Chapter 364: Dispute and Rebirth

The other party was a band of adventurers.

A rich lineup—two thick-skinned warriors on the front line, one agile, weaving assassin-type player, two backline mages—solid as a rock.

Among them, the assassin and one of the mages were both girls: one a sexy older-sister type, one a timid, cute little girl.

So, under the influence of hormones, the three big men glared wide-eyed, furiously glaring at the two blonde elves who had bumped into them without so much as an apology.

The little mage girl was crying in the older-sister assassin's arms, a big splotch of grime on her clothes—she'd clearly just been knocked down.

"It's fine, three big brothers, I just took a little tumble, it doesn't hurt, boohoo."

Hearing the crying.

The three big brothers, like dogs spotting a fresh pile of dung, instantly unleashed an even stronger torrent of verbal force, madly spraying saliva at the two elves.

The two elves didn't even lift an eyelid, and even cast a magic shield to block their spit.

Traditional elves are a dignified lot—they had no intention of squabbling back with you.

Go ahead and curse all you want; if I so much as twitch, I lose.

Rod and Watching Yuna, seeing more and more people gathering, simply used Spider Walk to get up onto the roof and watch the show.

"You think they'll actually come to blows?"

"Watching Yuna guesses no. Elves are good at restraint, and they always love putting on airs—the elves of Emerald Court are especially like that. Even if they want to throw a punch, they won't be the first to do it."

"Then I'll bet they will come to blows. The wager is…"

Rod leaned close to Watching Yuna's ear and whispered something, making the usually composed spider-elven girl's face flush red.

"If Master needs it, there's no need for a wager—I'm willing for anything," she said softly.

"That's what makes it fun. If I lose, you can name one request, anything you want."

"Watching Yuna wouldn't dare make demands of Master…"

At that moment, Rosalia hopped up onto the roof as well.

"I also bet they'll come to blows."

She clearly hadn't overheard the sweet nothings Rod and Watching Yuna had been whispering, and cheerfully joined the bet.

Seeing her apparent intention to just stand by and watch, Rod couldn't help asking: "Weren't you just saying we should be cautious in dealing with the Emerald Court elves? Why are you suddenly not caring?"

"The principle is right, but I don't like their attitude either."

The Tooth Fairy sneered coldly.

She had just secretly arranged for the rogue to come over and stir things up, deliberately trying to disgust them.

Elves had fought wars with humans and with dwarves several times; after those races were beaten back to Emerald Court, they didn't dare cause much more trouble, and rarely killed anyone.

Things played out just as Watching Yuna had guessed.

The two surrounded-and-yelled-at elves barely changed their expressions, barely paused their steps.

Instead, the adventurer party on the other side was punching cotton. The roughnecks didn't have enough ink in their guts, and with girls right beside them, they didn't dare use their full repertoire of filthy verbal jabs—ten parts of skill reduced to two, so the more they yelled, the more repetitive and feeble it got.

"Looks like you're going to win, Watching Yuna."

Rod said with a smile.

The spider-elven girl's cheeks faintly red, she gently bit her lip, and secretly cast 【Anger】 and 【Suggestion】 on a passing drunkard in the crowd.

The drunkard paused; red veins crept into his eyes.

Cursing under his breath, he kicked aside the people in front of him, the liquor in his flask sloshing and splashing everywhere as he strode forward.

The drunkard paid no attention to either side, planting his big feet right between the two groups.

Just as they stood there dumbfounded, the drunkard began fiercely lecturing the adventurer party, then turned around and called the elves "Master Elf" one after another, saying please forgive them for not knowing any better, saying the humans here were stupid and uncultured, and didn't appreciate the free air of Emerald Court.

The two elves were dumbfounded, but said the words were fine—elves were indeed superior to humans.

The about-to-die ember of flame flared up, erupting into a fierce argument.

If it were only this, it would be fine—at least no fight would break out.

But, as luck would have it, the drunkard began giving examples of why Emerald Court elves made Aethelron freer and fresher, saying all sorts of things, including but not limited to: the secret incident of the previous generation's elven Grand Elder being drained to death by a succubus, the diverse XP of traditional elves, and sneering remarks about how they lived cooped up in the woods, staring at the sky from the bottom of a well while fancying themselves lords of all.

The adventurer party was dumbfounded too, thinking he was one of them, never expecting this passive-aggressive routine.

Every word cut to the heart, viciously jabbing the elves' sore spots.

The two elves lost their composure; even with all their restraint, they still threw out a warning-laden but low-damage magic missile.

And the drunkard, under Watching Yuna's control, committed fully to the act—flying backward and crashing straight through a neighbor's fruit stall.

The adventurer party had had enough; they raised their fists and charged in.

Fortunately, at least they didn't draw weapons.

The scene instantly descended into chaos.

Rod's perception was no joke—he naturally noticed it was the spider-elven girl beside him who'd done it.

"Uh, you—"

Watching Yuna bowed her head low: "Watching Yuna is willing to offer Master all of this victory, even if it means sacrificing Watching Yuna herself."

The little spider wasn't like that ghoul who demanded credit every day—she didn't do flowery flattery.

Her words were brimming with feeling, every bit sincere.

Rod was actually quite pleased; he went over and embraced her, pressing his lips to her drooping elven ears and kissing them.

Warm, with a faint fresh-food fragrance.

Her ear trembled slightly at the touch of his lips.

"This time I'll count it as my loss…"

Seeing she was about to say more, Rod quickly pressed his hand over her chest, forcibly suppressing her.

Watching Yuna suddenly felt the large hand on her chest burning hot, making her heart both warm and numb, her face flushed red, not daring to protest.

"Losing to you doesn't count as losing. I owe you one request—name anything you want."

"Then Watching Yuna."

"No need to rush. Think it through carefully. I want to see what your personal will truly desires — the thing you sincerely love."

Rod said softly while kneading the soft cartilage of her ear.

Whether it was her sensitivity or some other reason, Miss Spider trembled more and more the longer he rubbed, and the fragrance on her body grew richer and richer.

". Yes, Master."

【Watching Yuna's obedience toward you +5, current obedience: 81】

Huh.

To be fair, Watching Yuna's obedience really is easy to raise.

【Obedience has broken through to 81, unlocking a shared skill with Watching Yuna】

【Beginning random draw.】

【Chou Qu Cheng Gong】

【Shared Skill: Regeneration】

【Details: Spider-kin elves possess a fairly decent regenerative ability, able to rapidly recover injured parts of the body and regenerate limbs.】

Regeneration, huh.

Once, it was a skill Rod had longed for quite badly.

But after acquiring 【Dragon Scale Art】 and the plague domain's 【Necroflourishing Symbiosis】, he no longer thought about it as much.

The former can be breached by very few; the latter is domain-level regeneration — though its consumption is enormous, it can also be used on others, so its practicality is maxed out.

Rod's assessment was that it was neither here nor there — being able to regenerate limbs was still a decent point.

Off to the side, Rosalia ignored the affection between master and servant and watched the dispute between the elf and the adventurer with a cold smirk.

"How boring. They're both holding back and don't dare to get serious."

She remarked, eager to watch the show and not caring if things got out of hand.

You hold grudges a little scarily, Miss Tooth Fairy.

I wouldn't dare to offend you.

"Huh?"

Rod looked down and suddenly noticed something off.

【Disguise Domain】 had been maintained within his body for over a month; even 【Sustained Domain】 and 【Shadow Plunder】 couldn't be used. This wasn't mere consumption — his comprehension of 【Disguise Domain】 had grown considerably.

So at a glance, he spotted a peculiar fellow at the edge of the street quarrel.

This person carried the 'scent' of disguise.

— A dark elf.

(End of this chapter)