Volume 7, Chapter 3 – A City with a Strange Sense of Beauty

“An angel in an ice coffin?”

If she didn’t know that angels had only ever appeared in the Ymir territory, Yisi would have thought they were talking about the monsters Julius had created. The [Omniscient Map] had an interesting characteristic: it would only display the most commonly known name for an item in a given locale.

Take the green slimes Yisi had encountered before as an example. In the Ymir Church, the [Omniscient Map] would display their name as [Green Slime]. But in the Hels Kingdom, the very same slimes would be displayed as [Forest Slime]. The only reason for this was that more people in the Ymir Church called them Green Slimes, while more people in the Hels Kingdom called them Forest Slimes.

“Master, shall we go take a look?”

“It’s not that important, let’s just—”

“Wait, let me down.”

Interrupting Yisi, Edith placed her right hand on the edge of the carriage and jumped down.

Yisi tilted her head.

“Are you interested, Pepe?”

“Of course. A maiden sealed in an ice coffin. If I weren’t interested, I wouldn’t be Edith.”

As if craving blood, Edith touched her vampiric fangs, a fire igniting in her azure eyes.

If they were in the Blood Clan’s domain, there would be no problem leaving Pepe here. But this was the Hels Kingdom, where the Blood Clan were third-class citizens. With Pepe’s stunning looks, she would likely be harassed by the locals. Of course, Yisi wasn’t worried about Pepe’s safety, but rather the safety of those who might harass her.

However, Yisi quickly dismissed the thought.

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When Refina followed Edith out of the carriage and the two of them pushed through the crowd toward the notice board, all the dark-skinned locals scattered to the sides as if they had seen the plague.

“Sam, get out of the way! Don’t get near those white-skinned monkeys.”

“Ugh, so ugly.” ¹ pfffhhahahhah

“I’ve heard adventurers from the outside call girls like that pretty. What part of that is pretty? They have no muscle, look like they’d be blown over by a gust of wind, and most importantly, they have no distinguishing features.”

“Yeah, yeah, a woman like that probably can’t even carry water. Marrying her would be nothing but trouble.”

Should I be glad for these people’s sake? If Pepe had heard what they just said, she definitely would have sliced their tongues into strips. Fortunately, these people were polite enough to wait until Pepe was out of earshot before talking amongst themselves.

Yisi couldn’t help but sigh.

“Beauty standards really are different from region to region.”

The rugged customs of the mining city made them prefer strong women, and Pepe was clearly the slender type.

“We’re considered ugly here…”

As if afraid of being called ugly, Mary’s shoulders hunched inward. Yisi couldn’t help but laugh.

“If you just showed off your strength, Mary, you’d definitely be pursued by the men here. They like strong women.”

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“P-Pursued? Me? No, no, no, I’m a half-elf! Absolutely no one would like me. And I’m not mature like Miss Refina. Even though I’m an adult, I still have this child-like body. I’m already prepared to never get married.”

Flustered by the joke, Mary waved her hands frantically. But the more she acted this way, the more Yisi wanted to tease her. She pressed a finger to her chin and put on a deliberately serious expression.

“Hmm, you’re right. It’s a serious problem if one of my children can’t get married. Mary has reached an age where she can be called a woman. If no one wants her, it would bring shame upon me as her master.”

Deeply ashamed, Mary hung her head, her shoulders slumping.

“I’m sorry…”

“So, if no one will marry you, Mary, then I’ll just have to marry you myself. That way, there’ll be no shame.”

“Eh? Eeeeeh!? M-Master, what are you saying!”

“Congratulations, Mary.”

As if she had been waiting for this moment, Tiffany suddenly poked her head out from inside the carriage and began to applaud nonstop.

“Tiffany, you heard that too?”

Like a boiling kettle, Mary’s cute face instantly flushed red from her neck to the tips of her ears. She kept her head down, trying to hide her face behind her chestnut bangs. Yisi even had a feeling that if they were in the middle of winter in the Ymir territory, steam would be rising from Mary’s head.

The teasing didn’t stop there. Tiffany poked the soft part of Mary’s waist and urged in a monotone voice.

“Say yes.”

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“B-But…”

“Oh my, so you don’t like me, Mary? In that case, you shouldn’t force yourself,” Yisi sighed again in a dejected tone. “Haaah, and here I was, always thinking you were so cute, Mary. I even dream about you every night.”

“Huh? Master, you’ve always thought of me as a woman? I-I’m not saying no! I… I…”

As if her brain had suffered a massive shock, Mary became incoherent. Her gaze darted between Yisi and Tiffany, but she couldn’t even form the most basic words. Fearing that making Yisi wait too long would cause her to change her mind, tears of anxiety began to well up in Mary’s eyes.

It seems I’ve gone too far with the teasing.

Yisi subconsciously glanced at her accomplice, Tiffany, but Tiffany was now expressionlessly hugging Mary from behind, patting her head to calm her down.

After doing all that, Tiffany didn’t forget to shoot Yisi a reproachful look.

“Yisi, you’re mean.”

Weren’t you helping from the side too!

Tiffany was the absolute worst partner to have.

Then, Camilla, who had been listening to the conversation from inside, squeezed into the passenger seat, positioning herself between Yisi and Mary. Miraculously, Camilla didn’t speak to Yisi first, but instead addressed Mary—patting her head with a gentleness that made Yisi think the world was ending tomorrow.

“Onee-sama is just teasing you. There’s no need to be so anxious.” After saying that, Camilla turned her head to look at Yisi, her ruby-like eyes full of amusement. “Right, Onee-sama?”

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Yisi hastily agreed.

“Ah, y-yes, that’s right! I was just teasing you, Mary! Ahaha…”

“Ehh… just teasing… you scared me… Master, you’re so mean.”

“It’s all because you’re too cute, Mary.”

Yisi’s praise made Mary’s cheeks turn red again. She shyly looked away and muttered to herself in a voice too low for Yisi to hear.

“As long as it’s okay with you, Master… I’m ready to get married anyt—Eek!”

Before she could finish, Mary’s whole body jolted as if bitten by a poisonous insect, the muscles in her face unnaturally stiff.

“Mary, what’s wrong?”

The person who answered was not Mary herself, but Camilla, who was sitting between her and Yisi. For some reason, Camilla had one hand hidden from Yisi’s view. Even when Yisi tilted her head curiously, Camilla would shift her body to keep it concealed.

“Don’t worry, Mary. I will be sure to find someone who loves you. When that time comes, you can move to a corner of the continent and live out a quiet, ordinary life as a village girl.”

Hey, hey, the conversation took a weird turn midway. And even if you’re hiding it well, why is there an icicle in your hand?!

Yisi coughed awkwardly and changed the subject.