And the points given by this dirty person... are quite a lot.

……

------------

491. Things Elsa Hates (3K6)

When she reached the end of the cave, Elsa was slightly shocked by the scene before her - the rock wall covered with solid ice was covered with snow-white frost. The frost was spread throughout every corner of the cave and was a foot thick. The frost seeped out from the cracks in the rocks, or rather, it was deeply rooted in them. They radiated like dense mycelium, interlaced and stacked to form a white mist.

The deeper you go, the denser these "hyphae" become, leaving behind deep and shallow footprints wherever you walk. Some are even twisted together, forming a spiral tower-shaped "white granulation". The "white granulation" is only the size of a palm. When Tricia approaches, it will sense something and wriggle towards her. It looks like a tiny creature, but it has no obvious reaction to Elsa. At most, it just wriggles slightly, as if it is avoiding something.

Unless Elsa touches it, it will instantly disintegrate, collapse, and disappear, like a soap bubble being popped, and the white frost in a large area around it will also "calm down" and stop wriggling.

[-Freedom Points Obtained: 3-]

This was the second time the panel prompt appeared. Unlike the previous one, this time there were only 3 points, but it was still quite considerable. Continuing to walk inside, Elsa tried to crush three "granulations" again. She got points every time. The number varied, but it was not small. Elsa finally confirmed that these sticky and dense white frost "granulations" like "mycelium", or some kind of tiny strange creatures, were the Defilers - a species Elsa had never seen before.

The only similarity was that these granulations would quickly melt and disappear after being crushed by Elsa, just like the Defiler. The white frost also lost its activity, and the ice was broken on a large scale. Elsa knew that the white frost was completely "dead". All of this was similar to the connection between the Defiler and the black monster.

For Elsa, the eye-catching term "Defiler" has not been seen for a long time. Defilers and dragons are the only two creatures included in the panel and can provide free points so far. Perhaps this also means that they are unusual. Elsa has never taken it lightly, but these little things in front of her, at first glance, are really different from those black monsters.

If even a witch as famous as Grace had almost fallen here, it would have been difficult for Elsa to connect these white frosts that looked no different from snowflakes with those brutal and bloodthirsty black monsters.

"Tricia, these are 'Filth Ones,'" Aisha said, drawing a surprised look from Tricia. Aisha then explained, "I happened to see something similar in a book before."

"Father Angus's book?"

"Ah."

Elsa didn't explain too much - since the old book that the old priest gave to Ryan recorded the black monsters in the forest, it might also include others.

I'll borrow the book when the time comes, and let the old priest take the blame first.

Elsa bowed to the old priest in her heart.

Fortunately, although Tricia hesitated, she remained silent for a moment before pressing the issue. She had read many books, mostly works from various magical schools and relics collected from strange places, so it wasn't impossible that she might have missed something. Furthermore, Tricia trusted Elsa, so even if she had any doubts, she didn't intend to delve into them.

If she really had to talk about doubts, her biggest doubt was Elsa. From everything Tricia knew, Elsa's existence, no matter which aspect, revealed a strong sense of incongruity. The more she got along with Elsa, the more she felt this way.

Tricia fell into deep thought more than once, but she never once asked Aisha herself.

"Speaking of which, these things...will Adele know about them?"

"The filthy one?"

"Well, since the old priest's book records them, I guess the Filthy Ones must have been active in the world for a period of time, right?"

Aisha and Tricia both thought of this possibility at the same time and looked at each other.

"I asked Grace to bring Adele over. I'll ask her later."

Elsa said, then lowered her head to continue observing the granulations. Elsa took out a steel knife and tried to touch it, only to find that the granulations were actually very strong. The steel knife couldn't even leave a mark on its surface. When she knocked on it, it only made a clanging sound.

It was obviously very strong, yet it could move like a worm... and had no reaction to the "provocation" of the steel knife.

"Are these things some kind of bugs?"

Tricia's sudden words almost made Elsa jump up - walking back and forth in the nest of countless white worms thinner than a hair, with the corpses, larvae and eggs of those worms all under her feet, just thinking about it made Elsa get goosebumps.

It’s not that she’s scared. Elsa has been in this world for two years and these things can’t scare her.

But it's just full of disgust.

Elsa is completely resistant to worms without legs, worms with many legs, spiders, cockroaches and the like.

"Elsa, what's wrong with you?"

Tricia noticed the strange look in Aisha's eyes, and Aisha just coughed lightly, pretending to be calm. "This thing is not a bug. It has no movable joints and no visible organs."

Elsa took a closer look and felt a little relieved - if she looked hard enough, she could see the general structure of the tiny white frost. Rather than an insect, it looked more like a plant, or a moss, but this moss was extremely hard, and even Grace's fire seemed unable to remove it instantly.

At this time, Tricia seemed to realize something - the crows that stayed on the ground brought news that Grace was coming with Adele.

……

"..."

Elsa and Tricia stared at Adele, while Adele stared at the white granulation - being stared at by Elsa and Tricia at the same time, Adele felt uncomfortable all over.

"Did you remember anything?"

Adele shook her head blankly.

"You haven't heard of 'Filth Ones'? Like these hoarfrost-like things?"

Adele continued to shake her head: "No... I have always lived in the south and have only been to the north a few times..."

"What about something like this?"

Tricia raised her hand and used magic to outline the appearance of the black monster. Adele looked at it and still shook her head.

“Never.”

Aisha and Tricia looked at each other and sighed softly.

It seems that either Adele has never seen the Filth One, or there was no such thing as the Filth One in Adele's era - or, the Filth One at that time existed in another form, just like the black monster and the white frost granulation are both Filth Ones. Their appearances are too different. If it weren't for the panel prompt, Elsa would not have connected the two.

“Huh!?”

Suddenly, Adele screamed, jumped up and floated into the air, staring at the ground with her eyes wide open.

"It, it's eating me! It's biting my toes!"

The fleshy fingers pointed at the hoarfrost on the ground, accusingly.

Elsa and Tricia looked at the ground. The frost twisted and piled up in clusters, forming a small tower, which was actually climbing towards Adele in the air. However, Adele's feet were not stained with frost - it seemed that the frost could not do anything to a god.

"It seems that as a pure soul and magical body, you are more likely to attract this thing." Tricia casually cast a fire spell. A dazzling light flashed, and the white frost melted away. Tricia glanced around and continued, "In short, we have to deal with these 'fouling ones' and prevent them from spreading further. Otherwise, if they leave this canyon one day, it will be dangerous."

……

Going further in, the cave becomes narrower and narrower, and soon it is inaccessible - there used to be a leyline here, but it disappeared for unknown reasons. The roots of the leyline left these caves here, which were occupied by these white frost "polluters".

No other findings were found.

When leaving the canyon, Tricia used a container covered with runes to take a little white frost and a granulation to seal it, and then she and Elsa teamed up to crush the white frost in the canyon inch by inch - compared to those pollutants hiding in the forest, these white frosts were much easier to eliminate. With the assistance of Tricia's magical vision, it could also ensure that nothing was missed.

Most of them were eliminated by Tricia and Adele. Magic is still very useful at this time.

Elsa has a total of 84 free points, which is very impressive.

Tricia seemed a little worried and checked the area around the canyon again. There was nothing unusual about the earth veins. The disappeared earth vein had only one branch - coincidentally, its direction and location almost completely overlapped with the canyon. It can be said that the formation of the canyon was probably caused by the disappearance of the earth veins.

When they returned to Kroros, Becky had been waiting for a long time. With Becky were the fox girl Lacey and the merchant Ebusen.

"I sent Silvers out with the money," Ebusen said with a smile. "I know where to buy flint in large quantities and at a reasonable price. Leave it to me!"

"Thank you."

"No, no, you're Miss Morton's guest, and you've helped us solve so much trouble along the way. This is naturally what I should do."

Ebusen was still the same. He greeted Elsa warmly and politely as soon as he came up.

The fox girl Lacey has changed a lot - when she was in Engo Village, she still looked sickly, with a thin and gray face and a thin body that seemed like it could be blown away by a gust of wind. Now she has changed into clean clothes, her little face is white and clean, and her soft chestnut hair slides out from under the snow-white hood. A little bulge can be vaguely seen on the hood, which should be the fox ears hidden inside.

Those amber eyes were clear and bright, showing a hint of nervousness and anticipation, and they looked at Aisha and Tricia again and again.

"Eh, eh, eh? This girl... is so weird," Adele's purring voice suddenly rang out from the black sword. No one else seemed to notice, only Elsa lowered her eyebrows slightly. Then Adele suddenly cried out, "Hey? Why does she have ears? And a tail? Wow - what is this! How did she get that?! So cute! I want to touch it!!!"

Elsa calmly reached out and grabbed the black sword.

"Be quiet, don't do such a rude thing. If you suddenly run out, you will only scare her."

Elsa explained quietly.

No one would like to be touched on the head and grabbed on the butt by a stranger who can float around like a ghost for no reason, right?

"She's a fox-man, a demihuman." Elsa belatedly realized something strange and glanced at the black sword. "Adele, you're a 'god' after all, don't you know?"

"Demihumans? Fox people?" Adele's voice was filled with curiosity, and the black sword trembled. "What is that? I only know of foxes, but there are also humans."

"Hmm...you really don't know?" Elsa became suspicious.

"I don't know. I've never seen it."

This time it was Elsa's turn to be surprised. She lowered her eyelashes and stared at the black sword - could it be that demi-humans also appeared after the Age of Gods?

"So, is this what demi-humans are like? Oh my, so cute, so adorable, why didn't you tell me before? I've decided, when I reincarnate in the future, I want to be a demi-human too! I want to have floppy, pointy ears and a big, furry tail!"

Elsa inexplicably felt the strong expectation of the black sword's gaze, and her face suddenly turned dark. She slapped the hilt of the black sword with a slap, and Adele's aggrieved whimpering sound was heard.

"Don't even think about it."

"No, no, no! I, I just think she's cute..."

"Ah."

Elsa didn't comment on Adele's sophistry. She clearly felt that Adele was daydreaming and was thinking about recognizing her as her mother again.

Anyway, no matter what, she could never be Adele's mother.

……

------------

492. Lend me some money (3K)

For Lacey, every day without her sister was dull and dim.

Her dearest sister is not around, and she has not received any news from her sister until now. This makes her unable to sleep or eat, as she has lived with her sister since she was a child. But at the same time, what is even more difficult for Lacey to accept is that she found that she did not know when she started to develop an indescribable yearning for life in human cities.

The city of Kroros, it is said that this city is not the most prosperous place in the empire, but everything here is so desirable to Lacey who has lived in the forest since childhood.

Since leaving Ngo Village and coming to Kloros City, Lacey has followed Grace every day. They have been to the most bustling and prosperous streets here. When the snow stops, the snow there will be cleaned up. The crowds of people are like waves, and the noisy sounds seem to make the air heat up.

They also walked through deserted alleys where there was a lot of snow. Grace said that the dirtiest thing was under the snow, but she had not seen it with her own eyes.

In order to find her sister, they went to every corner of the city. She saw delicious food and dazzling beautiful clothes that she had never imagined in the forest. She also saw the ancient clock tower and the solemn and tall statue of the goddess that appeared in the story.

There are also people of all kinds coming and going.

Becky, who has very pale skin and looks haggard, the busy Ebusen, the amiable innkeeper, and Uncle Silvers who seems difficult to get along with.

Every time, Grace would patiently tell her many, many things.

Things that even her tribe members and even her sister had never told her, about this city, about this country, about humans, about demihumans, about her race, and about the "pure land" that her tribe members longed for - Helansis Butana.

Lacey felt that Grace didn't need to go to great lengths to deceive her, because Grace was very powerful, more powerful than the most powerful hunter she had ever seen. Even the terrible beasts in the forest would probably be easily dealt with by Grace.

So Lacey also trusts Grace.

"...It was Kalima...she deceived us?"

On the way back to the hotel, Grace told Lacey the truth.

"Well, she should be taken to the court now. If you want, you can see her there." Grace squatted down and gently rubbed Lacey's shoulders, trying to comfort her. "But I guess you can hardly recognize her now."

Lacey said nothing.

"The good news is that your sister should still be alive. At least, we haven't found any evidence that she was murdered. Believe me, your sister is safe and sound. As for Kalima, she will receive the punishment she deserves."

Grace said in a rare gentle tone.

Lacey nodded silently.

Of course she knew Kalima. It was this fox man who "fled from persecution by humans" and brought the news of Hercules Butana to everyone in the village. Lacey couldn't tell the difference at that time, but now Lacey recalled that Kalima did his best to describe the sub-human country in a way that everyone yearned for. This was completely different from the country Grace described, which was full of barbarism and fighting and only maintained prosperity with superficial harmony.

Lacey now knows that all the beautiful things Kalima said were just a complete lie.

"When we were in N'go Village, my sister suddenly told me not to trust the other villagers... Maybe she already knew at that time..."

Perhaps thinking of something sad, Lacey wiped away her tears.

Elsa watched silently from the side, sighing softly with a hint of emotion. She turned to look at the merchants Ebusen and Silbaz who had arrived.

"Silbaz, I might need you to go to Ngo Village for something. I wonder if this will cause you any trouble."

"Haha, it's a bit awkward, but it's okay to say it."

Silbaz waved his hands and patted his chest proudly.

Ebusen shook his head nonchalantly: "Why not, as long as I can help."

How could they refuse? They had already regarded Elsa as "one of their own" - since she was personally appointed by Miss Sylvia Morton, and happened to be mysterious and powerful, and what happened along the way was still vivid in their minds, it was difficult for Ebusen not to guess Elsa's identity in a strange direction.

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