She shook her head, unmistakable pain showing in her violet eyes.
Then she spoke with disgust:
"Elves, bad!"
"Dagger, touched, blood."
"Elven blood."
Elven blood?
He Xi's heart jolted.
Does she mean this dagger once touched an elf's blood... maybe even killed an elf?
He thought it over carefully and decided it wasn't impossible.
There could have been a clash within David's adventuring party, or Elina might have been wounded in battle, splattering blood... Either was possible.
But so much time had passed. How could she still sense the lingering trace of elven blood on it?
This must have something to do with her unusual violet eyes, He Xi guessed.
What puzzled him even more was Zoya's attitude.
If this dagger had really harmed one of her kin, shouldn't she feel angry, sad, or at least wary?
Why had she said that elves were bad?
And why did she seem to hate them instead?
Why had she even hypnotized him in the middle of the night just to examine the dagger up close?
Was there some difference between Moon Pupil Elves and the other Forest Elves and High Elves?
Could they even be enemies?
The more He Xi thought about it, the more likely that seemed.
With that thought, he made up his mind.
He reached for the oddly shaped dagger at his waist, laid it across his palm, and offered it to Zoya.
"You like it, don't you?" He Xi's voice was calm. "If you do, you can have it."
His goal was clear.
For those 200 Parsing Points, and the chance to draw a powerful trait, he needed to earn Zoya's goodwill.
Besides, putting self-interest aside, they were at least teammates who had fought side by side.
And as for an age-old feud between elves... What did that