Arthur, coming out of his daze, raised his hand towards the elf and created a fireball.
"What the fuck are you talking about? get out of my way if you don't want to end up with a deformed face!"
I said with a threatening tone and look but the elf continued with her smile without moving.
"Eh~ that would be really bad; please don't do that."
She said with a clearly sarcastic tone
'What's wrong with this girl!? just go away, please!"
Arthur started to get a little desperate but went through with his act
"Now that I see you better, you are really pretty; why don't you spend a night with me? in trade, I can let you go without hurting you."
This should work, even if the plot changes, it doesn't matter much, This is just a small event to improve the relationship between Anisa and Kein, that's something that will end up happening anyway so no need to worry.
But what happened next was something Arthur didn't expect at all.
"Wow, would you grant me that honor?"
Said the elf with a seductive tone as she snuggled up against Arthur
"The truth is, you're my type too, Mr. Arthur."
With a slight blush, she looked into Arthur's eyes and said what ended up confusing his already chaotic mind
"Please be gentle."
...
..
.
Eh?
Arthur couldn't believe what was happening now, One of the heroines of the novel, whom he hadn't even met before, willingly 'gave herself' to him without putting up resistance
'Wait, wait, wait, wait, what the hell is going on!?'
After a while, he noticed that the elf, who was now in his arms, began to tremble while slight noises came out of her mouth
"Pff...hahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
Suddenly she burst out laughing while holding her stomach, Arthur, who looked at her, was only even more confused
"Hahahahaha...I'm sorry it's just...hehehehehe."
She tried to tell him something but the uncontrollable laughter prevented her, After a while, she calmed down and was able to say what she wanted to tell him earlier
"I'm sorry for that, but I couldn't help it when I looked at your confused face."
She said this while wiping tears from her eyes from laughing and with a smile.
"Breaking your mask wasn't as hard as I thought it would be."
After hearing those words, Arthur snapped out of his stupor and sorted out his thoughts.
'I can't believe it; this time it wasn't a teacher but a student, and not just an ordinary student, but a freaking heroine!'
As Arthur began to doubt his acting skills, an important question popped into his mind.
"How did you know?"
Him and she hadn't even spoken once; during training with Professor Lucius and classes with Miss Vivian, he made sure that no students walked the halls and during the day, he never broke his idiotic character.
After the teachers caught him, he became even more careful than before, making sure that there was no inconsistency in his acting, making it practically perfect.
He couldn't understand how the heroine in front of him figured it out
"Well, it was pretty easy, really."
Hearing this, Arthur got nervous, If what she says is true, then there is a big mistake in his acting that can easily expose him, but going over his behavior so far, he found nothing wrong, He has been acting this way since he was 7 years old, There is no way he wouldn't have noticed such a mistake
"Of all the bad things you've done so far, in none of them did you act with any real malice."
"Eh? What do you mean?"
At that moment, Arthur remembered something from the novel.
As if to reaffirm his thought, the elf explained.
"We elves have an ability to discern a person's intentions, whether good or evil, but my case is special; I can see much more clearly the intentions of people compared to other elves, to the point that I can not only discern their intentions but also their emotions."
Arthur, while listening to this, remembered the events of the novel.
How could he forget something so important?
The reality is that it is not his fault; this ability was only mentioned a few times in the whole novel and it was in the meeting between this heroine and Kein that she explained to Kein this ability, only to tell him that he was the most passionate and full of determination person she had ever seen in her life, which attracted her to it.
After that, it was not recurrently mentioned again, Most of the enemies they faced later on were overtly evil so there was nothing to discern, so this ability remained just an elven trait that was rarely mentioned
"I never felt any bad intentions on your part in doing all those bad things; of course, I never found guilt or regret either, just a slight feeling of fun, so I'm not saying you're exactly the nicest person in the world but all in all, you're not a bad person."
When she finished speaking, she walked up to Arthur and looked him straight in the eyes.
"That's why I asked myself, why do you do all those things if you're not a bad person? That's why I was following you for a few days until I couldn't stand the curiosity anymore and here we are."
Arthur looked into the elf's blue eyes for a few seconds before starting to walk away.
"You don't have to know."
"Eh~? come on. tell me; I promise I won't tell anyone."
I know she wouldn't tell anyone, and I'm tempted to get her on my side. after all, her status could help me get one of the allies I have in mind much faster, but this is our first meeting, and I have to build a relationship with her before that
"You're planning something, you are, aren't you?I can feel it."
"It's your imagination."
"Mmm, I don't think so, Come on, tell me or I'll bug you until you tell me."
"I won't tell you."
"Please."
"No"
"Yes"
"No"
"Yes"
"No"
"No"
"Since I see you don't want me to tell you anymore, I won't tell you."
Surprised because her mental trick didn't work, she started yelling at Arthur to tell her, but he didn't answer her and started walking faster.
"Hey wait, you're going to leave a nice and delicate girl like me alone in such a scary forest? What a scumbag!"
"Thanks for the compliment."
"It wasn't a compliment; by the way, my name is Freydis Freyrhem."
" Wow, a member of the elven royal family."
"You don't seem surprised at all."
"Well, it was easy to guess from your silver hair."
"Oh, we have someone studious here."
Only members of the elven royal family who rule Alfheim, the realm of the elves, have silver hair, It is said that this is because they are descendants of the Alfar, the first elves created by the god Frey, who today live on a separate plane known as Ljósálfheimr, guarding and protecting the Yggdrasil, better known as the world tree
Walking through the forest, Freydis and I talked and started to get to know each other better, Freydis was a very curious and joking girl; she told me it was because she had been confined most of her life in the castle walls, and now that she had a chance to get out, she wanted to experience as much as she can.
After a few minutes of walking, we arrived at the hideout, which was a rather worn-out hut, as if no one had been using it for several years
"Well, here we are; it was a pleasure but you should go now."
"What? no, I want to see! according to what you told me, Kein guy is going to kick the ass of all these guys; you want me to miss out on something like that?"
She said excitedly but then, looking a little nervous, she continued talking
"And also..."
"Also?"
"I don't remember the way back..."
"..."
"..."
The more he looked at her, her face got redder and redder until it looked like steam was coming out of her
"Sigh~ okay, but hide so they won't find you."
"Understood! don't worry about it; I'm an elf, and the forest is like my home."
"How do you get lost in your own home, then?"
"Ugh! shut up!"
After saying that, she nimbly climbed a tree and hid in the leaves.
I looked at her for a few seconds before walking and entering the cabin.
"You're finally here, Arthur! What took you so long?"
I asked a purple-haired boy who was the nobleman who orchestrated this whole plan.
"This girl put up more resistance than I thought."
I said as I set her down on a chair and two others took it upon themselves to tie her hands and feet.
"Anyway, that commoner shouldn't take that long to get here."
He said this as he put a sadistic grin on his face
"I want you to leave him to me; I'll make him pay for the humiliation he put me through!"
"Don't worry, Arthur; everyone will get their chance."
After 10 minutes, the nobles inside the hut felt a familiar man approaching them
" He's coming."
They went outside to greet their guest and when they were all outside, they could see Kein with a look of fury in his eyes
"Where is she?"
He asked directly with an irritated voice
"Ah, her, hahaha, don't worry, she's sleeping comfortably inside the hut."
Said the purple-haired nobleman as a maniacal look appeared in his eyes.
Kein, already fed up with their games, unsheathed his sword, preparing to fight, pointing it at the nobles in front of him
"Who comes first!"
The nobles were enraged by his arrogance but restrained themselves from charging at him; after all, they had a plan to follow, except for a certain idiot who couldn't control his impulses
"Don't act so arrogant!!!"
"Wait!"
Arthur charged towards Kein, mowed down by anger as the purple-haired noble tried to stop him.
-Klangh Klangh
Their swords clashed, Arthur attacking carelessly while Kein blocked everything he threw at him without any difficulty, This continued for a while before Kein got fed up
-Bang!
"Uagh!"
With a loud hit to the stomach, he left Arthur on the floor, vomiting a little.
"Damn bas-."
-Pum!
Before he could finish speaking, a kick sent him flying into a tree, Kein was in no humor to listen to Arthur's nonsense; all he could think about now was rescuing Anisa.
"Tch!", damned idiot, but at least it served as a distraction.
The purple-haired noble snapped his fingers and several arrows were shot towards Kein, thinking he had him The purple-haired noble smiled triumphantly, clearly underestimating Kein's senses and instincts.
-Clank Clank Clank
Without moving from his place, Kein deflected all the arrows that were shot towards him, Kein had long since sensed the presence of the other nobles moving into the trees in their fight against Arthur
"I hope that wasn't all you had planned, because if it was, then I am very disappointed."
He said this as he pointed his sword towards the angry nobles.
"Damn commoner! Everyone attack!"
Several other nobles stepped out of the shadows and surrounded Kein, He got into position and the fight began
***
"Ugh, I see he got stronger."
Arthur, who was sent flying by Kein's kick, was lying on his back while holding his stomach.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Freydis, who climbed down from the tree, squatted down next to Arthur and asked him with a concerned tone.
"Not really. That bastard hits pretty hard."
"Well, yes, he does."
She said this as she watched Kein take down several nobles at the same time with no apparent effort.
"He's very strong, he really surprised me, but you're no slouch either, I can sense that you're pretty strong too, you can't fool me with a simple mana suppression artifact."
"Really? but it cost me a fortune."
"Don't worry so much, artifacts always release small and imperceptible traces of mana, naturally, humans wouldn't be able to notice it, but we elves have a much more developed mana perception than yours, and since I'm the coolest elf ever, you can imagine how sensitive I am to these things."
She said with a proud tone, as I could swear I saw her nose elongate.
"Hehehe, how smug for a princess."
"Everyone's status within the academy is the same, isn't it? so I'm not a princess; I'm just an extremely beautiful normal girl who can be smug."
"You are abusing the rules."
"It would be silly not to, it's hard to be a princess, you know? I have to follow all those rules and labels, plus I have to wear those tight dresses full of gems and ruffles, do you know how hard it is to walk around in those things?"
"I can imagine."
"Well, now I'm in a place where they say everyone has the same status, so I can do the things that someone with a commoner status would do, no?"
"Hahahaha, you're right."
The two continued talking until they noticed that the fight was over; all the nobles that attacked Kein were on the ground unconscious, A scared Anisa hugged Kein while tears were coming out of her eyes, Kein stroked her head to calm her down, telling her that it was all over now
"Awww, how cute, Isn't this like a love story with the knight in shining armor rescuing the princess? How romantic!"
"You read a lot of knight stories."
"Hmp!How could someone like you know the heart of a maiden?"They are all deep in their hearts are waiting for that knight in shining armor to save them, and I'm no exception."
"Then will you marry the first man who saves you from some dangerous situation?"
"Of course not, but I think I'll know it when I get there."
"That doesn't make sense."
"Your face doesn't make sense."
"I know, I'm so damn handsome, it's unnatural."
"I'm going to vomit if you say something like that again."
"Some people just can't accept the truth."
"Yeah, yeah."
The two watched as Kein tied up the unconscious nobles with Anisa's help, It seems that he completely forgot about Arthur because when he finished tying them up, he left
"They're already tying people together; they're practically already a couple."
"Right? I can see the smitten look in that girl's eyes."
The two continued to banter for a while before Arthur got up and prepared to leave
"Hey..."
"Yeah, I know you don't remember the way back; don't worry, I'll guide you."
"No, it's not that..."
Arthur paused and looked at Freydis, who seemed hesitant to say anything as he fiddled with his fingers
"What's wrong?"
"Well, we're friends, right?"
Arthur was a little confused to hear these words, but then he remembered what Freydis was like in the novel
Ever since she was a child, she was a very curious and adventurous young woman, When she saw something she was interested in or unfamiliar with, she fervently pursued it
Things like etiquette, manners or fashion were not things that caught her attention; she preferred to play outside, exploring the forest, rather than sitting for hours listening to a boring lecture on what cutlery to wear in what situation.
This earned her a bad reputation around the noble circle, who did not see her as graceful enough to be a member of the royal family, so the nobles began to isolate her and not invite her to meetings or banquets.
But this did not matter to her at all, she did not have to take the throne, she had her older brother for that, she even thought it was an advantage that she was not invited to those boring meetings and noble banquets, giving her more time to play.
But although she didn't mind if she felt lonely, not having any friend to play with, the nobles who approached her only did it for greed and the commoners were 'afraid' of her because of her status as a member of the royal family, As she grew up, this feeling of loneliness diminished as her mind matured, but it didn't vanish completely.
So when she found out about the academy, Athena begged her father to allow her to attend, hoping to make friends in an environment where the status of all students within the institution was the same, Her father loved her very much so he allowed her to enter without much effort.
Besides, Freydis, since she was a child, showed an exceptional talent for magic, surpassing all the teachers who taught her, so the Athena academy would be perfect to polish her skills.
After remembering the whole Freydis scenario, Arthur looked at her as she looked nervous.
"Well, I met you today but... I guess we are."
Freydis' eyes lit up as she heard his words and a radiant smile appeared on her face
"Wow, how excited you are, By any chance, you don't have any friends?"
When Arthur said that, Freydis' smile froze.
"Sure, I have them! I have lots of friends! more than you'll ever have in your life! people line up to be my friends, you know?"
"Sure, sure."
"Hey, wait, don't ignore me; I'm telling you the truth!"
"I believe you."
"Bullshit, you don't!"
And so Freydis Freyrhem got his first friend.