Chapter 43: On the way to stealing a hero's opportunity



Today, Aelorian was dreaming about that day again.

When she announced her decision to abandon tradition and not continue her studies in the Great Forest, and instead enroll in the academy. As a consequence, she had to listen for a long time to the violent reactions of all the elders, almost shouting to convince her to change her mind.

But despite that, she didn't give up the idea, because she had already become the best among the young generation of elves and she didn't see the point of staying here any longer. She wanted to go out into the open world and explore its vast expanses.

Especially from the rare stories from the elves, she knew that because of their rare appearance outside of their forest, humans were used to underestimating them and looked down on them.

So Aelorian decided that she was going to break that stereotype and prove her superiority. And she knew that the best way to do that was to beat humans on their own turf, at their own game, so she decided to leave the forest and enter the academy, becoming the best there.

Just before she left, her mother, the Elf Queen, visited her.

"I'm not changing my mind."

Aelorian said confidently, figuring that her mother, like everyone else, would talk her into changing her mind. But contrary to her expectations, her mother spoke in her usual gentle voice, looking at her lovingly.

"I'm not here to discourage you, dear. Instead, I've come to bring you some happy news. For the first time in two centuries, I have received a message from the World Tree, and it is directly related to you."

Seeing her daughter's surprised look, she took her hand and continued.

"It said that you would have a chance to restore the greatness of our race if you found the man who..."

Before her mother could finish her words, her surroundings began to blur and in the next second she saw the face of a red-eyed young man in front of her.

"Rain?"

Aelorian stared at his face, unable to look away. It was not until the remnants of her dream finally passed and she saw the sun already high up that her eyes widened.

"Did I sleep that long?"

She said shocked and returned her already clearer gaze to Rain.

"Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"

"I just woke up myself."

Realizing that it would be foolish to blame him for this, Aelorian got up from her seat and began putting her things away in the storage ring. After gathering everything up and making sure there was nothing left, she pulled out and drank one of the potions. She hadn't gotten a good night's sleep tonight, so she needed something to increase her alertness and concentration for battles.

When they were ready to leave, something suspicious caught her eye. She began to shift back and forth between Rain and the spot where his bed had recently stood.

"Aren't you a little too cheerful this morning?"

It was the first time Aelorian had seen her partner in such high spirits.

Swallowing, she unconsciously shifted her gaze to Rain's crotch. When she didn't see anything suspiciously large there, she was a little confused.

'Did I really dream it? But after all, there's no reason why I'd dream about his...'

With some hesitation, she continued to cast occasional inconspicuous glances at his lower body. At least she thought they were unnoticeable until his voice came to her.

"Can't you forget what you saw last night?"

'I didn't dream it!'

Aelorian shrieked to herself, but didn't dare admit it out loud and decided to go off topic.

"You mean the moon? Yes, it was very beautiful."

"I mean my dick."

In a calm voice, Rain replied as he continued to lead them in a certain direction.

Aelorian flinched at his directness and blushed, remembering even more clearly what she had seen that night.

Rain had to admit that teasing this innocent elf girl was fun.

"No need to be embarrassed, it was just a night boner, a common occurrence."

'N-night boner?'

She realized she needed to say something to avoid embarrassing herself.

"I just..."

At that moment, however, Rain's senses caught on to something and in the next second he grabbed her, jumping sharply off to the side with her.

"What the...?"

Aelorian wanted to be angry at his sudden actions, but her eyes narrowed when the rocks and trees near where she had just stood were cleanly chopped in half.

Any hint of amusement was gone from Rain's gaze and he became completely serious.

'We're already here.'

***

Thanks for reading, everyone!