Elf Remnant Soul? I Have to Go!

As the saying went, three women made a show.

There might not have been three women now, but two were more than enough to give him a headache.

It was easy to imagine that if he listened to Yami's arrangements and went out as their captain for this mission, all the dirty and exhausting work would inevitably fall on Carl. With these two together, wouldn't they treat him like a workhorse?

There would be plenty of chances to complete missions. Carl had no reason to deliberately choose one with hell-level difficulty.

Although Finral's eyes sparkled beside him and he was so envious he was nearly in tears, Carl remained utterly unmoved.

However, Carl's reaction naturally made Noelle pout.

"Hmph, then don't go. You're just a newcomer too. What makes you qualified to be the captain of the eldest daughter of the Silva family?"

"Besides, there's Senior Vanessa. No matter what, it isn't your place to call the shots!"

Although Noelle's opinion of Carl had changed greatly after he saved her, hearing that Carl was completely unwilling to play along made her turn tsundere again.

Seeing the two start bickering again,

Vanessa immediately developed a headache. She picked up her wine bottle and began gulping down wine herself.

Carl turned to Yami Sukehiro and said,

"Captain, can I take missions alone?"

Yami immediately fell silent.

To be honest, with Carl's abilities, taking missions alone was not impossible. In fact, it might be the best choice.

As long as they kept a close watch on Carl, his growth would certainly be incredibly rapid. He might even become someone who could make William Vangeance of the Golden Dawn tremble.

Seeing that Yami Sukehiro was genuinely considering it,

Vanessa turned her head and gave Carl a resentful look. Then, the system's stat-allocation notification sounded in Carl's mind again.

[Ding! Congratulations, host, for receiving Vanessa's resentment. Converted into 100 Affection Points.]

Carl completely lost it.

Well, damn. There was something this good?

Vanessa was practically a walking printing press...

No, she was a walking Affection Point machine!

If he could keep farming points in front of Vanessa, he would probably gather all the Affection Points for the Eight Gates very soon.

At that moment, Carl really was a little reluctant to let Vanessa go alone.

But when he thought about having to serve two spoiled young ladies, Carl painfully decided not to bring it up himself.

While Yami was still thinking, Vanessa shifted her gaze toward the terrifying lake Yami had selected, the one supposedly radiating both ice and fire magic.

Her eyes widened in surprise the next moment.

"Captain, the intelligence says there may be an Elf Remnant Soul in this lake. Is that true?"

As the favored daughter of the Witches' Forest, Vanessa had run away after betraying the Witch Queen.

However, the witch clan had always been extremely close to the Elves.

Or rather, their ancestors had been Fallen Elves who had fallen away from the Elves, gradually evolving into witches.

That was why both their total magic power and magical methods were so unique. It was precisely this that piqued Vanessa's interest.

Yet the moment Vanessa finished speaking, Carl's eyes immediately lit up.

He looked at Vanessa in surprise and asked,

"What Elves?"

Vanessa pointed to the thick stack of intelligence reports and said,

"The Ice-Fire Lake where we're going to train. It's said that traces of Elves once appeared there. There's a good chance it's some kind of ruin left behind by Elves."

"You have to know, sightings of Elves have become rarer and rarer over recent years. They're extremely rare magical beings."

"Their intelligence is absolutely no worse than that of humans, and may even surpass humans by quite a bit. More importantly, their magical strength far exceeds humanity's."

"You can see that from the magical structure of the Clover Kingdom today."

"The outermost region, where you came from, Asta, has the thinnest magic power and is the hardest place to cultivate talent. It can be called a borderland, or even a place of exile."

"The chances of geniuses appearing there are pitifully low. Some people even have no magic power at all, like those surrounded by Anti-Birds."

"As for the rest, there's no need to say much. In the royal and noble territories, due to the dense magical atmosphere and geographical advantages, even the magic awakened by commoners there cannot be underestimated."

"Although many of them aren't combat mages, their magic power is enough to sustain the operation of an entire kingdom."

"As for Elves, even the most ordinary among them are far stronger than ordinary residents of the kingdom."

"It could even be said that any Elf with elite-level strength would be at least captain level. They're truly terrifying beings."

As Vanessa kept explaining the differences between Elves and humans, everyone else listened with wide eyes.

Asta's mouth hung wide open.

"So much magic... that's amazing!"

Asta wiped away his drool. Although he had obtained the Demon-Dweller Sword, he truly envied everyone else's ability to cast all kinds of magic.

However, Carl had barely heard a word of what Vanessa had just said.

Only the words "there may be an Elf Remnant Soul" floated through his mind.

Carl's eyes immediately lit up.

Noelle pouted beside him, glaring at Carl with an unhappy expression.

Carl was still just as irritating as ever.

She immediately pointed at Carl and said,

"Captain, why is this guy wearing a cloak with the Black Bulls' insignia while also bearing the mark of the Blue Rose Knights?"

"Charlotte Roselei of the Blue Rose Knights would never allow any man into her squad. Could this guy be a traitor?"

Once Noelle opened her mouth, her words were vicious, full of terrifying sarcasm.

Yami noticed that everyone had turned their eyes toward him.

He immediately understood that although no one had asked outright, they clearly still had reservations about the cloak Carl wore.

Yami took a drag on his cigarette and waved a hand.

"It's nothing. Carl simply joined both the Black Bulls and the Blue Rose Knights."

"In other words, among the nine knight squads, he's in two all by himself."

Everyone froze.

Even Vanessa's drinking motion stiffened. Her small mouth failed to close in time, and wine ran down her neck.

The air fell into a terrifying silence.

Noelle's face turned even redder.

"How is that possible? That completely violates procedure!"

Noelle's worldview seemed to have suffered a devastating blow. She had never imagined Carl could be this special, joining two knight squads at once.

It was so infuriating that words could not describe it. He had even more privileges than she did as a noble.

Noelle could no longer sit still. She wanted to keep attacking Carl. After all, Carl really was asking to be hated right now.

But in the next moment, Carl directly held out his hand toward Yami Sukehiro.

"Captain, can I say something?"

Yami Sukehiro looked at Carl.

"What, have you decided where you want to train?"

"Honestly, with your strength, you really can go out and train on your own. As long as you get stronger, William Vangeance's face will definitely turn green."

"That guy named Yuno is obviously promising. By then, William Vangeance's tail will be sticking up in the sky."

Yami did not hide his feelings at all.

Although he was extremely laid-back, he had a very special bond with William Vangeance. After all, they had grown up together in the Grey Deer.

Hearing Yami's words, Carl immediately waved his hand.

Yami Sukehiro said,

"How about this? I'll take you to find another place to train."

Carl immediately said,

"There's no need. Absolutely no need. I suddenly think that place is pretty good."

What a joke. If it were only the mission for the two of them, Carl might still consider it. But with Main Quest 2 and the Peerless Imperial Arms added in, hesitating for even one extra second would be disrespecting a divine artifact.

Yami turned to look at Carl.

Carl had already looked toward Vanessa and Noelle.

"After thinking it over, I'm still worried about the two of you."

"As your captain, I wonder if you're willing?"

"Of course, if you're unwilling, it's fine for either of you to be the captain instead."

Vanessa and Noelle were both stunned for a moment.

Vanessa smiled the next instant.

"Carl, it's your call."

She placed her hand over Carl's outstretched hand, her warm, delicate little hand long and soft.

Seeing both of them staring directly at her, Noelle awkwardly hesitated for a while before snorting and placing her hand on top of Vanessa's.

The three hands stacked together.

Carl smiled.

"Then our little team is officially established. We'll set off shortly."

Noelle proudly lifted her chin beside him, flicking her silver-white ponytail to the side, though a faint smile appeared at the corner of her lips.