After dawdling for a while, that embarrassing elf finally blushed, got dressed, and stood up from the ground.
‘Why does an old woman act like a blushing maiden?’ the sister thought.
Elves lived long lives. The sister felt that this little elf might even be old enough to be her own ancestor.
“You won’t report me, will you?”
Astraea asked timidly. By now she had already reapplied her disguise magic, making her features rough again.
Although she had been an elf for twenty years, before reincarnation she had been an adult with a sound moral framework. Plus, the elves had a terrible sense of time, so these twenty years hadn’t completely transformed Astraea’s mindset.
Thus, the reclusive life that was bliss for elves was, in Astraea’s eyes, a form of boring torture. Her lingering male way of thinking also made her incredibly embarrassed now.
‘How could I have done such a shameless thing!’
The little elf’s cheeks grew even redder, making one want to take a bite.
If there had been a kingdom soldier there who had been abstinent for a long time and lacked moral restraint, so that he was indiscriminate in his appetite, the little elf would probably have been pounced on and devoured.
But the only person present was the sister. The nearest farmers were over two hundred meters away, and they were busy farming with no mind to watch what was happening on the road.
The sister sighed helplessly, determined to stop following Astraea’s erratic train of thought. She headed toward the castle on her own.
“I won’t report you, Miss Adventurer. What happened with my uncle is long since none of my business. What’s your name?”
The sister remembered that she didn’t even know this little elf’s name yet. She would be introducing this unreliable little one to Baron Ili later; she couldn’t exactly tell the baron she had brought an elf to meet him.
“My name is Astraea Saienxier. Astraea of Saienxier.”
The little elf rarely acted seriously. She lifted her head, straightened her back, and wore a slight, appropriate smile. Although the magic concealed her true appearance, her earnest recitation of her homeland and name in the lilting elven tongue made her seem every inch a true elf.
Elves were accustomed to using their birthplace as their surname, so Astraea’s surname was likely her hometown. The sister pondered this. Although Astraea’s mental leaps were too abstract for her to comprehend, her foundation was just like the elves recorded in the scriptures—proud and beautiful… a heteromorph that needed to be purified.
“And what’s your name, Sister?”
Astraea had returned to her earlier demeanor, as if that serious moment had been an illusion.
With a slightly heavy heart, the sister spoke.
“Yisiweila. No surname.”
“Huh? That viscount isn’t…”
“I have no surname now.”
“Sorry…”
Astraea looked a bit dejected, but quickly perked up.
“Then, Isvira, we’re friends now, right?”
“Isvira? What kind of address is that?” The sister’s face stiffened. “Besides, I am a daughter of the All-Father. Instead of staying away from me, you, a heteromorph, want to be friends?”
Then, Yisiweila deliberately put on a fierce look and roughly ruffled the little elf’s flaxen hair into a mess.
“Ah! I have to meet that baron or whatever soon!”
Astraea immediately cowered, but she wasn’t afraid of Yisiweila’s talk about purifying heteromorphs. If Yisiweila really wanted to fight, wouldn’t she have done so already? The little elf had already suffered because of this world’s ridiculous church back in Port Tils.
She used to think that the elven sages were slandering other races when they said humans were a bunch of race-purist lunatics. But after she arrived at the Human Kingdom, she discovered that slander was slander, but the content of the slander wasn’t necessarily baseless.
Ordinary people weren’t that extreme, but the Church of the All-Father, the state religion of the kingdom, truly believed that all races other than humans were heteromorphs that needed to be purified. The young, inexperienced little elf had been seen through by a high-ranking priest of the church because she hadn’t disguised herself well enough, and thus landed on the kingdom’s wanted list, enjoying the same treatment as the outlaws in the western parts of the kingdom.
But now, Yisiweila, a sister of the Church of the All-Father, had learned Astraea’s true identity but didn’t act like the other church fanatics who would want to incinerate her on the spot. That was quite thought-provoking.
Astraea’s little head immediately concocted a drama of church schism. Although she wasn’t particularly fond of clergymen, given that gods truly existed in this world, the little elf still hoped that the Human Kingdom’s faith could transform from extreme racial purity to a moderate faction that tolerated other races.
Otherwise, she really wouldn’t know how to deal with herself.
“Hmph, I see that you fear force but not virtue, elf heteromorph.”
Yisiweila coldly said this and then ignored Astraea.
The latter cheerfully fell into step behind the sister. After all, the sister hadn’t meant to do anything to her; she was obviously a tsundere.
The journey wasn’t too far. Although they had been delayed by Astraea’s antics, they still arrived at the castle gate on schedule.
The soldier on the tower was the same one from before. This time, after he half-heartedly recited his routine line, he saw Astraea again.
“Halt! Beyond is Baron Ili’s territory… Why is it you again, you little brat?”
“I told you, I really am an adventurer!”
Astraea stepped forward and looked up, shouting at the soldier.
But this time, the soldier didn’t seem impatient. He saw the sister accompanying the little elf.
“Sister Yisiweila? What business do you have at the castle?”
The soldier’s attitude softened, and his tone carried some respect.
Astraea took note of this attitude change.
‘I’m so furious I could just cast a Fireball and burn down the gate! And while I’m at it, turn that hateful soldier into a real hairless monkey!’
She thought maliciously, and her hostile gaze made the soldier on the tower shiver.
The sister simply clasped her hands and bowed slightly.
“I’ve come to see Baron Ili. This is… the daughter of a distant friend of mine.”
Originally the sister had wanted to say “friend,” but thinking about this hateful little elf’s annoying demeanor despite its advanced age, she immediately changed her mind. After all, she was a sister who had grown up in the Human Kingdom. Even if she no longer agreed with the church’s doctrine of racial purity, the prejudice against other races in her heart could not be erased overnight.
In fact, the sister had felt a murderous intent when she first saw Astraea’s true form. But the little elf’s earlier behavior did not match the despicable heteromorphs described in the scriptures—elves never considered humans equals, yet Astraea had genuinely shown compassion for those children.
So the sister suppressed her urge to attack, and after calming down, she was glad she hadn’t acted.
“So she is Sister Yisiweila’s… niece. One moment, I’ll open the gate right away.”
The soldier showed an “I knew it” expression. It seemed he really thought the little elf was a runaway child.
‘Great All-Father, you taught us to be filled with compassion. Please forgive your daughter…’
Yisiweila prayed silently. But her actions were not slow. Ignoring Astraea’s annoyed glare, she stepped forward, placed both hands on the wooden gate, and with bulging veins, she pushed the door open from the outside. The soldier on the tower hadn’t even touched the hinges to open it yet.
This left Astraea stunned. The wooden door was not large, but it was quite heavy. The little elf might have been able to blast it to pieces with magic, but if she only strengthened her physical strength, she could never have opened it like that. And the sister had done it with pure physical strength, without even using holy light magic!
What else was there to say? Astraea almost knelt to the sister again. If this seemingly kind but slightly tsundere sister threw a punch at her, her newly begun elf life would probably end right here.
“Alright, my little niece, what are you gaping for? You need to show proper manners when meeting the baron.”
“Ah… I, I’ll be careful.”
Astraea stammered.
The soldier on the tower saw the previously arrogant little brat looking stunned and gave a sneer of contempt. A kid was a kid; with that attitude, and she wanted to be an adventurer? If she ever met a real monster, she’d probably wet her pants. The soldier seemed to have completely forgotten how he had been so scared at his first meeting with the sister that he couldn’t move and even had to change his pants.
Following behind the sister, Astraea reached out from under her green cloak and gently tugged at the terrible woman’s habit.
“Hey, hey, Isvira.”
“Call me Aunt, my dear little niece. You’re in Baron Ili’s territory now.”
The little elf’s face turned red with anger. She had barely kept count of how many times she had flushed red today. This terrible sister was definitely threatening her! And oddly, the threat was effective on her! Now Astraea was truly afraid of the sister; she felt that the sister was born to counter her. The little elf decided that as soon as she bought a horse, she would fly far away and never go near any church or sister again in this life!
But now, elf, endure…
Astraea took a deep breath and said in an extremely embarrassing tone, “Au, Aunt…”
The little elf’s gaze was distant. She felt her dignity had reached a new low. In the works of her previous life, it was always older elves, so why did the older one turn out to be a human in her case?
Although she didn’t know Yisiweila’s age, judging from that old viscount who had thrown a tantrum back in Port Tils, as his niece Yisiweila couldn’t be younger than thirty. This thought somewhat soothed the little elf’s tense heart.
Then she realized something was off. Twenty was just the age of this life. If she counted the hard life of her previous life… she should be older than Yisiweila, shouldn’t she?
‘Forget it, forget it. Aunt is fine. After all, I’m just a little girl now.’
Astraea comforted herself quietly. But what she didn’t know was that the sister, upon hearing her soft and sticky “Aunt,” had already blushed and was now struggling to suppress the urge to turn around and hug the adorable little elf behind her.
Poor Sister Yisiweila. Training had made her into a veritable wolf. The village children all trembled at the sight of her. How could there be a cute little elf calling her “Aunt”?
In other words, Sister Yisiweila was overflowing with maternal feelings at the moment. If Astraea knew what the sister was thinking, that mischievous little girl would probably complain about a Roman she-wolf.
The sister stood in front of the castle door. After barely calming the turmoil inside her, she opened the castle door.