(Heartfelt thanks to 'Yan Ai Ai', 'Pang Zi Zhong De Da Pang Zi', 'Jian Jiao', 'Yan Ye Shen Yue', and 'Sometimes I'm a Man' for their tips!)
From within a patch of shadow, a young girl clad head to toe in a dark formal dress seemed to appear out of thin air, quietly emerging from it. The pair of pitch-black wings on her back slowly transformed into scattered black feathers that drifted down and vanished into the air.
Raising her head and directing her gaze straight at Noah, the uninvited highest-ranking Dark Elf smiled sweetly, lifted the hem of her skirt, and gave a very polite curtsy.
"Good evening, you two. Did you enjoy your game with Ren?"
At those words, Est said nothing. She merely stared at Restia with the same expressionless face as ever.
Logically speaking, as the contract spirits of the Saint and the Demon King respectively, Est and Restia ought to have been mortal enemies.
Especially Restia.
The master of this Dark Elf, Demon King Solomon, had died beneath the Saint and the Holy Sword. She should have hated Est.
Yet at this moment, Est looked at Restia only as though she were someone with a bit of history behind her—a passing acquaintance.
Compared with Est, Restia seemed more concerned with Noah. After merely glancing at Est, she shifted her gaze to Noah.
Noah, on the other hand, watched Restia and spoke as though he had expected it.
"So the Sword Dance Princess's contract spirit really was you."
"That's right. I'm Ren's contract spirit, and once served as Demon King Solomon's sword," Restia said with a light laugh.
"Though a Demon King like Solomon was not truly my master in the strictest sense."
"Not truly your master?" Noah raised a brow.
"What does that mean?"
"It