Free and Unfettered 129 Misha The Elf

"Your name." Nine wondered if the Elf would respond at all. She certainly acted like she was far gone enough that she looked like she was in a trance instead of being wholly there.

Mildred instantly responded to Nine, earnestly replying. "This lowly servant doesn't have a name, but I was bestowed the name 'Mildred' before the ritual was performed," she said airily.

Nine studied the blonde on her table, blood still oozing out glob by glob. If she was left like this much longer, it was likely that she would bleed out and pass on before long.

Furrowing her brows, Nine hesitated for the briefest moment before deciding to accept the life-bound contract that was offered to her. Since this was the case, then Nine would afford her trust and trust wholly. In any case, the Elf wasn't lying to her.

Though she didn't regret finding the limits of what her Charm could do, she did regret the effects that it had on the Elf in front of her. She had not thought that it would change someone so completely and reversibly. Silently, Nine made a vow not to use the full extent of the Charm that seemed to lurk within her body.

The effects were much too terrifying for her to feel safe about using. Not only that, it made her feel dirty, like she had forced subservience on someone instead of receiving it freely. The Elf before her did not seem to be recovering at all, making Nine feel conflicted.

Quickly, she layered several healing spells over the blonde Elf, stacking them in sequence. By doing this, the spells worked together as a whole instead of individually, allowing the spells to work in tangent. It was more than 1 + 1 = 2.

Before long, the spells that sped up the healing process mended muscle, regrew flesh, and produced more blood. The Elf gasped, feeling as if the process of healing was more painful than the actual damage being caused instead, but her eyes remained dreamy and worshipful.

The Elf sunk deep within the realm of having a sole purpose in life and felt like she was floating in the clouds. For the first time in her life, she felt like she had air in her lungs, a wind in her sails. The world felt startlingly clear and beautiful all at once.

"Misha. Do you accept?"

Misha's eyes sparkled. "Yes, my God."

Nine's lip twitched slightly. That was just… no. "Master."

"Yes, Master."

After Misha was untied, she stood respectfully to the side of Nine, who checked her over with a discerning eye. Misha looked at Nine with sparkling eyes, so much so that Nine felt embarrassed. Somehow, she was reminded of Shade's expression…

Nine waved away the pop-up boxes that appeared from the System.

Looking at the tattoo with a golden hue that so matched her hair that had bloomed on Misha's face, Nine felt strangely fond, as well as a bit of guilt mixed in between, causing her to soften her expression.

"Tell me about the plans of 'Darkness Uprising'."

"Darkness Uprising?" Misha murmured, deducing that it should be the Elves' plans for the world. "Originally, our king, the sole High Elf remaining, was against this plan, but as time passed by, he started advocating for it instead. When this happened, the Elves started researching the basis of finding a cure for the world."

Nine frowned. This had been out of her expectations. "A cure for the world? In what sense?"

Misha thought about how to explain it comprehensively. "You see, most of the Elves don't like other species. In fact, they think that having them is a blight onto the world. The vegetation is dying, animals are reducing, Magic Beasts are reproducing quicker.

"The rest of the world hasn't realized yet, but the magic retention in the air is said to have become less and less over the years. The magic that we're using isn't being replenished. The Elves are worried that the end of the world is coming soon. That's why, many of them support the camp of eradicating the sickness from the world."

"So, the 'sickness of the world' is everyone other than Elves, huh?" Nine said, smiling sarcastically.

Misha paused, feeling like she had displeased her Master. "Incidentally, I used to be part of that camp as well, but now, I can't imagine a life without Master, so I will definitely do everything in my power to stop them."

Nine looked at Misha with a complicated expression. Really, this unexpected loyalty that she had received was not doing her any favours. Though she trusted the words that Misha told her, there was still the possibility that she believed it was true, but the truth was something else. Thankfully, the [Truth] had evolved into [Veritas], which was a more broken version of [Truth].

Sometimes, even though she was the one who was using it, it unnerved her, but she would rather have the skill rather than not.

Nine could feel that Misha was indeed telling the truth, but that 'truth' was not the whole truth. It wasn't that Misha wasn't telling her everything she wanted to know, but rather, there were parts of the story that she didn't know.

"Come," Nine said. She released the spells that had been binding the house, causing the still air to seemingly flow again. It felt like the time that had been paused started to flow again.

Waiting by the door were Psyber, Matthew and Chow. They raised a brow when they saw the Elf respectfully walking behind Nine.

"What in the world did you do to Mildred in just an hour that would cause her to become like that?" Chow said dryly, instantly receiving a terrifying glare from the Elf in question.

Psyber and Matthew's hands twitched where they were on their sword hilts as Chow raised his hands in a sign of surrender.

"This is Misha," Nine reintroduced them.

The three Wererabbits stared at the faint shimmering tattoo on Misha's face, something clicking in their mind. Since Nine did not want to explain, then they would not ask.

The three were rather conflicted at this moment. They felt slightly cheated, like the earlier hate and disgust had been wiped away so suddenly that there was no chance of them to react. As such, the three's reception to Misha was not too warm.

Nine watched their interaction dryly, inwardly thinking that she understood how they felt. She thought back to how when she sunk a scalpel into the Elf's willing body, her eyes had been glittering. She twitched, feeling like her sadistic tendencies had not been satisfied at all.

But with that said and done, Misha was now under her care, so she would have to find another outlet.

Matthew observed how the Elf's glare melted away when she glanced at Nine with eyes full of worship, like she was meeting her God. There was a fundamental change in the Elf that he couldn't put his finger on. It felt like the Elf's slate had been wiped clean, as if all the previous dirtiness and darkness that she exuded had been a lie.

Tentatively, Matthew decided to trust Misha for the time being. Somehow, he just couldn't imagine that someone who looked at his Master with those eyes would ever cause him harm. Not to mention, the tattoo that had appeared on her face reassured him more than words ever would.

Then, he thought about his Master's wife, and silently looked into the sky. He could already sense the incoming drama…

On the other hand, Chow eyed the Elf, wondering if Nine was interested in Elves… after all, they did seem to fit a Vampire's beauty aesthetics.

Psyber, on the other hand, had no such thoughts. The drama was resolved, Nine had gained another follower, and he probably had more information now. Problem solved.

Misha eyed the three Wererabbits warily, but immediately put aside her wariness. Her Master was the best. How could anyone ever think about hurting him?

Nine silently endured the fluctuation of emotions from the four around her, resisting the urge to cradle her head.

"Go and call the brat as well as my students. We're going back to Cosmos City."

Chapter end