Chapter 162 – Saving Abel

After entering the Nature Shrine, Alice promptly saw Filia’s unconscious body on the floor and Abel’s remnant soul hovering above Filia’s panties.

Although Abel could only stare into space while Alice was away, there was not the slightest hint of irritation on her face. After all, she had already spent over a thousand years living without anybody noticing her existence. The feeling of being alone was nothing new to her.

However, probably because her remnant soul had very little strength left, Abel did not notice Alice entering the Nature Shrine at all. Only after Alice had removed her magic robe and exposed her body and aura did Abel realize that Alice had returned.

“You’re back?” Abel smiled as she looked at Alice. Although this young Hero behaved very strangely and unreliably most of the time, the girl was very serious about studying. Thus, Abel still had a relatively good impression of Alice. “Did you finish taking care of your business outside?”

“Huh? Do you know what happened outside?”

Alice was momentarily stunned when she heard Abel’s question. It sounded like Abel knew what had taken place outside. However, logically, Abel should not be able to separate from Filia’s panties, so it shouldn’t have been possible for her to know what took place outside the Nature Shrine.

“Did you forget the pillar outside the Nature Shrine?” Abel asked, chuckling when she saw the look of surprise on Alice’s face. When Alice effortlessly exposed her presence in Filia’s panties, she thought that Alice had already seen through all of her secrets. However, looking at it now, that didn’t seem to be the case. “I left that pillar there. Through it, I can sense some of the things taking place within the village. Although I can only get a general sense of what is going on, I can still sense the commotion going on in the village these past few days.”

“I see.” Alice originally found it confusing why Abel would leave a stone pillar outside the Nature Shrine. Although she had previously thought of checking it out with her right hand, she had forgotten to do so due to her busy schedule.

“Although I couldn’t get a clear picture of the situation, it should be related to the Demon King, right?” Abel asked, a curious expression appearing on her face as she looked at Alice. After her era, Demon Kings of subsequent eras had similarly dragged the elven race into their wars. However, these Demon Kings were defeated before they got anywhere near the Elven Forest. So, she couldn’t help but grow interested when she heard that the Demon King of this generation had appeared in the Elven Forest. “How did it go?”

“I’m still here, so how do you think it went?” Alice said, shrugging. She knew that there was no point in lying at this time. Since Abel could listen in on the conversations happening within the village, she would learn of this situation sooner or later. “Like myself, the Demon King has yet to reach her full potential. So, she retreated after exchanging a few taboos with me.”

“I guess that sounds about right. All of the past Demon Kings have been cunning fellows. They won’t take the initiative to start a war until they have grown sufficiently strong. The latest Demon King is likely to be the same. It is unlikely she will fight you to the death before she fully develops,” Abel said, her voice carrying hints of dissatisfaction toward the various Demon Kings’ behavior. “But you should still be careful. Now that the Demon King knows that you’re not fully developed, she might use the demons’ Four Heavenly Kings as cannon fodder to exhaust you and kill you.”

“Times have changed. The demon realm is no longer a place where might is completely right. If the Demon King dares treat the Four Heavenly Kings as cannon fodder, the Four Heavenly Kings will be the first ones to rebel,” Alice said. She knew that Abel still had a relatively ancient mentality, so she decided to explain a little about the demon realm’s situation to the elf. Of course, she didn’t hope to change the other party’s mind with just a few words. “But while it is unlikely that the Four Demon Kings will be willing to become cannon fodder, there is still a chance that they might try to assassinate me. Hence, I am trying my best to conceal my identity.”

“I guess you’re right. I can now understand why you insist on sneaking into the Nature Shrine. Although I trust my fellow elves, it is better to be safe than sorry,” Abel said, sighing.

Abel was fully aware of how conservative the elves were. It was also why she chose to as a male when she announced her relationship with Filia. Even though many elves knew about her actual gender, they pretended not to know about it since the information of “a female Hero dating a female elf” was a little too stimulating for the people back then.

Meanwhile, Abel felt that it was highly unlikely for traitors to appear among such a conservative race. However, after all was said and done, she was still an elf, so she understood that it would sound biased and unconvincing for her to make such a statement. Thus, she could understand why Alice insisted on hiding her identity from the elves.

After all, Alice wasn’t an elf. It was only natural for her to be wary of the elves.

“But even if you are going to hide your identity, couldn’t you have chosen a better appearance?” Abel suddenly asked. “From what I heard around the village, everyone seems to be saying that the Hero has the body of an ox but the face of an elf. I can’t even begin to imagine what your disguise looks like.”

“Cough, cough… I did it to minimize the likelihood of others linking me with the Hero,” Alice said, faking a cough. Although the Hero’s appearance was indeed a little strange, it worked wonders in preventing others from linking the Hero to her. After all, nobody could possibly imagine that the muscular Hero was actually a little girl on the inside.

“I guess that’s fair. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve also had difficulty linking such a description with your current appearance,” Abel said, chuckling. Then, after going silent for a moment, she continued, “But now that you’ve finished learning the elves’ taboos and dealt with the Demon King’s matter, that means…you’re about to leave, right?”

Alice nodded in response, feeling a little sad that she was about to part with Abel. She had spent most of the past week staying in the Nature Shrine with the Elven Hero. It was also thanks to Abel’s teachings that she could learn all of the elves’ unique taboos within a week. Otherwise, she would’ve needed to stay a few more days in the elven village. Now that it was time to say goodbye, she couldn’t help but feel a little sad.

“By the way, have you ever thought of creating a body for yourself using the Seed of Nature, Abel?” Alice asked.

“That’s not possible,” Abel said, shaking her head. “While it is true that the Seed of Nature can be used as a medium to recreate a person’s body, the precondition is that the person creating the body must have sufficient knowledge about the body’s composition.

“However, not only do elves have a small population, but we also have incredibly long lifespans. As a result, there are incredibly few elf corpses available for alchemists to research, and the body composition of elves remains largely a mystery until this day. Hence, it is impossible to recreate an elf’s body with alchemy.

“Also, even if I am willing to live using a human’s body, I can’t do so. You do remember what I told you before, right? A remnant soul is different from a complete soul. Even if my remnant soul enters an empty body, it will scatter because of its incompatibility with the body. Hence, it is no longer possible for my remnant soul to continue living in a body.”

Alice couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated when she heard Abel’s explanation. The soul had always remained a challenging topic in the field of magic. Simply developing the magic required to fragment a soul already required profound knowledge about souls. Meanwhile, magic to repair a remnant soul and return it to a state of completion was simply unheard of.

The Loli Goddess might be capable of accomplishing this feat, but the Loli Goddess had already made it clear that she wouldn’t interfere in the matters of this world unless it is something directly related to the Demon King’s Power. Although Alice could use the excuse of “Abel could be of help in dealing with the Demon King’s Power” to convince the Loli Goddess, it was unlikely that the Loli Goddess would buy such an excuse.