The story of the black silk female knight

"Ha, foolish plant."

Valensa simply smiled dismissively and flicked her wrist, unleashing a flash of sword light.

brush!

Chapter 22 Who... are you?

The sword light nimbly passed through the waving flowers and vines, accurately striking the thin stem connecting the fruit to the branch, severing it.

Then, the sword is reversed and flicked upwards, lifting the egg-sized crunchy flower fruit into the air with the wide side of the blade. After tracing an arc, the fruit lands perfectly in the basket on Valensa's back.

"it is good!"

"As expected of the young lady!"

"The young lady's sword is so cool!~~"

Although it was a little disappointing not to see the beautiful female knight in black stockings with battle damage as a dream, the exquisite swordsmanship was still exciting enough for ordinary people, making the farmers watching cheer with great excitement and generously offering all kinds of praise and admiration.

"Humph."

Valensa raised an eyebrow, her expression becoming more confident, which made her even more charming.

There were no examples of pride leading to defeat. No matter how much praise or admiring attention she received, Valensa's steps and swordplay remained perfectly steady.

Even though the creaking flowers struggled and resisted with all their might, they still couldn't stop Valensa from cutting off their fruits one by one and putting them into her basket.

This is also why Valencia just mocked the Cricket Flower as a stupid plant... No matter what the final outcome of the academic debate is, it cannot obscure the Cricket Flower's distinctive characteristics as a plant.

No matter how fierce the sharp teeth on its flowers are, no matter how flexible its vines are, its range of movement is limited by its roots and has its limits.

As long as Valensa observes and masters the limits of the creaking flowers' activity, harvesting their fruit will be a one-sided crushing victory, thanks to her skill and swordsmanship.

And that was indeed the case; about an acre of 'Grindling' flowers was harvested in less than two hours, and the fruit filled several baskets.

The farmer beamed with joy at the bountiful harvest and readily complied with the agreement, filling a small cloth bag with the fruit and giving it to Valensa as payment.

"Hehe, thanks, uncle~~"

Valensa was delighted to see that the cloth bag was significantly larger than she had expected.

She did not refuse the farmer's kindness and generously put all the crunchy flower fruits into her magical leather bag with storage space at her waist.

If you eat these fruits sparingly, they can keep you from going hungry for two months.

Valensa was even happier when she thought about the dozen or so more commissions like this that were coming up.

It's good to be prepared for the future. Who knows what will happen in the future? Anyway, the food in the storage space won't spoil. It's good to stock up on enough food so that we won't go hungry in a critical moment.

For the next two days, Valensa moved around to various farmlands in Sergintown in this manner.

Amidst the anger, ferocity, madness, and sorrow of the many creaking flowers, their fruits were harvested with a merciless and icy silver sword light and stuffed into baskets.

That afternoon, Valencia had just finished one job and was heading to the next when she suddenly heard a strange cry for help coming from deep in the fields.

"Aww! Help...help me! Someone save me! I'm going to be eaten by the flowers... Waaah!"

The content of the distress call was quite normal; it was probably an accidental attack by the squeaky flower. What puzzled Valensa was the distress call itself.

How to describe the voice... even with Valensa's hearing, she couldn't tell whether the call was from a man or a woman.

...Well, whether it's a man or a woman, we can't just stand by and watch someone die, can we?

If an ordinary person were attacked by the squeaky flower, it could actually be life-threatening.

With that thought in mind, Valensa immediately put the basket aside, took out her longsword and round shield, and charged toward the direction from which the cries for help were coming.

After countless crops were brutally trampled by black silk boots, the person who had called out finally appeared.

"This……"

When Valensa saw the person calling for help, she couldn't help but freeze for a moment.

Not only was the voice indistinguishable from the gender, but the appearance and attire of the person seeking help were also androgynous.

She was wearing a common cloth shirt, a unisex style, which was being bound tightly by creaking vines, and it looked rather rough around the edges.

She has short hair and her bone structure makes her look somewhat masculine, but she's petite with fair skin; you wouldn't be surprised if you thought she was a girl.

Most importantly, Valensa found the person calling for help to look familiar, as if she had seen them recently.

"Help...help me, young lady! I'm going to be eaten, waaaaah..."

The person seeking help did indeed recognize Valensa; upon seeing her arrive, they simply stared at her blankly, making their plea for help sound even more aggrieved.

"Oh...sorry, I was daydreaming."

Valensa then remembered that she had come to rescue someone. She smiled apologetically and drew her round shield and longsword in both hands at the same time, rescuing the person in distress in an instant.

"Here, bandage it yourself first."

Seeing that the person seeking help had already suffered many bite wounds, Valensa quickly took out the gauze and medicine she always carried with her, while carefully examining the person.

After getting closer and observing carefully, Valensa finally confirmed that the person calling for help was a boy... but his skin and figure were too much like a girl's, making him practically a born cross-dresser.

"Waaah... Thank you, young lady. I'm so glad you came... I never thought being an adventurer would be so difficult... I can't even beat these crops, how am I supposed to fight monsters in the future... Sigh."

The person seeking help seemed to genuinely know Valensa; after receiving the bandages and medicine, they treated their own wounds while casually expressing their amazement.

? ?

Valensa's doubts deepened. She stared at the person calling for help for a long time, but still couldn't remember who it was.

She hesitated for a moment, but to avoid further rudeness, she asked anyway:

Who are you...?

?

The person seeking help was visibly startled for a moment before suddenly blushing and realizing what had happened:

"Oh right... I forgot... I've changed a lot, Miss, you haven't seen it yet."

"Cough cough."

The person seeking help cleared their throat again, making their already androgynous voice sound even softer:

"Actually, I'm Tak... My uncle is Hand. Just half a month ago, you asked me about the Winged Falcon in the guild hall."

"??? Tucker?"

Valensa's expression this time wasn't one of surprise, but rather a hint of horror.

She remembered clearly that although Tucker looked rather young, he was definitely a strong young man, a completely different physique from the little cross-dresser in front of her.

More importantly... Tuck clearly had one arm severed by the Winged Falcon, and with his wealth, there was absolutely no way he could afford the magical treatment to regenerate severed limbs. So how come his hands are now completely intact?

However, after hearing what the person asking for help said, Valensa noticed that his face really did look a lot like Tucker's... Could it be that this young man has recently had some kind of extraordinary encounter?

How did you get yourself into this state?

After a shift in her thoughts, Valensa's expression turned to curiosity.

Chapter 23 Young man, do you want to learn the Butt Slant Sword Technique?

"It must be about what happened last week..."

When Valensa asked him these questions, Tucker looked somewhat confused, as if he didn't understand why his body was undergoing such changes.

TA recalled and said:

"Didn't I tell you before, Miss, that I still want to be an adventurer? But I only have one arm left, so it will be very difficult to fight monsters. I can only do some errand-running and messenger tasks."

That morning last week, I set off just as dawn broke, intending to deliver order forms to Clare City for several shops in town.

Unexpectedly, I was attacked by a group of goblins on the road... Those damned green dwarves wouldn't even dare mess with a healthy, ordinary farmer, they're just taking advantage of the fact that I only have one arm!

"Goblins...they really are all cowards who bully the weak and fear the strong."

Thinking of some strange comics she read in her past life, Valensa also felt a strong dislike for monsters who often bullied female adventurers in the story.

However, the goblins in this world are actually weaker than those in the comics. Often, even three or five of them together can't defeat a farmer with a hoe, and it's rare to hear of anyone being attacked by goblins.

As for the strange comic book trope of goblins capturing human women to use as breeding tools... Valensa actually did some research and found it to be completely nonsense.

Humans, with their annual birth rate of one child and a fertility rate of over ten years, are hardly considered outstanding. They are certainly no match for goblins, who can have four or five births a year or seven or eight children at a time.

In addition, the two races have completely different aesthetic views, and goblins simply look down on human women.

They attack humans, mostly to steal food, tools, and clothing.

In Tucker's previous physical condition, he would have been in considerable danger if surrounded by goblins.

"Someone must have saved you, right?"

Valensa quickly made her judgment:

"Otherwise, given the goblins' cunning and ferocity, you would most likely already be a missing person."

"Yes, someone saved me."

Tucker nodded slightly, his eyes holding a hint of infatuation, as if he were secretly in love.

"She was a very beautiful older sister... She was so beautiful... I don't know what the goddess preached by the Church of the Sun looks like, but at that moment, she was my goddess!"

"...A very beautiful older sister saved you?"

Valensa couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and retort:

"Your luck is really something...tsk, do you know who this goddess sister of yours is?"

"know."

Tucker's face flushed even more, with a hint of shyness, as if just thinking about that older sister made him happy:

"She claimed to be the Dream Witch from the Witch Forest. She happened to see me as she passed by in the air, so she helped me out of my troubles and even healed my broken arm."

"Did she also treat your severed arm?"

Valensa was even more surprised, and even a little envious.

Hailing from the Witch's Forest, she travels by flying and can easily regenerate severed arms... The beautiful older sister that Tucker mentioned is probably at least a Star-level expert, or even more powerful.

He lost his arm and loved ones in an attack by a Winged Falcon, and was besieged by goblins, but was reborn with the help of a mysterious and powerful figure who happened to pass by... This is practically the protagonist template!

"Yes, she also healed my arm."

Tucker seemed to sense Valensa's slightly envious gaze, and grinned happily, his eyes filled with even more infatuation.

"She gave me a potion, saying that it would not only make my arm grow back, but also transform me and make me stronger!"

And indeed, the day after I drank the potion, my arm recovered, and I officially became a Firefly-level warrior. That's why I wanted to challenge the Crunchy Flower.

"...Potion?"

Upon hearing this term, Valensa's expression turned strange again, as she recalled certain legends.

The powerful witches living in the Witch Forest east of the Misty Mountains are not exactly evil, but they are by no means innocent or kind either. Most of them have eccentric personalities and love to play pranks.

The dream witch who happened to pass by saved Tucker and healed his arm; most likely it wasn't just out of simple kindness, but rather to find a test subject for that potion.

Tucker's increasingly feminine appearance despite still being a man suggests that the limb regeneration is likely just a side effect of the potion...

Tsk.

Valensa initially felt only a slight envy for Tucker's situation.

Now... I'm even more envious.

If she had possessed such an amazing potion in her past life, would she still regret not being able to wear those secretly collected dresses and black and white stockings? She could have easily debuted as an idol in drag!

As the saying goes, jealousy is the easiest thing to twist one's mind. At this moment, Valensa felt a desire to persecute Tucker due to envy and jealousy.

However, before persecuting someone, it's best to find out if that big shot is still around... It wouldn't be good if you angered him and got thrown into a dark room or something.

"Then?"

So Valensa continued to ask with a concerned expression:

"Is that witch still in contact with you? Did she say where she was going or give you any other instructions?"

"...That's it. I haven't seen her since, and I don't know where she went."

The infatuation in Tucker's eyes instantly turned into loneliness, and he gently shook his head.