Half-elf Notebook

"Where is this?" In a daze, the white-haired girl opened her green eyes again.

What she saw was not the dim sky or the pitch-black night, but a brown wooden ceiling.

Almost at the same time, Xue quickly rolled down from where he was lying.

However, the unexpected softness of her body and her extremely weak physical condition made it impossible for her to complete the subconscious alert action.

With a "thump", Xue fell off the sofa, and her body came into real and intimate contact with the ground.

"Ouch... it hurts." Xue felt the pain and protest coming from all over her body. She knew that several more wounds on her body were about to open.

But to her surprise, she actually felt pain, and it was in every wound on her body, from her limbs to the ends of her limbs...

It was completely different from her state before she fell into a coma, and it was not like severe frostbite, excessive fatigue, or hypothermia. And it was obviously changing for the better.

"I was rescued? Why..." Xue Bian propped himself up and thought in disbelief as he felt the condition of his body.

It was only then that she realized that her hands were wrapped with clean cloth, and she could smell the bitter and strange scent of herbs on it.

"Not just the hands." Because she didn't focus on herself at first, she came to her senses and realized her whole body. Her feet, which were covered with mud, had already been washed clean and then carefully wrapped with clean cloth.

Their contribution is largely indispensable to my body's recovery.

The disgustingly smelly old cloth on which she depended for survival was nowhere to be found.

Instead, she was wearing a long shirt that was so large that she couldn't roll up her arms, and a comfortable piece of fabric that was tied at her waist and served as a long skirt.

It seems like a coincidence, but also like it's just right.

When Xue stood up, a gentle voice came into her ears: "You're awake? You look quite cheerful."

"But I have to remind you that your condition is very bad. Violent movements will not help your recovery. As for treating your wounds, I'm sorry that there is no better way."

Xue looked up in the direction of the voice and saw a man in hunting clothes walking out of the kitchen carrying a pot of fragrant stew.

Although her consciousness was blurry at that time, Xue still recognized Rick immediately.

"He is the owner of that house...I am in that house?" She couldn't help but look at the unfamiliar things around her.

Sparks popped up from the firewood in the stove from time to time. Under the scorching flames, the temperature of the room, which should have been filled with mist, rose to that of warm spring.

On the table were meats that Xue had only seen from a distance in the bar.

There was no orange sunset outside the recessed window without a curtain, but only darkness and a few lights coming through from the houses on the street.

It means it is already night.

Seeing that Xue didn't respond and just lowered her head, Rick didn't want to let a weak injured person stand there, so he had to walk forward.

Every sound of shoes touching the floor became particularly clear in Xue's ears, and every step felt like stepping on her chest.

She knew that the man was approaching her, but at the same time she didn't dare to act rashly, so she had to stand still.

Until the shadow that was much taller than her covered her, and the broad hand reached out to her.

She was so frightened that she took two steps back.

It was because of these two steps that Rick was finally able to see the little girl's face clearly, a face full of tension, vigilance and fear.

"She's afraid of me." This thought flashed through Rick's mind. He sighed lightly and withdrew his hand that had reached into the air.

Seeing Rick retreat, Xue just put her hands on her chest while keeping a certain distance - still standing still.

She could have chosen to run away, of course, but that would have been foolish.

First, she was so weak that she could not escape from the clutches of the owner of the house.

Second, even if she escaped from the house, what could she do without proof of residency? Would she wait to be expelled back to the slums by the guards?

"Anyway, how about coming over and sitting for a while?" Xue was frozen at first, but when Rick returned to the dining table, she seemed to have figured it out and took a step to follow him.

"I have tried to pursue freedom and struggled, but nothing has changed... I will become a slave anyway, even as a toy. This gentleman at least saved my life. Staying here is better than staying in a cold prison car..."

She carefully sat down next to Rick, the only seat pulled out at the dining table.

"Just eat something. I don't know if it suits your taste." Rick served a bowl of stew to himself and Xue respectively, and broke off half a bread stick.

But after taking a few bites, he found that the white-haired girl didn't seem to move: "What's wrong?"

"My Lord, if you are unhappy with my behavior just now... I am very sorry... I am willing to do anything to make up for my mistake, and I will try my best to complete everything..."

Xue clutched the fabric that served as her dress tightly, mustered up her courage, and spoke tremblingly.

Rick was stunned and confused. After a long silence, he said carefully:

"You are afraid that I will use this as an excuse to abuse you...right?"

Xue's body trembled slightly, and after a few seconds, she nodded.

Then, a large hand was placed on her head, and she could feel her white hair being rubbed.

"I don't know how to explain it to put you at ease, but I mean no harm."

"Perhaps we can start with the most basic exchange of titles."

Rick's voice was gentle and patient.

"My name is Rick West. You can call me Uncle Rick, or just Rick."

Xue looked up in surprise, and then saw Rick's gray eyes looking at her with a faint smile on his face.

"So, now that I've introduced myself, what's your name, little girl?"

Xue was confused for a moment. She seemed to have had a name, a simple name.

But because no one had asked her for such a long time... so long that the name had become blurred in her mind...

"I... forgot that I have been living next to a stinking ditch almost all the time since I was born."

Xue's voice was very low, and she looked away with a lost look.

"It's okay. If you don't mind, we can name one, Ina, Ina West. How about that?"

Rick's words made Xue a little dazed, but she still captured an incredible message from them.

"Vester...but that's yours, sir..."

"Then are you interested in staying?" His words obviously made Xue confused.

"Huh?!" Xue seemed very surprised.

“But, but I’m a wanderer, a poor person without even an identity. You have no obligation to do this…” Xue’s eyes suddenly widened.

"Is there any problem with that? I hope you can stay. In exchange, I can provide you with everything you need to grow." Rick replied nonchalantly:

"But this is unreasonable! You can't get any benefit from it at all!" In her opinion, everything in the world comes first.

Just like copper coins were exchanged for bread, slave owners captured them for money.

There is no equivalent thing, and you can never exchange it for what you want.

This is one of the few truths she understands, and it is also the "truth" that enables her to survive in the slums.

A homeless person on the verge of death with no background, all over the slums, even she didn't think she was qualified to take on the deal.

"How about you just attribute it all to luck? You are a lucky person, just think so."

Rick seemed to see through Xue's thoughts and rubbed her hair again.

"Ina, if you don't mind, have a meal as part of the family."