Chapter 284
Chapter 284
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 284
Chapter Title: Short Break 284 ? Short Break #6
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In the end, Elfride pressed her lips against Luna's cheek.
Then she sucked on that soft flesh with a loud *juwap—*, pulling it like she was biting into a chunk of cheese. Luna's cheek stretched out.
*Juwap—*.
It looked just like how wolves showed affection—nipping at each other's cheeks, faces, or necks.
Of course, Elfride wasn't expressing affection for Luna. She was clearly just enjoying herself by watching Luna squirm.
"Heeek!"
Sure enough, Luna reacted like she was about to be devoured, kicking up a huge fuss at Elfride's nibbling.
After savoring Luna's cheek for a good while, Elfride finally seemed satisfied and let go of her hand with a pat. Luna jumped back like she'd been waiting for it, putting some distance between them and furrowing her brow.
"I-I told you not to! I'm not falling for it like last time!"
She crouched low again, rubbing her now bright red, swollen cheek.
Elfride, meanwhile, casually wiped the corner of her mouth with a relaxed air.
"Your reactions are hilarious."
Hilarious reactions.
It was the mindset of a bully tormenting some weak kid.
But I had to agree with Elfride to some extent. Luna's raw, unfiltered responses made her the perfect victim for someone like Elfride.
That said, today's Luna seemed different from usual.
*Gooo—*.
From her flattened, prone stance, an ominous aura emanated.
Just as I thought something extraordinary was about to happen, Elfride grabbed Luna's waist again and shook her around.
"Th-this, uwaaa—! Why, why isn't it working!"
I had no idea what she was trying to do, but Luna couldn't beat Elfride. And honestly, a wood-attribute like Luna was never going to overcome Elfride's fire-attribute anyway.
No matter what Luna tried, it'd just fuel the sadistic flames rising in Elfride's heart even more.
"Hey, cut it out already. She hates it."
Elfride kept groping Luna's arms and cheeks with her fingers until I finally scolded her.
Only then did she let Luna drop to the floor with a thud, dusting herself off as she said,
"She's such a weird, cute kid. Where'd you even find her?"
"I think that every time I see her."
Anyway, it seemed Elfride had taken a liking to Luna in her own way.
I'd heard somewhere—not sure how reliable—that women like pretty, cute girls too.
Come to think of it, even experiments with dogs or cats preferring food held by attractive women over plain ones backed that up.
Was being drawn to beauty just an inescapable instinct?
"Grrr...."
It reminded me how Luna had been fascinated by Elfride at first sight, calling her a pretty elf.
Of course, now she could only hide behind my back and growl.
"Hassan, chase her off!"
Luna had apparently decided she couldn't handle Elfride alone and was asking me for help.
"She says go far away."
"Far away!"
Elfride let out a thoughtful hum, then opened her mouth as if struck by an idea.
"Want a strand of my hair?"
She plucked a single strand from her long locks and dangled it in front of Luna, waving it around.
"Truce. Here, have one as a peace offering."
A peace offering of hair? Would that even work?
"Y-yeah!"
It did for Luna. She stared at the strand like a cat eyeing a toy.
She even started inching out from behind my back, one cautious step at a time. But then she realized what she was doing and yelled sharply,
"You're luring me out to grab me again!"
That sounded exactly like something Elfride would pull—tempting Luna with hair just to seize her waist and chomp her cheek again, the sneaky elf.
Elfride just lazily dangled the hair with a drowsy expression.
"I wouldn't. I swear on the River Styx."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Swearing on the River Styx was the ultimate vow in this world. Reassured, Luna took the strand from Elfride's hand.
"Does this mean we're good now?"
"No way! Buy me dinner too!"
*
*
*
The inn at the north gate where I was staying—『Shark of the Raging Winds』.
The owner, Belger, looked less like an innkeeper and more like some grizzled adventurer, mercenary, or bandit. Middle-aged, with sleeves rolled up to reveal rocky forearms covered in thick, almost primal hair—pretty intimidating.
His face was etched with scars, wrinkles, and some inexplicable worry, giving him a perpetually grim look that made approaching him scary.
But right now, that man's face was flushed red with embarrassment and awkwardness, a expression I'd never seen on him before.
"Not sure if it'll be to your taste. It's, uh, what was it—veal ribs or something. Anyway, that menu item."
*Clack, clack—*. Belger set the dishes in front of us.
The reason he seemed so flustered? Apparently, we were the first customers ever to order the 50-silver course meal since the inn opened.
"Sberl, this is my first time making it too. I gave it my best shot, but no clue if it'll suit you."
What kind of chef gets flustered by a menu item on his own list?
I'd heard that even back on Earth, Chinese cooks panic over rare orders like kung pao chicken or black pepper steak.
"Anyway, enjoy. Call if you need anything." With that awkward line, the innkeeper shuffled off.
I picked up my knife and fork, eyeing the fancy slab of meat in front of us. But I hesitated to dig in.
"Hey, Elfride. You're really paying for this?"
"What?"
"It's 50 silver. You're covering it?"
A single meal for 50 silver? That's like a thousand bowls of 5-copper kimbap.
I couldn't imagine this tiny rib rack and its bit of flesh being worth a thousand bowls. No wonder Belger felt weird taking the order.
Elfride glanced at the bill and said,
"See, I'm buying dinner, so truce now."
Luna, sitting at the table staring at the food just like me, replied,
"I'll decide after tasting it!"
Luna's survival instincts were on point. But for someone so confident, her eyes were blinking more and more as she eyed the spread.
It'd been ages since Luna had eaten anything this pricey. We'd been so broke we used to sneak food out of noble banquets.
"Hmm—."
After agonizing over the unexpected course meal, Luna finally speared a white, marshmallow-like thing with her fork and popped it in her mouth. First things first, I guess.
I asked,
"How's it taste, Luna? Edible?"
"No idea, kinda gross. Tasteless."
Elfride chimed in.
"That's a wet wipe. It swells up with water."
"I-I knew that! I moistened it with my mouth!"
Luna pulled a long wet wipe from her mouth. It looked like magic—a marshmallow turning into tissue.
*Sberl*.
I set down the one I'd been holding. Close call.
Anyway, our odd trio started this unfamiliar meal.
*Clack, clack—*.
The knife and fork struggled to slice the meat—it was undercooked and tough. Luna was having the same issue, hacking away with effort.
Is this what they call rare?
As I wrestled with the meat on my plate, I asked Luna,
"Should I ask them to cook it more?"
"Yeah, that'd be good. There's a fire mage here, so just say the word."
Luna smoothly slid her plate toward Elfride. Elfride, who had been effortlessly slicing her own vividly bloody, fresh-looking meat like she was about to frolic in a meadow, paused her meal.
"What's this?"
"Can you cook it a bit more?"
"Ahh—sure, no problem."
*Swish*, Elfride raised a finger.
She pointed it at the slab like aiming a magic gun barrel—better phrasing than just pointing rudely.
"...."
But no simple incantation came from Elfride's slightly parted lips. Maybe it was my imagination, but her breathing quickened, and the tip of her outstretched index finger trembled.
She stared down the meat in a prolonged standoff.
The Elfride I knew would've conjured flames effortlessly without chants to sear it.
Something was off.
"What're you doing?"
Luna voiced the same odd feeling. Elfride let out a huge sigh.
She pointed her raised finger at the ceiling instead and called out,
"Innkeep, can you cook this more?"
"Right away. Yeah, it was a bit underdone."
Belger, who'd been anxiously watching our meal, swooped in and whisked away mine and Luna's plates. Luna asked,
"Why not use magic?"
"No need when the innkeep's here."
Elfride answered nonchalantly, but I felt something off.
Thinking back, even at the trash incinerator, she'd never used magic—not once. She'd poked the ashes with a rod by hand.
She could've halved the work with her powers but didn't.
I'd thought it was her way of atoning—doing hard labor instead of taking the easy path.
That was probably part of it.
But maybe there was a deeper issue?
Stories of fire handlers getting burned or traumatizing folks with big blazes were common.
Could Elfride have something like that? Ridiculous, though. Elfride, of all people, afraid of fire?
As I mulled it over, Luna blurted,
"I get it—you're scared of fire!"
She'd nailed what I'd only pondered.
I knew Luna didn't mince words, but I hadn't expected her to stab so directly. I was pretty thrown.
Part of me wondered what would happen next.
Instead of answering, Elfride silently finished her meal.
*Clack, clack*. The knife scraping the plate grew noisily intrusive, like it spoke for her.
Having finished first, Elfride stood quietly.
"I'll settle the bill first."
She vanished toward her room on the second floor. Luna and I watched her go in silence, then exchanged glances.
Luna said,
"A mage scared of fire? Weirdos everywhere."
"Yeah."
If Luna called her weird, she must be really weird.
"Anyway, Hassan. After dinner, let's go yank that club! Someone might take it!"
"True, but it's stuck solid in the ground. No idea how to pull it."
"I've got a great idea!"
After finishing our meal, we headed back to the well—and I was in for quite the shock.
"Wh-what the sberl is this?"