant.

Upon seeing her, Joel offers what life he has to the leánnan sídhe. Seeing his muse a reality, he is no longer frightened of death and fades away. Redcurrant admits to herself that she loved him, and chooses to take care of his garden until the world turns to dust.

The Golden Yarn: Vampire's Lover
The short story begins with Joel greeting one of this former co-workers while working in the garden one day, with his thoughts on how he no longer felt life was worth living and he no longer had the drive to write. Then he spots Redcurrant among the roses for the first time.

He keeps writing and revising the short story, occasionally speaking to Redcurrant or doing what she asked while being unaware that she was there, over the course of several years until he feels that she might have been his first love, an act that inadvertently caused her to flee his home. Her absence was felt by Joel, who was starting to feel younger since she wasn't draining his life force by proxy, though he didn't consciously realize it or even notice that he'd been somewhat ill until his friend visited him to come by his wedding at a later date.

However, shortly afterwards a storm came by and threatened to destroy the rose garden, which were tied to his hopes of seeing Redcurrant again, so he braved the storm to stake nets over them and managed to save over half of them thanks to Redcurrant having an Aerial soften the storm over the area. Later on, at the wedding, he felt Redcurrant's presence and offered her a dance, despite not being entirely sure she was there, which she obliged him with.

Relationships

 * Redcurrant: Having spotted her purely by chance one day, Joel ended up being so enamored with her that he realized that he had fallen in love with her. Despite not being a mage or alchemist and unable to see or hear her, on a subconscious level he was aware of her presence and would respond to her requests. When his time finally ran out, he willingly gave the rest of his life to her.
 * Chise Hatori: Joel was friendly to Chise, welcoming her into his home and connecting with her.

Quotes

 * "I used to hate roses. I enjoyed helping you but the thorns pricked me and the work was a pain. The cost of fertilizer every month is absurd. It's only force of habit that keeps me going. But that's not the case anymore. I don't know why... but I feel like the work is giving someone pleasure."

Trivia

 * He is from England.
 * In Official Guidebook: Merkmal, his height is 170cm (5'7") and weight is 50kg (110lb).