Common Sense Does not Apply
A dark shadow rushed past everyone, slipping into the room.
“Ah, Mewlice,” Mrs.Cavendish shook her head helplessly, “this is not your new domain.”
“Mewlice?” the knight asked a little confused, “has that cat been following us all along?”
“No,” the mage replied, “that’s probably one of the twins – the descendent of Teacher Yang’s pet ‘Mewlice’. It’s difficult to tell them apart, so we could only call them by their last name.(1) Either way, if you’re bothered by it, I’ll come and take her away in a moment.”
“It’s not a problem,” the elf smiled, “If it was…Yang, she would probably have let it stay.”
The lady mage looked at him, nodding, reaching out, she rested her hands on the shoulders of the siren and dwarf.
“Alright, follow me, children should go to bed early.”
“I’m already twenty eight…” the dwarf complained in a small voice.
The elf exchanged a glance with the knight, smiling, he said nothing.
The knight sighed, closing the door.
“Children? Hum?”
“Mew~” as if answering the knight’s question, Mewlice let out a long sound, coming over to brush against the knight’s leg.
“The psychological age is what’s important,” the knight bent down, petting the cat absentmindedly, “right, Mewlice?”
“What….is this?” the elf opened the other door inside the room and was shocked, there is a complicated device as tall as a person inside, “An alchemist workshop?”
At this moment, the sound of knocking came from outside.
“I almost forgot, there’s no water stored in the tower,” Mrs.Cavendish’s apologetic voice said from outside, “the bathroom set up inside relies on the fireball and water spell to activate, please allow me.”
“…I finally realize that I live three hundred years in the future,” the elf looked back at the knight, smiling, “there’s nothing like this in the Legendary Era.”
“Don’t look at me, there’s nothing like this in the Age of Reality either,” the knight shook his head, “there’s a popular saying in the Paladin Order that goes like this…”
“With G.o.d’s protection, you are invincible in this world, but mages — sorry, but mages belong to another world.”
The knight opened the door, and Mrs.Cavendish, denizen from another world smiled, raising the staff in her hand.
“Um… I’m not interrupting anything am I?” she looked at the expression on the elf and knight’s face, asking in surprise.
Mrs.Cavendish helpfully found some of her husband’s old sleeping clothes, but in the end, due to problems with the shoulder width, only the elf accepted gratefully.
“Is there some sort of magic added to this thing?” an hour later, the elf walked waveringly out of the bathroom, falling onto the bed, “if there is, it must be some sort of sleeping spell… yawn…”
“Hey hey,” the knight reached out a hand to mess his hair up, “don’t sleep before you’ve dried your hair.”
“Fu… Can’t stay awake.”
“Then play with the cat.” The knight placed the black cat onto the elf. In the end, Mewlice just sniffed the sleeping robes, and then jumped back into the knight’s arms, gently rubbing the knight’s hand with her head.
“Isn’t that your owner’s clothes, don’t you recognize it at all?”
“Because the smell is different, so she wanted to cover it,” the elf said, “to declare ownership.”
“Ahh,” the knight scratched the cat’s chin, “you can’t, I have an owner.”
“I don’t mind… Mewlice, Cain is yours.”
“Mew~” as if she understood, the black cat let out a satisfied sound, laying down in the knight’s arms quietly.
But after a while, she stood up again, and started to knead him with her front paws.
“What are you doing…” the knight asked helplessly.
“Kneading for milk.” The elf flip through an ancient book casually, and replied lightly, “it seems Mewlice really likes you, she thinks you’re her mother.”
“I’m male alright,” the knight lifted the cat, looking it in the eyes, “Mewlice, say Papa.”
“Mew~”
“No not mew, say ‘papa’.”
“Mew~”
“No, ‘papa’.”
“What is it, son.” The elf said lazily.
The knight speedily drop the cat, jumped over to catch the elf that was preparing to run away.
“An ancient joke,” he caught the elf’s wrist, looking at the other, “you will pay for this unnecessary provocation, hehe.”
“Don’t you think this goes against the knightly spirit,” the elf asked, his eyes half closed, “to resort to force arbitrarily.”
“Force?” the knight grinned, releasing one hand, “who said I will use it?”
Then he brought his hand to his lips and blew on it.(2)
The elf immediately realized his punishment and struggled to escape from him, but the results was that the knight swiftly defeated him even before the battle started.
“I say, how childish are you… hey let go… wuuu… This is cheating…”
“You’re the one that challenged me first, so who is childish? Hmm?”
Mewlice silently watched the human and elf fight for territory, determining that they planned to give all the rights to the bed to her, she yawned satisfactorily, and took over the knight’s pillow.
“Are you awake now?” the knight suddenly let go, and grinned asking.
“Eh?” The elf woke up from his curled up defensive position, looking at him quizzically.
“You’re no challenge at all,” the knight shook his head, “at least wait until you’ve regained all your strength.”
“…Will that day come?”
The knight’s hand was strong and warm, his palm was calloused where the sword hilt is held, this can only be made from training tirelessly for many years. Only touching it, will make people trust in him.
The elf sat up, looking at his own palms.
The signs of ten years of battle have already disappeared after three hundred years of sleep.
Even if he trained every day, and the skin on his fingers thickened, but compared to before, the difference is too great.
If these can be regained by training, then what about the things he can’t regain?
Magic defense decrease, healing effect reduced by half.
Anna would not completely understand, as a mage without armor, to prevent injury, concentrating on attacks under the protection of your teammates, that is their duty.
But for an archer that’s different.
They can focus on attack like an mage, but other than that there is something more important.
Even in a party, an archer is the best choice for solo attacks.
Moving around the party’s surroundings, choosing the most difficult target, or interfering with the enemy, attracting enemy fire to give your companions a chance, and if necessary, at least be able to engage in close quarter combat for a short time. Of course, these would bring many injuries. And for the ‘Unicorn Legion’, the chance of fighting against magical attacks, is higher than that of physical attacks.
That means, an archer without magical defense –
“An archer that can only hide behind a shield, can’t be considered a fighting force.”
The elf didn’t notice, that he had spoken out loud.
“Ellen, Ellen.”
The elf lifted his head, the knight sat beside him, looking into his eyes.
“Did you forget? You are not just an archer.”
“Unn, it’s only half of one now.” The elf smiled self-deprecatingly, his fingers clenched in a fist.
The knight shook his head in disagreement, pressing against his hands.
“Do you still remember the mission against the rebel army? There were four groups that were sent out, each with ten members, in the end only you received the right to see the Queen, why do you think that is?”