"Elise, will there be any problems with you leaving Orario this time?" Astraea asked from the side as she watched Elise pack her luggage. "Do you need to bring a few more people along to help?"
"There's no need, Lady Astraea. I'm only leaving Orario briefly and won't be going very far. I'll be back in two or three days at most. There's no reason to bring so many people with me."
After folding her clothes, Elise placed everything into her spatial bag.
Spatial bags were truly convenient. Though if outsiders saw her, they might think she was a little girl who had secretly run away from home.
Oh? And a blind little girl at that? Quite pretty too. She could probably fetch a good price.
But if anyone really ran into Elise with such thoughts, the unlucky ones would definitely be them.
"So I'll be perfectly fine on my own. As for Est, let her stay in the Familia for now. While I'm away, she can ensure everyone's safety."
Over the years, Elise had spared no expense to protect her Familia members.
Barrier of the Stars.
Multiple layers of training.
Effect Stigmata.
She had made use of nearly everything available. And if something happened while she was absent, they could always rely on Est.
Although Est shared an extremely close bond with Elise—so close that Elise could even take her across worlds—Elise still hoped the girl would become more independent and grow stronger on her own.
"Est, I'll leave everyone in the Familia to you this time!"
Elise gently stroked the little girl's white hair, soothing her faint unease.
Est was wonderful in every way, except that she was a bit too clingy. Hopefully she would understand Elise's intentions.
For some reason, Elise felt like she had taken on the role of the Familia's mother. Ever since their numbers increased and the Familia began to grow, she seemed to worry more and more.
If not for the Lord God Space fixing her physical age in place, Elise wasn't sure whether she might have started losing hair already.
"Then, big sister... you have to come back quickly! Est will be waiting for you the whole time!"
The white-haired girl obediently enjoyed the head pat from her sister, her mood improving considerably. It was hard to imagine that just a few years ago, she had been strong enough to pin Gojouno Kaguya to the ground and beat her senseless...
"So why is the captain leaving Orario anyway?"
Unlike the Familia's goddess and Lyra—who had long discussions with Elise about Stigmata—the others didn't quite understand why Elise needed to leave Orario.
"Obviously because of the Familia's trade business! Where do you think all the food and supplies we've been using lately come from?" Lyra revealed the truth without hesitation.
Ever since Evilus disappeared and new members joined, the Astraea Familia had grown livelier. The most obvious change was simply that there were more people.
As a result, whether it was food or daily necessities, the Astraea Familia needed to purchase more than before.
Now ranked within the top five Familias in Orario, the Astraea Familia cooperated with numerous commercial and agricultural Familias in the city, as well as several livelihood-based Familias outside Orario.
Not to mention that, thanks to the sale of Stigmata, the Astraea Familia was accumulating wealth at an unimaginable rate.
If they didn't carefully inspect their finances, the Familia's capital chain could easily develop problems.
Recently, Elise had already finished reviewing the internal financial chain within Orario. Aside from Lyra's personal treasury, everything was in order.
What remained were their dealings outside Orario. Thus, this time Elise planned to head to Melen Town, not far from the city.
"As before, if anything happens to the Familia, you can call me back at any time, Lady Astraea."
After leaving behind one final safeguard, Elise departed Orario alone.
...
The harbor town of Melen lay to the southwest of Orario. As its name suggested, it stood by the sea.
The distance between Melen and Orario was only about three kilometers. For high-level adventurers, it would take less than an hour to travel between the two.
Moreover, Melen was more than just a small town. For Orario, it functioned as a maritime gateway.
Every year, countless ships from all over the world sailed into Melen, unloading vast quantities of goods.
"Now that I think about it, this is the first time I've left Orario since arriving here, isn't it?"
Elise's strength needed no further explanation. She set out from Orario close to noon and arrived around midday.
After entering Orario during its dark era a year ago, she had rarely stepped outside. Now she was finally seeing the harbor scenery of this world with her own eyes.
"Not bad. It's quite beautiful."
"Since it's already noon, and I promised Lady Astraea I'd eat properly unless it was an emergency, I should find somewhere to eat first... If I remember correctly, Melen is famous for its fishing industry, right?"
As Orario's maritime gateway, Melen Town was naturally well-developed. Finding a place to eat wouldn't be difficult. Though with Elise's increasingly refined palate, she doubted she would find the food particularly impressive.
Meanwhile...
"Phew, after all this time, we've finally reached Melen... This job really was a big one."
"Yeah, boss."
"I still don't get what the employer was thinking—having us capture an elf from one end of the continent and ship her all the way to the other side..."
"Who cares? As long as the money's good, there's nothing we won't do."
There were five humans in this group. Though few in number, they practiced one of the most despised professions in the world.
They traveled everywhere capturing solitary female youths and selling them for enormous sums.
This time, they had rarely managed to seize an elven girl.
She didn't look very old—perhaps around ten or so—but her appearance was the finest they had seen in years. A few of the men had even suggested enjoying her first before selling her, but their leader had stopped them.
There was no helping it. Expenses had been high lately, and they needed more valis. In their line of work, an untouched girl could fetch several times the price of secondhand or thirdhand goods.
And with her looks, the profit would be even greater.
While these scum indulged in their fantasies, the elven girl inside the cage was reaching her limit.
To prevent her escape, they fed her only one meager meal a day. It had been nearly two weeks since she last ate her fill. Even moving a finger now felt exhausting.
No... I absolutely cannot submit to these villains!
If my purity is violated, I must take my own life at once! But... I can't...
Her hands and feet were tightly bound. She lacked even the strength to struggle free. Was her future truly going to end in the hands of these people?
Grrr...
Her stomach growled again. It was the first time she had tasted such humiliation.
"Kill me!"