118 Fortunate Encounter - Part 3 (1/2)

A muffled and gentle voice comes from the other side of the door. ”Mr. Ryder?” Silvane asks.

Her bodyguard helps her get up, and the other sits down, clutching his head.

”Yes, that's me. Miss Silvane?” I ask.

She gets closer to the door and stores her wand, shawl, and necklace in her [Item Box]. The white rabbit in her hand, who I assume is Nononya, is completely frozen with fear stamped in her eyes.

”Yes... that's me,” she answers and sighs.

I walk closer to the door, and Yunia starts to [Clean] herself.

”What did you just try to do?” I ask.

”A mistake... Can we talk?”

”Alright, but the guards stay outside.”

”Yes! Yes...”

”Wait. Is that guy okay? The elementals kicked him pretty hard.”

”He's... fine. I'll heal him myself.”

”Alright. Just let me... clean this first, then I'll let you in.”

”Let me clean it with my tongue...” I hear her mutter through a Holly.

Nononya's rabbit ears suddenly twitch. ”Silf!” She complains under her breath.

O-ka~y...?

I force myself to go limp and cast [Clean] on all the cum that spilled everywhere, though I couldn't remove the stains.

I pull out another trunk of clothes, and Yunia changes into something not painted with my ”Wolf's Pearls”™ color. Alissa and the other girls calm down and return to their previous states.

We hurriedly groom ourselves, and I put two chairs in front of us, then I unsummon one elemental, and we sit on the edge of the bed. Yunia crosses her arms and legs, making her look like a haughty noblewoman.

”Open the door,” I order, and we make our expressions turn stern as the elemental obeys.

Silvane comes in first, looking as pretty and delicate as ever. Her silver hair is not as majestic as Yunia's, but her blue and slightly upturned eyes give her a gentle look. Her delicate face is warped into a stiff apologetic smile.

But it's her clothes that catch my attention. She's wearing very little, exposing most of her pretty, pale skin. If I had to make a comparison, I'd say that she's wearing a light blue ”slave Leia” cosplay: an ornate not-bikini top, and a light blue ornate skirt that's completely open on the sides. She doesn't appear to be wearing the bottom part of the not-bikini.

Dayumn, son. I've never seen her wear so little.

Then I notice something odd.

-

Soul Info

[Name: Silvane Andera; Race: Silver Elf; Level: 49]

[HP: 100; MP: 2,510; Magic Power: 840]

[Strength: 10; Endurance: 13]

-

She regained her last name! Does this mean that she's a True Noble now? But why is it not ”Anara”?

--

She's wearing a not-bikini, too, exposing her cute mid-riff and delicate little curves, but her outfit has far more cloth hanging around her body than Silvane's.

I motion for them to sit, and they gracefully accept.

I start the introductions, ”Silvane, Nononya, this is my... newest Blood Slave, Yulania. Yunia, these two are my friends from Rabanara. Silvane is a Blood Slave of Haaran, the Lord's son. Nononya is a [Summoning Magic] researcher.”

”It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Silvane, Miss Nononya,” Yunia says with a severe gaze as she offers her hand.

The social standings of all present in the room is rather mixed and complex, but Silvane and Nononya don't hesitate and immediately go towards Yunia to kiss her hand. Both of them bow and give Yunia a gentle peck and remain bowed for a little longer than necessary, implying that they wish to ask for forgiveness.

They don't ask for Yunia to kiss their hands back, implying that they don't feel worthy of that.

Then they sit, and I smirk as I say, ”It's always a delight to see both of you, but I didn't expect it would be under such circumstances.”

Silvane's pretty face twitches, and she sighs. ”Neither did we. But in the end, our encounter is rather fortunate as I'm sure that Nono missed you very much,” she says, and Nono sends a desperate glance at her.

I chuckle. ”Right. Since nothing truly bad happened, we can say that it is indeed a fortunate encounter. But I want to hear why you barged into our room in such a manner.”

Silvane's face relaxes, and now she, too, looks down, feeling embarrassed, then she starts talking, ”I received information that Miss Yulania had been sold as a Blood Slave to an 'elven collector,' and that he may be trying to strongly coerce her into having sex with him. As someone who knows very well the danger that these 'collectors' present to elven Blood Slaves, I immediately responded in this manner.”

”'Elven Collector'?” I ask.

Yunia answers, ”Other races worship elven beauty so much that certain individuals collect elven slaves. The temple and the Tribunal are always keeping an eye on elven slaves since they are the most commonly mistreated group.”

”And someone at the temple or the Tribunal gave you information about us?” I ask Silvane.

Silvane bites her thin red lip, and I get a twitch inside my underwear, telling me that I didn't get my fill of elves yet.

”No. My informant... is from the High Forest,” Silvane admits.

Well, apparently, we should've been more cautious about showing Yunia's face in public.

”Who?” Yunia demands.

Silvane's ears droop slightly, and her expression starts to turn sad. ”I can't say... it would ruin my relationship with the informant.”

”Do you know who my father was?” Yunia asks, with her tone still severe.

Silvane nods shyly. ”Yes. Crown Lord Mavel Este. I'm here for his funeral.”

”Precisely, which means that we are the future Crown Lords of the Western High Forest,” Yunia declares.

The face of both Silvane and Nono goes blank, and they let their mouths hang.

”Wait... Oh...!” Silvane realizes the truth and goes silent.

Yunia continues pressing her for more. ”Whoever gave you this false information wanted to cause an incident. And the culprit is likely one of my father's former allies. We need to know who this person is because they clearly harbor hate towards humans. No one with kind intentions would've tried to frame Wolfy as an 'elven collector.'”

Silvane sighs again and chuckles, but it quickly loses energy, and she becomes disheartened. ”Vanea is going to be mad at me anyway...” She mutters.

”Why would Dame Vanea be angry? Aren't you Haaran's Blood Slave?” I ask.

Silvane nods and answers, ”Yes, but I'm working for Vanea on 'improving' the relations between the Shore of Leaves, the Wetlands and the High Forest. Acting righteous only resulted in me getting involved in a conspiracy, and that's exactly what Vanea wanted to avoid.”

”Hmph. Getting in the good graces of future Crown Lords is only advantageous for you,” Yunia says.

Silvane smiles wryly. ”Yes, but Vanea already has a bad enough reputation that she's feared by many. It's becoming increasingly important for her that this reputation doesn't worsen.”

”'Increasingly important'?” I ask.

Silvane's smile becomes gentle. ”She's in the capital and has managed to acquire some support over there. My job is to ensure that Rabanara doesn't get even more isolated.”

”Well, even if you don't tell us who it is, we are bound to find out who dislikes Wolf so much,” Yunia says.

”Even so, my informant will know that I've failed in freeing you and will likely spread this knowledge,” Silvane says and becomes a little sad again.

”It'll end up just fine. I'm planning on keeping a good relationship with Vanea anyway. I even delivered Darean to her,” I say.

Silvane's eyes light up with hope. ”Oh...? I haven't heard about that yet.”

”After fostering an incident between the Crown Lords and the Dawn of Fire circle of magi, he went to my father to beg like a maniac, but he threw the mad man into the dungeon,” Yunia says.

”After Confiel took control of Escanso, we found Darean in the dungeon and decided to send him to Vanea,” I say.

Silvane chuckles. ”How convenient for us.”

Yunia nods. ”Indeed.”

Silvane's face softens, and she becomes the gentle girl that I've always known. ”Very well, I'll tell you the truth. The information came from Heart Lord Ira.”

I don't recognize the name.

But Yunia does as she scoffs and shakes her head. ”Foolish man. He has a big heart, but his emotions cloud his mind far too often.”

Silvane ”He gave me an excuse about why he wasn't able to come here personally, and I believed him since we've been building a 'relationship' lately.”

”Hm... I didn't expect him to be so cunning,” Yunia says and graciously runs a hand through her golden hair.

”Was he really so cunning since his plot failed so spectacularly?” Nono shyly asks.

”If you look at it that way, I guess that he seems incompetent,” Silvane says with a smile and pats Nono's head.

”His emotions took hold of him, and he did something stupid, even though it seemed cunning at first,” Yunia says and nods in agreement.

The mood of the room relaxes as the worst has passed. With everyone going silent, I take this opportunity to change the topic.

”So, Nono, how have you been?” I ask.

She jumps in her chair and raises her head, caught completely off-guard. Her skin tone was returning to white, but it quickly becomes pink again as she says, ”I-I've been well, Wolf. Your papers on [Monster Summoning] have helped me gain m-many levels! I've been hired as a permanent researcher because of you! Maybe I can improve my position some more and become a teacher in a few years...”

The three of us smile endearingly at her, and her ears start to flop as her shyness skyrockets.

”This sounds amazing. I'm glad that I could help you progress,” I say, and she smiles adorably. ”Your own notes helped me a lot, too. I'll certainly want to trade them with you again once we've become Lords,” I suggest, and she nods.

”I've heard that some huge human-looking being attacked Escanso's Shell. Was that a Grim Giant?” She asks.

”It was.”

Silvane and Nono open their eyes wide.

”That's quite a lot of power you have. If you can open a hole in a Shell by yourself, then no elven Lord is safe in the High Forest,” Silvane says.

”That'll serve as a deterrent against rebellion for quite a long time,” Yunia says.

”H-how did you get enough mana to summon something so big!” Nono exclaims.

Ah... I love how she said that.

”I didn't. I had Ciel heal me continuously while it consumed my HP until the summoning was complete,” I respond.

The three girls become stunned by my words.

”How did you not pass out?” Silvane asks.

I wink at her while I smirk, and her right ear twitches. ”That's a secret,” I say, and she pouts.

”Do you have [Blackout Resistance]?” Nono asks.

I smile proudly. ”I can only say that I gained a point after that summoning.”

”Gifted people are indeed on a different level than we are,” Silvane says as she smiles wryly, and Nono nods.

”Oh, you have no idea. He's not 'average' at all,” Yunia says.

The two elves smile gently at each other, and Nono shifts uncomfortably.

The way she said it was kind of suggestive.

Silvane's face suddenly becomes serious, and she says, ”Hm... There's one thing that's making me confused. Weren't you supposed to be the Chosen Descendant?” She asks.

Yunia nods and answers, ”Yes, but Lord Confiel and his wives convinced the Elder Council to allow me to live. The condition was that I'd have to become a True Noble.”

”Hm... I wish that my brother had been offered such an opportunity.” Silvane hums again and looks down, deep in thought.

Yunia's gaze softens, and she empathizes with Silvane's situation. ”I'm very fortunate. Nobody in my position has ever been offered so much mercy.”

Silvane nods weakly, and they stare at each other with pained looks.

The sad eyes of the gentle silver elven girl pull on my heartstrings. I can't stop myself from wishing that I came into this world with more money so that I could've bought her alongside Alissa.

With the way that I was back then, I'm not sure that I would've been a good master to her, but it's always hard to predict how things could've been. Maybe we would've helped each other the same way that Alissa helped me.

Silvane starts talking, and her voice gains a hint of weakness that I haven't heard before from her, ”The hardest part of it all was knowing that it wasn't even my mistake that caused all of this. I barely had any magical skills yet, so I could only watch as my parents failed to keep the monsters away, then the empire came and 'deposed' them...”

”I feel for your loss,” Yunia says in a soft tone.