“Drip—drip—”
Filthy water droplets kept falling. Astraea sidestepped to avoid a drop of sewage that almost landed on her head.
Her small nose wrinkled, and she made a face as if she was about to vomit.
“Damn it… Ugh… I never want to see… ugh… a sewer again…”
Astraea forced herself to endure the stench, nearly throwing up her dinner from two nights ago.
As for why she was here? It could only be blamed on the Duke’s mission.
“Teacher Astraea, don’t you have any… magic that can purify the air?”
From inside the tin can walking in front of the little elf came Luo En’s voice. He had now changed into the armor prepared by Maximus. It had to be said that a fully armed Luo En finally looked like a real knight.
It was just that Astraea couldn’t understand why the Duke was so fond of blue.
Hearing Luo En’s question, Astraea simply waved her hand. “I do have one, but the Magic Circuit for that spell is too complicated. I haven’t figured out a simplified version yet. If I used that spell, I’d probably purify the entire Royal Capital’s sewers.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
Luo En raised one hand. A stable ball of light illuminated their surroundings. After a week of practice, he could now steadily cast magic with one hand.
Even if it was just a simple Lighting Spell.
“It is, but my MP isn’t enough. If I forcibly drew on it, it would only drain my magic core dry.”
In fact, the little elf did have many strange and wonderful spells, but most of them couldn’t be cast due to her MP capacity.
As a juvenile elf, no matter how talented she was, there were limits. Besides, she was just an elf with slightly above-average talent.
“Alright, Teacher Astraea. Stay close to me,” Luo En said. He had already drawn the standard straight sword from his waist.
“Hmph. I’m not some fragile backliner.”
Astraea also noticed the change in their surroundings. She likewise drew the straight sword they had confiscated last time from her waist. Although the sword was a bit too long for her, it was just right for the little elf’s strength.
“I am a noble, magic swordsman!”
The little elf suddenly burst into action. With her left hand, she cast a Wind Pressure Magic, directly blowing away the stench. At the same time, Wind Magic accelerated her movement. Astraea, matching her forward momentum with her right hand, swung her sword!
“Gah!”
An inhuman scream rang out. A goblin hiding in the darkness was instantly killed. Then, dozens of goblins surged out from around the little elf, surrounding her.
These were the mission targets this time. Maximus had sent the little elf and Luo En into the Royal Capital Sewers to eradicate a Goblin Nest of unknown origin.
“Astraea!”
As her guardian knight, Luo En had no time to think about what a “magic swordsman” was. He only knew that his beloved was now surrounded, and he hadn’t even stood by her side yet.
That instantly enraged Luo En. Wearing a full set of knight armor, he leaped forward with a powerful stride, then slammed heavily into a goblin. Next, he drew his sword and swung horizontally. The standard straight sword, under the effect of his immense strength, swept through the goblins in front of him like a hot knife through butter, cutting them all in two.
No technique, purely relying on stats. Luo En had never learned any one-handed sword techniques, but his overwhelming strength completely made up for that.
After all, these goblins knew no martial arts, and few could even keep up with Luo En’s speed.
Luo En thus cut through the goblins’ ambush, standing beside the little elf with his straight sword in one hand.
Astraea’s eyes sparkled. As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. At this moment, the blue tin can version of Luo En, covered in goblin blood, was the most beautiful of the beautiful in the little elf’s eyes.
After using a Wind Magic to blow away the blood stains on him, Astraea safely leaned against the back of the tin can. “Not bad. You’re a lot stronger than when we first met.”
Back then, Luo En was still thin and small, barely matching the little elf’s height.
But Luo En did not respond to the little elf’s praise. Under his full-covering helmet was a serious expression.
“Teacher Astraea, please stay close to me. I don’t want you to get hurt at all.”
With that, Luo En stopped his MP output and pulled the little elf into his arms with one hand.
Astraea did not struggle. She simply obediently let Luo En hold her. However, Luo En was now a tin can, so Astraea could only feel a cold, hard surface.
“Mmm… Why do you have such a strong possessiveness? As a guardian knight, that’s a real turn-off, you know?”
The little elf didn’t even raise her hand. She simply constructed the Magic Circuit for the Lighting Spell out of thin air.
Such a simple spell no longer required her to use her hands.
A brighter, softer light than Luo En’s orb shone around them. The surviving goblins gathered together cautiously.
“They didn’t run away?”
Astraea was a little surprised. The last time she encountered such disciplined goblins was the last time.
The little elf recalled that Giant Goblin that could speak Elvish. If the goblins in the Royal Capital Sewers also showed such high discipline, didn’t that mean there were plenty of those highly intelligent goblins too?
“Luo En, don’t underestimate them. I think there should be more ambushes ahead.”
Astraea felt they could no longer treat these goblins with a playful attitude. In her previous life, she had seen many doujinshi about elf humiliation. Although some of those settings involved things like icicles inserted into certain parts, the main reason those bad scenarios happened overall was due to underestimation.
The little elf would not make that mistake. She closed her eyes, trying to carefully sense the surroundings…
“Ugh!”
In an instant, the little elf’s eyes flew open and she vomited over Luo En’s arm.
When one sense is blocked, the others become more sensitive. Having been holding it in, the little elf could no longer bear it and threw up messily.
Fortunately, she reacted quickly, or else she would have vomited on Luo En.
Luo En stood still, holding his straight sword and keeping watch on the goblins. Using Astraea’s flickering light orb, which was unstable due to her distraction, he carefully searched for any possible ambush spots.
“Gugu… Gaga!”
Seeing Luo En frozen, several goblins exchanged glances, then let out a roar.
A few goblins ran together and leaped. Luo En could even discern some crude coordination among them.
These goblins were already more organized than the group he had seen a month ago! But goblins were just goblins after all. Even with organization, they couldn’t use such a small number to wear down a fully armored knight.
Even if that knight only had one free hand.
Luo En swung his straight sword with his left hand. The flat of the blade swept away the goblins that pounced. Then he returned to his vigilant stance.
With that done, Astraea finally emptied her stomach. Thanks to Luo En’s control, not a drop got on him.
“Ugh! Cough, cough…” Astraea finally stabilized the Lighting Spell’s energy supply. The soft, bright light illuminated their surroundings again. “Sorry. Leave the rest to me.”
Having made such a huge fool of herself, the little elf was a bit annoyed. She had to pull herself together, or her lofty image (highly exaggerated) in front of Luo En would be completely ruined!
Forcing down the urge to vomit, Astraea extended her right hand. “Submerge!”
It was dual-casting! While maintaining the Lighting Spell, she constructed a new Magic Circuit. The water elements drawn by the little elf’s magic core gathered, and then a Water Prison appeared out of thin air, enveloping all those goblins.
The submerged goblins struggled frantically. They couldn’t even hold onto their weapons, each one desperately trying to swim out of the Water Prison to get a breath of not-so-fresh air.
“Hmph! Trying to escape?”
Astraea increased the element attraction. Powerful pressure suddenly appeared in the Water Prison. Countless amounts of water flooded into the goblins’ pointy, curved noses. Completely losing their last breath, the goblins gradually stopped struggling. Finally, they sank to the bottom with their eyes rolled back.
The little elf relaxed her hand. The Water Prison immediately lost its shape and merged with the ordinary water flowing into the large drainage channel in the center of the sewer.
Although Forest Magic was not her specialty, it was too easy to deal with a group of goblins that didn’t even know what elements were.
“Phew…”
Astraea seemed to hear Luo En exhale under his thick helmet.
Although she wanted to tease him now, the stench of the sewer made her too weary.
The little elf could only continue to curl up in Luo En’s arms as he carried her forward.
“Teacher Astraea’s magic is amazing.”
Luo En casually added a compliment, warming her heart. But her mouth still had to be stubborn. “I know that without you telling me.”
Is being tsundere outdated? No. What’s outdated is arrogance, not tsundere—especially pure love tsundere.
It would just be even better if they weren’t in a sewer.
“Clank, clank, clank.”
The two said no more. They simply moved forward in silence. The knight’s hand rested on his straight sword. The elf’s Magic Circuit remained on standby.
It was no exaggeration to say that even if an unarmored Maximus appeared before them and ate this combo unexpectedly, he would be thrown into a fluster.
As they advanced, the originally plain stone path of the sewer began to have some wooden constructs. These looked similar to the chaotic structures found in an ordinary goblin village. Astraea guessed that the entire Royal Capital Sewer network had already become a huge goblin settlement.
After all, there had long been rumors in the Royal Capital that occasionally, lone women would go missing. But generally, those who walked alone were beggars or commoners. Since no nobles had been attacked, the City Guard did not take the situation seriously.
“As they say, the strongest fortress is often breached from within…”
Observing these messy constructs, Astraea muttered a complaint.