Volume 4, Chapter 4 – Dark Elf

「Well… so right now in this underground city there probably… isn’t any place where you can rest~」

After searching through the entire underground city, Samael came to this conclusion.

Hearing Samael’s conclusion, Tianyin could not help becoming depressed as well. Her cute little face showed a troubled expression, and her white little teeth gently bit down on her lip.

『I know… well, since it looks like there isn’t anywhere to stay, I-I guess I can only find a place and pitch a tent or something… Seriously… the Underground World is so damp and dark. Faced with an environment like this, I really don’t want to sleep outside in a tent again…』

No matter how unwilling she was, this was the only thing she could do now. After all, Tianyin’s mind was already exhausted to the limit, and what she needed most at the moment was to hurry and rest.

『Wuu… but now that I think about it, it is kind of strange. This underground city is so big, so why are all the inns full?』

「Well, who knows. I had only ever heard about places like Underground Cities before and never actually been to one, so I have no way to answer that question either, Xiaoyin.」

『Wuu… g-got it… Forget it, I should leave the city for now, find a hidden place and sleep for a while first…』

Tianyin gave up on the idea of looking for a place to rest inside the underground city and instead planned to go outside the city walls and put up a tent in the wild to sleep.

But just as Tianyin was thinking this, and about to act on it.

“Um… um… you, you look really troubled…”

A soft and weak-sounding voice drifted over, and the source of that voice was right in front of Tianyin.

Strictly speaking… because of Tianyin’s loli height, whenever someone stood in front of her, Tianyin could not see that person’s face at all.

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If she wanted to see their face, Tianyin had to tilt her head up.

Right now, standing in front of Tianyin was a beautiful girl in an exquisite black dress, with pointed ears and fair skin.

“Mm…”

When it came to girls, especially pretty and cute girls, Tianyin would naturally feel goodwill in her heart. So when she saw this cute girl who seemed to be the same race as Xingyu Muxi… Tianyin instinctively felt a sense of closeness.

Of course, feeling close was one thing. Since she was being approached by a stranger, Tianyin still maintained a basic level of caution.

So, toward this Elf? A girl who had come over to talk to her out of nowhere, Tianyin only looked at the Elf girl in front of her with eyes as wary as a little cat’s.

“Um… um, a-are you okay?”

Sensing the wariness in Tianyin’s gaze, the Elf girl in front of her seemed to grow flustered.

An unnatural blush spread over her cheeks, and a layer of mist rose in those beautiful eyes, making them look hazy.

“Um… um, m-my name is… Seles… I-I am a Dark Elf… Um, um… I-I don’t, I don’t mean you any harm, really. I just… just saw that you… looked like you needed help… Mm, really… I really only wanted to help you…”

Looking at the Elf… no, Dark Elf girl in front of her, who was becoming almost incoherent, looking like she was about to burst into tears, more than half of the wariness in Tianyin’s heart vanished in an instant.

『What the… Samael, she really seems like a pretty ordinary Elf. She looks totally harmless…』

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「Mm… she does give me a harmless feeling too, but you still must not forget the most basic caution… Xiaoyin.」

After that brief conversation with Samael inside her mind, Tianyin directly put a mental “harmless” label on the Elf girl in front of her who called herself Seles.

“Um… Seles… Can I call you Sister Seles?”

Looking at the Dark Elf girl who kept babbling that she was a good person and looked like she was about to cry, Tianyin could only smile and speak.

“Uu… s-so cute…”

At such a close distance, when she saw Tianyin’s smile, Seles could not help spacing out for a second.

When she came back to her senses, her cheeks were even redder than before, but thanks to Tianyin’s reply, that almost-crying expression from earlier had been adjusted back to normal.

“Um… um, I saw that you looked really troubled all by yourself, s-so I wanted to come over and see… if there was anything I could help with…”

“Help me?”

Faced with this harmless Elf girl, Tianyin had already let go of most of her wariness.

So, in response to the girl’s offer, Tianyin did not even think much and just told her the problem that had been bothering her.

“Mm, it really is a bit of a headache. I want to rest in this underground city… but I just cannot find a suitable inn to stay at, so it is a little annoying…”

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“I see… an inn… Um, um, if you don’t mind, you could try staying at my house~”

“Mm? Your house?”

Tianyin looked at the Elf girl with some surprise.

“Um… um… I really don’t, I really don’t have any other intentions… I-I really just want to help you… After all, for such a cute girl like you… if you sleep on the streets… at night you might get attacked by those Cavemen with their dark thoughts…”

“Wuu… is that so?”

Even though something about it felt a bit off in her heart, when Tianyin thought about her own Throne-tier combat power, and then looked at the Dark Elf girl in front of her who she had already tagged as harmless, she simply forced that faint sense of wrongness back down.

“Mm, mm… Will you come to my house? Um… um…”

The Elf girl seemed rather happy. The innocent, delighted expression on her face was just like that of a little girl, and she could not hide it at all.

Ah… she really seems like a fool who cannot hide her feelings…

Looking at the overjoyed Seles, Tianyin felt as if she was seeing her past self.

“Tianyin… That is my name.”

“Mm… T-Tianyin, is it? T-Then can I call you Xiaoyin?”

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Ah… honestly…

Xiaoyin… Xiaoyin, why does everyone call me Xiaoyin…

A slightly helpless expression appeared on Tianyin’s face.

“Eh… you don’t like it? T-Then how about I call you Sister ¹ Sister in this context is referred to younger sister / 妹妹 / Mèimei. Tianyin instead?”

Sensing the faint impatience on Tianyin’s face, Seles nervously changed how she addressed her.

“N-no need, just call me Xiaoyin. I actually kind of like being called that.“

“Eh… but… just now when I called you that, Sister Tianyin, you looked really impatient… so you clearly do not like being called that, right? If you don’t like it, Sister Tianyin, you really don’t have to force yourself…”

“It is fine… Just call me Xiaoyin, that is enough. Compared to something like Sister Tianyin, I still think Xiaoyin sounds better.“

“I see… T-Then I will call you Xiaoyin from now on…”

The delighted look on the Dark Elf girl’s face made people naturally associate her with a bright and innocent little girl.

“T-Then, Xiaoyin… would you like to come to my house… If you want to rest, my home does have extra rooms I can offer you so you can rest properly~”