Gryphon City

Odovish had gone off alone to deal with the rabbits. Elufiel had no desire to pay attention to the old priest or speak with the paladins, so she walked over to Eli and patted him on the shoulder.

The ranger, his eyes red-rimmed, looked up at Elufiel. He moved his lips as though trying to say something. Elufiel smiled. "Don't worry. You only need a Purify. There won't be any side effects."

A faint holy power swept over the ranger. Eli immediately felt much better. His head no longer felt as if it were about to split apart, and his body was back under his control.

Eli slowly rose to his feet. Looking at the beautiful divine caster before him, like a divine messenger from a painting, he blushed from the tips of his ears all the way down to his neck. He stammered out his thanks to Elufiel. "Th-thank you, Divine Caster. I, I—"

"Elur." The mage's voice came from behind her. Elufiel turned and waved to him. He still held the rabbit in his hand, though there was now a wound across its neck.

Odovish glanced at Eli. "It seems you've already dispelled his curse."

The words Eli had not finished were frightened back down his throat by the mage's cold gaze. His instincts told him that this was an extremely dangerous man, even though he had shown nothing of the sort.

"It wasn't a big deal." Elufiel failed to notice the strange atmosphere between Odovish and Eli. Pointing at the paladins, she asked the mage, "Are they always this slow?"

"Perhaps the situation in Bitter City is too severe," Odovish said. "It has been a long time since Arcane casters resisted this fiercely."

"They really don't have the slightest sense of crisis." Elufiel's dismissive tone held no respect whatsoever for the Holy Light Church, greatly shocking Eli.

Odovish shot him another glance, and the ranger wisely chose to remain silent.

A paladin approached the three of them and stared at Elufiel. "Father Wayne said you are a high-ranking divine caster. Which diocese are you from?"

Elufiel said nothing. She had no idea how dioceses were divided. Odovish spoke for her. "We are from the Sanctuary."

Surprise flickered through the paladin's eyes. "May I ask whether you two possess identification from the Temple of the Stars?"

Odovish took a small wooden plaque from his robes. Set into it was a silver six-pointed star. Once the paladin saw the emblem clearly, he immediately gave the two of them a knight's salute. "Should you require anything, we await your orders at any time."

"Please carry out your duties. There is no need to concern yourselves with us," Odovish said.

The paladin saluted them once more before retreating.

Elufiel watched the mage with keen interest for a while. Before Odovish could speak, she pointed at the rabbits' bodies and asked, "Could their fur be made into a cloak?"

The elf clearly wanted to know but would not ask on her own, and Odovish found the sight quite adorable. The mage felt as though he was becoming more and more interested in the elf.

After the curse incident in Ata Town had passed, Odovish and Elufiel remained for another two days. Elufiel learned that the mage was buying large quantities of a blood-restoring herb, though its effects were not especially good. This plant, called Moon Soul Grass, bloomed only on nights of the Gleam Moon and was difficult to preserve. But it was currently Frostmoon, so Odovish's supply of Moon Soul Grass was far from sufficient.

Elufiel herself was a priest and had lived in Silvermoon City for many years, so she almost never carried healing potions with her. She could only watch as the mage ran around every day for the sake of a few stalks of grass. After Odovish swept up every Moon Soul Grass plant in Ata Town and its surrounding areas, the two set out on their journey.

What surprised Elufiel was that the townspeople of Ata Town truly presented her with a cloak made from mountain rabbit pelts. The town mayor personally offered it to her.

"Honored Divine Caster, please accept our token of gratitude. Thank you for stepping forward amid disaster and saving us." The mayor lavishly sang Elufiel's praises, making her so sleepy that she nearly nodded off.

Eli left with Elufiel and Odovish as well. Perhaps because of how he had acted while infected, the townspeople were somewhat awkward around him. Eli, however, did not care. Riding a fine brown horse, he waved goodbye to everyone.

Before Elufiel could actually fall asleep, Odovish interrupted the endlessly chattering mayor. He bought a small carriage from a merchant in town and personally drove the elf away from the "source of her drowsiness."

On the smooth road, a carriage and a fine horse traveled side by side. Eli deliberately slowed down to keep alongside the carriage, while Odovish turned a blind eye to his actions.

Unable to sit still, Elufiel rolled up the carriage curtain to chat with the mage. The moment she looked up, however, she saw the ranger peeking over.

"Hi?" She waved at Eli. "Are you going this way too? Odovish still hasn't told me where we're going."

Odovish had originally been displeased that the elf would casually strike up a conversation with a stranger. But after hearing how she addressed him, and the distinction between "you" and "we," the mage suppressed his displeasure. No matter what, the elf was still traveling with him, wasn't she?

When Eli heard Elufiel take the initiative to speak to him, he gave an honest smile. "This road leads to Gryphon City, the most prosperous mercenary city on the continent. My mercenary group's headquarters is located there."

"You're a mercenary?" Elufiel looked at him with great interest. "Is Ata Town your hometown?"

"Yes, I'm a high-ranking mercenary." Confidence and pride showed in Eli's voice. "But Ata Town isn't really my hometown."

He paused briefly. "I'm actually an orphan. I was born in Shamar, then came to Ata Town with my mother. After she died, Father Wayne raised me. The priest originally wanted me to enroll in the Paladin Academy, but I lacked the talent for holy power and wasn't qualified to enter." He smiled helplessly. "Haha, but compared to being a paladin, I think I prefer my life now."