In the end, the elven couple accepted Luo En as their son-in-law and, following elven tradition, offered him their blessing.
Beneath the village’s goddess statue, the elven sage who had received the request stared blankly at the blessed human knight. The Elf Village Chief beside her nearly used magic to send Luo En on a firsthand trip to hell.
‘Wait, the front lines are still fighting to the death against humans, and now our home base got stolen by a human?’
She exchanged a long look with the village chief, unable to make heads or tails of it. But looking at the radiant divine light of the Elven Goddess shining on Luo En, the sage thought, ‘Forget it. If the goddess acknowledges him, what good would it do for us to refuse? Are we really going to make a big scene and let it reach the Archon’s ears?’
A human it was, then. Elves lived long lives anyway. Neither the sage nor the village chief was unfamiliar with elves who had run off with humans.
“Well then, esteemed outsider, according to the goddess’s decree, you must enter the Bottom of the Holy Lake. Only by passing the goddess’s trial may you return.”
The sage, forcing a stiff smile, looked up at Luo En, who stood two heads taller than her.
“How do we enter the Holy Lake?”
“Simply follow the goddess’s guidance.”
“Isn’t that basically saying nothing?”
“Ahem, thank you for your wisdom. We’ll take our leave now.”
Seeing that the situation was going south, Luo En tucked Astraea under his arm and strode away quickly.
To be honest, he was amazed that Astraea had managed to live safe and sound to the age of eighteen in this elf village.
“They didn’t even tell us clearly how to get to that so-called Bottom of the Holy Lake!”
“Hey! Hey! Luo En, put me down right now! That old hag hasn’t even…”
Tucked tightly under Luo En’s arm, Astraea struggled fiercely to break free from his hold.
No matter how the little elf struggled, Luo En’s strength was far greater than hers now. All she could do was watch as he carried her step by step back home.
Luo En reached his limit and shot back: “Astraea, Teacher, are you still a child?”
“Yes, why?”
Hearing her matter-of-fact answer, he said helplessly, “Then forget I said anything. As someone about to come of age, I now have to discipline you.”
Turning into a deserted corner near the great tree of Astraea’s home, Luo En found a large rock, sat down, and laid Astraea across his lap.
“Wait, you’re not going to…”
Astraea’s eyes went wide as she looked at Luo En with a hint of anticipation.
“Disobedient children need to be taught a lesson!”
Selena eyed the little elf suspiciously, taking in her flushed face and slightly limp body.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that her daughter had done something terrible again.
Ever since her daughter left home and came back, it was as if some strange switch had been turned on. Her former sense of shame had gone who knows where. If Selena hadn’t confirmed that Astraea’s chastity was still intact, she would have truly believed the little elf had already been devoured clean by Luo En.
Selena didn’t dwell on it. She simply brought out the straight sword and longsword she had confiscated earlier.
“Here. These are your equipment. Your father specially went to the village chief and asked her to refine them.”
The little elf took the straight sword and eagerly drew it, examining it carefully.
Once a sword was forged, how could it be further upgraded?
As a human, Luo En thought the sword could be enshrined in a church, using the All-Father’s divine power and the believers’ faith to turn it into a holy relic. An inextinguishable sacred flame that continuously seared enemies. Such a sword would leave wounds on enemies that were difficult to heal.
The elves, proficient in magic and allied with the master smithing dwarves, offered their own answer instead.
The straight sword in Astraea’s hands had been plated with a layer of mithril, and the mithril plating was inscribed with a magic formation that enhanced the blade’s strength. This formation passively absorbed ambient elemental energy to reinforce the blade, and when necessary, Astraea could directly link her mana core to the formation to charge it, greatly strengthening the sword.
After such treatment, the sword had become a divine weapon capable of cleaving iron like mud.
Beside her, Luo En watched the little elf’s sparkling pale yellow eyes, then drew his own longsword.
Like Astraea’s straight sword, it had been plated with a layer of mithril with excellent mana conductivity.
And because of its size, the formation inscribed on his longsword was far larger and more complex, so theoretically, its performance was even stronger than Astraea’s straight sword.
“But Mom, isn’t mithril our strategic material? How did Dad…”
“Ahem, that was your father’s sacrifice.” Selena turned her head away awkwardly.
Astraea’s mind short-circuited, and she immediately conjured up a grand drama of her father sacrificing his virtue for her sake.
She remembered that back in the village, she’d often seen that old hag of a village chief staring at her frail father with hungry eyes. It was only because Selena guarded him well that the village chief had never gotten her way.
Luo En also felt a surge of respect. He hadn’t expected that for the sake of a human like him, his elven father-in-law would be willing to sacrifice himself.
“Is that so? Father-in-law has it rough.”
Seeing that the two were already fantasizing about terrible scenes, Selena quickly explained: “No, no! The village chief has a husband. It’s just that her husband went off to the Continent when you were still very little, Astraea. Orion is the village chief’s younger brother. He just doesn’t get along with his sister. You two…”
If she didn’t explain, Selena felt her hair was about to turn green.
“So that’s how it is. But is it really all right to use such precious mithril so casually on our weapons?”
“Oh, it’s fine. ‘Precious’ is relative anyway. Now hurry to the Holy Lake, or the goddess will blame me.”
Selena waved her hand, and a vine from inside the house bound the little elf and Luo En, sending them outside.
After confirming that her daughter was safe and had a bright future ahead, she returned to her former attitude toward Astraea.
Though, it was true that the goddess would be urging them along.
As a devout believer, Selena strove to carry out the goddess’s decree to the letter. Even if the goddess ordered her right now to hang Astraea up and turn her into Luo En’s onahole, she would hesitate for only a moment.
Her husband and the goddess’s way were what truly mattered. Her daughter was merely an accident.
“Wait! You old hag, what are you going to do to Orion!”
Realizing with a jolt that her husband was a full-grown male elf, Selena leaped out the window and sprinted toward the village chief’s house without pause.
After all the twists and turns, they were back at the Holy Lake.
Unlike before, Luo En was no longer wearing those roughly stitched leaf clothes the little elf had made. Instead, he wore a set of elven-made adventurer’s leather armor.
The leather was ordinary cowhide, but with the magic blessing of elven tailors, it was tougher than regular leather armor.
A few elven trinkets were also hung on Luo En. Now, aside from lacking a pair of pointed ears, he was the spitting image of an extremely tall elven swordsman.
“Hmm… was this boat here when we came before?”
Astraea pointed at a small wooden boat by the lakeshore.
The boat was small, just big enough for her and Luo En, and the entire vessel radiated a sacred aura.
Sacred to elves, that is. Luo En could roughly sense it thanks to his senses, which had been enhanced by the Forest Holy Liquid.
Luo En stepped forward, bent down, and ran his hand over the boat’s impossibly smooth hull. This wood was familiar to him. Back when he had been unconscious, he had seen many trees emanating the same aura at the Elven Goddess’s side.
What should this be called? Elf Goddess Wood? After all, its composition was entirely the Elven Goddess’s divine power, merely taking the form of wood.
It seemed this was the goddess’s guidance. Luo En pushed the boat into the water and stepped aboard first.
The boat swayed twice on the lake’s surface before floating steadily.
“Astraea, Teacher.”
At his call, the little elf spread her arms as if answering a summons, letting Luo En lift her up.
“Ooh~”
Carried onto the boat, Astraea obediently sat in Luo En’s arms. It was her favorite spot.
Not only could she feel Luo En’s presence, but she could also be wrapped in the warmth radiating from his body. And if she played her cards right, she could even turn a soft seat into a hard one, or go all the way to a socket.
Luo En grabbed the oars on both sides and gave a gentle stroke. The boat drifted toward Lakeheart Island at a fairly brisk pace.
“So you know how to row, Luo En?”
Astraea was a bit surprised. She had thought someone like Luo En, who had never seen any large body of water besides the small river by his home, would be hopeless in the water.
Luo En stared at the two short oars in his hands and fell into thought.
“I didn’t even use any strength?”
The little elf quickly caught on as well. Seeing that the boat moved forward at a constant speed on its own without any need for Luo En to row, she immediately understood that the goddess was up to her tricks again.
But it didn’t matter. The boat emanated a power that felt comforting to her, and Luo En’s arms held a scent and warmth she could lose herself in. The little elf even wished she could just sleep like this forever.
Speaking of which, if she teased Luo En to his limit and then pretended to fall asleep, would that unlock some strange new plays?
Astraea’s little head was once again lost in fantasies of unspeakable scenes.
The Holy Lake was vast—so vast that when Astraea was little, she had walked along its shore for a whole day and night without completing a single lap.
Lakeheart Island was also considerable in size. At least, from Luo En’s perspective, it could easily support a city-state.
The boat drifted for a long while before finally docking at the edge of Lakeheart Island. Luo En picked up Astraea, who was drowsy from sleep, and hopped onto the island in a single leap.
Looking toward the center of the island, the goddess statue, though still massive, was no longer as enormous as it had appeared from the Holy Lake’s shore.
The goddess statue was quite peculiar. Within a certain distance, it always appeared larger from afar and smaller up close.
Luo En had no idea why the goddess had designed her statue this way, but he could roughly understand that she wanted them to go to the statue.
After all, the goddess statue was far too conspicuous. He couldn’t resist going to take a look.
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