Chương 52: Chapter 50 – Turns Out Elves Are Mortal

"No, Adriane! No!" Chelsea yelled.

"Chelsea, she saw," Adriane replied coldly as she reached into her bag. Presumably for a weapon. Chelsea immediately ran between them before her sister could take another step. She spread her wings instinctively, trying to shield Ivy with them despite having no idea how she was supposed to stop Adriane Wixx if she truly decided to move forward.

"She doesn't even know what she saw," Chelsea pleaded.

"Adriane, please. No." Behind her, Ivy still looked completely lost. Her breathing had gone shallow, and Chelsea could hear the panic starting to creep into it. She understood only one thing for certain. Adriane intended to do something to her.

"No," Ivy said quickly.

"I… I don't know what that was. I swear."

"It doesn't matter," Adriane answered as she took another slow step forward. Chelsea's stomach twisted painfully. She had seen that look before. Adriane was not angry. Angry could be argued with. Angry could be reasoned down. This was so much worse. This was Adriane after the decision had been made. Chelsea held her ground anyway.

"Please, Adriane," she sobbed as tears streamed down her face.

"Don't do this. Not her." Her voice cracked hard on the last two words. She took a shaky step toward her sister while keeping herself between them.

"She didn't do anything wrong. I did. Punish me instead. Not her."

"That's not how this works," Adriane said with a tired sigh.

"I don't want to do it either. But it's for your protection, my sweet Chels."

"Wait, Adriane, wait." Chelsea's thoughts raced frantically as she searched for anything that might work.

"We can talk about this. Wixx her. I can adopt her into the family. She can be a Wixx."

"Chelsea," Adriane replied softly, "I know if we keep talking, you're eventually going to convince me not to do it. That's what you're good at. This situation needs action, not debate."

"It would be murder!" Chelsea cried.

"The guild knows she came out here with us. They know it was her, you, and me. They'll know what happened."

"We can go to another guild," Adriane answered simply. The coldness in her voice terrified Chelsea more than yelling ever could have. Chelsea backed up another step until she felt Ivy trembling behind her.

"She just saw weird demon magic," she said desperately.

"That's all. She won't tell anyone. Adriane, please." Her voice broke again as she wiped uselessly at her tears.

"I don't have friends. I need her. Please don't."

"You have us," Adriane argued. Chelsea laughed weakly through her crying.

"A psychopathic sister, an overprotective sister, and..." She sniffed hard.

"Well, okay, Dewey's fine." Even now, Adriane's expression barely shifted.

"But if you do this," Chelsea continued, "you lose me. Maybe not physically. Maybe I'll still stand next to you and smile and pretend everything is okay. But you will not have me anymore." Adriane finally stopped walking.

"This isn't like the tree," Chelsea said quietly.

"This isn't training. This would ruin you for me." For the first time, uncertainty flickered across Adriane's face.

"Why is she so important to you?" Adriane asked with growing frustration.

"You barely know her. Why not just tell her all of your secrets too?"

"She doesn't know any of my secrets," Chelsea pleaded. She took a careful step forward and reached toward her sister slowly, like approaching a wounded animal.

"She saw my new armor trick. That's it." Her fingers brushed gently against Adriane's cheek.

"She saw me use my upgraded ability to change how my armor looks," Chelsea continued softly.

"The guild is going to see the armor eventually anyway. She just happened to see it first. That's all this is." Adriane's jaw tightened, but she did not pull away from Chelsea's touch.

"She won't tell anyone," Chelsea whispered.

"And if she does... then you can kill her. Then we'll leave and go somewhere else. Okay?" The words made Ivy flinch behind her, but Chelsea ignored it. She was winning ground. Adriane turned away without responding. She walked several steps toward the smoldering nest while the forest crackled softly around them. Chelsea watched her sister's back anxiously. She knew she was right. More importantly, she knew Adriane knew she was right too.

"You've trusted me with everything else," Chelsea said quietly into the silence.

"Trust me with this too." Chelsea turned back toward the terrified elf. Tears were still streaming freely down both sides of Ivy's face, and she looked seconds away from collapsing where she stood. She spoke loudly enough for Adriane to hear every word.

"You didn't see anything," Chelsea said firmly.

"If anyone asks, you saw me, the spoiled little Wixx sister, finally pass a level threshold so I could wear the shiny pretty gear my big sister gave me." Ivy was already nodding before she finished speaking.

"Yes. Yes, that's what happened," she agreed immediately.

"Ivy," Adriane called from behind Chelsea. The poor elf nearly jumped.

"Y-yes Miss?" she stammered.

"How is your relationship with your family?" Chelsea blinked in confusion. That was not the question she expected. Ivy looked desperately toward Chelsea for guidance, but she honestly had none to give. Adriane's mind worked in strange ways when she was calculating something.

"Uh..." Ivy swallowed hard.

"Not bad, I guess? But not good either. I hate my brother." She hesitated before continuing more quietly, "My father and I are okay, but I haven't seen him in about three years." Adriane absorbed the information. Ivy stood terrified while Chelsea watched her sister carefully, trying to read her expression. Several long moments passed. Chelsea was almost certain Adriane was about to announce she had adopted another sibling. Instead, Adriane finally turned and walked back toward them.

"Due to still having familial ties, I will not adopt you as a Wixx," Adriane declared. Ivy didn't move a muscle. Was that good news? Or bad? Adriane continued.

"As of now, you work for Chelsea." Her confusion returned instantly.

"You will ensure she remains bathed and clean at all times. You will ensure she eats enough. You will stay at the inn with us until more permanent housing is arranged. You will do as she says. You will accompany her at all times." Ivy stared blankly. Chelsea stared blankly. Adriane continued speaking as if this were all perfectly reasonable.

"You are an elf. You will live for centuries, which means you can survive giving up courting men during this assignment. In return, you will receive a salary." The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Ivy opened her mouth slightly, then closed it again. Centuries? So elves are mortals, just with really long lifespans.

"Chelsea will confide in you," Adriane continued.

"Which means you will learn her secrets. You will share none of them. If I hear even a whisper of one reaching another person, you will pray to the gods for death over what I and Beatrice will do to you." Even the surrounding forest suddenly felt quieter. Adriane's voice softened slightly as she looked toward Chelsea.

"My sweet Chels cries too much. It is now your responsibility to prevent that when possible or help her through it when you cannot." The blonde elf looked from Adriane to Chelsea like she had just been informed she accidentally joined a cult.

"Wait," Chelsea interrupted suddenly.

"She won't be a Wixx, so you are not putting her through the training."

"I can do traini…" Ivy started, as if Chelsea's words might make Adriane change her mind. Chelsea immediately waved her quiet without even looking at her.

"She will not do the training." Adriane stared down at her for several seconds before shifting her attention back toward Ivy.

"It would not be the same training as yours," Adriane explained carefully.

"I would simply be…"

"Not a Wixx. No training," Chelsea repeated firmly. Adriane's jaw tightened. Finally, with visible reluctance, she sighed through gritted teeth.

"Fine." Chelsea relaxed slightly. Adriane rubbed at her forehead before asking, "Any other requests?"

"She still gets to be an adventurer if she wants to."

"Obviously," Adriane replied.

"But Chelsea comes first. You will only accept jobs where both of you can participate. Is that acceptable?"

"One more thing," Chelsea added immediately. Adriane threw both arms into the air in frustration.

"What now?" Chelsea pointed toward Ivy.

"I'm in charge of deciding how much she gets paid."

"Yes, obviously," Adriane answered flatly.

"You are already in charge of the money."

"Then we're set." Ivy still looked completely shell-shocked.

"O-okay," she managed weakly. Chelsea finally turned toward her fully.

"Are you okay with this arrangement?" she asked gently.

"No," Adriane interrupted immediately.

"This is not optional."

"Adriane," Chelsea groaned.

"At least let her pretend she has a choice. Otherwise this is basically slavery."

"Yes. I want to do it," Ivy answered quickly. The response came out almost too fast. Her voice still shook, though not nearly as badly as before. It sounded less like enthusiasm and more like someone desperately trying not to anger the terrifying S-ranker standing ten feet away.

"Yes please," she added. Chelsea glanced at her sympathetically before rubbing her back.

"Okay," she said gently.

"Welcome aboard." Then, before Adriane could react, Chelsea practically launched herself at her older sister and wrapped both arms around her in a crushing hug. Adriane went rigid as she usually did during unexpected hugs. Chelsea didn't let go. Roughly ten seconds passed. Finally, Chelsea whispered softly, "Thank you." She leaned back just enough to kiss Adriane lightly on the cheek.

"You're my favorite sister."

"Better than Bea?" Adriane asked quietly. Chelsea immediately hugged her tighter. Adriane let out a strained sound somewhere between annoyance and reluctant affection. Only after another several seconds did Chelsea finally release her and turn back toward Ivy. The poor elf still looked emotionally overwhelmed. Chelsea walked over and hugged her too. It was less affectionate and more stabilizing.

"It's going to be okay," she soothed softly. The three eventually started back toward the road once the remains of the saprol nest had fully burned out. By then, the flames coating Chelsea's spear had long since died away. Instead of flying back, they walked through the forest together while Ivy slowly recovered from what had very nearly become the worst day and last of her life. Chelsea glanced sideways at Adriane as they walked.

"I'm curious," she said.

"Why did you hire her?"

"Chels," Adriane replied patiently, "you cannot do things for yourself in public anymore. You understand that, right?" Chelsea frowned at her.

"What does that even mean?" Chelsea asked. Instead of answering directly, Adriane dug through her pouch and removed a simple wooden bowl and fork. She handed both items to Chelsea. The moment Chelsea touched them, the wood shimmered. The bowl transformed first. Fine silver lines spread across its surface before the entire thing shifted into polished deep rich colored wood covered in intricate engraved patterns.

The fork followed a heartbeat later, becoming a beautifully crafted utensil that looked far too expensive to belong beside a dirt road in the wilderness. Ivy stopped walking entirely.

"Why..." she asked cautiously, "does it do that?" Chelsea looked toward Adriane instinctively for permission. After a moment, Adriane gave a small nod. Chelsea exhaled slowly.

"I'm a summoned champion," she explained carefully. Ivy's face twisted as she processed that revelation on top of everything else she had learned today.

"It got messed up somehow," Chelsea continued.

"I was human in my world, but I got summoned here as a demon instead. Also, I'm permanently stuck at level one. So instead of leveling up normally, my equipment gets stronger and upgrades classifications."

"Uh," Ivy replied intelligently. Chelsea looked down at the fork with The Eyes. Then she blinked.

"Whoa. This thing is Rare!" Adriane's eyebrows rose in understanding.

"That actually explains a lot," she admitted. Both Chelsea and Ivy looked at her curiously.

"Rare gear always has better craftsmanship and higher quality materials than uncommon," Adriane explained.

"No wonder your equipment changed appearance when it upgraded." Chelsea looked back down at the fork again, fascinated.

"Oh," she said slowly.

"My enhancement gained a new effect called Transfiguration after hitting tier ten. That must correspond with Rare quality." She turned the fork over in her hand thoughtfully.

"So I guess I just can't use normal forks anymore." Ivy stared at the ornate utensil in disbelief. Chelsea shrugged casually.

"Honestly? Seems like a pretty decent trade."

"Or quills," Adriane added dryly.

"Or trying on dresses in the middle of a dress shop." Ivy blinked.

"Dresses?" She looked at Chelsea in disbelief.

"You go to dress shops?"

"I do," Chelsea replied proudly. Then her expression shifted.

"Oh. Wait. That means Ivy has to come to the meeting tomorrow too." She looked her over thoughtfully.

"Do you have formal clothes?" Ivy nearly tripped over her own feet.

"I can't go in front of a king." Adriane cleared her throat loudly beside them. Ivy visibly panicked.

"Ah. Right. I mean..." She swallowed hard.

"No. No, I do not have formal clothes."

"Hopefully Maggie can find something for you," Chelsea said.

"It's probably too late to make something custom."

"She has time," Adriane replied.

"We will not be traveling to the castle ourselves. A carriage will be sent for us." Chelsea gave her a confused look.

"That wasn't in the summons."

"It does not need to be," Adriane explained.

"It is common courtesy among nobility." Chelsea considered that while casually pulling the half-eaten heart back out of her pouch and taking another bite. Ivy tried very hard not to stare. As they continued walking down the road, Chelsea eventually decided there was little point in hiding things anymore. Ivy already knew enough secrets to get herself executed several times over, so she began recounting everything that had happened since her summoning. Ivy interrupted constantly with questions.

"A god actually summoned you?"

"Yes."

"You ate an entire bandit group?" Chelsea pointed a finger at her.

"Only their hearts." Halfway through the conversation, Chelsea abruptly froze.

"Oh, crap." She quickly adjusted her visible titles back down to one.

"Titles. And there we go. Back to just the Blessed Demon Child." Adriane sighed.

"You really need to stop forgetting that."

"I know. I know." Ivy looked between them nervously.

"So the dress you used to put out the fire earlier..."

"Oh, it's completely fine," Chelsea answered immediately.

"Actually, it'll probably be even better now once I put it back on. The Rare upgrade should improve it." Ivy stared at her.

"I don't think I'm ever going to get used to hearing you say things like that casually." Chelsea grinned.

"Oh! Speaking of things sounding ridiculous. Remember earlier when I said I'm technically the highest-ranked member of the merchant guild in the city?"

"You were serious?" Ivy asked.

"Completely serious," Chelsea replied proudly.

"At least locally. Though I doubt I'll climb much higher. I still have four more assessments to take, and other cities probably won't be nearly as forgiving toward demons." Ivy thought for a moment.

"Wouldn't disguising yourself help? Traveling by carriage? Covering your wings?"

"Might," Chelsea admitted.

"Honestly though, at this point it would mostly just be for bragging rights. I want to be able to say I'm the highest-ranked merchant in the entire guild." She paused thoughtfully.

"But the dues for S-rank merchants have to be insane. Probably a thousand gold a month. Maybe more." Ivy looked horrified.

"Chelsea, do you even have a thousand gold?" Chelsea immediately leaned closer to her with the most suspicious smile imaginable.

"That," she whispered dramatically, "is a secret." Then she reached over and booped her directly on the nose.

"For now, at least." Ivy looked so startled by the gesture that Chelsea burst out laughing. Deciding she had embarrassed her enough, she changed the subject.

"So," she asked casually, "how are you feeling about being kidnapped by the Wixx family?" To her surprise, Ivy's expression softened instead of growing nervous again.

"Honestly?" she admitted quietly.

"It kind of feels like you're saving me." Chelsea's smile faded slightly.

"My brother and his friends are..." She hesitated while searching for the right words.

"Not bad people exactly. At least not completely. But they've pushed me into a lot of situations I really didn't want to be part of." Chelsea's tone softened immediately.

"Like what?" she asked gently.

"You don't have to share if you don't want."

"My brother used to use me as a reward system," Ivy admitted quietly as they continued down the road.

"Back when I was around sixteen." Chelsea's expression slowly fell.

"What do you mean by reward system?" Ivy looked down at the dirt path while answering.

"If someone in the group did something my brother liked, they got ten minutes with the little sister." She laughed weakly, though there was no humor in it.

"The men mostly used me for... fun. The women would use me for sparring." She trailed off uncomfortably.

"It stopped after I got my specialized class and started learning fire magic." Chelsea felt sick.

"They forced you?"

"No," Ivy answered quickly.

"Not.. not exactly." She hesitated before continuing more honestly.

"No one physically forced me. It was more that my brother threatened to kick me out if I stopped cooperating. I needed somewhere to stay."

"That's still horrible," Chelsea muttered under her breath. Ivy shrugged weakly like she had long since accepted it. Chelsea immediately shook her head.

"No. Absolutely not." Her voice hardened in a way Ivy had not heard from her before.

"You belong with us now. No one is going to make you do anything like that again." Ivy stared at her quietly for a moment. Then she looked away before Chelsea could see how emotional the words had made her.

"Why are you still with them then?" Chelsea asked more gently.

"Why not leave earlier?"

"I needed money," Ivy admitted.

"And a place to stay until I could save enough to get out on my own." Chelsea wanted to hug her again. Instead, she simply walked a little closer beside her. As awful as the story was, she also knew enough about this world already to realize Ivy probably considered herself lucky compared to a lot of people. Eventually the trio reached the teleportation pedestal again. Chelsea held up her card curiously.

"These get us back too?"

"Yeah," Adriane replied.

"They're multiuse." One by one they stepped through the portal and returned to the guild hall. The familiar sounds of adventurers talking, drinking, and arguing filled their ears immediately. Chelsea followed Ivy over to one of the clerks while Adriane headed toward their usual table.

"Would you like the payment deposited into your account," the clerk Chelsea had never talked to asked, "or paid directly in coin?" Chelsea looked over toward Adriane thoughtfully before turning back with a bright smile.

"Can you donate my portion to a local orphanage?"