Teacher, Is There Reproductive Isolation Between Us?

After a moment of silence, Guter spoke with a serious expression. "Teacher, your deductive ability is truly impressive."

Unexpectedly, faced with her disciple's praise, Serie shook her head.

"It's not that my deductive ability is strong; I've simply seen a lot."

"Also, don't think about claiming that bounty. Matters involving nobles are troublesome to get entangled in."

"What you'll face likely goes beyond the bounty itself."

As Serie said this, a hint of displeasure flickered across her face, as if recalling some unpleasant memories.

"Understood, Teacher."

Guter nodded in agreement. After all, their goal was to reach the [Holy City Hutrall] as quickly as possible; such a "side quest" was clearly unsuitable to take on now.

When the carriage stopped in front of an inn, Guter stepped down first, then extended his hand toward Serie, who was still inside, intending to help his teacher down with gentlemanly courtesy.

Serie glanced at her disciple but indulged him, placing her hand in his outstretched palm and letting him guide her down from the carriage.

The coachman greeted the two employers, excusing himself because few inns in the city had stables. He needed to find a place to feed and rest the horses.

Guter nodded in agreement. After arranging the meeting time and place for the next day with the coachman, he watched the man depart.

Once the carriage had disappeared into the distance, Guter and his teacher walked toward the inn, planning to settle their lodging for the night.

But as they reached the inn's steps, a troubled young wife caught Guter's attention.

Leaving his teacher slightly behind, Guter strode quickly toward this pretty young woman and directly grabbed the handle of her baby carriage.

"Ma'am, hello. Are you trying to get this up the stairs?"

"Ah?"

Startled by the stranger's approach, the woman instinctively stepped back a few paces. But seeing the sincerity in Guter's eyes, her fear faded, and she replied.

"Yes, my husband had to leave me temporarily for some business."

"But the baby suddenly became uncomfortable—I'm not sure if she's hungry or sleepy—so I thought I'd take her back to the inn to rest."

"It's just that this carriage is so heavy; I can't carry it up alone. If I take the baby up first, I can't come back down right away, and there's no one to watch the carriage."

The woman said, looking troubled.

"Let me handle it."

With the young wife's consent, Guter gripped the baby carriage firmly and carried it steadily all the way up the stairs.

At the inn's entrance, the woman, watching her baby in the carriage neither crying nor fussing, expressed her sincere gratitude to Guter.

When she noticed Serie standing beside Guter, she briefly mistook their relationship.

Serie didn't mind. After the woman left, she patted Guter on the back and gave her disciple an approving gesture.

At the same time, the system's notification chimed in Guter's ear.

[Ding!]

[Daily Quest: Daily Good Deed Completed]

The sudden system prompt caught Guter off guard for a moment.

Recovering, Guter shook his head with a smile and checked in with his teacher first.

How should he put it? The power of habit was truly frightening.

The more he completed the [Daily Good Deed] quest, the more helping those in need within his ability seemed to gradually become a habit for Guter.

When he'd helped that woman carry the baby carriage up, he hadn't even thought about the [Daily Good Deed] quest.

But perhaps that kind of forgetfulness wasn't a bad thing.

He wasn't an indiscriminate saint, nor was he a villain rotten to the core.

Doing good deeds still made him feel good, and with system rewards to gain and a good reputation to earn, Why not do it?

After Guter and Serie got their room keys from the inn's front desk, they each returned to their rooms to drop off their luggage and freshen up briefly. Then they agreed to take a stroll around town and, before nightfall, found a restaurant highly recommended by the locals for dinner.

At the table, watching his teacher across from him voraciously devouring meat chops and fruit juice, Guter hesitated for a moment before finally asking a question he'd long wanted to ask.

"Teacher?"

"Hm?"

"According to legends in storybooks, elves are supposed to prefer fruits and vegetables and drink dew, aren't they? You don't seem to... follow that."

"Heh."

Serie shot her disciple a look. After chewing and swallowing the meat chop in her mouth, she took another sip of juice to wash it down, then said.

"If I really had to live by what those storybooks describe, would your teacher have to sleep in a tree every night?"

"Mmm."

Guter nodded.

"I don't know where these storybooks and rumors come from, giving people such strange stereotypes about elves."

Serie patted her forehead and explained with some helplessness.

"We elves, as well as the dwarves, all fall under the category of humans."

"Aside from a few physiological traits and our extremely long lifespans, which differ from narrow-sense humans, there's no real distinction."

"There's no legendary racial talent for magic, nor any strange habit of living in the wild like in storybooks."

"Most elves can use magic, and their magical skill is decent. That's because, over such long lives, they need something to do, and the boundless mysteries of magic are obviously the first choice for most."

"Their skill isn't due to some innate elven talent for magic—it's just the result of a very long time spent practicing."

"If we're being honest, humans actually have the highest talent, whether in magic or combat. You humans can reach or even surpass long-lived races in just a few decades."

"So, stop holding onto those stereotypes."

Serie looked at her disciple before her and jabbed the air at Guter with her fork as a threat.

"Then—"

After hearing his teacher explain that elves and humans weren't all that different, Guter continued.

"Teacher, since elves and humans aren't much different, is there reproductive isolation between you and me?"

Serie: ???

"Hmm..."

This time, Serie was silent for a long while.

After a good pause, she finally spoke to her disciple.

"I really don't know the answer to that question."

"But Guter, there's something else I'm very clear about."

"What?"

Guter, who had been about to keep pestering Serie with words, stopped and asked in confusion.

"And that is, if you don't shut that mouth of yours soon, Teacher will blast you flying with magic."

Guter: ...

Already subdued, begging for mercy.

Meanwhile, at the [Fortress City · Frich] City Lord's Mansion.

Unlike the lighthearted atmosphere around Guter, the City Lord's Mansion was shrouded in a heavy, oppressive air.

The City Lord's wife was sobbing uncontrollably, holding her eldest son, who had just returned from a hunt still clad in his white robe.

That robe, which hadn't been stained by a single drop of blood or speck of dust even in close combat with monsters, was now soaked with tears.

The eldest son held his mother, who had been weeping over his younger brother's disappearance, and had no idea what to do. He could only cast a pleading look at his father.

But what could his father, sitting off to the side, do? When he saw the tear-soaked white robe on his eldest son, his brows were already twitching wildly.

If it weren't for the fact that she was his beloved wife and the mother of his sons, the City Lord would have pulled her away long ago.

____________________

This book will go on indefinite hiatus starting from the next chapter.

(Just kidding. Happy April Fools' Day, dear readers.)