Chapter 21: The Happy Room of the Dark Elf

"Yes, look at me with that judging look."

Lin Lin, a simple and hardworking office worker, never expected that even in a new world, she would still face such troubles.

She glanced at Felix with some hesitation.

The Dark Elf continued to gaze at her, showing no urgency but also no retreat. Felix was very good at reading the subtle expressions of humans, and he sensed a not-so-good sign.

Lin Lin was unwilling.

Indeed, although she hesitated, Lin Lin still gave a quite clear answer.

She calmly refused, "I’m sorry, but that request is still too radical for me."

Who has the time to slap their coworker for fun? That’s just too trendy!

In the small house at night, the warm light showed that the human woman did not agree with Felix’s invitation.

Maybe this isn’t called an invitation.

For Dark Elves, happiness is something that does not need to be hidden; they gain more and better experiences through honesty.

But humans are reserved.

Unlike the chaotic and dirty group of humans that Felix often mingles with, Lin Lin belongs to a more conservative and gentle group, someone Felix would normally never meet in his life.

If she were born in this world, she might be a wealthy young lady, carefully protected by her parents and rarely going out, or she could be a Miss Mage with magical talent chosen by an academy to team up with heroes. Perhaps she would become a loyal follower of the God of Light, firmly spreading the blessings of light to others.

In short, she would not appear in the Demon King Castle and would not meet any Dark Elves.

The only time the two crossed paths was one evening, when the human lady hurried home and caught a brief glimpse of the hooded Dark Elf as day turned into night.

Felix realized that his request had put Lin Lin in a difficult position.

A very strange feeling. Until this moment, Felix did not think that seeking happiness was something to hide or feel ashamed about. But Lin Lin’s awkward response made him feel a strange confusion.

Usually, the Dark Elf would only feel confused when a mission failed, because that meant facing unbearable and endless punishment.

Why feel confused? Felix thought; Lin Lin wouldn’t actually punish him. She couldn’t hurt his body, nor could she change his position in Demon King Castle.

So why did he feel confused?

The human skin felt too warm to the underground creatures. The Dark Elf slowly relaxed his fingers and pulled back his arm that had been holding Lin Lin, straightening his chest that had been lowered near the table.

Felix continued to gaze at Lin Lin, silently savoring this moment, this strange and unfamiliar feeling.

It wasn’t just "confused"; he had just brought this completely new emotion into a feeling he had experienced before.

He couldn’t imagine an emotion he had never had.

It wasn’t confusion, nor was it anger. Felix confirmed it again.

It is shameful.

The feelings abandoned by the ancestors of the Dark Elf tribe were planted in Felix’s heart by the surface races that the Dark Elves despise.

He learned about shame from being softly rejected.

–

Terrible, very terrible.

After Lin Lin turned down Felix’s proposal, the young Dark Elf stared at her for a moment.

Felix said, "I was just joking."

…not funny at all.

No, the only thing that might be a little funny is the stubborn way he said it with a straight face.

But at that moment, Lin Lin could not expose him, so she could only nod slightly calmly and say, "I see, I’m really sorry. I just accidentally took it seriously."

The Dark Elf’s silver eyes were still watching her, so Lin Lin pretended to continue looking through the remaining documents.

Lin Lin thought Felix was like a cool-looking black cat; he stretched out his paws and body into a cat shape, nudging his head against her hand as a hint to be petted. After not getting the attention he wanted, he awkwardly walked away, saying, "I didn’t really want to be petted; I just naturally like to stretch."

It was all just a series of fake actions.

Lin Lin quietly lowered her head to avoid revealing her expression.

Soon, she noticed something else unusual about the documents related to Assistant Joseph.

Lin Lin sat up straight and looked more seriously.

Tonight’s knight brigade was destined to be a sleepless night.

At four in the morning, the accountant Bob, who had run away, was caught and brought back along with the missing funds.

He spent money to connect with the circus and hid himself in one of the boxes used for tools, but unexpectedly, he was found by the knights who were skilled at hunting.

When Norman opened the door, Lin Lin gently yawned, recording the last note.

Felix was quite energetic; the night was the usual time for Dark Elves to be active. He turned to Norman, looking a bit unhappy.

"Bob has been caught," Norman said.

"Then you must not let your deputy take care of him," Lin Lin replied, dragging out her words, showing him what she had recorded on the paper.

"In the future, if you still give your deputy control over the review of spending, at least you need to personally review any money related to him," Lin Lin warned.

"I usually only look at the monthly total funds," Norman replied sincerely.

"But your understanding of money is clearly a problem!" Lin Lin, who had just come to this world, began to teach the Paladin who lived here, "You’ve never been short on money, so you have no concept of it at all!"

Norman’s smile did not change; he did not give a clear answer.

Those horrible rich people! There are so many rich people in this world, what does it matter if there’s one more!

Why is every knight in Light Camp so wealthy, while the Demon King Castle is worried about paying next month’s wages?

Isn’t it the bad people like us who are richer by any means necessary?

"After a moment of hesitation, Lin Lin spoke up, ‘Do you… like to soak in hot springs?’"

With his habit of raising the price, it felt like she could trick him a bit more.

Norman tilted his head, not understanding why Lin Lin asked this question.

Felix quickly pulled Lin Lin back, stopping her from getting lost in thoughts of money.

"’Think about your ‘father,’ ‘ Felix lowered his voice to remind Lin Lin, ‘Your ‘father’ doesn’t like strangers.’"

He emphasized the word ‘father.’

Late at night, when Lin Lin thought of Safir’s smile that didn’t reach his eyes, she felt a bit more awake and was no longer sleepy.

"Y-yes!" Lin Lin explained to the confused Norman, "He is such an old-fashioned person! He doesn’t really like strangers!"

Clearly, staying alive is more important than making money.

The temporary camp of the knights obviously wouldn’t have a proper interrogation room, so Bob was locked up in the basement where the knights practiced.

The training room had always been a place Paladins did not want to show to the outside world, but since Lin Lin was the one who discovered important clues, Norman still decided to bring her into the basement.

As they reached the entrance of the basement, the Dark Elf who was following Lin Lin tried to enter as well but was stopped by the knight at the door.

"I’m sorry," Norman said, his bright blue eyes looking at Felix, "You can’t go in."

Dark Elves are an extremely pure underground race, and they are too dangerous.

The Dark Elf sneered, "Are you afraid I will anger your God of Light? Then your god seems a bit stingy."

But Norman did not answer, and the young knight guarding the door did not back down.

The Dark Elf raised an eyebrow, mockingly lifting both hands, and then stood in a shadowy spot.

Lin Lin had a "I’m fine" expression, signaling Felix to not worry.

Lin Lin entered the basement.

It was a quite clean and empty room, with a bright flag hanging in the center. It was not the eagle emblem of the knights, but a golden flag with half a sun. Lin Lin suspected this represented the God of Light.

The walls were hung with neatly coiled whips, and beneath them were bowls of clear water, used for waking up and cleaning wounds.

Lin Lin was startled by the different sizes of the whips, "Are you all going to whip yourselves?"

Now Lin Lin finally understood the meaning of "self-discipline" in the training room.

"If one truly makes a mistake, this is a form of punishment and also a process of cleansing the soul," Norman replied.

Then you shouldn’t call it the "Room of Hardship," it should be called the "Dark Elf Happy Room." Felix could even get a yearly membership here.

Lin Lin has come to understand why she is an atheist.

To be honest, she can’t even manage to pray every morning; reflecting on herself is even harder, and if she feels her spirit isn’t high enough, she has to be punished. She respects it but doesn’t really want to understand.

The preferences of this world are beyond Lin Lin’s understanding.

"Do you also need to reflect on yourself?" Lin Lin asked. "Your life should be quite good, why would you want to be a Paladin and get punished?"

Lin Lin had heard from Felix that many Paladins, like Paul, choose this dangerous job to rise in class and gain respect and money that are hard to get through normal choices.

To hold the position of Knight Commander at such a young age, Lin Lin believes the Norman family is not only wealthy but also of high status.

He doesn’t need to take risks; he is already standing at a very high place.

The corners of Norman’s lips, which are usually lifted, curved up a little more as he looked at the witch who spoke without any restraint.

Many people have this question, but very few can ask it so directly.

Norman’s blue eyes look serious and distant when he faces his enemies, but warm and gentle like water when he looks at his friends. He does not mind sharing part of his story with Lin Lin; after all, if she is patient and inquires, she will always find out.

"When I was six years old, I heard the voice of God, and then the sanctuary made a request to my parents," Norman smiled, "Unlike my selection of God, it was God who chose me."

Lin Lin widened her eyes slightly.

He is a child raised entirely by the sanctuary.

No wonder he feels like a knight from a textbook when you see him; sometimes it even seems a bit fake.

No wonder Norman can talk about the reform system so easily, and no wonder his aide dares to take risks.

People respect and admire him, but also look down on him a little. People might think that someone like him, a pure child raised by the sanctuary, probably doesn’t have much common sense, or even if deceived, there wouldn’t be much punishment.

It’s amazing, Lin Lin thought. Being a child who was nurtured wholeheartedly, he is even a bit worse off than the Demon King.

"What does a god look like?" Lin Lin asked, "What do you sense about Him?"

She now knew that the God of Darkness was a ghostly creature like a deep-sea jellyfish, but she didn’t know what the God of Light was like.

"Uh," Norman looked like he was thinking seriously, "a bubble that can hold everything inside?"

Oh no, neither of these gods seemed reliable.

Not only were the gods unreliable, but their followers were too.

There was a kind of equal but useless power.

–

"Sorry, we’re late," Lin Lin sat down in front of Bob.

The skinny man with glasses looked very angry, "You just visited the room for difficult training and didn’t arrive late; you simply do not respect me."

The Knight Commander Norman, who sat down a little later, placed a long whip on the table. He had just picked the roughest one from the wall.

Bob’s attitude instantly became much friendlier when he saw the whip, "I will tell you anything, anything at all."

Lin Lin said, "Why don’t you start by talking about how you were covering for your deputy?"

Bob immediately tensed up, "I don’t know about that. I just got greedy and took some money from the safe."

Norman picked another new whip and placed it on the table, his blue eyes looking at him.

Bob: …

Bob said, "Ha, don’t think I don’t know! The Paladin can’t punish civilians! Even if I say nothing, there will be no consequences for me! The worst that could happen is that I end up broke again!"

"No," Lin Lin replied, "there will be consequences."

Lin Lin opened her notebook in front of Bob.

Lin Lin cleared her throat and began to read in a mechanical voice, "Alice, my desert rose, the source of water for my withered heart. I have never seen such an understanding girl. She added me as a pen pal by herself; she must be interested in me."

Angered by the reading of the diary, Bob tried to snatch the notebook back, but Norman held him down by the shoulder against the table.

Lin Lin continued to read, "Her taking my money must mean she loves me; otherwise, why wouldn’t she take someone else’s money? She cares about me."

After Lin Lin finished this sentence, Bob struggled even harder, and Norman looked at him with some sympathy, "Have you been tricked?"

"No!" Bob shouted, "We have a normal romantic relationship!"

"You guys who sell yourselves to the temple don’t know anything about love! You are just jealous!"

"Honestly," Lin Lin, as a biological woman, spoke truthfully, "if he wants to find a wife, he would have an easier time than you with his looks."

Bob, "Shut up!"

Bob, "I have already contacted a doctor to get eye surgery for my nearsightedness!"

This isn’t really about the eyesight surgery! Don’t force me to tell the truth!