Nia woke up feeling as if her entire body was about to fall apart.
The memories of last night surged into her mind like a tide, making her head ache a little from the shock.
After her mind cleared a bit, Nia looked down at the pattern on her lower abdomen.
Compared to last night, the color of the pattern had deepened slightly, and the design had become more intricate.
Around the previously inconspicuous pattern, a new ring had appeared.
This was bad.
She wasn’t skilled at breaking magical curses, let alone one cast by goblins.
On the Farrah Continent, to break a magical curse, you must first understand its magical circuit.
Every race has its own unique curse magic, and to break another’s curse, you must first comprehend the logical rules behind its construction.
Not to mention, no race is willing to deeply communicate or study the crude magic of goblins, and few people even want to study such lowly magic.
On top of that, goblins are stupid creatures whose only thought is plunder, so there are basically no ones you can communicate with.
Damn goblins, damn them…
“Ha~…”
The sound of a man yawning interrupted Nia’s thoughts.
Looking over at the man who had just woken up, Nia suddenly realized there was someone beside her.
She suppressed her irritation and regained her composure.
“Good morning… Miss Nia.”
The man, now fully awake, seemed to notice her staring and the sleepiness in his eyes vanished completely.
“Good morning, Mr. El.”
After the greetings, a brief silence fell between them.
Nia wasn’t used to his quietness and hesitated before opening her mouth.
“Miss Nia, can we put our clothes on before talking?”
Almost at the same moment she spoke, El’s voice sounded as well.
“Alright.”
Nia withdrew her words and stood up, gathering the clothes she had scattered about, and without any embarrassment, began dressing in front of EI.
While she was putting on her clothes, El’s voice came from the other side of the cave.
“Miss Nia, I have a question for you.”
Without turning her head, Nia replied, “What is it?”
“Are all Elves like you?”
The word “Elves” made Nia pause slightly.
She touched her ears and realized the invisibility magic had worn off.
She must have been too absorbed last night and forgot to maintain the mana supply, causing the disguise spell to fail.
There’s a saying among humans: the roof leaks, and it just so happens to rain overnight — probably the best way to describe her current situation.
Since she had been discovered, Nia decided not to hide it anymore and instead asked back.
“What do you mean by ‘like me’?”
“Hmm…”
El was caught off guard by the question and thought for a moment before answering, “More straightforward? At least, different from the Elves I had in mind.”
“Well then, Mr. El, do you know what my impression of humans is?” Nia didn’t answer his question but countered instead.
“What is it?”
“Deceitful, shameless, despicable, and greedy.”
“That’s prejudice,” El immediately retorted.
“Although there are such people among humans, most are friendly. You see, I’m very kind.”
“Just as you said, Mr. El, if there are all kinds of people among humans, why can’t Elves be the same?”
“Uh…” El was momentarily speechless. “Miss Nia, you make a valid point.”
“If you’re done dressing, let’s go. I just used wind magic; that dog has left.”
“Oh.”
….
About half an hour later, in the dense forest of the Turg Mountain Range, aside from the sounds of insects and birds, two people could be heard talking.
“Miss Nia, are we really going the right way?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure we don’t need to mark the path? What if we get lost later?”
“No need.”
“But we were running all day yesterday. How did you know where to go? Was it magic?”
“No.” Nia patiently explained, “No Elf ever gets lost in a forest.”
Nia was now convinced that El came from another continent.
On the Farrah Continent, it’s common knowledge that Elves are blessed by nature.
“Really?” El sounded skeptical.
This time, Nia didn’t answer his question.
Just as she thought some peace had finally arrived, El spoke again.
“Miss Nia, about last night…”
He might as well have kept silent; whenever he brought it up, Nia’s head throbbed again.
Some things, no matter how much you try not to mention them, really did happen and had to be faced.
The only consolation was that unlike female Elves, Nia didn’t care much about chastity and had little psychological burden.
Stopping in her tracks, Nia calmly looked at the man beside her.
“What happened last night?”
Seeing her look so calm, El felt a bit embarrassed.
“Uh, well…”
“What?”
“Well, you know…”
Nia knew what he was about to say, so she cut him off first.
“Did anything happen between us?”
Her current situation was already bad enough.
Getting involved with a strange human might cause more trouble.
This was a critical time; she couldn’t add unnecessary trouble for Lady Meira.
Without much hesitation, Nia drew a clear boundary between herself and the man.
“Miss Nia.” El’s expression grew serious. “Rest assured, I’m not an irresponsible man. Even though you took the initiative… considering it was both our first times, I will take responsibility.”
At this point, Nia thought it necessary to be clear with him to avoid misunderstandings.
“Last night’s matter is my own problem. Mr. El, you don’t need to feel guilty,” she said succinctly.
“I know you’re a good person and can understand my difficulties.”
“Let’s just pretend nothing happened, and don’t mention this to my Lady, alright?”
Nia’s words took El by surprise.
He wanted to say something, but Nia cut him off again before he could speak.
“Mr. El, up ahead is where we left yesterday. If I’m not mistaken, you dropped your bow there. You can go retrieve it. I’ll go ahead. Remember our agreement.”
With that, Nia quickened her pace and left toward the return path.
Ail watched her figure disappear from sight before he finally reacted.
Does this woman intend to take everything and leave without responsibility?
That won’t do!
A man’s first time is precious!