Baron Ili and Sister Isvila stood on the tower, watching the young man and young woman walk away side by side, remaining silent for a long time.
“What a Heteromorph.”
After the figures of the two and the horse could no longer be seen, the Baron seemed to sigh as he spoke. Sister Isvila stood to the side, her hands naturally clasped together. A faint holy light surged from her body, making her appear as if draped in a sacred garment woven from glimmers.
Neither the Baron nor the Sister were particularly powerful individuals, but both had qualities beyond ordinary humans. The way the little elf had bristled in alarm during the contract signing was enough to make them realize she was not human. Moreover, the little elf’s magic circuit had almost disappeared in that instant, and the Baron, who had never seen a little elf before, caught a glimpse of her true form.
“She actually managed to remain unscathed under the All-Father’s gaze.” The Baron saw the faint light radiating from the Sister. “Those heretics in the church are terribly mistaken.”
“They have twisted the divine will of my Lord and lied to everyone. Miss Astraea is also an extraordinary elf.”
The holy light on the Sister grew denser, almost becoming tangible. This was a sign of her mental breakthrough. When a clergy’s mind draws close to a deity at a certain moment, they involuntarily emit the radiance of that deity. The Church of All-Father calls this state “Blessed by the Holy Spirit.” And those who become archbishops or even the pope are all blessed by the Holy Spirit.
“Sir Baron, your heart is wavering.” In this state, Sister Isvila could easily see through people’s hearts, and the Baron’s various distractions naturally did not escape her eyes.
The Baron was not surprised. Seeing the Sister now, even if she were to say the All-Father had possessed her, he would not find it strange. As for his own heart, the Baron had already considered it: “I’m just leaving myself an escape route. I’m not a devout believer of the All-Father. Among the nobles, who truly believes in the All-Father? That boy Ron is still young. I can’t let him stake everything on an illusory ideal like I did.”
“Then why did you entrust him to Miss Astraea?”
“Hmph, the way that boy looked at that Heteromorph was practically dripping with longing! If I didn’t let him go, he would have sneaked out tonight!” The Baron knew his son too well, even though he did not admit his own educational shortcomings. “Leaving is fine. The farther the better, so that that old king won’t be able to settle scores with him.”
“One day, the true radiance of the All-Father will dispel the heretics’ distortions and bring true salvation to humanity.” The holy light on the Sister gradually faded, for she was, after all, only a mortal. After the holy light faded, the Sister recovered from the state of being blessed. The usual Isvila resumed control of her mind. As if suddenly remembering something, she asked, “Does Ron know that Miss Astraea is an elf?”
“Holy crap!”
The Baron’s hand suddenly gripped the wooden railing tightly, breaking off a piece. But he had no mind for that. He only had one thought.
‘That brat wouldn’t have killed his future daughter-in-law with one sword slash, would he?!’
“It’s fine. Elves have long lifespans and extremely high magical talent. Miss Astraea’s age might be greater than the sum of ours. Even if Ron tried to fight her, he couldn’t win.”
The Sister’s words relaxed the Baron. He thought it over and realized it did make sense. That Heteromorph elf looked petite, but who knew her true age? Such an existence would certainly be able to keep Ron in check. The Baron was already cheerfully fantasizing about seeing his future grandchildren, if he ever had the chance.
—
Regret. In short, she was filled with regret. Just as Astraea, upon hearing the generous salary, could not empathize with her self from a second ago, now the little elf could not empathize with her self from when she signed the contract. Not only could she not empathize, she even wanted to draw her sword and cut that self down.
Ron wasn’t much of a problem. Although Astraea always felt that this young man harbored some ill intentions toward her, he had indeed put away the arrogant attitude he had at their first meeting. Astraea thought she could tolerate that.
The problem was that she seemed to be being watched. That unpleasant feeling of being watched, from the moment Astraea left the castle with Ron until they left the village, the little elf had sensed it a full 13 times! It also made her bristle 13 times, and several times she almost couldn’t maintain her Disguise Magic.
‘I was so stupid, really. I only knew signing the contract would get me money, but I didn’t expect to be targeted by that All-Father…’
Yes, the little elf was absolutely certain. The existence watching her was that human deity, the All-Father! That feeling of making an elf bristle could not be mistaken. Only an evil deity who loves elves so much that they turned the Prosperous Empire into the Hidden City-State could emit such an elf-enemy aura!
As for why the All-Father liked making Elf Love TV so much, don’t ask. Anyway, the only explanation Astraea could find in elven texts was that “the All-Father was an inherently evil human brat who had taken loving elves as his mission from birth.”
But Astraea thought it was more likely that elves also had a craze for Human Love TV back then, treating weak humans like Hagan’s pet Hakimi, and then ended up screwing up during the era when the All-Father was still active. Who started the “hissing” first doesn’t matter now. Anyway, humans and elves have been loving each other for so many years, “you love me, I love you” almost like “Honey, Honey” from a certain ice city. The exact origin is untraceable.
Astraea, who was human in her past life and now an elf, had no interest in dwelling on this. She only felt that vengeance begets vengeance, and when will it end? Better for everyone to drag out the lords and nobles of both sides and give them a good thrashing, then both sides can live a beautiful new life together. Humans can thrash elven nobles, and elves can thrash human nobles. That’s the most fair and just. The little elf thought she was a genius.
But such things were just daydreams. The little elf knew she was not some kind of “Eastern Han succubus” that could make humans and elves set aside their prejudices with a wave of her hand. If not for her complete worldview from her previous life, the little elf who grew up in elven society would probably hate humans like other elves.
Oh, right, Ron was still a squire? If he found out her true identity… A scene appeared in Astraea’s mind:
Ron stood before her, his face full of righteousness and a longsword in hand. A golden light continuously radiated from his body.
“How dare you trick me, Heteromorph!”
The young man shouted angrily, his golden glow growing stronger, making it almost impossible for the little elf to open her eyes.
“The All-Father witnesses me!”
The longsword wreathed in golden flames in the young man’s hand swung down violently!
“Argh!”
The little elf could only let out that one cry before she perished…
Astraea shuddered, and a hint of fear crept into her gaze as she looked at the young man beside her.
“Teacher Astraea?”
Ron was a bit confused. He couldn’t understand why his petite teacher kept spacing out and often bristled. After thinking it over, he could only attribute it to the little elf’s lack of intelligence. But that was fine. Even if this tiny teacher couldn’t teach him anything, he would soon become a knight of the kingdom! Ron had confidence in that. As for the teacher? She just needed to be pretty.
‘Astraea, hehe, little Astraea…’
“Ron?”
“Hmm? What is it, Teacher Astraea?”
Ron stopped his fantasy and looked at the little elf who was already riding on Lily’s back. Lily had no saddle, but Astraea was an elf who was close to nature. She sat sideways on Lily’s back steadily, while Lily trotted along the dirt road with her short legs.
The little elf had overcome her own delusions, and her curiosity took over again. “I’ve always been curious. You said you were a squire, right?”
Ron puffed out his chest proudly. Although he wasn’t wearing armor, at that moment he acted as if he were clad in his father’s enchanted armor. “I am a squire of the kingdom!”
“Then, Sir Knight, where is your horse?” Astraea asked. “Sorry, I mean your mount?” Considering that the phrasing “Where’s your horse?” wasn’t very polite, and that in this other world, a knight’s mount wasn’t necessarily a horse, the little elf deliberately changed her wording.
The little elf was genuinely curious. Baron Ili’s tall horse, though a piece of work, was undoubtedly a fine steed. Then what about Ron, the baron’s son? He was also a knight. As the son of a noble, he should have his own mount, right?
Ron’s face darkened. The honor he had felt moments ago seemed to vanish in an instant. Yes, as a knight, he had no horse… Then what should he be called? A horseless knight?
Fortunately, the little elf was an elf with extremely high emotional intelligence (sarcastic) and of great age (not). The moment she saw Ron’s expression change, she guessed his situation.
“Ahem, look on the bright side. Your sword is quite good.” Astraea gently patted Lily’s neck. Lily obediently moved closer to Ron, and the little elf reached out with her other hand to pat Ron’s shoulder in consolation.
But she wasn’t lying. The longsword Ron carried was indeed a weapon of excellent quality, much better than the crude straight sword she had.
Mentioning the longsword lifted Ron’s spirits again. He truly loved this sword. Apart from his luggage, this longsword was the only weapon he brought out.
“This is a gift my father gave me when I turned 16.” Ron drew the longsword from his back. From his practiced movements, the martial arts routines the young knight had trained in were specifically designed for the longsword.
The longsword was a full 1.7 meters long, requiring two hands to wield. The handle had no extra patterns aside from texture to increase grip, completely unlike a noble’s weapon. The silver-white blade reflected a dazzling gleam in the sunlight. Astraea could tell at a glance that this was a great tool for grinding up infantry.
But the problem was, this thing was completely an infantry weapon! Which knight swings a two-handed sword while on horseback? Baron Ili was clearly training his son as an infantryman!
The little elf felt she should get used to the weird family situation of Baron Ili, but she felt a bit despair.
‘If I stay around these weirdos too long, will I end up like this too?’