Astraea puffed out her cheeks and blew gently, her ten fingers nimbly pressing the holes of the whistle.
As her fingering changed, a melodious, lingering tune spread through the small square at the village center.
Over a dozen children of various ages sat quietly on the ground, entranced by the music.
A little girl hummed softly along with Astraea’s melody.
Nearby, a nun was helping to watch over the village children, and she smiled kindly as she watched Astraea play wholeheartedly for the little ones.
When the song ended, the children applauded.
The little girl who had been humming looked up at Astraea with sparkling eyes.
“Big sister, that was so beautiful! I want to learn this… this…”
“It’s a whistle. The instrument I’m playing is called a whistle.” Astraea smiled as she introduced her instrument.
“This is a good friend I’ve carried since my hometown. Thanks to it, I’ve been able to travel all the way here. Little sister, if you want to learn, you can go to the town later.”
Although it seemed a bit dismissive to the little girl, Astraea decided to go along with it.
This village didn’t seem very wealthy.
She couldn’t stay here long.
She planned to buy a new pack animal and then continue on to the kingdom’s capital.
She was playing here only because she noticed the village resembled her hometown in this life and felt moved by the sentiment.
‘No, I finally escaped from that boring place. How can I go back?’
Astraea thought this, then added, “It seems there’s a retired musician in the town. Little sister, if you like music, you can try visiting him when you grow up. Maybe he’ll take you as his disciple.”
“Great! I’m going to become a musician too!” The little girl clapped happily, imitating Astraea’s tune, as if she had already become a musician.
In just the time of one song, she could roughly remember the tune.
Astraea had to regard her highly.
‘She might really have some talent. Maybe she could become a musician… as if~’
This was just an ordinary small village.
The little girl would probably only go to town a few times in her whole life.
In another two or three years, she would likely be taken by her family to work in the fields, and her life would probably be bound to that land—if she was lucky enough to have good weather and harvests every year.
Worse, if a famine came, the land might be mortgaged to the village landlord and she would become a tenant farmer.
No matter how you look at it, she has no connection to music.
At most, when resting by the ridge, she might recall that she once had such a dream in her youth.
Astraea thought a lot at that moment, but she didn’t say it out loud.
She just wanted to see this world.
Even if she wanted to intervene, she couldn’t handle so much.
“Thank you, Miss Adventurer.” The nun approached.
She could see the girl’s dismissive attitude, but she had a good impression of this adventurer, whose playing skill was not low.
After all, these children were not usually this well-behaved.
Mischief was common.
The nun had to put a lot of effort into disciplining them.
“May your journey be smooth.”
The nun clasped her hands together, and a faint glow seemed to emanate from her.
Astraea then felt a trace of her fatigue disappear.
“Sorry, the village has limited resources. We have nothing to offer you, Miss Adventurer.” After the blessing, the nun seemed a bit apologetic.
Such generosity made Astraea feel embarrassed.
“It’s fine! Just receiving your blessing is enough. By the way, Sister, do you know where I can buy a horse? I’d like to purchase a packhorse, or a mule would do.”
Astraea reached out to support the nun, who was about to bow.
Although she might never see her again, she didn’t want to come off as an adventurer who liked to throw her weight around.
However, she was petite, and in front of the sturdy nun, she looked like a little sister asking a neighbor aunt to bend down so she could whisper something.
“That’s no problem. The lord’s stable should be able to meet your needs, Miss Adventurer. Please come with me.”
Noticing Astraea’s attitude, the nun seemed relieved.
Her tone became cheerful, and she walked ahead to lead the way.
The boys chattered around the two, telling jokes only they understood, while a few girls kept curiously trying to look at the whistle in Astraea’s hand.
“Big sister, where are you from?”
“I come from a very, very faraway place. From the kingdom’s coast, take a boat, and cross the ocean to reach my hometown.”
“Big sister, is the sea really, really big?”
“Yes, we have to take a very big ship, probably bigger than your house, to cross the sea.”
Various questions like these.
At least in this other world where the average physical fitness was much better, the children’s curiosity hadn’t been crushed by the weight of life.
Astraea patiently answered each question.
She was happy to share this knowledge.
Maybe years later, these children would remember a knowledgeable big sister who came to this village with a whistle and played a tune for them.
“Everyone, don’t make things difficult for the Miss Adventurer.”
In the end, it was the nun’s single sentence that quieted the noisy children.
Clearly, she held authority in the hearts of the village children.
After stealthily glancing at the nun’s thick arms, Astraea seemed to understand where that authority came from.
“Up ahead is the lord’s castle, Miss Adventurer.”
The nun, who looked like she could teach physics with her fists, showed Astraea the most luxurious building in the village.
“Thank you for leading the way, Sister. Please accept this.”
Astraea pulled out a silver coin from under her cloak.
“That’s too generous of you.” The nun shook her head, not intending to accept it.
Seeing this, Astraea didn’t insist and simply withdrew her hand.
“Alright.”
Astraea walked toward the castle.
But as she passed the nun, her hand moved almost imperceptibly.
The nun clasped her hands together and offered another blessing to Astraea’s retreating figure.
‘A kind adventurer.’ The nun thought this to herself, then began to fret over the children around her.
Perhaps because they were afraid of the lord, the children didn’t dare follow Astraea.
But their curiosity wasn’t satisfied, so the treatment Astraea had received earlier was transferred to the nun.
“Sister, is what that big sister said true? Is there a really, really big sea outside the kingdom?”
“A ship bigger than our house…”
All of that had nothing to do with Astraea.
She no longer wore the gentle expression from before; a hint of disgust appeared on her small face.
The disgust wasn’t for the children, but for this lord.
On the way, she chatted a bit with the nun and also observed the village.
The village had dirt roads, and most villagers lived in thatched huts.
Those who lived in wooden houses were the cream of the self-sufficient farmers.
The lord’s stone building had obviously been built by squeezing the villagers for who knows how long.
Unlike the medieval castles with walls and treacherous terrain in Astraea’s memory, this castle only had a wooden palisade.
Inside, a small stone building stood on a mound that could be called high ground compared to the rest of the village.
On the tower above the wooden gate, a soldier in decent gear stood up from his three-meter-high tower as he saw the cloaked Astraea approaching.
“Halt! Stranger, this is Baron Ili’s territory.”
The soldier, wearing leather armor, stopped Astraea with one hand on his sword.
Astraea composed her expression and looked up at him.
She put on a fawning smile and said, “Sir, I am an adventurer. I wish to purchase a horse from the Baron. Could you please introduce me?”
The soldier sized her up.
At the moment, Astraea had nothing conspicuous about her.
Her small body was hidden under a somewhat dirty green cloak.
Her face was somewhat pretty, prettier than the barmaid at the village tavern.
Her flaxen hair hung to her shoulders, with a slightly longer braid on each side.
Except for being too small to be believable as an adventurer, there was nothing suspicious.
The soldier had seen other adventurers before.
Those guys were all tall and sturdy, and rarely traveled alone.
This made him suspect Astraea’s identity.
‘So obviously, this little girl was just some kid who had gotten too into adventure games. She must have imagined herself as an adventurer and sneaked out from home.’ Thinking this, he retreated back into the tower.
“Whose little girl is this? An adventurer? Go home and drink your milk. Don’t get scared by a beast!”
Astraea’s smile froze on her face.
She hadn’t expected to be turned away for such a reason.
Was she going to be humiliated by this minion soldier under this ridiculous castle, then go back to the village and try to attend some blacksmith’s wedding just to meet that damned baron?
Wait, that seems like a different story.
Astraea’s little mind quickly stopped those random thoughts and turned to thinking about how to humiliate this arrogant soldier.
“Hey! I’m no milk-drinking little girl! No wait, I guess I am a little girl… Anyway, I want to see the Baron! Or else, or else I’ll… I’ll uh…”
Astraea gesticulated angrily, but she didn’t know how to retort.
In her previous life, she hadn’t been good at communicating.
In this life, she was only twenty years old, which for an elf was not much different from a baby.
The soldier calling her a little girl was actually overstating her age.
But she had long been weaned!
And she had been traveling (wandering) in the human kingdom for two years.
She was no elf baby anymore!
In the end, Miss Astraea couldn’t come up with any insults and had to turn away in humiliation.
She wasn’t afraid of this soldier.
She was just planning for the long term!Chapter 2: I Kneel to the Veteran
Clunier—that was what the elves called this world.
The elven sages believed the world was spherical because the stars seen through astrological magic were all round.
But so far, no elf had ever accomplished the feat of circumnavigating the globe.
Astraea thought she might give it a try.
Either way, she had a long lifespan ahead of her.
She would definitely get bored with just one human kingdom.
However, before that, she needed to solve the problem of a pack animal.
“Sister, please don’t be angry…”
“I’m not angry.”
“Then can you stop frowning?”
“Adventurer Miss!”
“Yes! I’m here!”
The nun looked at Astraea, who was sitting upright in front of her, and sighed.
“The All-Father teaches us not to be complacent over small gains. Adventurer Miss, you placed a reward far exceeding my labor into my pocket. Is this…” The nun cautiously looked around before whispering the word that must not be heard by others, “…blasphemy?”
The nun placed the silver coin that Astraea had secretly put in her pocket onto the simple table.
The coin glinted in the light streaming through the crack in the window.
Astraea would bet that if she tossed that silver coin into any tavern, it would spark a scramble.
A single silver coin wasn’t a lot, but it was enough to make the lower classes throw away their pride and fight over it.
But the nun simply pushed it back to Astraea, as if it were no different from a common copper coin.
“But I don’t believe in the All-Father…” Astraea muttered.
She was an elf—why would she believe in some human god?
According to the human church’s doctrine, all non-humans were to be lined up and slaughtered.
Astraea didn’t have any strange fetish; she saw no need to give a god who despised non-humans one more inhuman believer.
However, after seeing the nun’s sharp gaze and arms that were thicker than her own legs, the little elf quickly bowed down at light speed: “I was wrong, Sister.”
Astraea lowered her head, putting on a repentant expression.
Seeing her correct her mistake, the nun’s expression improved considerably.
Did Astraea truly admit her mistake?
Of course not.
The little village church was indeed a bit shabby—all wooden structure, not even a single stained glass window.
Moreover, every week the nun found a way to give the village children a free meal.
Astraea couldn’t change the children’s circumstances, but she could let them eat a little better.
She didn’t voice her reasons, because she knew that a stubborn believer like the nun would never accept her gift.
However, the little elf, who had been turned away at the baron’s castle, had her own reasoning.
“Actually, this silver coin is payment I’m giving in advance to Sister. I still need to ask a favor of Sister.” Then Astraea briefly recounted her experience at the baron’s castle gate.
“I need Sister to introduce me to the baron.”
The nun pressed her palms together, and Astraea felt as if she had been covered in a Holy Light Blessing again.
“Then follow me, Adventurer Miss.” The nun probably saw that Astraea wouldn’t give up, so she simply took the convenient exit Astraea had offered.
The little elf wore a “plan succeeded” expression as she hurried to follow the nun.
Fortunately, although the nun had long legs, she didn’t stride too quickly, so the little elf could keep up with her short legs.
From the village church to the baron’s castle took about ten minutes to walk.
Astraea chatted with the nun about interesting incidents that had happened nearby.
“Sister, did you know? The church at Port Tils is very, very large. Although the nuns and priests there aren’t as kind as Sister, their sacrament tastes quite good.”
Astraea described the scene she had seen when she first arrived in the human kingdom.
At that time, she had disguised herself as a believer and scammed a meal at the church in Port Tils.
“Mm.”
“There was a viscount who dueled a baron in the street. He lost but still bullied others using his status. It was really interesting.”
“Mm. That viscount is my uncle.”
“And… huh?” Astraea was stunned.
That shameless viscount was the nun’s uncle?
Had she stepped on the nun’s landmine?
Would the nun discuss some physics problems with her?
The little elf’s mind started wandering wildly again, but this time she didn’t need to pull herself back.
The nun’s next sentence struck her like lightning: “Setting aside my uncle’s matter, Adventurer Miss, the elf species wanted in Port Tils—that’s you, isn’t it?”
“Eh? H-how could that be?” Astraea averted her gaze guiltily.
It was true she was wanted, but right now she didn’t look like an elf at all, did she?
She had carefully hidden her ears and such with magic, and even made her face deliberately plain.
Although her magical skill wasn’t profound, it was already a stretch that the high-ranking priest in Port Tils could see through her true appearance.
But a low-ranking nun from such a nondescript little village wanted to see through her magic?
That was a pipe dream!
If this nun could actually see through her magical disguise today, then Astraea swore she would wash her hair upside down tonight!
The nun, a bit speechless, pulled out a small mirror from her pocket.
“Eh?”
The mirror showed Astraea’s current appearance.
Her hair color and such hadn’t changed, but her features had become much more delicate.
Her originally rough skin had turned smooth and fair, and her ears had become pointed and long, trembling slightly with their owner’s emotions.
Even though her face was still a bit dirty, it was obvious that Astraea now could be called an exquisite young… beauty in the making.
‘B-but why?’
How had her magic failed?
In her perception, the nun was just a lowest-rank nun!
The little elf felt her brain smoking.
She immediately sensed the residual magical circuits on her face and found a trace of holy light within.
It was very clear.
Astraea’s eyes sharpened.
To be able to detect and destroy her disguise magic with a wave of a hand—this nun before her was definitely no low-rank nun.
She was a hidden big shot!
Even the high-ranking priest at Port Tils could only see through her magic, not destroy it without her notice!
And now…
The little elf immediately probed the surroundings with her magic.
But facing her undisguised magical fluctuations, the nun showed no reaction.
She simply stood there, looking at the suddenly bristling little elf as if nothing had happened.
‘I’m done for. She really is an expert.’
Astraea felt her back getting damp.
She was drenched in cold sweat.
Elves were nature’s darlings.
Every elf received a blessing from the Elf Goddess at birth.
The blessing varied in strength, but overall, elves’ magical talent was generally much higher than humans’.
Add to that their long lifespans—as long as they didn’t die young, every elf would eventually become a master of magic.
However, Astraea was still in the young stage of being an elf.
Although she was quite skilled in magic, for now she could at best go fifty-fifty with some decently strong adventurers.
Under the careful tutelage of the sages in the elven village and her parents for eighteen years, the little elf had deeply understood one principle.
That was… as long as the green mountains remain, there’s no shortage of firewood!
Facing a mysterious powerhouse, if you can neither win nor escape, then you have no choice but to do a full 360-degree spinning airborne, sincerely prostrate yourself with a full-body dogeza and beg for forgiveness!
“I’m sorry, honored nun! I failed to recognize your greatness! I didn’t know which deity had descended to experience mortal life, and I ended up offending you! I deserve ten thousand deaths! First sin: I shouldn’t have teased your uncle. Second sin: I shouldn’t have insulted you with silver coins. Third sin: I attempted to hide the truth from you. Please, I beg you, let me go like a fart! I will never appear before you again!”
A string of apologies without any pauses, seemingly practiced countless times and thus extremely fluent, poured out of Astraea’s mouth as she performed a dogeza prostration in one second.
Her clothes had been folded and placed neatly beside her in an instant, and it even looked like she had used magic to smooth out the wrinkles, making them appear brand new.
At that moment, the nun still hadn’t figured out what had happened to make Astraea, who had been chatting with her just a moment ago, pull such a stunt.
“Wait, are you really an elf?” After realizing, the nun couldn’t help but twitch her lips.
How did she remember that the kingdom’s records described elves as proud and preferring death over surrender?
In the end, this unknown creature kneeling on the ground, trembling incessantly and utterly shameless—aside from having a pair of long ears, how was it anything like an elf!
The nun was left bewildered alone in the wind.
She was indeed not an ordinary low-rank nun, but she wasn’t powerful enough to casually see through and destroy the little elf’s magic.
This matter was actually just an accident.
As everyone knows, whether it’s mana or holy light, they are essentially just two different forms of the same energy.
Since they are both energy, they will inevitably produce fluctuations when deployed.
And the little elf’s magic wasn’t strong enough to remain stable after being subjected to two holy light spells in quick succession.
Therefore, after the nun’s two Holy Light Blessings, the disguise magic on Astraea’s face logically failed.
As for why the little elf herself hadn’t noticed, it was simply because she hadn’t been on guard against the nun, so she didn’t bother to monitor the spell’s operation.
In fact, from the moment they left the village, the little elf’s disguise magic had already failed.
Yet at that time, Astraea was still obliviously telling the nun the story of the viscount and baron at Port Tils.
The nun had been staring at the little elf’s big pointy ears for a while before she couldn’t help but expose her.
“So you, embarrassing elf, put on your clothes and stand up from the ground first!”
The robust nun blushed for the first time in front of Astraea as she scolded her.