Chapter Twenty-One: Misunderstandings of the Wrong Kind and Misunderstandings of the Right Kind

Those suddenly close, sparkling eyes made his heart clench. For an instant, he felt his dog life might not be spared.

"What secrets do you have?" she said softly.

Thoughts raced through his mind as he slowly opened his mouth.

"Wait, don't rush..." She stopped him again, extending a finger before him. "I've just learned a secret technique that I haven't used before, and I need your cooperation. Take the tip of this finger as an imaginary target and touch the spiritual power I've gathered on it. By sensing the fluctuations in your spiritual power, I can determine whether I've encountered some despicable fellow whose mouth is full of lies... They say this test is very accurate."

He hesitated for a moment.

"I have an interesting little test too. If you pass it, we can talk afterward. But let's make this clear first—don't get angry if you fail. People who get angry often are prone to wrinkles," he said calmly.

"Sure. How do we begin?"

The female elf was rather eager to give it a try.

"Mm, it's already over..."

He had already spread Foul-Smelling Skin throughout the entire three-way large dwelling, using the form of Malicious Feedback, yet it had not been triggered by malice.

"You're toying with me! Hm? I think I felt a faint spell fluctuation. Your method is very well concealed! It must be a spell that has either been optimized many times, or one you've mastered so thoroughly that your compatibility with it is extremely high... So, did I pass the test?" she said.

Whatever she says, as long as she has no malice, it's fine, he thought.

He never expected Foul-Smelling Skin to slaughter enemies in every direction as it had against the lizardmen. Its purpose from the beginning had not been to bring down his opponent, only to test for malice.

Ruger directly extended his spiritual power and touched her fingertip, answering her question with that straightforward action.

"I'm just an ordinary little kobold."

"Not long ago, I was still worrying about food, always going hungry. It was an awful feeling. Kobolds don't starve to death easily, but that only stretches the suffering out."

"Also, Aisijin really is my friend. She may not be pretty by your standards of beauty, and I think so too—that's normal—but please don't call her ugly in such a cutting tone. It makes me very uncomfortable. She's just a simple-minded kobold..."

With every sentence he spoke, the female elf's brow twitched into a slightly deeper furrow, until three wrinkles were squeezed out between her brows.

"You actually weren't lying."

The female elf seemed even more astonished after hearing the truth.

"No, you... You used some method to deceive yourself, making yourself willingly starve as a kobold. But what are you doing here? Or do you want to enter that city too? Could the kobolds here be connected to that city?"

"Perhaps I misunderstood you from the start! You also came here after accepting Wizard Niteri's mission, didn't you? Then you blended in among the kobolds while waiting for an opportunity?"

"We chased those bugs for a long time before arriving here..."

The female elf studied him.

"A strange kobold bloodline wizard who happened to appear in this place, yet sincerely makes friends with ordinary kobolds—anyone who saw that would be curious. I'm simply a little more curious than most, so please don't blame me for my rudeness." Her eyes sparkled as she leaned close again. "You must know some secrets, right? After all, you're far too strange."

"I can consider giving you some magic stones," she said with a smile. "Sometimes, one person alone can't get things done. Cooperation is needed, just like with those kobolds."

Ruger was tempted.

He desperately wanted magic stones, or anything else—for example, books related to spell knowledge.

But he did not dare act. He did not dare move his mouth, much less entertain any thoughts.

"You have many companions?" he said.

He wanted to speak, but found he had no idea where to begin. The spells, the meditation method, and that storage bag were all tangled matters. Unless he dragged Half-Man into the conversation, but he felt that might cause even more trouble.

"They barely count as companions—just fellow travelers who accepted the same mission. Of course, there are also people like you, those lone wanderers who vanish without a trace. I don't know whether they're still alive."

Her words made Ruger think of the little crybaby bugman.

The suspicion in his heart was basically confirmed. The little crybaby bugman had indeed been hunted by the female elf's group. The reason she could wander around nearby was likely because she knew the little bugman had appeared in the area.

And the map the little bugman had given him—the wizard's inheritance he had long anticipated—might all have come from her fellow travelers or solitary adventurers.

"How dull. Fine, if you won't talk, forget it."

She rose again, looking as though she had lost interest and was about to leave.

"Oh, right. Your little kobold tribe should be careful. Those lizardmen are expanding like mad. With abundant food, their bodies are changing—their breeding cycles are becoming more frequent, and every clutch is growing larger. There's also an annoying fellow using spells to force them to mature. He probably wants to drive them into doing something. In perhaps a few dozen days, he could double the lizardmen's numbers."

The seemingly casual information the female elf let slip was enough to make Ruger's mind tremble.

"Since you want to play here, take it seriously. Don't let your whole tribe get wiped out so easily! It'd be best if you could beat that guy up while you're at it."

The female elf returned to her cool, aloof manner.

"That person is stronger than you?" he said.

She smiled. "I just think he smells rather bad. Teaching him a lesson would easily get that stink on me. Though he's also at the limit of a Level Five wizard apprentice, he isn't qualified to compare himself to me. He can't even stir my curiosity."

As she spoke, she bent down again to look into Ruger's eyes.

Ruger had no choice but to reach up and remove two stubborn clumps of eye gunk from the corners of his eyes, lest they ruin the mood of their eye contact.

"Actually, I smell bad too. You just haven't smelled it," he said.

After clearing away the eye gunk, he blinked—and no one stood before him anymore.

Only then did he suddenly realize something.

A Level Five wizard apprentice?

She was a wizard apprentice too?

Since they were both wizard apprentices, what about the map the little bug man had given him? Could the long-awaited wizard's legacy also belong entirely to wizard apprentices? The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Perhaps the little fellow hadn't deceived him after all. Maybe, in the little bug man's eyes, powerful wizards and wizard apprentices were no different—both were pursuers capable of getting his aunts killed.

Come to think of it, perhaps a wizard apprentice's legacy suited him better. He could only console himself that way.

Just how formidable was a level-five wizard apprentice? he wondered.

He had no idea whether he could withstand Foul-Smelling Skin. Everyone relied on zero-ring spells to scrape by; as far as one's own abilities went, the difference lay in mental power and temporary spell slots. If a conflict broke out and he couldn't finish the other party immediately, the gap between high-level and low-level apprentices would gradually reveal itself. As for external possessions, those were impossible to gauge—for instance, he had nothing on him but a homemade pair of shorts.

He set the crystal lamp upright in the corner, then slowly opened to the page he had read last time. When trouble came, don't panic—learn some spells first to steady your nerves.