Chapter 23 – Clean-Up and Better Late than Never
Once she was absolutely sure the Orc was thoroughly and unmistakably dead, Tillysha tossed the overheated musket she’d used as a firewood substitute to the side. Despite having a touch of洁癖 (clean-freak tendencies), she didn’t care if her clothes got dirty, collapsing to the ground like a ragdoll out of sheer exhaustion.
This time, the money pouch (聚宝盆) had saved the day — her stroke of luck, obviously. Of course, the larger factor was that this Orc was just a buffoon with all brawn and no brains; it had practically killed itself without her lifting a finger.
No, scratch that. To be fair, most Orcs are exactly like this—just dumb brutes that can’t think straight. Any other Orc might’ve pulled something even weirder.
Thankfully, his mix of low intelligence and clumsiness saved her this time. Otherwise, Tillysha would’ve been in deep trouble this time — oh, no, not cool. Hot, rather. A single-use solution was the best she could have hoped for. The worst outcome? Well…
Golden Elves live at least five thousand years unless they get excessively worn out. So as long as she didn’t overuse it, this golden artifact could become a family heirloom passed down forever.
Tillysha massaged her temples, having certainly thought about the consequences. She feared them deeply precisely because she knew what would’ve happened had things gone south.
But hey, the result turned out fine this time.
Why were there Orcs in Coleman Forest anyway? This forest bordered Ruglien, where dirty stuff like monsters were common, but not much of the Demon Race ever showed up here. The specific reason was unclear to Tillysha, but perhaps there was a peace treaty of some kind between the Demon Race and the Light Race.
If some students happened to pass through Coleman Forest now, wouldn’t they be in serious trouble?… Ah, wait… She almost forgot the wounded girl lying nearby.
Tillysha dragged the fiery musket over to where the Orc and the Elf girl had been fighting earlier. As expected, the Elf girl was still unconscious.
Checking her breath, Tillysha realized the girl had only suffered minor flesh wounds, probably passing out from sheer exhaustion during the fight. Plus, she had likely been frightened out of her wits after encountering such a situation for the first time.
Tillysha opened the control panel of her Golden Oriole (金盏鸟), wincing at the single “1” remaining in her stash of tokens.
Another wasted week for her.
She pressed the lottery button, no longer caring about rarity. Tillysha wasn’t expecting much at this point. All she hoped was that this time she’d get something useful.
The Precious Treasure Pot didn’t disappoint her. A flash of white light emerged from the silk pouch, leaving a small bottle of fresh red liquid on her palm, only about as long as her index finger.
[Basic Vigor Potion]
Tillysha knelt down on one knee, looking at the serene face of the Silver-haired Elf. Her soft elf ears twitched, and her silvery hair glistened like stars under the moonlight.
How much she resembled Aistride.
She positioned the unconscious Moon Elf carefully, sat cross-legged, and let the girl’s head rest on her knees. She uncorked the bottle and gently poured some vigor potion into her slightly parted lips.
“Cough, cough…” The silver-haired girl coughed a few times, slowly opening her eyes. In her blurry vision, a hazy golden figure gradually came into focus, made up of countless overlapping shapes.
Oh no.
Tillysha quickly covered her ears, partly to avoid suspicion and partly because she wanted to keep her identity hidden. She didn’t dare transform back into her human form but also didn’t want others to see her distinct elf ears that revealed her true identity.
Fortunately, the girl wasn’t fully awake yet. She blinked, then struggled to close her eyes again.
After confirming the silver-haired girl wasn’t in mortal danger, Tillysha stood up and removed her hair accessory under a nearby tree.
The golden-haired elven girl turned into a black-haired human boy.
They say Orc ears can make good medicine and their tusks can be carved into bone knives, making them one of the few “loot” and “drop items” from Orcs. But cutting off Orc ears is too cruel, and extracting teeth requires special tools that Dillin wasn’t interested in dealing with on a dead Demon.
Before leaving, Dillin even specifically found a banana leaf to use as padding for the Moon Elf.
After all, she was the one he had saved. He spent two dazzling potions, one thunderous alchemical pot, two musket bullets, and almost cost him his life. If anything happened to her afterward, it would be all for nothing.
“What the hell?” Looking back on the whole hunt, Dillin cursed aloud, slapping his forehead as he left the forest with his musket in hand.
What had he even come here to do?
To complete his weekly quest.
Why complete the weekly quest?
Because you get tokens.
And where are the tokens?
He’d already used them all up! Not only that, but the rewards from those tokens were also gone.
Then what the heck was the point of coming here?! He’d taken all the risks for nothing.
Bad luck galore today! Did he forget to check the almanac before heading out? Oh wait… This world doesn’t even have an almanac or anything.
Dillin grumbled all the way out of the forest. Unbeknownst to him, soon after he left, four students in Coleman uniforms arrived. They hurried to the forest’s edge.
“I hope we’re not too late… Are you certain Lady Aistride’s younger sister came to Coleman Forest?” asked a tall and handsome Wood Elf.
“Yeah, I saw her this morning,” affirmed the leader, a smart-looking Elf Prince wearing glasses. “There have been Orc sightings in Coleman Forest lately, but hopefully she’s fine.”
(Update was late… 0.0)
