“Nia, here are today’s clothes. I’m leaving them with you.”
“Oh, and the weather was bad the past couple of days, so the quilt feels a bit musty. Since it’s sunny today, please help me hang it out to dry. I’ll go make some breakfast.”
Just finishing her morning exercises, EI changed out of his clothes as soon as he got home, then brought the wooden tub holding the clothes over to Nia.
Nia’s face twitched slightly as she glared at EI, helplessly reaching out to take the tub.
Since that day, EI had been increasingly natural about calling her to do tasks like this.
Whether it was just her imagination or not, Nia couldn’t shake the feeling that if things kept progressing like this, her future situation might become quite troublesome.
Carrying the tub back to her room, Nia changed her clothes inside.
The white long socks wrapped around her thighs, the smooth fabric clinging to her skin, stirring a strange sensation within her.
She had to admit, humans truly surpassed elves when it came to comfort.
Leaving aside their flashy appearances, the comfort level of these clothes was indeed far better than the coarse hemp garments worn by elves.
If she had to point out any downside, it was that these clothes were too complicated to wear—putting them on took quite a bit of time each time.
Aside from that, there were basically no flaws.
So, as a powerful elf, Nia quickly adapted to human clothing.
She tightened the black lace butterfly bow tie on her skirt; the long ribbon trailing to her waist looked just like a butterfly about to take flight.
What’s with making work clothes so fancy?
She muttered the question in her heart, tugged at the giant bow at the back of her dress, hugged the wooden tub, and headed back out to the yard.
Autumn and winter days in Turgue were cold but clear, with the forest’s trees standing like lifeless sculptures beneath the crystal-clear blue sky.
No sooner had Nia hung the quilt out for EI than his loud shouting rang out again.
“Nia, Nia, come quick! Something big is happening!”
Voices of men shouting came from outside the yard.
Hearing the words “something big,” Nia immediately put down the quilt and turned to leave the yard.
“What’s going on?”
“Nia, what is that thing?”
Following EI’s pointed finger, Nia saw a group of “dwarves.”
More precisely, they were humanoid creatures with bat-like heads and sharp teeth, their bodies covered in scale-like armor, leaving large patches of filth wherever they walked.
“Those are imps!”
After replying, Nia glanced over the suddenly appearing imps, silently counting their numbers and analyzing the battle situation in her mind.
She quickly got two pieces of information from the group of imps.
The good news: their number was around forty, not too large, making them relatively easy to handle.
The bad news: since so many imps had appeared, it meant the dracomorph was nearby.
“What should we do, Nia?”
“What else? If you don’t want them to ransack your house, then come help me take care of them now.”
Hearing that imps were invading his house, EI’s expression changed immediately.
He drew his bow, swiftly nocked an arrow, and aimed at the advancing imps.
Before he could finish speaking, Nia charged at the imps, her longsword slicing into flesh.
The unlucky imps were pierced in the chest, their black-brown blood spurting out.
Sensing the enemy’s intrusion, the imps huddled together.
But weak creatures huddling together were still just weak creatures huddling together, and before a trained and experienced knight, their attacks posed no threat.
Without even using magic, relying solely on swordsmanship, Nia tore a hole through the imp ranks, killing one with every strike.
Meanwhile, EI shot from behind.
The imps’ scales were merely decoration; arrows easily pierced their bodies.
Screams and howls echoed continuously as the black-brown blood spread across nearby trees and soil, painting a scene straight out of hell.
Suffering heavy losses, the imps began to flee, but exposing their unguarded backs to the enemy was an incredibly foolish mistake.
Soon, every imp nearby was dead, except for one still fleeing.
EI took aim, but before he could release the arrow, Nia raised her hand to stop him.
“Not killing it?”
Seeing Nia halt him, EI asked curiously.
“Of course we will. But first, let’s see where it’s running.”
“What difference does that make?”
“There’s a reason.”
Nia fixed her gaze on the fleeing imp and explained, “Frightened creatures usually can’t think straight.
Their mind is focused on only one thing when running—getting back to a safe place.”
“Where do you think is a safe place for imps?”
EI stroked his chin and gave his answer: “The dracomorph?”
“Exactly. We can determine the dracomorph’s location by tracking where this imp runs.”
“Nia, you’re a genius.”
“…”
Nia gave him a very speechless look.
This was just basic forest survival law.
What was so genius about it?
“So what are we waiting for? Let’s go check it out.”
Unaware of what she was thinking, EI eagerly said.
“Mm.”
Nia grabbed her sword and started to leave, but suddenly remembered what had happened a few days ago.
She stopped and warned, “We’re just going to observe the imp’s route.
Don’t charge in alone again—dracomorphs aren’t something we can handle right now.”
“Alright, I’ll follow your lead.”
“Also, don’t stray too far from me, don’t…”
“Got it, got it! If you don’t leave now, the imp will be gone!”
Before she could finish, EI dashed off toward the imp.
Watching his retreating figure, Nia sighed and followed after him.
After tracking that imp through the forest for more than ten minutes, Nia saw more imps ahead—this time numbering over a hundred, all slowly moving in the same direction.
After scanning the imp group to ensure their path posed no threat to His Highness, Nia called out to EI behind her.
“We have to go back,” she said quietly.
“Why?” EI asked. “Aren’t we going to take care of them?”
“We can’t.” Nia replied. “This many imps means the dracomorph is close. If we act here, we might attract its attention. Then none of us will get away.”
“Then… fine.”
EI weighed the dense mass of imps ahead and, after considering the pros and cons, agreed to Nia’s proposal.