Rona

"Hello!" Claire waved, conveying her friendly emotions.

The other party tilted its head again, seemingly sensing the friendly emotions. Its previously dull eyes became slightly more lively.

"Hello..."

The next second, Claire's eyes widened slightly as a pleasant but somewhat weak voice sounded in his mind.

This mental connection can cross language barriers for communication! Did this happen because that book arrived in this world? Or was it because the pets I connected with on Lan Zhao's plane didn't have specific language systems, so it lacked this function?

Seeing Claire daze, the other party waved its hand in front of him, pulling Claire's attention back.

Claire shook his head, casting those distracting thoughts aside. He would verify them later when he had time.

"Hello, my name is Claire. What's yours?" Claire smiled. Although this mental connection conveyed language, the emotions were not diminished. Claire could clearly feel that the other party was not very defensive towards him now, so he tried his best to show his friendliness.

"What is this? It's so magical. I can feel you have no ill intentions towards me..." the half-elf transmitted another message, then said, "My name is Rona."

"That's a very nice name," Claire praised. This was a common tactic to build rapport with others.

"I can feel that you don't actually think the name is nice..." Rona said faintly.

Claire had forgotten that he was still mentally connected with the other party. He could only offer an awkward smile. He had no idea if Western names sounded good or not.

"How did you get captured?" Claire changed the subject.

"I forgot. I fell asleep in the forest and woke up captured."

Claire was puzzled. Normally, humans rarely approached elven gathering areas, even half-elves. Elves were naturally favored by magic. An adult elf already possessed the strength of an Archmage, and even a half-elf had the strength of a High Mage. They were also extremely protective, and humans rarely dared to provoke them.

Rona sensed Claire's confusion and said directly, "I wandered out."

Claire immediately dismissed his thoughts. He had made the same mistake again.

To avoid leaking his stray thoughts, Claire got straight to the point: "Do you know medicine?"

"Mhm!" The other party nodded. "I learned it in my village before, but unlike your medicine, we mostly use herbs for treatment."

Claire nodded. Oh, it's similar to traditional Chinese medicine.

"What is traditional Chinese medicine?" Rona looked over with curious eyes.

"It's nothing," Claire replied perfunctorily. His thoughts were really hard to control. He needed to finish this quickly and break the mental connection.

"I want to hire you as a physician in Nafu City. Are you willing?"

"My slave contract is in your hands. As long as you give an order, it's done. You don't need to ask if I'm willing."

"I don't like forcing others."

The other party was different from those simple-minded Minotaurs. Those Minotaurs would work honestly as long as they were fed. Rona, as a half-elf, possessed medical skills far superior to human doctors. Therefore, Claire hoped Rona would be willing to become a physician in Nafu City, rather than being forced.

Rona looked up at the fair-faced young man before her. She could clearly feel that everything he said at the moment was true, and the emotions conveyed were extremely friendly—a friendliness she had never encountered before. The humans she had met previously either looked at her body with lustful or greedy eyes, or they had a condescending attitude. No one had ever given her such a friendly feeling.

Moreover, he willingly shared food with her, so he couldn't be a bad person.

However, Rona still hesitated, "I don't know your language, and... your subjects might be afraid of my appearance."

"No communication is needed. Just give them medicine when they come. The people in the Barony are very friendly. Besides, by human aesthetic standards, you are very beautiful, and they won't be afraid of you," Claire said with a smile.

Rona was stunned. He wasn't lying to her about this.

"Okay..."

"Deal! The salary is ten Gold Coins a month!"

"I don't want money," Rona shook her head.

"Then leave it with me. If you want to buy anything later, you can ask me," Claire smiled. He then took out the master-servant contract from his Spatial Ring and handed it to her.

Rona looked at the contract in her hand with surprise. "This..."

"Now that you are the doctor of the Barony, how can you still be a slave? You are now free."

Rona looked up at Claire and asked, "You're giving me this, aren't you afraid I'll run away?"

Claire pointed to his head and said, "The emotions you transmitted tell me you won't run away. And I'm confident that I can build Nafu City into a city where no one wants to leave once they arrive!"

"Oh, right!" Claire suddenly slapped his forehead. "We've been talking for so long, I forgot you're still in the iron cage."

With a "click," the iron cage opened, and the other party slowly walked out.

After walking out, Rona was a head taller than Claire. Her good figure was also displayed, with graceful curves. Combined with the characteristic blonde hair of the elves, she looked exceptionally noble.

Claire tried his best to control his thoughts, preventing any strange ideas from being transmitted.

Then he politely said, "You can take a bath first. The bathroom is to the left outside. I'll have a Maid bring you some suitable clothes later."

Rona didn't refuse. After being captured, she had spent most of her days in the iron cage. She couldn't remember how long it had been since her last bath. Moreover, half-elves inherited the elves' penchant for cleanliness. It would be best to take a bath now.

After Rona finished washing up, she pushed open the door to Claire's room again.

Claire, who was engrossed in writing, looked up at her. Knowing who it was, he lowered his head again. After she went to take a bath, he had turned off the mental connection, so they were back to the stage of not understanding each other's language.

Rona didn't disturb Claire. Instead, she looked at the decorations in the room. She gently kicked a golden goblet leaning by the door with her foot. Claire had dropped it during their third transaction and hadn't put it back yet.

After taking a few more steps, Rona's gaze fell on the water-blue Water Cloud Beast egg. Claire hadn't put it back into his personal space either, fearing it wouldn't hatch.

Rona walked over to the Water Cloud Beast egg and tapped it with her small hand. She could feel life gestated within. This was a gift inherited from the elves, a mystical talent for understanding living creatures.

Claire paid no mind to her, and Rona began playing with the egg by herself. She closed one eye and stared with the other, bringing it close to the shell, trying to see what kind of creature was hatching inside. She tapped all around it, listening to the sounds that echoed back from within.

The egg was the only thing in the entire room that managed to hold her interest for a moment. Eventually, she picked it up and walked over to Claire.

Claire stopped writing and saw Rona watching her from the side. She wanted to speak, but the language barrier made communication impossible.

So, she activated the mental link again. "Don't worry, the hospital will be finished in a few days. It will belong to you then, and you can do whatever you want there."

"I'm not worried. I'm just curious about what you're writing," Rona said, her eyes fixed on the manuscript in Claire's hand. She couldn't even speak the Common Tongue, let alone read its script.

"This?" Claire picked up the manuscript from the desk, saying proudly, "This is a textbook I compiled myself."

This was the culmination of all her previous life's knowledge, an otherworldly version of an elementary school textbook extracted from the nine years of compulsory education! It mainly taught common knowledge from her past life, such as: if water isn't boiled, it contains certain germs that can cause illness. Claire had discovered that most people in the barony drank directly from the well. It also included information about the bacteria found in moldy food.

Later, she planned to include books of fables, primarily to cultivate honesty, bravery, loyalty to the barony, and love for the Viscount. But that would come later. For now, Claire was mainly focusing on common knowledge.

Rona stroked the egg in her arms and asked, "How many characters do you write at most in a day?"

"Five thousand! Writing books is going against the heavens. Five thousand characters is already the limit for a human. Any more and you risk sudden death."

Thanks to "Observer in Spacetime" for the 233 Qidian Coins and "Fantasy Dream Weaver" for a monthly ticket!!!!!

Although I was a bit playful at the end, I still have to explain. It's not that I don't want to update more. This book is still in its early stage. If I update too much, it will be put on shelves before the recommended period is over, which will greatly affect the book's performance.

I'll go all out after it's put on shelves, with a massive update on the release day!

And this isn't short, is it? Each chapter is over 2,400 characters. Other authors are the same! I'm being wronged, Your Honor!