Witch Monastery

Chapter 410: Chapter 410: The Dark Elf Loli

On the other side, Charles whipped his head around, following the beam of Theresa’s light toward the direction she’d shouted. He quickly spotted the curled-up silhouette: the figure had wrapped themselves in fabric nearly identical in color to the surrounding rock—a trick that had almost fooled his perception at first.

There’s actually another person here!

His nerves, which had just begun to relax, snapped tight again. He strode forward in a few quick steps and ripped away the camouflaging cloth, exposing whoever was hiding beneath it.

He raised an eyebrow, a bit surprised by what he found.

It was actually a Dark Elf girl, her skin a glossy pitch black, hair long and snow-white, and a pair of crimson eyes gleaming like gemstones.

Her build was typical for an elf—she looked far from even five feet tall, and her chest was completely flat.

She was clearly young, her delicate face still tinged with the innocence of childhood, and at that moment, she was curled up on the ground, red eyes shining with unshed tears, her entire expression screaming terror. freewebnovёl.ƈom

Charles walked forward, grabbed her by the scruff of the neck, and put on an exaggerated tone: "A-ha! An evil Dark Elf! As a champion of justice, I can’t let such wicked creatures roam free. Prepare to face the hand of justice!"

He tried to look threatening for effect, only to see the little girl blink her wide red eyes like a kitten caught by the nape, completely still, her face the very picture of submission.

Clearly, she couldn’t understand a word he was saying.

Nymeria rushed over and, with all due seriousness, translated Charles’s lines into Elvish for the Dark Elf girl.

Immediately, he saw the little girl’s expression turn from shock to utter horror. She began kicking her short legs and poured out a stream of frantic words.

Charles understood none of it. He turned to Nymeria. "Translation, please? What’s she saying?"

Nymeria patiently explained, "She says she’s just a child, she’s never done anything bad—she only came out to hunt monsters, then got captured by the orcs, and she’s begging for mercy, pleading with you to spare her life..."

As she spoke, sympathy flickered in Nymeria’s eyes. "Priest Charles, I honestly think she’s telling the truth. She’s so young—would you really execute a kid like this?"

Charles replied in Common, "Of course not! I just wanted to spook her into being honest. Tch, who knew she couldn’t even understand Common—there goes my plan."

He shook his head a little, a touch amused by her lack of language knowledge. "Alright, just ask her for some basic info. Then tell her, as long as she acts right and sincerely turns over a new leaf, she might just earn her freedom."

Nymeria nodded, relaying the message to the Dark Elf, and Charles set her down. After all, she wasn’t a real kitten—carrying a child around like that was heavy work.

The two elves chattered in Elvish for a while, until Nymeria summarized, "Priest, she says her name is Hanni Harren, from the Harren family clan of Menzoberranzan. There are eight in her family; the eldest is her grandmother, though she’s retired, and the one in charge now is her mother..."

Charles quickly waved a hand. "Whoa, slow down! I’m not asking for a census—just the important stuff!"

Nymeria instantly caught on. "Oh! Sorry, I get it now."

She turned back to the little Dark Elf and spoke for a while longer, then reported, "She says her family’s main business is with Purple Worms—specifically raiding Purple Worm nests to steal their eggs and harvest things like egg white and Purple Worm venom."

"This time, they heard there’d been a huge earthquake on the surface, and a bunch of massive new tunnels opened up. They suspected it was the work of Purple Worms and figured there might be a nest nearby, so they came hoping to make some money by hunting."

Charles nodded, seeing the logic. Purple Worms were gigantic monsters covered in durable purple scales, able to tunnel easily through stone—whenever they bored through, they caused minor earthquakes or cave-ins.

They sounded a bit like the Chthonians, but were fundamentally different creatures: Cthonians were essentially anomalies of the material plane, each one basically a fragment or avatar of the Great Old One Shudde M’ell.

Cthonians had magma-hot bodies, a fear of water, octopus-like tentacled heads, ate all kinds of gems, and wielded psychic magic to control other creatures as servants.

Purple Worms, by contrast, were natural creatures—huge underground monsters, but independent living beings.

Their purple scales could be crafted into all sorts of high-quality gear; their mouths were so enormous they could swallow a horse whole.

Most sought-after was their venom—reputedly the most potent toxin in the material world, far stronger than even wyvern venom.

But since Purple Worms almost never left the Underdark, only the Dark Elves really benefited, making their poisoned weapons infamous across the lands.

By Charles’s math, this meant Hanni’s family, while small, was probably quite comfortable—at the very least, they weren’t poor.

He let all this information sink in as Nymeria continued, "She said they boated across the Darklake, but soon after arriving here, got ambushed by orcs. She got separated from her mother and ended up captured."

That was the whole story. Nymeria stood and waited for Charles’s decision.

Charles mused for a second, then asked, "Hey, do you know how to get out of here?"

He called for Willo at the back to bring him the map and handed it to the Dark Elf. She leaned in, wearing a confused expression at first, but after Nymeria translated, her eyes suddenly lit up: "Yes! That’s where we docked our boat. We were ambushed by the orcs nearby."

"I still remember the way! Are you guys going that direction? I can show you!"

Nymeria’s face lit up as she translated, and Charles visibly relaxed, nodding, "Perfect, that’s not out of our way. If all goes well, I’ll get you back to your family."

After Nymeria translated this, the little girl nodded vigorously. "Got it! I’ll be good, I promise!"

Then her stomach gave a sudden, loud rumble. Charles glanced at her midsection, and the girl clutched her belly, looking embarrassed. "Thank you, but... do you have anything to eat? I’m starving! The orcs didn’t give me anything at all!"

Nymeria’s expression changed, and she instinctively clutched her Bag of Holding to her chest, then looked up at Charles with pitiful eyes. "Priest... she’s hungry. Can you see if there’s anything to feed her?"

Charles smiled at her. "Didn’t you fill your Bag of Holding with snacks? Why not share a little?"

Nymeria looked even more pitiful. "Priest..."

She was kindhearted, but sharing her own treats? That was asking a lot.

Charles just laughed, took pity, and reached into his own Bag of Holding, pulling out a hotdog and handing it to Hanni.

The little Dark Elf’s mouth opened wide—no etiquette, nothing but pure hunger—as she inhaled the food in huge bites, only to suddenly choke, turning purple in the face as she struggled to breathe.

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