Chapter Five: A Letter Filled with Affection (Request for Votes)

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Tana, the Azure Guardian, is in charge of maintaining the magical array of Silver Village and also serves as a guide for novice adventurers. With her fair skin, pure features, glossy black hair, and a gentle, clear voice, she is often mistaken for a young elven maiden. In truth, she is a dragon who has lived for several centuries. To Yelin, her eyes, often hidden behind strands of hair, carry a hint of allure and an intoxicating charm.

At present, Tana and Celia run the Elven Outpost Inn together. Judging by the smile lighting up her face, she clearly enjoys this place—though she seems to love the coins in her hand even more!

“I’m relieved to see you unharmed,” Celia said with a warm smile, like a gentle current soothing his heart and body, filling him with renewed strength.

“I went out to do a bit of training. I’ve cleared out most of the goblins around Lorland, including the minotaurs,” Yelin said as he took a seat at an empty table, ordering a beer, two loaves of bread, and two sesame cakes.

“You defeated minotaurs by yourself? Impressive!” Tana grinned, sitting opposite him, casually tearing off a piece of bread and chewing with a muffled mouth.

“Hey, that’s my bread. Celia said these aren’t free…”

“Oh, it’s just a piece of bread,” Tana waved her hand dismissively, as if to say, “Why are you so stingy? Don’t get so worked up over a piece of bread.”

“Your bread costs ten gold coins a piece! According to others’ complaints, that’s more than triple the price in the main city, Hertonmar!”

That’s not bread; that’s money!

If you want to train in the Grand Forest, going without two or three days’ worth of rations would really be a loss. And if possible, bring bedding too—after all, Celia’s inn has a reputation for being tightfisted.

“That minotaur probably escaped from the shadowy thickets on the outskirts of the Grand Forest. Recently, the uprisings of cat demons and goblins have more than doubled in frequency.”

Tana licked the corner of her mouth and her index finger, accidentally smearing some crumbs—a sight charged with temptation. When she noticed Yelin’s gaze fixed on her, she chuckled coquettishly and teasingly wagged her pale finger, her tone flirtatiously ambiguous: “What? Want to try it?”

“Do you dare reach out?” Yelin raised his eyebrows, unwilling to back down in words.

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“I don’t know why, but you give off an aura that makes me feel close and comfortable,” Tana said, actually extending her finger to touch his lips.

“Stop. There are too many people here. Let’s settle this in private,” Yelin softly blocked her finger with his palm, inwardly suspecting it was the effect of the Seal of Heaven.

Tana, who maintains the magical array left by the Archmage Mal and is herself a magic-wielding dragon, would naturally feel drawn to the bearer of the Seal of Heaven.

“Celia and I suspect there’s a problem with the Grand Forest’s magical array. Not only are there berserk cat demons and minotaurs, but people have also seen intense flames deep in the Glarka region of the forest.”

“You know, ever since that great fire, we’ve become quite sensitive to flames.”

Tana sighed, resting her left hand on the table and propping her head sideways in a rather unseemly posture as she continued chewing the bread originally meant for Yelin.

“It’s probably a malfunction deep within the Grand Forest’s magical array. Fixing it should do the trick.”

“Easier said than done. We don’t even know where it’s broken. Besides, the depths of the Grand Forest are ruled by the Minotaur King Sauta. Without a fully equipped and cohesive team, you can’t get past the cat demons and goblin blockade.”

“There are also rumors of frequent lightning flashes over a certain ruin, as if someone is summoning thunder and storms.”

Yelin quickly grabbed a sesame cake before Tana could and popped it into his mouth. “I’ll check it out in a few days. Not yet.”

“By the way, is it just you and Celia managing such a large inn? Didn’t you hire any help?”

Tana swallowed a piece of bread and continued leaning on the table in a tone of lament and slight resentment, “Celia said hiring help would cost extra gold, so she vetoed it.”

“But without good service and facilities, it’s hard to attract more guests.”

“Heh, most adventurers at the Elven Outpost are rough-and-tumble types with slim purses. What’s the point of better service?”

Tana showed disdain. These poor people have no extra money to squeeze out; providing shelter from wind and rain is enough.

“Have you thought about moving to Hertonmar? More people there means more chances to make money… I mean, profit.”

“I like this place. It feels familiar. I probably won’t leave anytime soon.”

Celia, having finished her chores, sat on another bench, resting her cheek in her hand as if lost in thought.

Of course it feels familiar; you used to live in the forest… Yelin secretly mused. Then he produced a white gift box wrapped with a few decorative pink ribbons.

“A simple decoration, but a very beautiful box!” Tana exclaimed.

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He opened it!

The white box trembled slightly, the pink ribbons fell naturally, and the lid tilted open—clearly, it was unlocked!

Obtained: 5 Mana Juices
Obtained: 5 Emergency Recovery Potions
Obtained: 5 Shining World Orbs

“Tch, junk again… Where’s my +12 Diamond Equipment Enhancement Scroll?”

Yelin pulled the emergency recovery potions—actually strawberry cakes—from the box and placed them in front of the two. “Here, your dessert.”

Tana’s eyes lit up; fine pastries are rare at the Elven Outpost. She was in for a treat.

Celia ate the dessert with a small fork, curiously eyeing the mysterious gift box. How could such a small box produce so many items?

Space Magic?

Yelin whispered mysteriously, pointing at the box, “This is a treasure, a treasure that can make a lot of money. I call it Ashes… cough, Celia’s Luck!”

“Ah, don’t use my name—it’s embarrassing,” Celia blushed and shook her head repeatedly.

“You’re well-liked; your name fits.”

Yelin then took out two bottles of mana juice and, with curiosity, produced a “Love-Struck Letter.” This was a byproduct of the gift box, originally meant to increase affection.

He broke the seal, and the pale pink letter paper emitted a fresh fragrance. The contents… were shockingly a deeply passionate love letter!

“What is this?”

Tana snatched it and read, growing redder by the moment, finally lowering her head with hair shading her flushed face, abandoning her cake.

Yelin reached for the letter and realized with surprise that the originally unsigned love letter had transformed into a confession directed at Tana after she touched it.

“You didn’t spend the whole afternoon writing this, did you?”

With the double affection from the love letter and the Seal of Heaven, Tana’s enchanting eyes were even more moist and captivating…

Yelin took a deep breath and murmured, “I was planning to switch to Sword Soul, but now I’m feeling more like becoming a Dragon Knight?”