Chapter 63

"Hey, it's not right to laugh at me like that," I said. "Are you particularly good at using the internet?"

Mel replied smugly, "At least I read the news; this isn't the first time I've heard of the Flame of Fury."

I... okay... Mel said he deliberately disassembled phones and computers to study their structure, while I... I genuinely broke them... so between the two of us, I'm the real electronics killer.

"..." I lowered my head, thought for a moment, and said, "My worry in the past wasn't just about being wanted, but also because I felt pleasure when I killed them. I couldn't deceive myself that I felt no burden or guilt whatsoever. I liked... I liked the feeling of killing them, and hearing their screams made me... so happy..."

"Would you be happy to hear me scream?" Mel frowned.

I immediately replied, "Then I will kill whoever hurt you!"

"See!" Mel said smugly, "So you should have realized it sooner, Xipei, everyone's happy when they successfully kill the enemy! You've just lived with the wrong case for too long, it's not your fault."

I stood there, stunned. Mel didn't give me much time, because he leaned down and kissed me again.

We entwined ourselves in each other, embracing, kissing, breathing in the air filled with each other's scent. It intoxicated me; I had never felt so at peace.

Yes, I have indeed felt pleasure from killing, and I still do. I felt extremely satisfied when I turned those Electronic Demons that besieged us into ash. But I will not kill any other innocent people, never (not even the Five-Star Old Man, at most he'll become a slime, oh, may the benevolent gods bless him, I wonder if he's turned back yet, if it drags on for a few more days, I reckon the paperwork on his desk will bury him alive).

My previous worries were completely unnecessary. I only had one teacher who needed to be disinfected by Hellfire. My first teacher was great. When I went to the dessert shop he opened after he retired, I could even eat free pastries. I visited him a few times, but every time I went, he always wanted me to wear a bunny mascot costume and be the mascot in front of his shop, which scared me so much that I almost walked around his shop.

I can't believe I've been bothered by such a stupid question for so many years.

How could I possibly become a villain? This world has Mel, Moli, and Anna. Only someone with a brain full of slime would find life boring and want to become a wanted villain!

I hugged Mel's neck tightly—he was a little taller than me, so he always had to bend down a bit when we kissed. His kisses felt so good that I felt too weak to stand on tiptoe. He stroked my back, his hands roaming over it, and I felt waves of heat brewing deep within me... This wasn't enough. I even greedily savored the taste of Mel's mouth, but I still couldn't be satisfied; I wanted more...

"Wow!"

Suddenly, screams of alarm came from ahead.

Mel and I were startled and quickly separated, panting. He licked his lips, and seeing him do that made it even harder for me to breathe. I hurriedly straightened my robe... Thank goodness the mage's robe was wide and long, perfectly concealing the changes on my body.

Two apprentices came running back in a flurry, shouting and yelling:

"Teacher! We took down a room full of soldiers and found a room full of dwarf prisoners crammed together, but we found this in a cage in the corner!"

"Teacher! Teacher! Look how cute this little one is! Can we take her home and raise her? We'll raise her well and discipline her properly; she definitely won't bother you!"

What pets did you find?

However, Moli and Anna would describe it as cute, unlike those golden slimes or sticky black widows that have just laid their eggs...

Forehead...

Mel and I remained silent as Moli held a small creature aloft and presented it to us.

The little thing was half the height of Moli, and it was looking up at me obediently and innocently. Its lake-green eyes reflected me and Mel. It looked at us without the slightest fear, and even reached out to try to pull my hair.

Her hands and feet were shackled, and Moli and Anna, who hadn't finished removing them, hurriedly carried her over.

Good heavens, Moli, where did you find a little elf who's barely ten years old???

... And you only rescued one elf from a bunch of bearded dwarves, is that right?

Chapter 63

Mel raised an eyebrow, pointed uncertainly at the elf, and asked, "You... you're raising her?"

Moli and Anna looked at us with sparkling eyes. I almost thought they were holding something like a princess dress, a doll, or a game disc, instead of an elf. I often see children making that kind of face to their parents in front of a toy store on my way home from work.

Forehead...

We couldn't help but facepalm. If it were just a little dress or a doll, facing those looks, Mel and I probably would have bought it without hesitation... But you're still kids yourselves, yet you have the audacity to want to raise another child? Do you really think it's a pet, something you can just feed, bathe, and groom every day?

I saw Moli holding this little elf the whole time, her hands supporting the little guy under his armpits. The way she held him was no different from holding a cat, and the little elf actually just obediently relaxed and let her hold him... To be honest, it was no different from being a cat being held.

I quickly picked her up. The way Moli shook the little elf made me think she was showing off a giant rag doll—I knew they were loving and genuinely wanted to take on the responsibility of raising the elf. But the truth was, I didn't believe two well-off young girls could properly care for another girl. They were still children themselves. Moli was a biologically mature adult, but Anna clearly wasn't. Even if she was an elf raised by humans and precociously mature, almost like one, she was still a dark elf not yet twenty, not much older than the little elf they were holding.

Besides, wasn't this little elf kidnapped? Although I'm a dark mage, I've said before that I strongly discourage picking up a child and forcibly taking them home as an apprentice. So we should send this elf back to the Elven Sanctuary.

"We'll rescue the hostages and then take them back to their homes," I said.

Moli and Anna looked disappointed at the little elf in my arms. The little elf had successfully grabbed my hair and stayed quietly in my arms, neither crying nor making a sound, calmly looking around.

"Where did you find her?" Mel asked.

Anna pointed dejectedly ahead.

"What's your name? How old are you? Do you remember why you were brought here?" I asked the little elf.

I wasn't sure if such a small elf could speak common human language, so I used common elven language. But maybe my common elven language wasn't very good, because the little elf tilted its head, tugged at my hair, and didn't answer.

Mel asked the question in Woodland Elvish, Ancient Elvish, and Dark Elvish in turn. The little elf, attracted by his voice, slightly grinned and smiled at us.

Unlike typical surface elves, her skin had a faint glow, like the sunlight just breaking through the morning light. Generally, elves don't glow. Most elves that do glow are those who also hold professions like paladins or priests of light, and a small minority, in my opinion, are fallen elves—they work in the film and entertainment industry, ignoring their excellent natural magic and agility talents to become actors, occasionally sprinkling themselves with glittering gold dust, making them appear to glow as well.

However, there was nothing that could be done; even the Elf King didn't care, saying it was the elves' "individual freedom." Indeed, no one stipulated that those with good talent had to pursue this profession; personal will was certainly more important.

Among the various elven races, only the rarest branch, the Holy Tree Elf, possesses a natural radiance. The natural power within their bloodline is the strongest, hence their smallest numbers and a certain distance from human society. The elven royal family is such an elf—which is why Moli always tells me that even the elven king, a walking, luminous legend, has learned to post emojis on social media, while my insistence on not allowing my assistant to bring communication devices into the lab seems exceptionally inhumane, and my stubbornness is even more terrifying than that of the elves.