Moon

“You bastard! Have you held me long enough?!” The girl hissed through gritted teeth. Her voice jolted Po Kong back to his senses, and he instinctively looked down at the elf girl in his arms.

“No! Wait... I...!” Po Kong tried to explain, but he found himself unable to finish a single sentence.

Just then, his eyes met the elf girl's. In her pupils, which looked like exquisitely carved sapphires, a strange light flickered—it was like a vortex, drawing him deep inside.

Then, as if his soul had been snatched away, he stood blankly on the spot.

Finally breaking free from his embrace, the elf girl unceremoniously grabbed his thick arm and threw him over her shoulder with a fierce toss.

Po Kong's large body was flung like a sack of grain through the already shattered window, landing heavily on the street outside.

“Po Kong! Are you alright?!” Seeing that things were spiraling out of control, Starlight immediately rushed out of the hotel. He frowned as he looked at Po Kong, who was sprawled out on the ground.

Po Kong's current state was clearly wrong. His pupils had lost focus, a clear sign that he had been hit by some kind of skill or magic.

Fortunately, his body had been tempered through countless battles and was incredibly sturdy. If an ordinary person had been thrown out like that, they would have certainly ended up with a bloody head.

Just as Starlight was at a loss for what to do, the hooded figure who had remained idle until now suddenly walked to his side and crouched down next to Po Kong.

“I'm truly sorry. It seems my sister went a bit too far again. After all, a move like soul impact isn't something just anyone can handle.”

As a clean, small hand pressed against Po Kong's forehead, a melodic female voice like a silver bell drifted from beneath the cloak.

The voice was as soft and gentle as a nightingale's song, making one feel enchanted. Starlight felt a tingle run down his spine and turned to look.

At that moment, the speaker gently lowered her hood, revealing an equally flawless and beautiful face. It was like a beautiful painting unfolding before Starlight's eyes.

This face was seventy percent similar to the elf archer's, yet it had its own unique charm. Her long hair, tied up behind her, was a warm and soft flaxen color, and her eyes were a deeper shade. Although their features were so close, their temperaments were worlds apart.

If Starlight had to describe them, the girl who had thrown Po Kong out was like a raging fire, radiating a dazzling light at all times. The one before him, however, was like warm sunlight falling on a field, making one feel incredibly comfortable and at peace.

Starlight found himself unable to look away from her face for a moment until the girl gave a gentle smile and softly reminded him, “Your friend is fine now. He should wake up very soon.”

“Ah?! Sorry...” Starlight realized his lapse in manners and quickly shifted his gaze from the girl's face to the unconscious Po Kong.

He could clearly see a faint green energy surging from the girl's palm, flowing from Po Kong's forehead throughout his body. Under the nourishment of this energy, his breathing began to level out, and even the scrapes he had received during the battle were healing at an astonishing rate.

By now, the people inside the shop had followed them out, including Laxi's group and the restaurant owner, who looked heartbroken over the damage.

The elf girl who had sent Po Kong flying also seemed to have finally calmed down. Realizing she had gone a bit too far, she had no idea how to face the crowd and stood sheepishly behind her sister.

“Brother Starlight, Po Kong should be fine, right?!” Laxi was the first to speak as he approached, looking anxiously at the still-unconscious Po Kong.

“Don't worry, his injuries aren't serious. He just fainted,” Starlight said, shaking his head at him.

After receiving Starlight's reassuring answer, Laxi finally felt a bit more at ease. He then signaled for Starlight to follow him. After all, since the people he had brought had nearly turned the owner's hotel upside down, he naturally had to make amends as the host of the meal.

To Starlight's surprise, the restaurant owner didn't shout at them. Instead, he helplessly began to discuss the compensation.

As a retired Rank 6 adventurer, the owner's ability to judge people was naturally much stronger than others. If the trouble had only been caused by the scar-faced man's group, he could have handled it himself.

Although he hadn't fought for many years, the basic skills he had developed during his years of adventuring were still there. Ordinary people were truly no match for him.

However, the two elf girls clearly weren't characters to be trifled with, not to mention the somewhat inscrutable black-haired youth. Judging by his action of freezing the scar-faced man, he was at least an Archmage or a higher-tier mage, definitely not someone the owner could easily provoke.

Therefore, although the owner was pained by the destruction of his property, he was completely powerless against the people before him. He could only silently pray that things wouldn't turn sour, as long as the other party could accept some form of compensation.

“Um... excuse me, how much is the compensation for the damage here?”

After seeing Starlight and Laxi walk toward the owner, the archer girl hesitated for a moment before following them and asking softly.

“One hundred and fifty... no, one hundred gold coins will be enough!” The owner looked at the beautiful girl before him, feeling a bit ashamed. He couldn't reconcile her current polite demeanor with her previous image.

So, he immediately quoted a very low price, even slightly lower than the actual cost, just to appease the other party's anger and let the matter be settled quickly.

“One hundred gold coins?...” Hearing this quote, the girl seemed to hesitate. She paused for a moment and looked at her sister.

After seeing her sister's pleading gaze, the other girl could only shake her head helplessly.

“Is it too much? Or...” Seeing the two exchange glances, the owner's heart skipped a beat, sensing something was wrong.

“No, no, no! Wait...! Let me see... We indeed don't have that much money right now. How about I leave my Emerald Plume here as collateral for now?... Do you think that's okay? I'll bring the money to redeem it very soon!”

The girl seemed to see through the owner's thoughts. Speaking flusteredly, she turned around and unslung the expensive-looking emerald longbow from her back, handing it over with a face full of reluctance.

The longbow was clearly no ordinary item. Even with the owner's broad experience, he couldn't judge its exact value and naturally didn't dare to reach out and take it.

Seeing both the owner and the girl in a difficult position, Starlight sighed softly and said, “Sigh, forget it! I'll pay for them. After all, Po Kong was involved in this too, and I happen to have the money with me.”

With that, he pulled a coin pouch from his backpack. Without counting carefully, he handed over the reward he had just collected from the guild today.

The owner took the pouch and instinctively weighed it in his hand. The weight gave him a sigh of relief—there were definitely more than a hundred gold coins inside, more than enough to cover his losses.

The two girls were completely surprised that this youth they had never met before would so readily pay the compensation for them, looking somewhat stunned.

But they quickly reacted and gave Starlight a slight bow of gratitude.

“Thank you so much. If we hadn't been tricked by those bastards, we wouldn't have...” The archer girl wanted to explain further, but she was stopped by her sister.

The sister shook her head gently at her, then looked at Starlight with a soft gaze. She reached up and brushed a strand of hair aside, removing a crescent-shaped hair ornament from her flaxen hair and placing it in Starlight's hand.

“We were in the wrong tonight. Please take this for now, Mr. Mage. If there's an opportunity, we will repay this favor. We'll be going now.”

With that, the girl bowed to Starlight once more, then pulled her sister along to leave the scene.

“Wait! My name is Starlight. We'll have a chance to meet again, right?!” Feeling the faint warmth from the hair ornament in his hand, Starlight suddenly called out to the girl's departing back.

“If fate allows it, we will... Also, my name is Moen. Goodbye, Mr. Starlight!” The girl, now at a distance, turned her head slightly and answered with a smile.

“Moen... Moon?” Watching their figures disappear at the end of the street, Starlight instinctively looked up at the night sky. At some point, a crescent moon had quietly hung overhead, emitting a soft and mysterious glow.