Free Web NovelAfter walking some distance through the forest, Vieya suddenly turned around. Tiya, who had been following behind, was surprisingly sharp—at the very instant the slime looked back, she immediately ducked behind a tree.
Vieya froze for a moment. She honestly had no idea what her former teammate was trying to pull.
Maybe she should just grab her directly and lay everything out on the table. At this point, she was already numb to it all. Being recognized by someone from the past didn’t really matter anymore—no shame, no embarrassment.
Yeah, yeah, I turned into a slime loli. If you want to laugh, hurry up and laugh. After you’re done, remember to come collect your reward like a good girl...
She understood that urge to mock. Sometimes, even Vieya herself wanted to laugh.
With that thought, she turned back toward a particularly thick tree trunk behind them and said outright, “Tiya, come out. I’m also quite interested in the astrology you studied. Come out and let’s talk?”
Aislin glanced at Vieya beside her, a little curious, but said nothing.
The next second, a rustling sound came from the woods.
The hooded girl first peeked out from behind the tree, sneaking a look at Vieya. After confirming that her expression was calm, she finally stepped out at an unhurried pace.
Standing in the middle of the path, facing the sharp gazes of the two, Tiya showed a hint of nervousness—rare for her. She cleared her throat and hurriedly said, “What I said earlier may have been offensive, but this is my first time in the Elven Forest, and I truly don’t know the way. I could only follow behind the two of you to seek a slim [N O V E L I G H T] chance of survival.”
An astrologer who doesn’t know the way?
Vieya found the excuse painfully flimsy. She simply raised a hand and curled her fingers at Tiya. “Come here.”
“...I’m coming, then?”
Tiya swallowed, but this time she was mainly watching Aislin’s expression.
Aislin was staring straight at her, as if the moment she made any inappropriate move, she would draw her sword and unleash a full starburst, erasing her—this unknown threat—on the spot.
What a fiercely loyal guard. Who knew where the old captain had conned her from...
“You know each other?” Aislin asked, her eyes bright.
“Ahem, of course we do,” Tiya rushed to answer first. “After all, she’s the Holy Sword’s wielder. Anyone with a decent intelligence network can find information on her. Very famous...”
“And you still said all that, knowing she’s the Holy Sword’s wielder?” Aislin raised a brow, keenly sensing that something was off about this hooded girl.
“A Holy Sword that belongs to the human race, now taken by a monster girl—it’s neither proper nor legitimate,” Tiya argued methodically. “...To those of us who value inheritance and tradition, wouldn’t that naturally make her an evil slime?”
“......”
It sounded so reasonable that Aislin was momentarily at a loss for words. After a brief silence, she turned her gaze to the slime, deciding to act based on her best friend’s attitude.
If her friend didn’t object, she wouldn’t object. If her friend objected, she would object.
“You were chased into the Elven Forest, weren’t you?” Vieya looked at Tiya, paused, then added, “I heard everything you said to that young man just now. After you leave here, are you planning to go seek refuge with Aurora and her sister?”
“Well... I haven’t really thought that far yet,” Tiya said with a troubled look, her mood sinking. “After all, between those two sisters, I don’t get along very well with the younger one. And the matter my teacher entrusted to me before he died—I still have no leads at all. He told me to seek out the Light Hawk who can bring hope to the chaotic world... Do you know where the Light Hawk is?”
“Light my ass!” Vieya ground her teeth. If Aislin weren’t here, she’d already be greeting Tiya’s backside with her shoe.
As a transmigrator who had come to this world, after forming her own squad, Vieya often camped out in the wilderness while grinding monsters with her team. On those countless nights with no entertainment, they passed the time by chatting around the campfire.
Once tomorrow’s battle plans were set and the night watch assigned, the rest of the time was idle conversation. Occasionally, Vieya would talk about herself, sharing stories from her memories.
Stories—everyone in the team listened happily. Laugh and be done with it. But Tiya was different. She liked pulling out a notebook to record Vieya’s stories, and would even come chat with her about them later... and then start shouting the names of skills from those stories during actual combat.
For example: Spiral Flash Super Wheel Dance Roar Third Form, Flowing Blade Like Fire, Invincible Bind...
At first, when Tiya shouted those things, only the other teammates gave her strange looks. Vieya didn’t care. But one day, when those phrases became something Tiya constantly muttered—and she could shout them out in front of others without changing expression—something terrifying happened.
Everyone’s odd gazes first landed on Tiya... and then shifted to Vieya.
“Wow, Hero big brother. These are the troops you trained? So cool~”
No, not me. Don’t learn from her!
“This is weird, Captain... why do I feel like Tiya’s gone crazy?”
Aurora, remember this. If you can understand chuunibyou, then you can understand Tiya.
“How did she become like this? Shouting and jumping in front of tens of thousands of people in the arena—doesn’t she feel ashamed?!”
Not me, not my fault, don’t look at me!
The shadows of the past surged back. The heat of that day, the laughter ringing in her ears, sweat on her face, her limbs turning icy cold—all of it came vividly alive in her memory.
Vieya’s face darkened instantly. For some reason, Tiya beside her suddenly shuddered, instinctively stepping two paces away from the slime girl.
“Forget it.” Vieya sighed softly. “Tell me what’s been happening on the grasslands since the Great Khan’s death. And while you’re at it, explain why you were being chased and why you ran here.”
Tiya nodded seriously and, without hesitation, recounted everything that had happened on the grasslands over the past few days—clear, well-structured, detailed where needed, concise where not. Even someone completely ignorant could untangle the situation after listening once.
Vieya, however, frowned as she listened, then asked, “How are Aurora and her sister doing?”
“They have very little presence,” Tiya replied. “Among the candidates most likely to become the next Great Khan, they don’t even make the top ten. They were only recently brought back, after all—no foundation, slim hope... But Ophina’s destiny star is still very bright. Nothing will happen to her for the time being. Unless some supreme powerhouse capable of obscuring and interfering with fate steps in.”
After hearing this, Aislin also sighed with emotion. “Human competition is really fierce. Hundreds of people fighting over one throne... and they’re all from the same family, blood-related siblings. Among us elves, while there is competition between siblings for the throne, it’s much rarer. Elves have a hard time producing the next generation...”
“Aislin, do you have any biological brothers or sisters?” Vieya suddenly asked.
Aislin shook her head. “No. Only someone like Elliti, who shares blood but not the same father and mother.”
After chatting a bit more, the three gradually grew familiar with one another. Tiya decided to temporarily follow behind Vieya and act together, repeatedly promising she would absolutely not cause trouble—and could even help them locate their mission target.
Vieya didn’t object. Aislin said nothing either.
Soon, guided by astrology, they followed Tiya to the vicinity of a massive arched hill. Nearly a hundred meters tall, the hill was a single solid mass of rock—but a cave had been hollowed out at its base, plunging into bottomless darkness.
“Oh dear...”
Tiya let out a surprised cry. Holding her astrological water mirror, she blinked and explained, “The monster from the elf sister’s mission—the one attacking passersby—has already been killed by someone else ahead of time. Looks like all that merit is going to slip through our fingers.”
“Killed ahead of time?” Vieya frowned. “Then why did you bring us to this cave?”
“Oh, come on. That monster’s fate line suddenly became very thin this morning—but it didn’t break. It wasn’t until we arrived at its cave that the fragile fate line suddenly snapped, snap!”
Tiya made an exaggerated gesture and continued, “Which means it was seriously wounded this morning but didn’t die immediately. It only finally breathed its last inside this cave just now.” fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
Vieya thought for a moment, then asked Aislin, “Aside from you, did any other elves accept this commission?”
“No,” Aislin shook her head. “Our task orders only have one copy. Once it’s taken, no other elf can take it—unless the mission is confirmed as failed, or the elf who accepted it voluntarily abandons it. Only then can someone else receive it.”
“And if the target dies by accident like this, can we still exchange it for merit?” Vieya asked.
“That depends on how intact the corpse is,” Aislin said gloomily. “If it’s badly damaged and we can’t find the real killer, we’ll probably only get a small amount of reward merit.”
“Looks like we still have to go in,” Vieya said, gazing at the cave.
......
Meanwhile, at the outer perimeter of the Elven Forest, a large force of grassland Direwolf Cavalry had already gathered—the most elite unit on the plains.
At the front stood a middle-aged man clad in golden soft armor, riding a direwolf over two meters tall. He surveyed the area with commanding presence, as if waiting for something—or calculating something.
Suddenly!
A blood-soaked figure burst out of the Elven Forest, tumbling and scrambling toward the patrolling cavalry.
“—Report! The Third Prince has returned!”
In an instant, the entire cavalry formation stirred. The middle-aged man in golden armor immediately waved his hand and led a group forward.
As he drew close, his expression changed abruptly.
“Third Brother, how did you end up like this?”
“Don’t even ask, Big Brother. That Holy Sword wielder from the southern border showed up inside for no reason—cough cough—I almost didn’t make it back!” The blood-covered Third Prince burst into tears. “Big Brother, you have to stand up for me! This is our grassland—how can we let outsiders come in and make trouble?!”
“......”
The middle-aged man fell silent for a moment, then said evenly, “So what you’re saying is... your mission failed?”
“Yes.” The Third Prince suddenly felt his hair stand on end, as if he had become a corpse eyed by vultures. He gritted his teeth. “I did my best!”
The air grew cold.
The middle-aged man waved his hand. “Men, escort my Third Brother back to the tent to rest. And find some good physicians to treat him.”
The next second, the Third Prince was hauled away by several soldiers.
“Heh heh. The Holy Sword wielder?” The middle-aged man sneered softly. “The former Great Khan didn’t dare touch you—but that doesn’t mean I won’t. Someone, send word to Lord Xubing.”
He glanced at the cavalry beside him and added calmly, “Tell them that the Holy Sword’s wielder they’re interested in has been surrounded by us inside the Elven Forest. But our strength is insufficient to capture her—we need their power.”
“Understood!” the messenger cavalryman clasped his fist. Then suddenly his entire body went cold, as if crushed between thousands of tons of ice. Trembling with fear, he hurriedly corrected himself:
“Understood, Great Khan!”
