“Oh dear~ little sister, don’t be so shy~”
Looking at the bountiful elven lady striking a seductive pose right in front of her, Katy felt like her entire field of vision was being filled by those two lumps of pale flesh.
The elf before her wore something that was less clothing and more a few strips of cloth haphazardly stitched together.
The tips of her reddened ears trembled, and her eyes shimmered with a watery light that seemed about to drip.
“Since you’ve come to this paradise of pleasure, whether you’re a boy or a girl, big sister will take good care of you~”
Katy struggled desperately to keep her eyes from wandering while clinging to the doorframe, trying to pull her body away from the pair of pale mountains closing in on her.
Right now, she desperately wanted to stab the version of herself from half an hour ago who had said, “Since we’re in a new place, why don’t we split up and look around?”
‘I must have been kicked in the head by a dwarf!’
Wasn’t it said that elves were cold on the outside but passionate inside?
Why did the one she meet immediately look like she was about to start filming a cross-species brothel review guide?
‘Gray, save me!’
Two hours earlier, at the Teleportation Network exit.
When Katy and Gray finally crawled out of the teleportation network and set foot on solid ground again, Katy felt as if she had just endured a spiritual assault that lasted a century.
“Urgh…”
Leaning against the wall, the girl’s face was pale, and she felt like her soul was about to throw up.
‘What in the world was that damned network?’
‘Why had I heard all sorts of overlapping whispers from the Void in there?’
If Gray hadn’t been right beside her, constantly chatting to restore her sanity, Katy felt she really would have gone mad on the spot or fallen into becoming some unspeakable witch.
“You think you’ve seized fate by the throat, yet every path you personally choose is but a smooth road to the hall of endless change, hee hee…”
The voice was layered, like ten thousand crows screaming in her mind at once.
“The order you pride yourself on is but a fleeting moment in the garden; death and decay have already sprouted in human hearts. Why not let go of your obsession? Witness all things return to that warm, paternal putrescence…”
The voice was kind and slow, yet carried the wet, slimy sound of pus dripping.
“Such extreme ambition! Such perfect obsession! Continue to indulge in your grand schemes; the higher you stand, the more enticing the pain and joy of your fall… Come, in the ultimate pain and delight, you will… become complete.”
The voice was like silk brushing against exposed nerves, carrying a shuddering temptation.
“Miss Katy, are you okay? Motion sickness?”
What made it worse was that Gray beside her looked at her with concern, his eyes clear, while she could only shake her head weakly.
Those voices that seemed to whisper right in her ear—this guy hadn’t heard them at all?
‘How was that fair?’
‘Was it because his brain was still too smooth for the evil gods to even bother with him?’
“I… I can’t…”
When she came out of the network exit, Katy felt her face had turned green.
The staff member beside her was still wearing a professional fake smile, explaining that it was a normal physiological reaction to experience mild dizziness and auditory hallucinations when using the network for the first time, and that eating something would help.
Katy wanted to pounce and bite him.
Seeing this, Gray silently crouched in front of her without a word.
“Get on. I’ll carry you.”
‘Hah, men.’
Katy rolled her eyes in her weakened state.
‘From my understanding of men, he’s definitely thinking of taking advantage right now!’
Then she found herself on Gray’s back, being carried to Shengya City, the nearest autonomous city in the human realm to Holy Branch Forest.
‘Since I can ride on my mortal enemy’s back and strut around, I might as well let him experience a maiden’s warmth.’
Shengya City, an autonomous city at the border of human and elven territories.
Away from the influence of the Noble Union, the air itself seemed sweeter.
Katy lay on Gray’s back, bouncing with each step.
Though still weak, her mind had started working.
Based on her vast experience with comics, the girl looked forward to seeing the kind of super-elven beauties with blonde hair and blue eyes and beautiful elven warriors.
‘Slurp.’
The thought got her a little excited.
“Miss Katy?”
Feeling something wet on the back of his neck, Gray turned his head worriedly.
“Are you crying? Is it because you’re feeling too bad?”
Realizing she had drooled, the girl quickly sucked it back and wiped it on Gray’s shoulder.
“N-No, it’s, it’s cold sweat!”
She quickly changed the subject.
“Um, Mr. Gray, where are we staying tonight?”
“Don’t worry. I have some connections here. Finding a place to stay won’t be a problem.”
Katy nodded.
‘As expected of a former member of a super-popular team—he even has connections in a backwater like this.’
If Lothric City, with its tall buildings and magical technology, was a first-tier metropolis, and Knox City, where only the church and Hero Association buildings were tall, was a third- or fourth-tier county town, then the place ahead… was at best a large village.
Shengya City.
Looking around, Katy saw that the streets were lined with wooden houses at most three stories high, covered in vines.
The most abundant things in the city, besides people, were various towering trees.
She counted less than ten pointy ears in sight—far from the elf-crowded scene she had imagined.
“So many big trees. Do elves live on them?”
“Some conservative ones do, but the main residents of Shengya City are actually humans.”
Gray explained to the curious girl.
“Eh? Why?”
Katy was puzzled.
“Isn’t this the closest city to Holy Branch Forest? Even if there aren’t pure-blooded elves, there should be plenty of half-elves, right?”
Hearing this question, Gray’s steps faltered slightly.
His smile faded, and he shook his head with a bitter laugh.
“Miss Katy probably never took a course on ‘General History of the Kala Continent,’ did she?”
Found out to be illiterate on the spot, Katy’s old face flushed.
She awkwardly buried her face into his back.
“I thought so.”
Gray sighed, his voice becoming lower.
If humans were the chosen ones of the Goddess, overthrowing the Demon Race under the Primordial Hero and building a glorious civilization, then the elves’ fate was a similar but opposite tragedy.
He began to narrate that bloody history slowly.
The elves, who thought highly of themselves, with long lifespans and powerful magical talent, had raised the banner of rebellion against the demon race earlier than humans.
At that time, humans were still in a state of ignorance.
The elven rebellion met with the most brutal suppression from the Demon Race.
The Holy Branch Forest, which once covered a quarter of the continent during its peak, was burned down to a corner smaller than even Knox City.
And more ironically, after humans rose and signed the Peace Treaty with the Demon Race, the elves’ situation did not improve.
It only changed from being openly slaughtered by demons to being secretly poached by humans.
“Elves are naturally beautiful and have high magical affinity. Whether as playthings or slaves, they fetch sky-high prices on the black market.”
Gray’s voice carried a hint of unspoken anger.
“It wasn’t until four years ago that the Dawn Blade intervened, using the news that the previous Saint was a vampire as leverage to force the Church to issue the Anti-Elf Slave Trade Order, and the elves’ situation slightly improved.”
He still remembered Ye Yinlin saying at a team drinking party that she joined the Dawn Blade to save the future of elves, and the disappointment in her eyes when she left.
Gray could never forget that.
“Ahem, w-well, Mr. Gray.”
Seeing that she had touched on a sore spot, Katy quickly coughed twice and changed the subject awkwardly.
“Since this place is so big, how do you plan to find that elven sister named Ye Yinlin?”
“Uh…”
Gray gulped, his eyes starting to wander.
“This is a bit complicated to explain. Why don’t we find a place to stay first?”
In truth, he had no idea how to find Lin.
If she didn’t want to be found, the number of people in the world confident enough to dig her out could be counted on one hand—and he, a Magic Warrior, was certainly not among them.
As for why he came here…
Gray secretly glanced at the girl on his back, a flicker of guilt passing through his heart.
He just wanted to find a place where the Military Department and the Church wouldn’t bother them, so he could continue their…
Ahem.
So he could continue training her to be an excellent priest.
Finding teammates?
That was just a side quest.