Chapter 13: The Path of Indulgence Lies Within

Astraea blinked her eyes. 

She didn’t feel any change in herself. 

If she had to say, Aidan’s purification spell had actually cleared her mind, which had been dazed by the stench.

“Maybe it’s true?” Luo En’s expression relaxed beside her. 

After Aidan cast the purification, the five voices in his head really seemed to have quieted down.

Now he only felt an immense clarity. 

This long-lost sensation almost made Luo En want to cry.

The squire apprentice lunged and hugged Aidan, who was about to put away the reward the little elf had given him, and shouted as the latter could barely breathe, “Miracle doctor! Brother! You are my savior!”

When Luo En finally let Aidan go, the poor High Priest was greedily gasping for the not-so-fresh air, just like the little elf before.

“It worked, that’s good… that’s good…”

Aidan said awkwardly, waving his hands. 

Even though he could still see Luo En glowing with five colors, since the other’s problem was solved, that was fine.

As for the little elf, she was still skeptical. 

She had repeatedly examined herself with her senses, but found no difference in her body compared to before.

But on second thought, even if she hadn’t noticed anything wrong with her body earlier, it was normal not to detect anything after the problem was removed, right?

“So that means my words and some thoughts about Luo En are completely from my own heart?” Astraea confirmed with Aidan.

Aidan put on a serious tone and said, “Of course, one hundred percent from your own heart. No one in this world can manipulate your thoughts.”

That was natural. 

In Aidan’s eyes, the little elf was a being blessed by the God of Life and Reincarnation. 

Even the All-Father couldn’t interfere with the little elf’s heart without leaving a trace. 

The little elf’s thoughts and words were undoubtedly a true reflection of her heart.

As for the possibility that the God of Life and Reincarnation Himself interfered with the little elf’s heart? 

Aidan thought the gods wouldn’t be that bored.

But come to think of it, even if the God of Life and Reincarnation did interfere with the little elf’s heart, as His High Priest, Aidan would certainly assist his god.

So either way, Aidan would tell the little elf that everything was normal.

“Really?” Astraea fell into confusion. 

Thoughts of Luo En again sparked some harmonious images in her mind, but Luo En’s expression seemed genuinely cured.

So the little elf decided to test it. 

She walked up to Luo En, placed her hands on his shoulders, then looked up and stared straight into his eyes.

Although it wasn’t intimate contact, the little elf’s mind was already flooded with fantasies, and her little face was bright red.

Finally mustering her courage, Astraea spoke, “Loser…”

The scene fell silent. 

Astraea looked gloomily at Aidan, who was appraising the reward. 

Noticing her gaze, he immediately said, “No problem! No problem at all. The curse on you has been dispelled. I swear by the God of Life and Reincarnation.”

When a believer—especially a fanatical one like a regional High Priest—swears to his deity, it basically guarantees his words are true, or he believes them to be true with all his heart.

“So this is Teacher Astraea’s true thoughts?” Luo En’s words stabbed into the little elf’s mental defenses. 

Now Astraea genuinely wondered if she really wanted to act this way toward Luo En.

But she barely knew Luo En. 

Even if she were to fall, it couldn’t happen in just a few days, right?

“Sigh… forget it. Let’s go.”

Astraea couldn’t figure it out. 

Finally, she gave up thinking and decided to take Luo En to see other churches.

“Uh, do we have to go back through that damn sewer?” Luo En’s face showed distress. 

He really didn’t want to traverse the stinking sewer again.

The little elf nodded expressionlessly.

There was only this one path, unless they wanted to free climb and get caught by the Royal High Seas Fleet patrols and thrown into prison.

“Aidan, if I ever meet you in this sewer again, I’ll personally lead the investigators here.” Astraea said fiercely, but Aidan knew the little elf was just expressing her dissatisfaction.

At that, Aidan just needed to laugh awkwardly and brush it off, just like he had brushed off casting the purification spell.

What Aidan really cared about was the reward the little elf paid—the valuables she had swiped from the Viscount’s house.

The High Priest could tell at a glance they were extraordinary. 

Each was a rare collectible, whose commemorative value exceeded the gold, silver, and jewels used to make them.

If he could sell these, the extra money could push the church’s great cause forward much faster…

As Aidan pondered the fate of the valuables, the little elf had already steeled herself again.

She was about to face once more that journey which could almost be called torture for an elf.

“Loser Knight! How much longer are you going to dawdle?” Astraea looked at the still-hesitating Luo En and decided to vent her stress on him. 

“You can’t even handle this little bit? Truly a loser.”

“Teacher Astraea…” Luo En’s face turned grim. 

Remembering the little elf’s appearance, he decided to man up.

“I’m ready. Let’s go!”

Luo En took a deep breath, then plunged into the dark sewer.

“Ah… I’m alive…”

Luo En panted heavily, his face pale.

As it turned out, holding his breath before entering the sewer was the worst choice he could have made.

The distance wasn’t too long, but it was long enough that he couldn’t hold his breath the whole way.

The poor squire apprentice had to resume breathing when he couldn’t hold it anymore and then it got brutal. 

The foul odor rampaged wantonly through Luo En’s lungs. 

His oxygen-deprived brain, upon encountering the stench, immediately triggered nausea.

This time, unable to prepare in advance, the squire apprentice couldn’t bear it like before. 

He vomited right there in the sewer.

In the end, the little elf had to drag him the rest of the way. 

Now Luo En felt he had no face left to show anyone.

Meanwhile, the little elf was greedily breathing fresh air like before. 

She had no mind to mock Luo En—the smell was simply too overpowering.

Poor Astraea. 

Twenty years of elven life had made her forget what human senses were like. 

The little elf currently thought that the odor she experienced was the same as what Luo En felt.

Next, their goal was to find the church of the Goddess of Love and Beauty. 

This one Astraea knew well, because the Goddess of Love and Beauty was also the Elven Goddess.

Astraea had only discovered this after coming to the Human Kingdom. 

Once, when she prayed to the Elven Goddess, the aura of faith emanating from her was recognized by a follower of the Goddess of Love and Beauty as a sister. 

Since then, she found that praying to the Goddess of Love and Beauty and praying to the Elven Goddess had the same effect.

She found this discovery quite speechless. 

She wondered why there was no faith in the Goddess of Love and Beauty in the Elven City-State—turns out this goddess was just using a different alias among elves.

“So Teacher Astraea is a follower of the Goddess of Love and Beauty?” After seeing the little elf greet a believer, Luo En asked in surprise. 

He had thought the little elf had no faith.

The little elf didn’t know how to explain her faith to Luo En.

Being an elf yet not believing in the Elven Goddess would get her ostracized in elven society.

Even after leaving the Elven City-State, she hadn’t changed her faith. 

After all, gods objectively existed in this world. 

Believing couldn’t hurt.

“I’m just a nominal believer. I never restrict myself with the church’s rules.” Astraea had to answer like this. 

She couldn’t tell Luo En she was an elf—at least not until she was ready.

This was just a small interlude. 

When they met the church’s priest, the priest showed the same reaction as the previous two High Priests.

However, after the little elf revealed she had already visited the other two churches, the priest swore confidently, just like High Priest Aidan: “The curse is gone. You and your little boyfriend are perfectly healthy. May you be happy forever.”

“I’m not his little boyfriend!” Astraea reacted defensively, though her flushed face and attitude toward Luo En were hardly convincing.

“Want me to calculate your fate? Church sisters can give you a discount~”

“No way!”

In short, at the church of the Goddess of Love and Beauty, the little elf and Luo En came away empty-handed again. 

And the little elf no longer wanted to visit the last church.

Those who believed in the God of Strength and Courage probably didn’t have much research on curses. 

Fighting was their forte.

The Human High Priest of the God of Strength and Courage was even a general of the kingdom, still fighting on the front lines of the Royal Expeditionary Force. 

For these muscle-bound brutes, the little elf decided not to provoke them.

“Ah! Forget it. We’ll leave tomorrow. Loser Knight, you better not touch me, got it?!”

Astraea threatened Luo En fiercely, but in Luo En’s eyes, this behavior was more like acting spoiled than a threat.

Who doesn’t like a little—a beautiful girl blushing and shyly acting spoiled? 

Anyway, Luo En admitted he loved it.

And as for Luo En, he was always a gentleman in front of those he loved. 

The little elf’s request seemed perfectly reasonable to him.

As for what the little elf thought of herself…

Anyway, that night, the sleeping Luo En dreamed he was sitting by a waterfall, with the sound of “splashing” water never stopping in his ears.