Ch.6969. Strange Elf (1)

After stroking Sione’s hair for a moment, I gently pushed her shoulder.

In response, Sione unwrapped her arms that had been softly embracing me and stepped back.

As soon as Sione moved away from me, I checked my clothes.

I was worried that the blood soaked into this troublesome master’s dress might have stained my clothes as well.

It was uncomfortable, but fortunately, the blood on her clothes must have dried completely, as my clothes were relatively intact.

I tilted my head.

Sione looked up at me like a small animal, as if wondering why I was ruining the good atmosphere.

I looked over her dress and said:

“First, let’s change that dress and then talk.”

“Ah.”

Only then did Sione remember her appearance.

The front of her blue dress had turned brown from dried blood.

Moreover, since she had torn off parts of the skirt that got in the way during combat, she was exposing her slender, bare legs.

Getting blood on clothes is inevitable when crossing swords with someone.

And her bare legs were only visible just above the knee.

I didn’t think there was anything to be embarrassed about.

“Ugh…”

Seeing Sione hang her head and groan, it seemed she had finally realized what state she was in when she had clung to me.

I took care of the high-maintenance Sione with all my heart, and before long, she became presentable—

Slip.

As if it were the most natural thing, she got into bed.

Sione, who had been talking with me while lying in bed, soon drifted off to sleep, apparently exhausted from the day’s events.

I was sitting on the edge of the bed and was about to get up to return to my quarters to rest.

“…Ray.”

Half-asleep.

Sione, with her eyes barely open, looked at me with drowsy eyes and grabbed my hand.

As I tried to stand up, she weakly pulled my hand, as if wanting to keep me seated in the chair.

“Won’t you stay by my side?”

You want me to stay beside you when I’m exhausted and can’t even rest properly?

“I’m quite worn out myself, so wouldn’t it be better if I got some rest today as well?”

Not a chance.

Sorry, but I need to rest too.

* * *

In the end, I stayed by Sione’s side until she fell asleep, and the moment my master’s breathing became steady as she drifted off,

I immediately left her room and returned to my quarters.

Thud.

I collapsed onto the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

I was exhausted.

So exhausted that even this soft bed couldn’t ease my fatigue.

“At this point, I think it would be easier to just hunt another Arachne.”

After three straight days of non-stop incidents, I was completely worn out.

On the first day, I took Sione dress shopping and got tangled up with Noah, which led to all sorts of trouble.

On the second day, I accompanied Sione to the banquet hall, only to catch the princess’s attention, and nearly lost my chastity to this shameless master.

And to top it all off, I attended Adelheid’s coming-of-age ceremony with Sione, which led to this whole mess.

“Seriously, what the hell.”

What exactly is Sione’s deal, creating problems every single day since we arrived in the capital?

At this point, she feels like more of a headache than those demon worshippers.

“Sigh…”

With a sigh, I managed to shake off my pent-up complaints.

Well, it’s too late to regret anything now.

I just have to tough it out.

With that thought, I slowly closed my eyes,

Then opened them again to check the newly appeared Status Window.

[Quest completed.]

The first thing that appeared was that single line stating the quest was completed.

I cleared away all the useless details in the Status Window and checked the reward for changing history.

The reward I received this time was:

[Adelheid Aisilia begins to walk a path different from the original history.]

[History begins to flow in a more positive direction.]

[Heroes who would have faded away without ever shining will now have a chance to rise brightly around her.]

An increase in high-quality allies to face the coming demons together.

And—

[History begins to fundamentally change around you.]

[Your connections with key figures of the continent deepen.]

[The probability of encounters with key figures increases.]

“…Fuck.”

Sione alone is already more than enough.

And now on top of that, connections with continent-level important figures.

I checked the Status Window to relieve stress, only to gain more stress.

I irritably dismissed the Status Window and buried my face in the pillow.

Please, I truly pray to God that tomorrow at least passes quietly.

* * *

A new day dawned.

Fresh morning air came through the slightly opened window, clearing my mind.

Thanks to the autumn breeze that was gradually becoming chilly, I easily shook off my drowsiness and finished getting ready.

Unlike yesterday, I plan to leave my sword in the Black Room.

I certainly don’t intend to bring my bow either.

What servant would be crazy enough to walk around the royal palace with a bow in hand and a quiver of arrows on their back?

The palace security has been strengthened, and no quests have appeared, so there shouldn’t be any danger.

There’s no need to carry around that sharp piece of metal that would obviously just be a burden.

I left my quarters and walked toward Sione’s room across from mine.

Since it was early morning, there weren’t many people around except for the occasional guard.

There was no one giving me sidelong glances or whispering about “that male knight” from yesterday.

So I enjoyed the morning sunlight and walked at a leisurely pace.

“That blonde…”

An elf.

And not just any elf, but one who flashed a bright smile and even waved her hand when our eyes met.

What’s more, she was slowly approaching from a distance.

I discreetly frowned at the elf who was walking leisurely toward me.

‘Ah, damn it. Really.’

This is troublesome.

Elves can smell the scent of spirits.

To borrow their expression:

Those who contract with wind spirits give off a fresh grass scent.

And those with fire spirits emit something like the scent of burning firewood.

If that elf gets close enough to me, she’ll probably smell something like burning leaves.

‘It’s too late to take a detour…’

Her teal eyes are already focused on me, taking in my every movement.

Elves never let go of something that piques their curiosity.

If I try to run away, she’ll definitely follow and try to talk to me.

I kept the aura of the spirits I possessed tightly concealed, didn’t give the elf even a glance, and walked straight ahead, looking only in front of me.

But as expected.

Just as I was about to pass by her:

“Excuse me—”

The elf, with a bright and radiant smile like a child who had found an incredibly fun toy,

Turned her body toward me as I quietly walked past her and spoke in a melodious voice:

“Aren’t you the one who slew the Demonkin yesterday?”

I faced the elf with the most composed expression I could muster.

“…Yes, I was fortunate enough to cut down a few.”

“I knew my eyes weren’t mistaken. Your performance yesterday was amazing. To use human terms… you were like a knight in shining armor, weren’t you?”

“You flatter me.”

“Flattery? Not at all—”

The elf’s eyes began to gleam mischievously.

“A human, not even a beastkin with great strength… and a male at that, accomplishing such a feat alone? Especially when that monster first tried to attack the princess.”

From the way this blonde elf was speaking, it seemed she had been quietly observing the entire situation from the beginning.

“That Demonkin’s attack was fast and heavy. I thought no one could block it.”

With her smile still in place but her eyes narrowed,

“Yet you easily deflected it.”

The intensity in those green eyes became so sharp it almost stung my skin.

“I… thought you might be handling mana. And at quite a high level too.”

As expected. From the way she’s talking, this elf seems to have noticed that I can use mana around Adelheid.

And that made the situation even more troublesome.

Elves’ greed is as immense as their sense of superiority over other races.

A human male who, though unstable, beheaded two Demonkin on the spot. Someone who can clearly handle not just swordsmanship but mana as well.

To an elf with strong attachment and possessiveness, I must now appear as a pet or treasure they desperately want to own.

Knowing how much trouble it would be to get entangled with an elf in this way,

I responded to her praise with a natural smile, trying to appear as calm as possible.

“Mana for a mere man like me? Your praise is too excessive; I don’t know how to respond.”

The elf, whose hair shone even more brilliantly in the morning sunlight, casually stroked her chin in response to my words.

“For someone saying that, your smile seems rather stiff, doesn’t it?”

“Pardon…? What do you mean by that…?”

“Well, since you possess a power even greater than mana, I suppose being told you can handle mana at a high level isn’t very satisfying. So let me ask you this.”

The elf approached me one step at a time, closing the distance between us.

I matched her steps by backing away, but…

Swish!

The elf grabbed my collar and pulled me toward her.

Sniff, sniff.

After smelling me, she gave an alluring smile and parted her cherry-like lips.

“Yes, mana. I’ll let the mana part slide… but human, how is it that a human, not an elf, is giving off the scent of spirits?”