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Chapter 81: The Elf Loli’s Mother

Reiner watched Martina hugging her greatsword lovingly, pondered for a moment, and then said, “Miss Elyanna, you are hired.”

“Hired?” A flicker of confusion flashed in her eyes.

Reiner explained, “It means I’m willing to travel with you, but in return you will enchant our gear whenever we have downtime.”

Clutching her staff, Elyanna beamed, “Got it!”

Reiner looked around at the surrounding pines and added, “However, your parents have to be informed; I don’t want any unnecessary trouble.”

Elyanna pouted again, “I’m not a child…”

“I don’t want to be mistaken for a child trafficker.”

Although Elyanna disliked the demand, she saw Reiner’s firm attitude, put her hands together, and closed her eyes.

Moments later Nora’s cat ears pricked up and she said, “Master, something is coming.”

As soon as she spoke, a cold wind swept by, and a white figure appeared in the middle of the snowy field.

It was another elf.

She wore a thick white robe, her hair the same pale blue as Elyanna’s, and her deep eyes seemed able to pierce one’s soul.

She looked like a young girl, her exact age impossible to guess.

Elyanna ran over, leaped into her arms, and whined, “Mom, I want to go adventuring with them!”

She turned her head and proudly introduced, “Reiner, this is my mom, Selina, the strongest Stargazer among us.”

Reiner did not catch the meaning, but when he saw Selina holding a staff as well, he guessed that a Stargazer was some sort of elven mage.

No sooner had Elyanna finished than Selina introduced herself again, “Hello, my name is Selina.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Reiner.”

Selina seemed unlike the two elves they had met yesterday; she appeared quite polite.

Selina fell silent, looked down at the Elyanna in her arms, and said, “It’s good to see the outside world and broaden your horizons, but I wish you would wait a little longer.”

“No, there aren’t many humans who can speak Elven, and if I miss this chance who knows how long I’ll have to wait,” Elyanna said earnestly, lifting her chin.

She looked as delighted as an elementary schooler about to go on a field trip.

After a long silence Selina said slowly, “You can go adventuring after you have learned the human language.”

Elyanna shook her head vigorously, “I can’t wait, I want to go out right now.”

Selina fell into thought again, then looked at Reiner once more, “Mr. Reiner, would it be convenient for you to take her along? I can compensate you accordingly.”

Arms folded, Reiner grinned from ear to ear, “That’s perfectly convenient; as for compensation, let her enchant my equipment as payment.”

Selina nodded slightly, “Then I’ll entrust Elyanna to you for the time being.”

With that, she turned and walked into the forest, and a gust of wind made her figure vanish.

Honestly, Reiner rather wanted to learn that stylish entrance-and-exit technique.

Elyanna looked up at Reiner and said with a smile, “We’re done talking, take me with you.”

Reiner nodded.

Since all obstacles had been cleared, he had no reason to refuse her.

Another person just meant another mouth to feed.

“By the way, you said your mother is the strongest Stargazer; what exactly is a Stargazer?”

Elyanna thought for a moment and replied, “It’s a warrior who excels at many kinds of magic; they can enchant equipment like I do and also unleash terrifying long-range spells.”

“Are there other classes?”

“Sure, my dad is a Blade Strider, quick and agile, a tough and powerful fighter; before I was born he single-handedly slew a land drake that threatened the forest.”

“Any others?”

“There are also Whisperers, very composed types; their weapons are bows and daggers, they excel at scouting and ambushes, and some races can even turn invisible by day or night.”

Reiner thought back; of the two elves he met yesterday, the green-haired archer must have been a Whisperer.

“Only those three?”

Elyanna nodded, “Those three cover most of it.”

“If you see me accidentally step on flowers or grass, will you give me trouble?”

Elyanna scratched her face awkwardly, “I’ve heard about your incident; some of our more old-fashioned folk do that, using strange excuses to hassle people, but anyone under 500 tends to be open-minded and won’t force humans to cherish plants.”

“Then I’m relieved.” Reiner seated her by the campfire and handed her a piece of black bread. “This is what we usually eat.”

Elyanna looked down at the black bread in her hand and squeezed it hard.

Finding it as hard as a rock, she looked up at Reiner, “Is this really edible?”

Her gaze then fixed on Martina, who was wolfing hers down, and she imitated her, biting the edge of the bread.

Unfortunately her bite was too weak; after struggling for a while she left only a neat row of teeth marks.

Elyanna waved the black bread before Reiner, “Th-this is really food?”

“If you can’t bite through it, slice it thinner.”

Reiner used a dagger to slice the bread thin and handed it back.

Elyanna took a single bite and frowned, “It’s sour and salty… not tasty.”

As soon as she spoke, the black bread vanished from her hand and reappeared at Martina’s mouth.

Though they could not speak the same language, Martina seemed to realize Elyanna disliked the bread and did her little favor.

Reiner asked curiously, “What do elves usually eat?”

Elyanna answered without hesitation, “Wild berries, mushrooms, nuts, grilled fish.”

Compared with most people in this world, that was rather refined fare.

After all, poor farmers lived on wheat gruel or boiled beans and could seldom afford even black bread.

Reiner took out a piece of white bread, sliced it, and handed it to Elyanna, “Try this.”

She took a bite and nodded, “This is good! Still hard but tastes much better than the black one.”

This girl had quite the picky palate.

Reiner kept slicing and feeding her. “Of course, the two breads differ in price by a factor of 10; this tiny piece costs as much as 20 loaves of black bread.”

Elyanna shrugged and continued nibbling on the white bread.

While she ate, Reiner began gathering the equipment from Martina and Nora.

By the time she finished, a small mountain of gear had appeared in front of her.

Reiner raised an eyebrow at Elyanna, hinting madly, “Say no more, you know what to do…”

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