The pink-haired pixie, cradling the Dark Holy Scrip... no, the Holy Canon, walked along a path in the maple forest outside the church.
The setting sun, casting its rays from between the undulating shadows of the mountain range, stretched her shadow long and thin.
As Elysia moved through the maple forest, dappled orange light danced around her like flitting butterflies.
—Three things.
Or rather, three wishes.
Elysia's long, smooth legs moved with a light and cheerful pace, leaping through the woods. Her pale, tender skin reflected a clear luster.
Wishes like "use one wish to wish for more wishes," or "you will become my obedient servant," were things Elysia wouldn't… alright, they were still very tempting.
But the intelligent elven lady would not make such a foolish wish.
The reason was simple.
The so-called "three wishes" were not a rule of this world, but rather—Ye Feng's mood.
If she pushed her luck or tried to be clever by looking for so-called "loopholes," Elysia had no doubt that not only would her wishes become as illusory as flowers in a mirror or the moon in the water, but she herself would also be in for a rude awakening.
Stare!
Elysia's figure came to an abrupt halt as she felt an intense gaze upon her.
The elven lady couldn't help but turn her head. Standing in the maple forest was a silvery, radiant figure.
She was so stunningly beautiful, with silver hair cascading down, giving her the cold purity of a snowy plain. Yet her figure was tall and curvaceous, her sexy and fiery body tightly wrapped in an office lady uniform and black pantyhose.
"...Big Duck Duck?"
Elysia froze, not expecting to see anyone here.
At this moment, the elven lady felt a wave of embarrassment, because…
"Elysia, why are you…"
Big Duck Duck's gaze fell upon Elysia's lower half, which, just as described before like a "snail," was starkly and immaculately white.
Elysia was helpless.
Her skirt was gone, and there were no spare clothes in the church, not even a curtain or any other cloth.
Although she could have used a wish to ask Mr. Ye Feng for "pants, please," Elysia would have cried if she had to waste a wish on that.
The pure and flawless elven lady's pink hair swayed gently in the dusk breeze. She stood still, one hand covering the area below her abdomen, facing Big Duck Duck's pervert-gazing expression, and said sheepishly:
"…Um, if I told you this was a misunderstanding, just an act of desperation, would you believe me? You'd believe me, right?"
"No need to explain. Bronya understands."
Big Duck Duck held up a single hand. "Here in this maple forest, an elf returns to nature in their most primitive state… There is nothing to be surprised about."
"That's not it at all! Big Duck Duck, you've misunderstood! I don't, I don't have that kind of interest."
"But Bronya just saw you. Your steps were clearly light and cheerful, without a hint of… discomfort."
Ugh, it was Mr. Ye Feng, it's all his fault… Urk.
Elysia remembered.
At the time, she had asked Ye Feng for her clothes, but he had flatly refused her.
Originally, the elven lady had wanted to act cute and coquettish to get her way.
But Ye Feng had simply smiled and said, "There, isn't it all better now?"
In that moment, Elysia's mind had gone blank for an instant, and then she had completely forgotten about the fact that she wasn't wearing any pants…
She had walked out of the church, sweat still dripping from her.
Thinking of this, Elysia felt as if a hand had suddenly clamped around her throat.
Wait a minute, how am I supposed to explain this to Big Duck Duck? Tell her how her husband gave me a 'baptism' in the church confessional? And that I ended up becoming his exclusive "White Tiger Priestess"?
It felt like using an ultimate ability point-blank.
Like a taunt.
And Big Duck Duck was a crucial person Elysia needed to win over.
Because according to her observations, a "beautiful world" truly did exist deep within Mr. Ye Feng's heart.
Besides, most of the time, even if she explained, the other person would just be in an "I'm not listening, I'm not listening" state.
Moreover, her relaxed and cheerful demeanor just now was hardly convincing.
Elysia pressed her thighs together, her calves forming a cute, pigeon-toed stance. The elven lady shrank in on herself in the cold winter air, one hand covering the mysterious delta, and said pitifully:
"Mmm… I'm sorry. In any case, could you give me a piece of clothing first? Big Duck Duck."
"…"
Bronya looked at the indecent priestess and fell silent for a moment.
Then she raised her hand, and a windbreaker appeared out of thin air.
"Huh? That doesn't seem to be a power of the Herrscher of Reason, is it?"
Big Duck Duck nodded and revealed her [System] panel.
"Are you talking about this?"
"EHHHH?!!"
Elysia's pupils widened into perfect circles as she stared at the familiar panel. "Isn't that something only Mr. Ye Feng can use? Even Mobius doesn't have it."
"Mobius? She has it. Anyone who receives Authority gets the system."
Bronya tilted her head, her expression blank, and asked instinctively, "Don't you have one, Elysia?"
"…"
Elysia said no more, her pair of long, pointed ears trembling slightly in the cold wind.
She put on the windbreaker, wrapping it tightly around her body, revealing only a section of her jade-white calves and her slender, water-slicked feet standing俏ly on the soil.
…
…
The girl sitting in the center of the stage opened her eyes, waking from a dream.
She hadn't dreamed in a long time.
Before she could even savor the aftertaste, she was interrupted by the noisy chatter from below the stage.
"What's going on? Did she really fall asleep?"
"She ruined a perfectly good performance just like that."
"Oh my, what a pity."
"With this level of skill, she could never become a galactic idol."
Below the stage was a sea of black, packed with people.
If one looked closely, the audience members were all girls with twin tails dressed in crimson kimonos.
They were all "Hanabi."
The girls wore masks, many different kinds of masks.
A golden-red fish leaped silently in front of one girl before splashing back into the water, creating ripples.
It was "herself" watching the "performance" from "below the stage."
"Silence, [Us]."
The Hanabi on stage spoke coldly, and the "audience" below immediately fell silent.
The entire theater sank into a silence as deep as the ocean.
Hanabi was thinking.
Thinking about that… dream.
"What was that all about?"
I actually did something like that? Wasn't that just pure fan service for him?
Hypnosis?
A change in common sense?
Hanabi looked down at her own delicate, shapely, pale feet.
The soft flesh pressed against the red-corded wooden geta sandals, her crimson, crystalline toenails exuding an alluring luster.
Under the gazes of the "audience," the Hanabi in the center of the stage was lost in thought.
She propped up her beautiful, slender foot, resting her chin on one hand.
Was it a dream?
Or was it real?
Was this Zhuangzi dreaming of the butterfly? Or was it the butterfly dreaming of Zhuangzi?
Was it the work of those people from the Garden of Recollection?
Or perhaps, was it some other… [Phenomenon]?
Then, Hanabi stood up.
"Forget it. Why take it so seriously?"
As long as it was interesting, that was enough.
Thinking about that strange world, the corners of Hanabi's mouth slowly curved upward.
Below the stage, the crowd grew lively once more.