Bold Little Girl (1)

“Kongkong-a. Could you tell me the way?”

• Guooo……

The Great Spirit of Earth and Wind, ‘Pogmau’, left Kardrasil and stuck close to Aileen. The enormous Mana that Aileen emitted gave the illusion of being near the World Tree. Perhaps that was why Pogmau wasn’t the only spirit following Aileen. Led by him, dozens, even hundreds of spirits, floated around Aileen.

“You’re saying to go this way?”

• Guooo…!

“Thank you, Kongkong-a!”

Outside Kardrasil was all beastmen.

“Woaaah….”

The 3rd defense wall, Garkwina District. The damage from the Twin Demons seemed to be almost completely restored, showing the same vitality as before. Aileen watched the Red Wolf Tribe members passing by and thought, ‘I want to pet them.’ So she approached. But the Red Wolf Tribe members were horrified and avoided Aileen.

“W-wait, puppy…!”

When the red moon rose and all the beastmen fell into a frenzy, a considerable number of their kin were massacred by Elves. Just getting near the 2nd defense wall would result in Elven Knights slicing them in two. The beastmen remembered that day. And they realized once again just how ruthless the Elves were.

If you asked what that had to do with Aileen, it was because she was wearing the traditional Elven attire, Harnish.

A green skirt that extended long in the back like a bird’s tail. But the front was short enough to barely cover the thighs. Also, the top had a low-cut back, making it very revealing. It wasn’t exactly sexy, but it gave a similar impression to those game characters who don’t wear bras.

Aileen, unaware of this, was feeling down. The blatant avoidance wounded her heart. The feeling of being shunned wasn’t pleasant. For Aileen, who was not even a year old, that fact hit even harder.

• Guoooooo!

The spirits couldn’t just stand by and watch. The spirits, resonating with Aileen’s emotions, fell into uncontrollable rage.

“Gyaaaaaak――?!”

Pogmau kidnapped a young Red Wolf Tribe member and dragged him forward. He gagged him to prevent him from speaking and fixed his posture so that Aileen could stroke his head and tail. Aileen looked at the Red Wolf Tribe youth offering his head to her and asked with an excited face.

“C-can I pet you?”

The lower spirits clung to his neck, forcing him to nod. Aileen stretched out her hand with a happy face.

“…Fluffy!”

She spent three minutes petting his fur like that.

“Thank you! You eat this!”

Aileen handed the Red Wolf Tribe youth a golden apple and went on her way.

“Hmm… the air here isn’t very good….”

Barhaia, passing through the eastern Red Wolf Gate and out of the defense wall. The Silbehrin Great Forest, precariously bordering the Empire’s territory. Despite having many trees, the air wasn’t very good. Inside Kardrasil, it was as refreshing as drinking water after eating a mint, but outside, it felt dusty and stuffy.

I could see why the Elves disliked the outside. If you always lived with air like this, you’d hate the outside too.

“Kongkong-a. Do you happen to know where Mom is?”

After escaping the Inner World, the connection was severed. I could no longer borrow Mom’s eyes. I had to find her on my own. Like a baby bird falling from its nest to fly, I had to overcome my fear and move forward.

• Guooo…

“You don’t know? Hmph.”

I knew Mom was in Lecante. I just didn’t know the coordinates. It would be nice if I could teleport. I couldn’t use teleportation as freely as Mom could yet.

‘That’s right… Rania-unni told me about that!’

A technique that Elves used when they got lost. Aileen took out her magic staff. She stood the staff upright and stuck it into the ground. It swayed precariously as if it would fall over with the slightest breeze.

• Hweeeng…

The wind blew, and the staff fell.

The staff was pointing exactly in the direction of Lecante.

“It’s this way!”

It was a ridiculous method that would only elicit sighs, but the Elves firmly believed that the World Tree guided them. Because they had never once gotten lost using it. The World Tree represented their faith.

Aileen crunched on a golden apple and kicked off the ground. Tak! She straightened her toes and shot off like a bullet.

It was a terrifying speed, but the grass wasn’t trampled, and the branches weren’t broken. She had learned a unique gait while living with the Elves. In the forest, she could move at an unparalleled speed.

The wind blew.

A fairy in a green winged dress frolicked through the forest. Her fluttering hair shone like flames, and the hidden gold fragments within sparkled brilliantly.

Sometimes she climbed trees, jumped over rocks, passed adventurers collecting mushrooms, and crushed the skulls of goblins tearing apart animal carcasses. No one noticed her as she swept by like the wind.

“Jooaaasseo――!!!”

Aileen smiled radiantly, enjoying the sensation of speed. The wind hitting her face was so strong it stung. A tingling pain came when she opened her eyes. But she couldn’t close her eyes to capture the ever-changing world.

The blue sky, the countless clouds adorning her eyes. The blazing sun, the countless creatures living under the light. The bugs gnawing on tree bark, the animals struggling to survive, the adventurers struggling to earn money, everything was new.

I infused Aura into my feet. Unable to contain her excitement, Aileen stepped on a branch and jumped high. She came up about 30m. Looking down, she saw densely planted trees, and looking up, she saw a large mountain range in the distance.

Pressing down on her skirt so that her underwear wouldn’t show, she fell in a parabola. Landing on a tree, Aileen kicked off the branch again and went up into the sky.

Hundreds of spirits chased after Aileen, who was jumping from tree to tree. The shimmering light, undeterred by the morning sun, caught the attention of all living things on the ground.

I enjoyed the wind.

Even running for hours wasn’t enough. I could do this all day. This amount of exercise alone couldn’t keep up with the rapidly increasing stamina from eating golden apples.

Before I knew it, I was out of the Great Forest, and I could see a path carved out by humans. Aileen was disappointed when she no longer saw any trees. I wrapped my body in the wind. Dozens of spirits clung to my ankles. She giggled at the ticklish feeling and stood on the dirt road.

“―Hooo!”

Aileen stretched and loosened her body. It still wasn’t enough, but there wasn’t much to see around. The closer I got to Lecante, the rougher and simpler the terrain became. I hadn’t even reached the entrance yet, so it was relatively flat, but mostly rocky hills were visible.

“Let’s walk from here, Kongkong-a!”

I stepped on the rocky path. I was barefoot, but the spirits protected me, so I didn’t get any injuries.

Slowly taking in the colors of nature was also a good experience.

“Just a moment, Kongkong-a! It’s a fork in the road, so wait a moment!”

She occasionally set up the wooden staff to check the way.

• Tak.

“Huh?”

But the wooden staff was pointing in the wrong direction.

‘I don’t think it’s this way?’

I was suspicious. Not only was I going around the road, but I also had to climb a mountain to the left. Why suddenly climb a mountain when there’s a perfectly good road?

If I were a normal person, I would have ignored it. After all, it’s a ridiculous method that’s no different from sorcery, where you set up a wooden stick and wait for the wind to blow. It was close to a miracle that I had even come this far.

But, without hesitation, I went that way.

The will of the World Tree was real.

Aileen could feel it.

• Poljjak!

I wrapped my body in the wind and ascended rapidly. Reaching the vast sky, Aileen looked in the direction the staff was pointing. Another road beyond the mountain. It was the entrance to the Silbehrin Great Forest. It was hard to see because of the faint fog, but there was something wriggling.

“Kongkong-a, what’s that?”

Pogmau zoomed in to look at them.

• Guooo…

“You don’t know? Okay! I guess I’ll have to go and see for myself!”

What Pogmau had identified were wagons heading uphill. There were three ways to enter the Silbehrin Great Forest by wagon, one of which was to go around the Kurum Mountains.

The reason for using such a rough road instead of a perfectly good one, of course, varied from person to person-but it was to sell food to the remote villages.

Villages built in rough terrain had difficulty supplying food. There was a disadvantage that the price had to be a bit cheaper, but at least they could sell as much as they brought. It was a useful method for clearing inventory.

They were probably planning to finish their uphill trip and stay at the Silbehrin branch temple. It would take too long to go back the way they came.

The problem was.

To what extent is the caravan now isolated by bandits?

“Boss. What should we do with them? Should we just let them go?”

“W-wait a minute! I gave you the money! This is different! ‘Should we let them go?’ my ass!”

“We got so much that we’re even considering it. Boss!”

The kidnapped caravan was the Azure Lotus Merchant Group, a western expedition merchant group. Those who attacked them were vicious bandits who mainly targeted these expedition merchants.

“Kill them and burn the wagons. Take only what we need of the food… and bury the rest.”

“Yes!”

It was just an unlucky story.

“J-just a moment! If you spare me, I-I’ll give you more money!”

“You think I’d believe that, you bitch?”

There were many caravans attacked by bandits, and just as many bandits were subdued. It’s a common story. These bandits would soon have their necks pierced by the Elven Guard and die.

• Hweeeng…!!!!

If it weren’t for the red-haired girl falling from the sky.

“Boss! L-look at that!”

“What the hell are you making a fuss about now?”

“H-huh? It’s falling this way…?”

The light emitted by the spirits stretched out like a tail, becoming a meteor shower. Aileen fell in front of the wagon, leading a colorful cluster of lights.

• Chak.

The gentle landing sound contrasted with the chilling sound of tearing through the wind.

Aileen greeted them with an innocent face.

“People! Nice to meet you!”

Hameil, the leader of the Azure Lotus Merchant Group, who was preparing to have his head cut off, stared blankly with his mouth open at the appearance of the girl in Elven clothes.

“Wow! Blue hair! That’s rare, how fascinating!”

Aileen was impressed by the sea-blue hair. Blue hair wasn’t common unless you were from the south. Since almost all blue hair was concentrated in the south, most people with blue hair were from the south.

“Who are you?!”

“Shit, draw your weapons!”

They were all stunned by her nonchalant appearance, but they quickly came to their senses. The bandits contorted their faces menacingly and drew their weapons.

“I-it’s an Elf! The Elven Guard!”

“W-what, an Elf?”

One of the caravan members who had been kidnapped shouted. Hameil heard those words and looked at the girl again. A top with a low-cut back and tail feathers reaching her ankles… It was the traditional Elven attire, Harnish, that he had often seen while visiting Silbehrin.

“Please help us! These people are trespassing on your territory and are criminals who kill people! We are innocent―― Keuheok!”

“Shut up!”

Hameil shouted with a desperate heart.