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Volume 2 Prologue Part 2

「I’m sorry for bothering you so late at night. I’m a traveler. I’ve been attacked by bandits and lost my way while escaping. Please help me. 」

After saying that, Elmer banged on the door of the house. There was no reaction for a while, but then footsteps slowly approached. The peephole in the door opens, and a pair of dark eyes stared at Elmer appreciatively. Then the door opened.

The one to appear was a woman in dirty clothes. Her long black hair was tangled as if it had never been combed, her lips were brown and dry, her half-open eyes had a frightening glint in them. He could not discern her age very well, but for all that he knew, she could be either over 40 or less than 20 years old.

「It’s a dirty house, but please come in. 」

The woman said with a voice that seemed so quiet it could disappear at any moment.

「Thank you for the help. 」

Elmer breathed a sigh of relief as he walked through the door.

「This way… 」

The woman shows him to a worn out table. Elmer nodded silently and sat down in a chair that was nothing more than a slice of a log. Then he removes her heavy crossbow and sword and places them at his feet.

「Can I get anything to drink? 」

Elmer said to the woman, took out his purse and placed one gold Elam coin on the table, which was equivalent to 100 Elam silver coins, an amount for which a commoner family could live comfortably for a month.

「I don’t need money… 」
The woman slowly shook her head.

「… because I don’t have the opportunity to use it. 」

After saying so, the woman scooped water from the jug with a ladle, puts it in a wooden cup, and offers it to Elmer.

Without even trying to smell it, Elmer drank the contents of the cup in one go as he held it with both hands. The water inside was so surprisingly pure that he felt as if he had been reborn. At the same time, his stomach roared loudly, signaling his hunger.

「Oh, s-sorry about that. 」

When Elmer said embarrassedly, the woman finally seemed relieved and smiled, and then she pours something like stew from an iron pot she’s kept right by the fireplace into a wooden bowl.

「Here you go… 」

And she timidly offered him a wooden spoon as well. Peering into the bowl, he saw various kinds of mushrooms, and the smell of medicinal herbs hit his nose.

It was a soup he’d never seen before, but now was not the time to be worrying about it. He scooped it up with a spoon and put it in his mouth. The taste was strong, but not so bad that you couldn’t eat it. Elmer greedily brought the spoon to his mouth and quickly drank the mushroom soup.

「Thank you. I feel alive again. 」

When Elmer thanked her, the woman quietly nodded and took the empty bowl from him. With his thirst quenched and his hunger satisfied, Elmer was able to think calmly again.

「Are you living alone in a forest like this? 」

「Yes… 」

The woman answers while making the bed in the back of the room.

「Why? 」

Elmer asked, but the woman did not answer. Elmer looked like he had something to say, but he stayed his tongue, because she literally saved his life, so he wanted to repay her for her kindness.

「If you want, why don’t you come to my mansion? You’ll have to work as a servant, but you’ll have a much better life than while staying here. 」

「I appreciate the offer, but I can’t leave here. 」

The woman said without looking back.

「Why? 」

Elmer asks more questions, but she has no answered them either.

Elmer got up from the chair and tried to move closer to the woman, but as soon as he took a step, for some reason, his legs got tangled. He could barely stand upright, and his vision became distorted.

At the same time, he felt a strange sense of elation. Elmer stares at the woman with that seemed to be possessed by something. The woman had finished making the bed and was looking back at Elmer.

However, her impression is completely different from when he first saw her. Her black hair was glossy and wavy, her eyes were wide open, and they were shining with a mysterious light.

She then took all the clothes that she was wearing off with a single movement. She was standing in front of him naked, and her naked body looked like an ideal woman’s figure, with curves that had no equal in this world.

Elmer went to her side and pushed the woman onto the bed.

「Knight Elmer, let me take you to Waldrind. 」

A woman whispers into his ear as she hugged Elmer. But her voice seemed to sound directly in his heart, not his ears. He never questioned how did she knew his name, identity or homeland.

「In exchange, I would like to ask you something… 」

The woman’s voice echoed in Elmer’s ears as he nodded his head over and over again. Her words seemed more absolute than his master, Marine’s.

She then told him what she wanted. Elmer understood everything in an instant, and vowed to fulfill it.

「By my Crest… 」

Elmer muttered in a voice that sounded as if he had lost his soul, and then a white, shining Crest appeared on the back of his right hand. The woman then pressed her lips lovingly against it.

「Yes, this is exactly what I want… 」

But her words never reached Elmer’s ears in his dazed state.