She's of the Demon Race, I'm Your Dad

Seeing this, Allen stopped bothering with Rudy. He turned to look at the group of "children" before him, who were using their youth and supposed "righteousness" to mask their inner malice and pleasure from bullying. He let out a heavy sigh.

Then, he instinctively reached up to smooth his compliant hair back from his forehead. The splash from the blade cutting through the water earlier had gotten onto his hair, and combined with his somewhat stiff hair texture, it gave him a strange sense of déjà vu, like he had hair gel on.

His sharp demeanor made Rudy instinctively avert his gaze.

Allen had already walked up to the tallest of the chubby boys, who was only about half a head shorter than Allen.

Although the boy had done as Allen said, his eyes clearly showed defiance, especially after hearing that Allen was only nine years old.

"You look like you're not convinced?"

"You're bullying us just because you have a knife!"

Allen chuckled, lowered his head, and gently patted the boy's face.

"You guys rely on your numbers and strength to bully the weak, and she's helpless; now I'm relying on having a sharp weapon to bully you, so what are you going to do?"

Allen patted his face, grinning as he leaned close to his ear, patiently lecturing him like an older brother from next door.

"I'm strong, you're weak. Isn't that... just how it should be?"

The chubby boy's face turned beet red.

"We're not bullying the strong! She's from the Demon Race!"

Allen scoffed.

"If she's from the Demon Race, then I'm your dad. Come on, call me Dad."

The chubby boy's expression froze. He had never encountered such a logical argument. His expression contorted a few times, then he burst into tears.

"Did I make you cry?"

The crying stopped abruptly.

"If I ever see you bullying her again, I'll twist your heads off and feed them to the Demon Beasts. Alright, cry, and once you're done, get lost."

The little brats cried and scrambled away in a panic.

Allen pursed his lips, turned around, and looked at Sylphy, ready to admire the beautiful girl's face.

The beautiful girl's face and hair were covered in mud, making her face completely indistinguishable. She was sitting on the ground, staring blankly at him.

Next to her, the gully Allen had carved with his Fighting Spirit was only half a body's length away from her.

This time, Sylphy wasn't hit with mud by the children, but she was splashed by Allen.

Allen opened his mouth helplessly, then turned to look at Rudy.

Rudy was also splashed by him. However, he had been staring blankly at the backs of those smelly brats running away.

Allen waved his hand in front of him, saying somewhat awkwardly:

"Uh, Rudy, why don't you use Water Magic to clean her up... and, uh, clean yourself up too?"

Rudy turned his head, blinking, looking at Allen somewhat dazedly.

"...Okay."

Just then, Sylphy seemed to snap back to reality. She suddenly leaped into the paddy field, and under Allen and Rudy's stunned gazes, her small body waded through the water, laboriously dragging Allen's knife back. After getting ashore, she extended her small hands and very solemnly handed the knife back to Allen with both hands, but she didn't look at him, only stared down at her wet shoes.

The stray hairs on her forehead were still stained with muddy water, dripping onto the ground little by little, making pattering sounds.

It harmonized with the trembling rhythm of her pointed ears.

Allen blinked and sheathed the knife. Looking at Sylphy, who only reached his chest, he instinctively reached out to touch her head.

The latter dodged, and Allen's hand missed.

His expression instantly stiffened. He then realized that he had been acting entirely on the lingering resentment from his dream, completely ignoring the System.

Oh no, there was no favorability prompt yet, had he scared the child?

After instinctively dodging, Sylphy seemed to panic a little when she saw Allen staring blankly. She hugged her head with both hands, quickly glanced at Allen, and then timidly and hesitantly shuffled her feet, swaying over to stand in front of him.

She leaned her head into Allen's suspended hand.

[Free Instant Quest – Gain Sylphy's Favor, Completed. Time taken: 4:23:17. Evaluation: Oh, righteous companion, I shall call you the King of Children!]

[Barrier Magic Slot Unlocked.]

Smoke and dust, almost tangible, climbed onto the Dragon Saint Battle Qi Core Embryo in Allen's abdomen, emitting a resonating hum that could only be heard in the soul. After a moment, a new slot appeared next to the brown, dim slot.

It was a white background, like a stalactite.

Allen blinked, coming back to his senses, and found his hand still on Sylphy's head. After all this time, Sylphy just stood quietly in front of Allen, her eyes blinking rapidly, looking left and right at the ground, but never moving away again.

Suddenly, a searing gaze landed on his face. Allen turned his head blankly.

He saw Rudeus looking suspiciously from Allen's hand to Sylphy's face, then to Allen's face.

Repeating the cycle.

Sylphy's features were exquisite. Even though Allen was mentally prepared, he was still amazed.

First, her eyelashes were very long, her nose was small but straight, her jawline was very smooth, and her long ears twitched.

Most importantly, her skin was so fair that her faintly bluish veins were visible beneath it in the sunlight.

Honestly, she looked much better than in the anime.

Especially her reddish-brown pupils, sparkling with highlights.

Such pupils should not and could not be dull and lifeless.

The owner of the reddish-brown pupils blinked, looking down at the grass in front of her, her green hair fluttering in the air.

Rudy, the Tony, was styling her hair.

Rudy had already noticed, while washing Sylphy's hair earlier, that she didn't have the red magic eye on her forehead. He then confirmed that Allen was indeed playing the hero.

Maybe when Allen arrived in the village, he saw someone bullying this little boy. But why did he have to drag me along? Is it because he's afraid of having his pay docked if he acts alone? So, it's better to say I'm accompanying him? But it's terrifying that he'd use swordplay against a group of children. To that, I can only say...

Well done, Lord Allen! Uh, it would be even better if I weren't just background scenery.

But it doesn't matter. Now I have another little boy as a companion. This way, my future strategy of indirectly attracting girls will be even more effective. There will be more handsome guy resources, hmm. It's a pity this is a little boy and not a little girl. Otherwise, wouldn't this timid, unconfident look be perfect for my nurturing needs? Ah, sorry, I exposed myself. I was just kidding. Wait, is he really a little boy?

Rudy looked down. Sylphy was wearing boy-style coarse long pants, unlike the dresses worn by other girls her age in the village.

Could it be! Allen saw this! Damn, that sly old fox! No wonder Allen and Paul are always exchanging glances. So you, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, are actually into that!

Rudy silently indulged in his thoughts with the lewd tone characteristic of a NEET from his previous life, but his hands didn't falter. In a short while, he had finished blow-drying Sylphy's hair.

Sylphy blinked and stood up.

The three were on a small hill near the farmland. On the hill, there was only one tree, almost towering, with lush, verdant shade.

A gust of wind blew, and the silhouettes of leaves on the ground danced with the wind, with specks of light shimmering among them.

Sylphy curled her toes and let out a mosquito-like whisper from her throat.

"Thank you."

She glanced at Rudy, then slightly turned her eyes to look behind her.

Allen leaned lazily against the large tree, looking up at the canopy.

A speck of light fell on the corner of his mouth, swaying with his smile.

Lighter than the wind.