Stealing a Tree: Part VI

The woman tried to touch her face, her excitement had overwhelmed her senses making her forget her precarious situation.

"What do you think? Satisfied?", Yuichi watched her anxious reactions.

It seemed that the woman didn't believe her eyes.

Of course it was so, the curse her cruel "big sister" had pinned on her face was not something just anyone could solve.

Cruelly painful, it sporadically became a torture, even in her prime she could not heal.

Having lost her strength, it became harder and harder to bear.

The woman looked at Yuichi dumbly, an indescribable feeling clung to her chest.

Somehow Yuichi... seemed more... trustworthy?

And it surprised her more and more.

Puit! The woman shook her head.

Many of her thoughts were derailed from their place.

Her heart had fluttered at some point without her realizing it.

What am I thinking? The woman scolded herself.

Her thoughts were too chaotic.

Suddenly the chains became invisible and thinner.

The woman could now move more easily, but the chains still imprisoned her.

She looked at Yuichi doubtfully.

What was he trying to do?

"Nol is close, you should act like you normally do, don't you think?", Yuichi suggested amicably.

The woman nodded obediently, hiding her face again.

Yuichi also returned to his seat, as if nothing had happened.

Apparently time was not enough, Yuichi complained.

He had not yet finished convincing the woman, but the job did not seem entirely unfinished.

The woman looked at him strangely, even her anger had completely disappeared.

She only looked at him foolishly from time to time, a good sign in his opinion.

At least she wouldn't meddle in my affairs, Yuichi was satisfied with today's harvest.

Next on his list would be to visit the Dark Elves.

Lucie had gone ahead to save Yuichi's time, so things would go very smoothly when Yuichi went to visit them.

...

In all, a little over three minutes had passed.

A spatial fluctuation appeared very close to Yuichi.

Nol stepped out of the spatial rift, looking embarrassed.

She had lost herself.

The magic she was so proud of failed for a minute, she ended up teleporting to random places without being able to mark her destination.

Nothing dangerous, she had even benefited a little.

She was worried, but before she could think of a solution, the problem had solved itself.

What had happened?

She was anxious to know the answer.

In her small arms she held a kind of bottle as big as her body.

Setting the bottle down on the table, she said:

"Sorry for the delay," she smiled softly as she noted the strange atmosphere.

Yuichi was acting normally, but her mother seemed a little strange.

Had something happened between them?

Nol internally denied the possibility.

What could two people do in three short minutes?

It was true that her mother was acting softer when she looked at Yuichi, it was also true that she was no longer looking at him so cautiously, lastly, it also seemed as if her mother wanted to scream... maybe she seemed a little euphoric acting unnatural.

Maybe it was just her imagination, but her mother looked a little flushed.

Nothing suspicious enough... Nol consoled herself.

...

..

.

For the first time in his life Yuichi experienced what it was like to get drunk.

A little drowsiness overwhelmed his mind, he had deliberately allowed it.

The sun was beginning to rise and it was good weather for morning "exercise".

"..."

Nol looked at him flatly, as she helped him stand up, Yuichi thanked her.

Nol was very reliable, she hadn't had a lick of alcohol.

Nol fixed her gaze on the table.

Her mother was also drunk as she rested her head on the table.

A little drool fell from the corner of her mouth, she looked happy, a genuine smile.

Nol had never seen her as "crazy" as she was today as if she was celebrating something, her suspicions were compounded after observing her interaction with Yuichi.

Although she had not explicitly said so, she seemed to tacitly accept Yuichi.

Even his "impure" acts.

How had that happened?

Nol was intrigued, neither of them wanted to tell her, Yuichi was too lazy to tell her.

And her mother would never tell her.

"Nol! Let's visit the Dark Elves," Yuichi regained a bit of his consciousness as he cheerfully remembered a matter that needed to be resolved: the Dark Elves.

In fact, Lucie had sent him a message: everything was ready.

...

..

.

Elsewhere...

Lucie had discovered a dangerous hobby: she loved to tie people up.

In a large meeting room many Dark Elves were gagged and bound in a peculiar pose.

The matriarch of the Dark Elves, Misery Stentrem (who curiously was not a Dark Elf), had a puzzled look on her face as she looked at the friendly Lucie.

What had happened?

The news that the Messiah had arrived in Alfheim had spread like wildfire, now everyone knew about his arrival, the world was on the move again.

The most important figures of the "Underdark Nation" were no exception, they had gathered with too much urgency.

However, the situation had changed from one moment to the next without anyone noticing, they had all fainted.

Slowly, all the Dark Elves woke up.

They were all surprised, at what moment had they fallen asleep?

They quickly understood the reason, they were furious, they had been attacked!

Besides... why did they have to be tied up in such a shameful pose?

They were immobilized, face down with their feet and hands clasped behind their bodies, resting their stomachs on the wooden floor.

None of them could move, their mouths were also sealed with a special kind of tape so they could not curse either.

They could only swallow their anger.

Some tried to destroy the ropes but failed miserably, they felt extremely humiliated.

All eyes were fixed on the one suspicious figure, Lucie Menelumia.

They all recognized them immediately, Lucie was a very familiar figure after all.

Lucie smiled shyly, their stares seemed very judgmental and made her look uncomfortable.

I'm really sorry... Even Lucie felt embarrassed by the scene, she never imagined that a rope was good for that kind of thing, she was just an expert in alchemy!

She had innocently crushed the button of an artifact that Yuichi had given her to complete her mission.

"He'll be here soon...", Lucie only managed to say those words while suppressing her embarrassment.