The craftsmanship of the Strange Dagger was especially exquisite; its guard took the shape of a cluster of beautiful blossoms, the petals edged in deep black, gradually fading into white toward the center.
The blade mirrored the petals as well—its outer edge a smoky gray-black, transitioning inward to a silvery white.
The entire dagger glimmered with a faint phosphorescence.
The first moment Enya laid eyes on it—no, in fact, from the instant that girl approached with the box—she had already sensed something special about this dagger.
It was as if there was some mysterious connection between it and herself!
Enya narrowed her eyes slightly, and after giving the dagger a gentle shake, she shifted her gaze from the blade to the hilt.
The hilt was carved from a piece of pure black stone, densely inscribed with tiny characters—yet they were not magic runes.
On closer inspection, Enya realized it was some form of ancient script.
As for its meaning, she couldn’t decipher it just yet, but she had already guessed that this object was somehow linked to the Goddess of Night.
Red Pine City and White Stone City were neighboring settlements, and beneath the Northern Mountains, this entire region concealed many ruins from the era of the Goddess of Night.
It was entirely possible that the noble family of White Stone City had excavated underground in the past, discovering some ancient relics, and retrieved this very dagger from within.
And the flower on this dagger was nearly identical to the Black Anling Flower. Enya had once cultivated this very blossom at a ruin in the Northern Mountains.
The seeds had been given to her by Antiros.
The purpose was to use alchemy to refine a Potion that would assist in advancing to the fifth rank.
Enya gripped the dagger and tried pouring her magic into it, but there was no response—the dagger remained as tranquil as ever.
Yet some instinct told Enya that she absolutely had to keep this thing in her hand.
A trace of doubt flashed in her eyes.
“The answer may not be here… So, does that mean this isn’t the right place? Do I have to find the proper spot to use it?”
“Maybe… this is a Key?”
With this thought, Enya furrowed her brow deeply.
But she didn’t dwell on it further, instead lifting her eyes to look at the one-armed old man.
She stored the dagger away in the Library of her Sea of Consciousness, then, after setting her hand down, said to the one-armed elder, “I accept the deal. Thank you.”
The one-armed old man showed little emotion, as if he’d heard such words countless times before. Enya turned and left the room.
The little girl tugged at the old man’s sleeve.
He raised his hand and gently patted the girl on the head.
At that moment, the young man upstairs hurriedly came down, glanced at the direction Enya had left, and looked somewhat disdainful.
“Do you really think she can do it?”
“I don’t know.”
The one-armed old man shook his head, not bothering to answer directly. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly turned and scrutinized the young man.
Then he spoke.
“Either way, you can’t.”
The young man’s expression soured, but he didn’t dare retort in front of the one-armed elder. Fuming, he returned upstairs.
In the empty room, mist curled about. From the square pool, white steam rose continuously, and a figure was draped languidly at the edge of the water.
On her smooth back grew a pair of membranous wings.
Black-red long horns peeked out from her silvery hair.
Beneath the water’s surface was a long black tail, constantly stirring the water, making the surface ripple and sending more vapor rising.
This strange woman sprawled at the pool’s edge, and in front of her lay three objects.
One was the flamboyant Strange Dagger.
One was a black-purple folding fan.
The last was that bizarre, almost living, woman’s human-skin mask.
“Sigh, what a rare bit of free time.”
Enya leaned her head back and gazed up through the misted skylight, watching the blurred sky. This world had moons—once upon a time.
Not only that, there were two of them.
One silver, one purple—this was known as the Dual Moons, a legend from the age of the Goddess of Night. It was said the silver and purple moons were the Goddess of Night’s eyes, watching over the world.
“Is it possible?”
“Maybe it really could be…”
Enya murmured to herself.
After the Goddess of Night vanished, the two moons never rose again. The moons’ disappearance meant the Goddess of Night had truly left.
But where had She gone?
Enya stretched out her damp hand and touched the hilt of the dagger.
“Sigh, I can’t figure it out.”
If she couldn’t understand, there was no need to dwell on it. She would leave it aside for now; sooner or later, there would be a chance to pick it up again.
Enya turned, walked into the center of the pool, and then dove into the water. In no time, the water began to bubble and churn.
That’s right, it was boiling.
Emerging from the scalding water, Enya seemed completely unbothered by the hundred-degree heat. Even her fair, tender skin merely flushed faintly pink, as if she had no fear of such temperatures at all.
And indeed, she did not—after all, she was a half-dragon Dragon Princess. With the progress of her Transformation, Enya increasingly exhibited the traits of her dragon heritage.
Such as her abnormal body temperature and her bewildering resistance to harm.
Enya climbed up the steps, and the water droplets clinging to her body quickly evaporated into steam. She gave her tail a flick.
This sensation was strange—almost like she was wagging… cough, cough!
A touch of pink crept across Enya’s cheeks. She grabbed the base of her tail, measuring its approximate circumference. Once she’d calculated the radius, she let out a sigh of relief.
“Whew, it hasn’t gotten any fatter.”
Confirming her tail wasn’t growing any stouter, Enya let go, and the dragon tail swayed unconsciously.
It was clear she was quite pleased.
She picked up the human-skin mask from the floor. With her left hand, she swept aside the hair from her forehead; with her right, she put on the mask.
Her silvery hair took on a gray tint, the dragon horns vanished, followed by the wings and tail. In no time at all, Enya’s form shifted from that of a Dragon Princess to that of an ordinary human woman.
She crouched down, gathered up the other two items, and stored them in her Sea of Consciousness, then headed for the bathroom door.
Sophia and Nina were wolfing down food in the kitchen. It was late at night, and this was already their second dinner. They looked up just in time to see Enya step out of the bathroom, dressed in a thin, scarlet nightgown.
Sophia’s eyes went wide. Her hand was greasy from gripping a roast chicken leg, so she had to use the back of her hand to lift her face veil.
Enya wore a vibrant red nightdress with thin straps, looking especially cool and fresh. Noticing Sophia’s gaze roving over her figure, Enya’s lips curled into a teasing smile.
“My dear lady, have you looked enough? If so, I’ll be heading to my room now.”
“……”
Sophia wanted to say she hadn’t had enough, but her ears had turned bright red. She silently lowered her head and focused on the delicious roast chicken in her hand.
The meat was tasty.
And her senior’s figure looked so soft and plush—surely it would feel wonderful to touch, right?
Wait, Sophia, what are you thinking?!
Sophia realized she was getting weirder and weirder. Ever since leaving the Elven Kingdom—or rather, ever since she’d met her senior…
Was she picking up bad habits from her senior?
But her senior never taught her that!
Nina, meanwhile, stared after Enya’s departing figure until she disappeared into her room.
Turning back, Nina glanced down at her own flat chest, then sneaked a look at her own Sophia-nee.
The little Gold Elf squinted unhappily.
Why? Why is there such a big difference?
Is it because I’m not an adult yet?
Elves come of age at sixty. Before sixty, they’re all little elflings. Once they reach adulthood, their appearance and figure become fixed, and even at life’s end, they don’t wither like humans.
From sixty to five hundred is their maidenhood, five hundred to a thousand is their prime, and two thousand is the elven lifespan’s limit.
Elves usually die because their minds grow weary. When they pass, their bodies turn into light and return to the side of the Nature God, before being reborn as elves.
Our little Nina still had time to grow!
She hugged an entire chicken in her small hands, munching away with no concern for getting her face dirty, to the point where even Sophia felt embarrassed just watching.
Wendy?
According to Nina, Wendy was eating grass.
Nina had once tried to force a piece of meat into Wendy’s mouth; Wendy had spat it out for a long time afterward.
So even among elves…
Forest Elves and Gold Elves truly can’t be lumped together!
Deep into the night.
After returning to her room, Sophia pulled out the emerald pendant tucked in her cleavage and began to commune with the Nature God. After contacting Eliv, she spoke.
“Saintess, your student is safe and well. Please do not worry.”
“?”
As for Enya, she wasn’t sleeping either.
What was the point of sleeping after cultivating anyway? It was just a waste of time. At home, she’d only done so to set a good example of early rising and early to bed for her daughters.
Now, Enya lay on her side, holding a bronze hand mirror. Ever since she’d gotten the private messaging function, she and Princess Vivienne chatted every night.
Vivienne: You said you met an elf?
Enya: Yep.
Vivienne: Did you stir up trouble with them?
Enya: Why does it have to be “them”…
Vivienne: Just tell me, did you or not?
Enya: I didn’t.
Vivienne: I’m going to tell Eliv.
Enya: I didn’t do it on purpose!
Vivienne: Hehe.
The next day.
Enya had the maid summon Wendy.
Wendy, dressed in a long human skirt, entered Enya’s room with an uneasy expression, hands nervously twisting together, not daring to look up.
After standing there for a long while without hearing Enya say anything, she finally gathered her courage and asked softly, “Senior, why did you call me?”
…..
Enya gazed at the timid, quivering elf before her in silence. After a moment’s hesitation, she finally spoke to Wendy.
“I want you to impersonate me.”
“???”
“To be exact, to impersonate the human woman known as ‘Ain’.”
“???”
Even though Enya had said it as clearly as possible, Wendy still didn’t understand at all.
Huh?
Enya told her to wait, then walked over to a spot shielded from view and removed the Mask of a Thousand Faces.
Her earrings transformed into armor, concealing her true body. Then, carrying the mask, she walked back out.
Wendy stared in amazement as Enya suddenly became an armored figure, then watched as Enya approached her.
Enya pressed the mask directly onto Wendy’s face. In an instant, Wendy transformed from a proper Forest Elf into a gray-haired female scholar.
She looked herself up and down, nodded in satisfaction, and then conjured a mirror from the air, holding it up to Wendy.
“Eh?!”
Wendy stared wide-eyed at the unfamiliar face in the mirror.