Chapter 340: Understanding and the Elves

Enter the cottage.

On the floor: a ritual array, stacked empty potion bottles, and a purification bubble spell filtering the air.

Filled with the scent of herbs, soft lighting, simple furniture neatly arranged.

Several small rabbits, each holding a cloth or broom, cleaning.

It's a well-kept little cottage.

On another chair made of the same magic material, lying motionless like a vegetable, was the myconid Scarlett.

A vegetable in every sense.

Luo De smiled and waved at her.

Scarlett, hearing the noise, suddenly opened her yellow-and-black interlaced eyes, glaring at him fiercely.

He saw a trace of resentment and fury in them.

"Die you. you."

Uh.

Is this because of what happened last time?

But I was trying to save you.

"Scarlett, this is Luo De, the forest warden of Windwall Forest. He and his companion saved your life—be sure to repay them properly."

Introduced by the rabbit-kin Ona.

When she saw Scarlett's expression, she also felt awkward.

She pulled Luo De aside to whisper.

"That day, the child wasn't unconscious—her soul was being tugged, making her appear faint, but she was fully aware the whole time."

Uh.

"So after she regained partial speech, the first thing she asked me to do was help her commit suicide."

?

A question mark appeared on Luo De's forehead.

"Why?"

"Shh! Lower your voice!"

Ona tugged his sleeve down, their heads nearly touching.

A faint, soothing vegetable scent drifted by.

"Scarlett despises hallucinogenic spores. Her faction of myconids believes they hinder the race's progress."

The emergence of consciousness means differentiation.

Wherever there are people, there's factional strife.

Even among the gentle, kind myconids, there are factions seeking advancement—utterly opposed to those who spend half their day inhaling hallucinogenic spores.

But.

What does this have to do with me using her like a bottle?

As if reading his thoughts,

Ona's face flushed with embarrassment and anger.

"Your thing—that thing! There was too much of it! I don't know why you have the spiritual art called 【Enchanting Fluid】, nor why myconids react to it, but because you pumped so much of it into her, Scarlett developed the illusion that it was like inhaling hallucinogenic spores and ascending to bliss! To her faction, that's an unforgivable disgrace!"

"Huh—so even plant-based sentient beings are affected? Wait, how do you know this? Did you really eavesdrop?"

The rabbit girl's round, cute eyes widened.

"Now is not the time to ask that!"

"If she was conscious then, how could she think she was inhaling spores? It must've been something else."

"Hmm—myconids aren't good at distinguishing between myconids and humans. She might've mistaken you for one of them and thought your… thing was a spore sac."

"So now what?"

Ona cleared her throat and said: "Make her understand the difference between you and a myconid. Let her know what she absorbed that day wasn't hallucinogenic spores—then she won't try to kill herself."

"In other words?"

"Sleep with her again."

Luo De laughed bitterly.

"Hey Ona, she's your friend's child—do you really just shove her into this mess?"

The rabbit girl's cheeks flushed red.

"Let me clarify: First, myconids don't have our moral codes or that organ—your interaction with her is purely organic. Second, this girl is stubborn; once she realizes your fluid isn't hallucinogenic spores, she won't kill herself. I'm saving her—and Luo De, you're not a fire pit."

". Thank you."

"You agree?"

"I don't lose anything—why not?"

Luo De shrugged.

Ona finally exhaled in relief.

Actually, she'd concealed part of the truth—Scarlett didn't just want to kill herself; before that, she planned to murder the two women and one man who'd broken her vow.

But since Luo De had agreed, there was no need to worry.

That way, once Scarlett understands…

"What are you doing?"

Luo De beside her suddenly said helplessly.

Ona turned back quickly and saw the succubus had emerged from the shadows, leaning over Scarlett, one hand lifting the cloth covering her hips, the other reaching inside.

"Master, her wound hasn't healed yet! It's still usable!"

"Shut up—can't you see she's glaring at you?"

"So what if she glares? Can she hit me?"

Tally crossed her arms, swayed her hips, and stuck out her tongue like a bratty kid, making the immobilized Scarlett on the chair seethe with rage.

She muttered "die die die" over and over.

Ona quickly shoved the succubus away and changed the subject:

"I'll come find you later. Also, Scarlett told me something else—about the golden crown that opened the rift to the other dimension."

Luo De's expression turned serious.

He sat down on the nearby bed, adopting a posture of focused attention.

Scarlett couldn't move easily and usually rested on her recliner, so this bed naturally belonged to Ona.

But the moment he sat down, Luo De immediately felt something beneath him.

Judging by the texture, it was a long, slender object.

A long, slender object on the bed?

Ignore it.

Luo De shifted his buttocks to another spot.

But Tally, ever attentive to her master, didn't miss this detail.

Her eyes lit up; she flashed over to the bed and pulled out something.

—A short wooden stick.

It bore traces of magical energy.

Luo De immediately recognized it: an unfinished staff.

Some mages dislike using pre-made wands and instead cultivate their own, nurturing them with their magic from start to finish.

Not only is the bond stronger and the handling more natural, but spell efficiency improves significantly.

"Tch."

Tally recognized it too, and with a bored expression, tossed it back.

But her gaze toward her master was sharp; she mumbled an apology and slipped back into the shadows.

Ona smiled, seemingly unconcerned.

"There's bad news and good news—Luo De, which do you want to hear first?"

"The bad news."

"There weren't just two crowns that opened the rift—there were three. The third was lost when the Mycelial Clan was attacked by the beast-plagued."

So those beast-plagued were indeed after the golden crowns…

Luo De felt a headache coming on.

They'd struggled to find the Mycelial Clan on the Ke Plain—finding a single tiny crown would be impossible.

"What's the good news?"

"Before the attack, two elves from the Verdant Court visited the Mycelial Clan, offering to buy the golden crowns—but were refused. Scarlett told me they seemed extremely familiar with those crowns."

(End of Chapter)