Speaking of which, it really was a rare sight.
Keti looked at the village not far away, her eyes filled with curiosity. Why were the buildings in this place all wooden tube-style structures?
While the architectural standards of the Imperial Capital weren’t all consistently high, compared to this place, it felt far more urbanized.
However, looking at it from another perspective, this place possessed a primitive and simple beauty. It was very pure and full of character, which the Silver-Haired Girl found quite interesting.
It was just that…
Suddenly, Keti realized a problem. In the middle of these deep mountains and old forests, a village had suddenly appeared. If this place was the Fairy Forest, then wouldn’t this village be—
A fairy village?!
*Gulp.*
Thinking of this, Keti couldn’t help but swallow nervously. The main issue was that the definition of “fairy” was a bit too broad. If you were being strict about it, it felt like even Magic Beasts could be considered fairies.
Keti was terrified that a few Magic Beasts might crawl out of the village in front of her. *Goo-goo-goo…* Those wouldn’t be easy to deal with. If she got nervous and accidentally jumped into her Enemy’s arms, it would be bad.
However, the Silver-Haired Girl soon realized something was off. The girl slowly tilted her head up and saw the characters written on the plaque at the village entrance—
The Village of Elves.
Well, okay, that made much more sense. This place was actually the legendary home of the Elves.
Keti immediately took a deep breath. Come to think of it, this place also seemed to be Sylvia’s hometown.
She hadn’t expected that her first time coming to this place wouldn’t be with Sylvia, but with this guy, Lynn. Before she left the team, such a thing was truly unthinkable.
Even if you traveled back in time to tell her this, Keti felt she wouldn’t believe it. Fate really was a bit mysterious.
Just as the girl was lost in thought, a trembling voice suddenly rang out from the village gate.
“U-Um… you… you guys…”
Keti was drawn to the sound, but for a moment, she couldn’t see anyone. After a while, Lynn, who was suppressing his laughter nearby, patted the girl’s shoulder and signaled for her to look down.
Wait… what was this?
Keti looked down with a bewildered expression, only to realize that a little girl in white stockings, appearing to be only six or seven years old, was standing at the village entrance.
Her long golden hair draped over her shoulders, and her green pupils and long ears all declared her identity as an Elf.
Perched on the little girl’s head was a conspicuous white dress hat that was completely disproportionate to her small head.
The little Elf girl used her hands to steady the hat, then shouted toward Keti’s side with a panicked look:
“You… who are you people?!”
“Ah, hello there~ little sister, we’ve come from the Imperial Capital~”
Looking at the little girl’s soft and adorable movements, Keti felt her heart melting. Unknowingly, she even spoke with a cutesy, high-pitched voice.
She even went out of her way to step forward, crouched down, and then reached out to pinch the little Elf girl’s cheek. Wearing a lovely smile, she greeted the other party in a friendly manner:
“Could you take us into the village? We have some business at the Sacred Tree Temple~”
Well…
In truth, Keti only said this for fun. Who would actually need to ask a little girl for permission to go somewhere? It wasn’t like this little thing could actually block her path, right?
Furthermore, even if permission was truly needed to enter the village, it wouldn’t be the turn of a little girl to grant it. Could this little one’s words even count for anything?!
However, Keti really liked the little Elf girl in front of her. Hmm… she also had blonde hair, which reminded her of Alice when she was a child. Alice was just this cute back then.
It was just a pity that she became increasingly headstrong after she grew up. It really made one feel a bit helpless and regretful~ She didn’t even know when Alice had started becoming like that.
Maybe she had pampered her too much…
But Keti was just like that; she would always show a gentle side toward cute little girls. Keti felt this was her ultimate move, and besides…
Now that she had become a Silver-Haired Girl herself, her current way of greeting in such a cute manner was definitely on par with the little Elf girl in front of her!
In terms of the “cute” attribute, she had already done well enough!
Therefore, next, the little Elf girl would surely give way to her happily and cheerfully. That’s right, it was such a simple matter!
So, next—
“You… you actually dared to… dared-dared-dared… dared to touch my face?!”
Eh?
Hmm?!
To Keti’s surprise, the expected scene where the little girl would giggle like her and say in a cute, milky voice, “Then the pretty big sister can go in, but… the ugly uncle in the back can’t,” did not happen!
On the contrary, the little Elf girl’s face darkened in a second. Then, she took a sharp breath on the spot, her eyes filled with terror, and her face turned pale with fright.
Hmm?!
Why was it like this?!
Keti hadn’t figured out what was going on and was just about to explain, “Wait, wait a minute… is there some misunderstanding? That, little sister, big sister only pinched your cheek once.”
“It was a sign of friendliness. Haven’t your mother and father ever pinched your face? Eh… wait, wait a second!”
Before Keti could finish her explanation, the little Elf girl immediately slapped Keti’s hand away. She then sprinted behind a tree, carefully peeking out with her eyes, her pale face trembling in place.
The Silver-Haired Girl’s lips twitched. No, what exactly had she done? Why did this little Elf sister look at her like she had seen a ghost? Where exactly had she gone wrong? She couldn’t understand it at all?!
“Um, little sister, my name is Keti. I’m a Teacher from the Imperial Capital’s Magic Academy. I’m not a bad person. Could you please calm down? I-I’m a very friendly big sister~ look, look, look…”
The Silver-Haired Girl nervously scratched her head. Exhausting all her skill, she finally thought of a way to coax the child in front of her.
She immediately pulled a handful of candies from her pocket—these were actually given to her by Sylvia. She held them out to the little sister and spoke with a smile again:
“Big sister will treat you to candy. Don’t be mad at big sister anymore, okay? Let big sister pinch your cheeks, okay~?”
“Uh… Cat, do you really want to pinch this child’s face that badly?”
Lynn was trying his best to hold back his laughter nearby. Speaking of which… this guy had been watching the show from the sidelines this whole time!
No, was there something wrong with him? Why was he wearing a knowing, motherly smirk?
That expression was as if he really enjoyed watching her tease the child. What was that about? It gave off a certain vibe.
*It looks like you could be a good mother~ Not bad, not bad at all. You have a great maternal instinct. So cute, so cute~*
It gave off exactly that kind of feeling!
Keti immediately wiped the sweat from her forehead, and then… the situation ran into trouble again!