The castle was a two-story stone building. It had few windows, just some slits serving as arrow loops. The door was small, barely allowing one person to pass. For someone of Astraea’s build, perhaps the two of them could squeeze through together.
Just from its appearance, this stone building was quite crude as a castle. Yet amidst the crudeness, its military value was not hard to discern.
Astraea despised things like lords and nobles, but this crude castle had indeed made the best of its limited conditions. There was not a trace of unnecessary decoration; every facility was military in purpose.
This piqued Astraea’s curiosity. The village was located on the eastern coastal plains of the Human Kingdom, with no foreign invasion, a core part of the kingdom. Astraea had seen that even Port Tils’s defenses were more lax than here.
So what was the local lord, that baron, guarding against? The flighty little elf was secretly weaving conspiracy theories in her mind again.
In her little head, this Baron Ili had already become some sort of evil plotter trying to overthrow the Human Kingdom… ‘Wait, wasn’t overthrowing the Human Kingdom not really a bad thing for me?’
Pulling her thoughts back, the little elf finally noticed the interior of the small castle.
Dim, cold, and devoid of any human presence.
Even though it was broad daylight, the inside of the castle was unnaturally cold. Caught off guard, the little elf even shivered.
“Isvira dear… ahem, I mean, Aunt, is this really a baron’s territory? How come there’s not even a servant? And here… it feels like it’s haunted.”
The little elf shrank her head. She felt she was already well-trained—in just a couple of sentences, she could automatically call Isvira “Aunt.”
But this was just a small detail, not worth worrying about. It’s not like calling her a few times would cost her anything. If she could make Isvira happy and get a discount on the horse later, then the little elf thought she could call her a few more times.
I wonder if her elf parents, far across the sea, would grab a switch and give their daughter a loving thrashing if they saw her being so “successful”?
The nun, however, didn’t see any problem with the castle. If anything, in her eyes, this was what castles were like—cold, dim, and unsuitable for human habitation.
She didn’t stop. Familiar with the way, she walked through the cold hall, not forgetting to explain to the little elf. “Most castles are like this. It’s a military structure.”
The little elf understood. So this castle was never meant for living! Or rather, habitation was just a secondary function; its core purpose was to serve as a military fort to establish a military presence in the territory.
But this fort stood in the economic heartland of the kingdom—who was it guarding against?
“Baron Ili’s situation is a bit special. This isn’t his main territory, so there aren’t many servants.”
The nun had already crossed the hall. She pushed open the door at the end, and Astraea finally saw the internal structure of the small castle.
The castle was like a large stone enclosure—not quite a city wall. In the middle was an open area with several wooden dummies. Ten soldiers were training with spears, not wearing armor. It seemed this was the village’s entire standing force.
“So shabby…”
The little elf complained. With this level of armament, any adventurer party could easily take these soldiers in a field battle, right?
The nun lightly tapped the little elf’s shoulder, signaling her to look closely.
Had she not looked, she wouldn’t have known; looking gave her a fright. There was a man even taller and more robust than Isvira standing in the shadows of the open area. His presence was faint. If not for the nun’s reminder, the little elf would have missed him.
Astraea almost reflexively drew the straight sword at her waist and swung at him.
This was terrifying! As an elf with maxed-out nature affinity, Astraea had nearly failed to notice this man! If he had intended to kill her, wouldn’t she have lost her head just now?
Fortunately, the nun calmed the little elf in time, or Astraea would have started casting Fireball.
“Sir,” said Isvira, who had calmed Astraea. She pressed her palms together and gave the man a slight bow.
‘This man is that so-called Baron Ili?’
The little elf, still shaken, examined the tall man. Now she had a chance to observe his features.
The baron had a gaunt face with a thick beard on his chin, and dark blond hair. He didn’t look like a noble, but rather like an ambitious schemer plotting some evil plan.
But his eyes were bright. Though his overall appearance seemed sinister, those eyes lent him a touch of righteousness.
The little elf didn’t judge by appearances. Whatever Baron Ili looked like wouldn’t change her evaluation of him—after all, they were all things that belonged in the trash.
Astraea puffed out her chest. Though her petite frame was completely hidden by her cloak, this movement still created a slight bulge in the fabric.
“Greetings, Sir,” the little elf said formally. “My name is Astraea. I’m an adventurer from Port Tils. I’ve come to visit you to purchase a pack animal.”
The little elf really didn’t want to play any more house games with these lords and nobles. She just wanted to get it over with and leave.
The Human Kingdom still had splendid landscapes waiting for her to witness. How could she waste time on these boring nobles? Even as an elf with plenty of time, no way!
“So you’re Miss Astraea from Port Tils. Welcome,” the baron nodded. “The pack animal is no problem. I happen to have an extra pack horse in my stable.”
The nun had quietly stepped aside. She was only here to introduce Astraea to the baron; the rest was none of her business.
‘Huh?’
Unlike the arrogant nobles she had met in Port Tils, Baron Ili didn’t show any contempt for Astraea. On the contrary, his tone was more like chatting with a visiting friend.
This made Astraea a bit uncomfortable. She had been ready to subtly mock the baron, but he didn’t give her a chance from the start. The little elf was a bit bewildered.
“Miss Astraea? Didn’t you want to buy a horse?”
Seeing the little elf standing dumbfounded, the baron added.
Then Astraea snapped out of it. “Ah! That’s right.”
“Then let’s go to the stable and take a look.”
Watching the baron turn and leave, Astraea couldn’t help but look at the nun again.
“Follow.”
The nun helplessly tugged the little elf along. She didn’t understand why Astraea, who had acted so lively and clever before, now seemed like a robot.
The stable was inside the wooden fence. It wasn’t large, with three stalls. A stable hand was tending to a tall, fine horse inside.
What a magnificent horse! Its shoulder height was a full 1.8 meters. To the little elf, who couldn’t even reach 1.5 meters on tiptoes, it was a giant beast.
The fine horse, upon seeing Astraea staring at it, snorted disdainfully and looked down at the little elf from its towering head.
The little elf’s fists clenched. A mere beast dared to look down on her! Even if she really couldn’t ride such a tall horse, that was no reason for a beast to despise her!
‘I’ll remember this grudge!’ Astraea thought viciously. ‘If I ever get the chance, I’ll use Fireball to burn that guard at the gate and this damned horse into hairless beasts!’
“Hehe, this little fellow has a bit of a temper. Miss Astraea, don’t take it to heart.”
The baron stepped forward and took the horse’s reins. The stable hand, who had been tending the horse, bowed to the baron and stepped aside.
The horse felt the baron’s presence and immediately softened its arrogant attitude. It even lowered its head and nuzzled the baron’s hand.
“Good girl, whoa, good girl!” the baron said, gently patting the horse’s neck. Without any effort, he calmed the proud steed.
“My father was once a beast tamer. I learned a trick or two from him when I was young.”
The baron said with some pride. It was clear he was proud of his taming skills.
“Yifan, bring Lily over.” After showing off his skills, the baron instructed the stable hand.
Then Astraea noticed what the baron had brought her to see.
“Ah, this is…” the little elf’s eyes lit up.
The stable hand led out a pony. Its shoulder height was only about 100 centimeters, looking very miniature compared to the tall horse beside it.
As a riding horse, it was completely inadequate, but as a pack animal, it performed excellently—the main pack animal of the Human Kingdom. However, for Astraea, it might even be fine to ride?
“Her name is Lily, and she is just three years old,” the stable hand introduced the seemingly miniature horse.
The pony called Lily was chestnut-colored and just matured, in the prime of her horse life. She perfectly suited Astraea’s needs.
As an adventurer (vagabond), Astraea couldn’t carry too much. For the past two years, every journey she took couldn’t be too far from cities. She badly needed a pack animal that ate little and had endurance. If she could buy Lily, she could truly begin her journey.
As for the price… that was no problem for Astraea. Over these two years, she had basically lived rough. When idle, she took quests at the Adventurer’s Guild; when tired, she sang (begged) on the streets of Port Tils; when street thugs tried to extort her, she took the chance to punish evil and promote good (robbery). She had already saved up a whopping two gold coins!
A mere pony, she could easily buy it outright. That said, the little elf still wanted to find a seller with a lower price, so after saving enough, she had been wandering the countryside around Port Tils, looking for a suitable deal.
She never expected to find such a perfect match here today. Astraea thought that even if it were a bit more expensive, she could still accept it.
Seeing the little elf’s eager gaze, the baron knew what she was thinking. So he spoke. “Miss Astraea, are you very fond of Lily?”
“Of course,” the little elf stepped forward and patted Lily’s coat. Lily stood still, allowing Astraea to touch her. “Sir, you take excellent care of your horses. So, what is the price?”
“Good eye. In that case, I’ll take the liberty of giving Lily to Miss Astraea.”
‘Huh?’
Astraea’s hand stopped. “Wha, what?”
“The baron said he would give Lily to you,” the nun reminded from the side.
The little elf was dumbfounded. She had been ready to pay, but who would have thought this Baron Ili was so generous?
No, why? Astraea didn’t believe in free pies falling from the sky. This baron must have an ulterior motive.
But what could the baron possibly want from her? ‘Could it be…’ Astraea looked down at her slightly curved chest.
The little elf’s face suddenly flushed. In her head, she was already fantasizing about a scene of the evil baron forcibly taking a virtuous woman.
“Of course, I do have one condition…”
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