9. The holy maiden

With his mouth wide open Bao stood in the middle of the tent baffled by her words, he got caught off guard, completely forgetting his role as a simple peasant in this world for a brief moment.

"Are you a player too, why can't I see the nametag over your head?"

"My name over my head?" She looked up as if demonstrating that nothing was there. "What are you talking about?

"I do... don't understand, if you are a player too why can't we see each other's tags?"

She stepped closer as much as he could smell the sweet scent of flowers coming from her and feel her breath on his neck. Without a possibility of resistance, not that he would have dared to anyway, she placed her hand on his forehead. It felt like the warm sun rays which touched your body on a cold autumn day.

"We can leave the talk to tomorrow, the most pressing matter now is to get you back on your feet, everything else can wait."

"Y... yea, you are right."

Wanting to follow her advice, he stumbled towards the bed with shivering knees but halted right in front of it when he had arrived. His gaze wandered from one corner of the tent to the other in search of another place to sleep.

"You won't find any other bed if it is that what you are looking for. There is no need to hold yourself back, I said that I'm going to let you stay here and I definitely don't intend to go back on my words." A gentle smile showed on her face.

"Bu... but, but madam I can't let you sleep on the ground!"He stuttered with a shaky voice.

"Who said that I'm going to sleep on the ground? And as I already mentioned before I don't accept any buts in my decisions, now lay down and take some rest. I still need to finish something so, I will leave You'll be alone for a while."

Bao waited until even the last golden hair tip disappeared behind the entrance before lying on the ground. Even though this game was hard and way too realistic, he enjoyed playing it, therefore there was no way he would want to lose his only avatar and thus the possibility to play just for sleeping on the bed of a noble. She might forgive him if what she said was true but if one of the knights found it out, he would be a head shorter. That she left the tent on her own accord was really convenient for him since he could finally distribute his new gained AP points. But despite the happiness, he felt on every level up he still had no idea on how to balance his stats since he had no comparison to the standards of this world, the only thing he knew for sure was his weakness. Without wasting any more time he quickly distributed them, pulled his legs to the chest and closed his eyes.

[David - Level 3]

[HP: 10/15]

[MP: 0/0]

[Strenght: 3]

[Perception: 2]

[Endurance: 2]

[Charisma: 3]

[Intelligence: 3]

[Agility: 1]

[Luck: 1]

Skills:

[World Traveller]; [Scuffle - LvL 1]; [Backstab - LvL 1]

Titles:

[Weaker than a slime]

It had been a long time since he slept so good, no nightmares or screams that constantly woke him up, drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. The first time in a year where every muscle in his body relaxed, leaving all his sorrows and worries behind but eventually even this moment of peace came to an end when the constant tweeting of the birds awakened him. Still, half-asleep his eyes opened, staring right into the blue of sky's and oceans, always deeper and darker until the blue faded into black. The elf's eyes. He laid right beside her, in the exact bed he tried to avoid.

"I warned you that I accept no buts." She said.

Only now he realized what happened and made a big jump out of the bed.

"How? How did I land inside your bed? I'm sure that I laid down on the ground!" This was the first time he didn't feel insecure to look straight into her eyes

"That's a secret." She winked at him.

The first sunlight just shone over the treetops immersing the whole camp in orange while the knights already started to dismantle the camp. Glimpses full of hate were cast in his direction when he left the tent, some even avoided eye contact or spit on the ground when crossing his path.

"Ahaha, just ignore their behaviour lad, they are just envious that you had the honour to spend a night with the holy maiden." The knight from the day before appeared right behind his back. "They have no ill will against you, actually the opposite is the case, thanks to you we could protect the madam."

"If that's what you call 'no ill will'. What do you mean by holy maiden?"

His eyes widened and his jaw dropped as if he had seen a ghost behind Bao.

"You really are a bumpkin from the countryside aren't you? She is the only known elf to have ever engaged with humans and the other races from Nelenia. Her wisdom and magic power knows no boundaries, nobles and even kings ask for her advice, but that's not all, her beauty is unrivalled in the whole of Nelenia and her good nature earned her the support of the normal population."

"If she is so strong, why would she need a whole platoon as an escort?"

"That's..."

Bao noticed that he put him in a tough spot with this question.

"When I left the hidden elfen kingdom, I decided for myself to never show or teach any militaristic magic to other people since those might lead to conflicts between countries." She appeared behind them just like the knight did.

"Madame Elincia!" The knight shouted surprised.

"Even if it might cost your life?" It was the first time he dared to talk back to someone in a higher position.

No response came as both stared at each other, only the sounds of crates being moved and twittering of the birds made the awkward silence more bearable.

"Even if it costs my life."