Episode 20

Elia occasionally glanced back at the street where she had parted with Ain.
If only she could, she wished to be the one next to him… But she had lost in the drawing decided among the sisters while Ain was unconscious, so there was no choice.
If it were anyone else, maybe, but disputes among sisters were to be avoided at any cost.
Besides, for her, there was something more important right now.

Elia asked Stella beside her in a worried tone.

“Do you think Dad hasn’t found out about us killing those trash yet?”

Could Ain have found out? That was a common concern shared by all the sisters since the moment they dealt with the bandits. Elia’s complexion was darker than usual, worried sick.
Stella gently wrapped her arm around her shoulder, as if to tell her not to worry, and spoke.

“Yes, the cleanup was perfect. Elia, you don’t need to worry about that. Got it?”

Rihanna clicked her tongue briefly, as if she couldn’t believe the warm attitude that was never shown to her.
Was it because they considered each other sisters, even if not by blood?

Their attitude towards family, whom they cherish dearly, was completely different from how they treated others, almost to the point of being a different entity.
The incident that happened just a few hours ago was still vividly imprinted in her mind.

The elves returned to the carriage without a single drop of the filthy bandits’ blood on them, and then instructed the coachman to keep quiet, speaking in a tone that was almost an order.
They never intended to deal with the bandits’ bodies from the start. How could elves directly handle the corpses of such lowly, short-lived beings?

Ain had fainted anyway, and once the carriage departed from that place, the truth was bound to vanish into the depths of time.
They would be tied to the festival of Ensis for at least three days, and Ain wouldn’t go out alone, leaving them behind. The elves’ meticulous plan had worked perfectly.

Rihanna shivered as if escaping from the scene of a horrific massacre.
Offering silent condolences to whoever would have to clear the bandits’ dismembered bodies in the future…

After walking for a while, Stella gradually got to the point.
Amidst the street lined with shops, she subtly asked Rihanna a question.

“Where can we find that woman?”

“Looking at the picture, she seems to like drinking?”

Indeed, Helga liked drinking.
Rihanna had never seen her sober.
When a festival similar to the present one was held, Helga would often be found holed up in the village tavern, drinking the local specialty to excess.
Sometimes, Rihanna would look at Helga and think negatively, wondering if she might drink herself to death.

Therefore, the most logical way to find Helga would be to check the taverns first.
Rihanna pointed to the noisy tavern right in front of them and asked.

“Then, how about that place?”

Elia looked at Rihanna with doubtful eyes.

“Just walking into any tavern, I don’t think she’s going to show up..”

“Well, you won’t know until you try.”

Rihanna, with the children trailing behind, opened the tavern door. Normally, minors would be prohibited from entering, but who would see these elves as minors?
However, the tavern was already full, so there were no seats available.
In the tavern, dwarves and other middle-aged men were cheerfully chatting and drinking, and there was absolutely no place for three women to join. It would be fortunate if they weren’t harassed.

Seeing the elves sigh deeply, Rihanna backed away in surprise.

“Let’s go out. Here is—”

It was at that moment.

“Rihanna?”

A slightly husky voice.

Someone called out to Rihanna, who was about to head outside, in a tone of uncertainty.
At the familiar voice, Rihanna’s steps halted, and her trembling head slowly turned back.

Upon seeing her face, the voice filled with curiosity soon turned to certainty.

“Is that you, Hanna?! What brings you here?”

The woman who approached, speaking warmly and even using a nickname, was towering, at least a head taller than Rihanna at a glance.
Her hair was a dull blonde with a hint of black, and she had brown eyes. Despite a scar running prominently across her left eye, her distinct features gave her an approachable beauty.

Moreover, her leather outfit, especially around her upper body, seemed on the verge of bursting due to her aggressively prominent chest.
Her abdomen was boldly exposed, and as she wore a short skirt, men drinking would occasionally cast lecherous glances at her thighs and hips.

Rihanna mumbled her name, as if she couldn’t believe she had met her in the first tavern she entered.

“Hel… ga…?”

As the name Helga escaped Rihanna’s lips, the elves simultaneously turned their heads to look at her.
The one the elves had longed to meet, Helga, was smiling brightly, her cheeks flushed with a rosy hue.

“It’s the first time since you left the party on your own, right? Well, there’s no real need to stay in the party after failing to defeat the Demon King, but I was a little disappointed.”

Helga draped an arm around Rihanna in a friendly manner, downed her drink in one go, and spoke again.

“That aside, it feels like it’s been ages since we parted, even though it hasn’t been that long. Doesn’t it feel like the atmosphere has changed a bit?”

Rihanna, nodding with a grimace as if she had bitten into something unpleasant, lightly pinched her nose with her thumb and forefinger to block out the alcohol scent emanating from Helga.
Helga, unfazed by Rihanna’s blatant action of pinching her nose right in front of her, subtly shifted her steps in the direction she came from and suggested.

“Ah, instead of just standing here, how about we sit somewhere and eat? It’s on me. You probably don’t have money anyway.”

“I-I have money too!”

Technically, it was the allowance Ain gave her.

Rihanna, sensing the underlying truth in her words, frowned to show her displeasure.
Helga, staring intently at Rihanna’s face, shifted her gaze backward and asked a question.

“Are those elves behind you your friends?”

Rihanna swallowed in surprise at the unexpected question.

Could she really call them friends? Lowly short-livers, lowly humans… That was what they called humans, except for Ain.
Wouldn’t it be troublesome later if she rashly called them friends?

However, what would happen later could be left to her future self. For now, it was important to appear as natural as possible.
Surely, the elves would understand at least this much.

“Yes, my friends.”

Helga, who had been giggling with eyes narrowed like a crescent moon, suddenly flashed her eyes like a beast.

“…Really?”

Only for a moment, Helga lifted her glass and showed a friendly demeanor.

“If you’re Hannah’s friend, you’re no different from my friend. Would you like a drink, too?”

Stella subtly pushed the glass away with her hand, refusing Helga’s offer, and spoke briefly in a voice devoid of emotion.

“No, thank you. I don’t particularly like alcohol.”

Elia didn’t even bother to respond, crossing her arms and turning her gaze away.
Helga, seemingly caught off guard by their attitude, awkwardly laughed and withdrew her glass.

“Did I do something to earn your dislike?”

Helga, having distanced herself from the elves, spoke again to the approachable Rihanna.

“Rihanna, it seems your friends don’t like me, so today might not work out. I’ll be around in this shop anyway, so come find me if you want to talk again.”

Rihanna nodded instead of replying. Helga, who had been smiling contentedly, wiped the smile off her face like removing a mask and looked at the elves.

“Oh, and you all.”

Stella responded briefly, still with a chilly demeanor.

“Us?”

There were many watching eyes around, so they pretended to be innocent and not hold any hostility towards humans, but Helga let out a derisive chuckle.
It was a clear sneer.
As Stella’s eyes widened, Helga brought her index finger to her lips and spoke.

“Don’t carry such ominous hostility. It’s a nuisance to the people around you, isn’t it? It’s a rare festival, so just enjoy it quietly. I don’t want to hunt elves either.”

Helga left those words and disappeared into the crowd, waving her hand without once glancing at them.

This was unexpected. A lowly human dared to provoke them. Stella’s face turned red, and her breathing became rough.
To the two elves, who looked as if they might cause trouble at any moment, Rihanna showed an anxious demeanor and barely managed to speak.

“C-calm down! If you make a scene here, Ain will find out everything. Is that what you want?”

In her flustered state, a few harsh words slipped out, but they could forget the earlier insulting remarks just by hearing Ain’s name. Stella placed her hand over her amply huge chest, showing she had barely calmed down by taking a deep breath.
Elia, still unable to contain her anger, huffed and questioned Rihanna.

“Who the hell was that girl just now?! I’m not as good as Noah or Olivia, but I tried to hide it… as best as I could…”

No matter how noisy a tavern was, such a conversation would draw attention.
Before it got any more chaotic, Rihanna took the elves outside the establishment.
Only after reaching a nearby alleyway with little foot traffic did Rihanna slowly part her lips.

“Helga is different from us, I mean, from me and Ain.”

“What’s different?”

The abilities possessed by the elves, as observed from the sidelines, were realms that ordinary humans could never reach, even excluding their cruelty. Perhaps they would not fall short even when compared to the renowned heroes of the era.
However, Helga and the other three party members were not ordinary humans who started from the bottom without talent, unlike Ain or Rihanna.

Each was a human born with special abilities to drive out the darkness from this continent, and that was the position of the former hero’s party.

The two elves, upon hearing Rihanna’s explanation, sensed it.

Unlike the innocent beggar in front, the other humans would be quite a troublesome fight.