Volume 5 Chapter 254: A Small Skirmish in Benedict Manor’s New Elven Tavern
Translator: The Light
Edits by Kenny
Ever since the Rose Society and the Moonlight Society teamed up to take care of the Benedict Manor in Olsylvia Academy’s North Campus, Filomena Nobility Academy, many people began keeping an eye on the area. With the growth of the Tree of Life, these observers grew, and among them, there were many troublemakers as well.
The issue of security at Benedict Manor was far from solved with Olsylvia Academy’s campus security. The Rose Society had to hire a private security group to manage a semblance of order.
According to the agreement between Bella and Moon Elven Princess Delias, management of the New Elven Tavern would belong to Delias. However, they wouldn’t provide any lodging nor would they serve men. There was a teleportation array that linked the New Elven Tavern directly to Bella’s Hausmann Hotel, which would provide lodging services instead.
As Bella approached the tavern’s entrance, she heard raised voices coming from ahead. There was a crowd of male elves surrounding the front. The door policies of Olsylvia Academy’s branch campuses were all different. For example, St. Louis Church Academy and Euphemia Imperial Academy had closed-door policies, whereas Frank Civilian Academy and Olivia Wizard Academy had open-door policies.
Filomena Nobility Academy had limited entry permissions and allowed some students from other campuses to enter. Judging by the uniforms of these rowdy elves, they were students from the neighboring Alessandra Academy for Foreign Races. Bella couldn’t figure out why they would be here.
Moon Elven Princess Delias stood at the entrance of the tavern; she was arguing with the leader of this group of elves. He was very handsome, and physical beauty was a universal elven trait. However, there were much less male elves than female elves; normally, you wouldn’t see so many.
“Felix, what are you doing here? This isn’t Alessandra Academy, nor is it the forest, don’t mess around!”
“Delias, the Tree of Life is the communal property of our tribes, you can’t keep it all to yourself. Furthermore, you’re actually using the divine Tree of Life in order to make money, you should be ashamed of yourself...”
“Felix... stop saying nonsense! This seed was gifted to me by Duchess Bellina...”
“I don’t care, the Seed of Life belongs to the elves! If you refuse to see the error of your ways, then as the next patriarch, I will...”
Delias’ eyes were full of helplessness. Felix was the heir of the Moon Elf Tribe’s patriarch. In human terms, he was basically a prince. He was naturally stubborn, and also wasn’t blood-related to Delias. As such, he didn’t care much for Delias.
Furthermore, Felix wasn’t wrong either. The elves had been seeking to recover the Seed of Life for generations, it was a holy object to them. However, if she handed it over, how could she face Bella?
“What the hell are the guards doing?! They actually let a gang of troublemakers walk right up to the door! If I remember correctly, Alessandra Academy has a closed-door policy, how did so many of their students get over here?”
“Bella, this is an outside academy’s conflict, and they’re all from the same tribe, the security team can’t really interfere. Also, Alessandra Academy revised its closed-door policy a short while back, they let some students out now.”
Bella reluctantly accepted Lisha’s explanation. However, she was still unable to swallow the fact that they were bullied in her own territory. Bella quickly walked to the hotel gates. Lisha and Kriss also followed up but Lolita stood motionless in the same place. She turned and stared at a big tree for some time, her eyes were impassive. The person who had been hiding and watching secretly from behind the tree couldn’t stay any longer and ran away.
“Since you can’t give me a reason, then I will officially take over. We...”
“Felix, don’t mess around. This is... Oh, Duchess Bella, you’re here!”
Elven Prince Felix, who was just about to turn around, felt his right arm being held from behind. The other party gave him a hard pull and dragged him to one side, almost tripping Felix. Fortunately, the elves around him caught him in time.
“You are...”
“This isn’t your territory. Take your people and leave, otherwise...”
Bella held up her knight’s sword and waved it in the air. A sharp draft passed by Felix, deeply slicing a gap of more than ten meters in the ground, which was the proof of the sword’s power. The onlookers dodged in time and weren’t affected, but they all broke out in a cold sweat. They had previously assumed that Bella was an inexperienced Holy Knight, but looking at this crack in the ground, it would be an understatement to call her a mere Holy Knight.
Felix’s face turned pale. The blonde, blue-eyed beauty had a look in her eyes different from other girls. Among the female students of the Olsylvia Academy, there were quite a few who had a crush on the elven prince. And even if they weren’t interested in him, they still maintained the inherent etiquette.
Bella, who immediately went for a direct confrontation and showed provocation in her gaze, was definitely an anomaly. Elves were good at the magic that controlled the natural elements and archery, but few elves were good at close combat. At such a close distance, Bella could single-handedly deal with their entire group.
“Aren’t you just a Holy Knight! Why are you being so fierce?! I-I’ll go to your school’s disciplinary committee to report you! Just you wait...”
“You can go if you like! Stop posing around here. Get lost!”
In the spirit of a true man–no, a true elf–Elven Prince Felix, who didn’t want to fight in a disadvantaged situation, despondently left with his men. When the onlookers saw Bella approaching, they quickly dispersed. Vice President of the Rose Society, Duchess Bellina, had become one of the “school bullies” of Olsylvia Academy in the private conversations of the students. What if they didn’t leave in time and were caught to be used as a “punching bag”? Who could they complain to then?
“Bella, Felix is the prince of the Moon Elves. I’m afraid he will return...”
“Delias, don’t worry! I have my own way of dealing with the disciplinary committee. Bring us in so we can have a look around!”
Bella comforted Princess Delias and grabbed her hand. Lisha and Kriss, who were walking behind her, had obviously expected Bella’s behavior and kept quiet. As members of the Rose Society, they were naturally more concerned about this project.
Lolita was the last to enter. She was currently pretending to be their personal maid. As for the ones who were secretly peeping at them earlier, she would let them off since they were girls. However, she wouldn’t be so nice the second time around.
Bella didn’t care about Prince Felix reporting her. After all, Dragon Knight Natasha was the president of the disciplinary committee. Even if she came, she wouldn’t do anything to this tavern. Otherwise, Bella would have to knock on her dormitory door tonight and have a good ‘talk.'”
The layout of the new elven tavern was very simple and unsophisticated, using log tables and chairs that carried a faint fragrance. Decorations were hanging from the ceiling of the tavern–various flower garlands made of rattan. Bella thought that Delias was a hidden but talented designer, but only after careful questioning did she find out that the layout of the tavern was designed by Bella’s roommate, and one of the original senior members of the Rose Society, Jenny.
Jenny was the daughter of Manasvir Empire’s richest man, and her family was mainly engaged in construction. She was good at designing the layout and decoration of buildings, and the interior design of the elf tavern was all done by Jenny. The only fly in the ointment was that Jenny showed no such talents in fashion design.
Elven Princess Delias was still wearing the school uniform of Alessandra Academy. Bella has secretly complained about this school uniform many times because it was just as conservative as the Olsylvia Academy’s uniform, covering their entire body. What’s more, the school uniform had only one set of design, regardless of summer or winter.
“What’s the matter, Bella? Is there something wrong?”
When Princess Delias found Bella looking at herself with a displeased look in her eyes, she thought she had made a mistake that made Bella upset with her. But she soon realized that Bella was looking at her clothes, not her own face, so perhaps she didn’t dislike her after all.
“Princess Delias, do you have a room to change? I’d like to talk to you about something.”
“Yes, come with me!”
“Mmm, Lisha, Kriss, wait for me here! I’ll be back soon. Lolita, watch over the place for me!”
Bella left with Moon Elven Princess Delias after giving Lisha, Kriss and Lolita a quick heads up. Lisha and Kriss had found a place to sit, and the elven girls at the side quickly handed them some fresh fruit. The current relationship between the Rose Society and the Moonlight Society could be considered an alliance.
Lolita stood, not bothering to sit down. In the elven tavern that showcased a natural design, she looked out of place in her dark gothic loli outfit.
The hospitable Moon Elf girls were a little afraid of this dark loli. They only dared to stand and watch from a distance but didn’t dare to approach Lolita. Lolita seemed to be meditating on something as her eyes silently shifted to Bella’s direction of departure.
Devastating Evil Dragon Emperor Lolita had the special ability to see the energy of other beings and special energy traces like footprints left on the ground. On the passage where Bella had left with Elven Princess Delias, Lolita noticed the energy footprint of a third person. The owner of the footprint was definitely a girl who was quietly following Bella and Delias in an invisible state, probably in her soul state.
To be able to avoid Lolita’s observation, she must have relied on the natural environment here. Lolita soon guessed the girl’s identity. Earlier when she had investigated the scene outside the Hausmann Hotel, Lolita found a similar breath on the exterior of the glass window of Bella’s exclusive luxury suite, which was definitely left by the same soul.
In the end, Lolita decided not to interfere. No girl could “bully” Bella except for those who had yet to appear in this plane. She went over to Lisha and sat down, casually picking up a glass of juice to sip.
In truth, Lolita preferred alcohol. Unfortunately, the human body she chose was too young in appearance, so Bella refused to let Lolita drink for the just reason that “lolis can’t drink.” She couldn’t help but substitute fruit juice for wine for the time being.
The Northern Campus of the Olsylvia Academy, the Filomena Nobility Academy, the third floor of the New Elven Tavern, the Benedict Manor. In Moon Elven Princess Delias’ lounge, Bella had been brought here. Now, the tavern was on the eve of the opening and many facilities weren’t ready yet.
For places like the professional dressing rooms, designer Jenny had already planned them out, but the equipment hadn’t yet arrived. Princess Delias thought for a long time and finally decided to bring Bella to her boudoir, which could also be used as a dressing room.
Bella silently praised Delias’ behavior of “inviting the wolf into the house.” Although, on the surface, Bella pretended to be very serious. There were hundreds of Moon Elf girls from the Moonlight Society who came to the new tavern to lend a hand, and they were all beauties in their own right.
Even someone like Bella, who was used to seeing beautiful girls, had to admit that the elven girls of this Other World were exactly the same as described in those fantasies novels from her previous life. They were more beautiful than the average human girl. Although Bella didn’t intend to have her way with them all, Bella would still gladly take a little advantage of them if given a chance.
The layout of Moon Elven Princess Delias’ room was typical of a girl’s boudoir, but Bella couldn’t see any decor that could be linked to a girl’s room. Simple wooden furniture filled the entire room. After all, the life of the elves had always been very simple, with few luxuries.
It wasn’t as if the elves were short of money. Although Bella wasn’t sure of the other elven clans, she knew that Moon Elven Princess Delias certainly wasn’t poor. Bella had spoken to her a lot about the elves before and realized that most elves maintained a system of sharing resources. The fruits they harvested were distributed according to their needs, so they didn’t have to spend any money.
Elves basically had no concept of money. They preferred the primitive way of bartering. Princess Delias wouldn’t have even touched gold coins if she didn’t need money to register for the Alessandra Academy. Looking at the plain wooden bed, Bella knew that Delias hadn’t embezzled any of the funds she had sponsored. She could tell the money was all spent on the construction of the new tavern.
This elven girl was just as innocent as Mathilde, the new chief of the Radiant Church’s Law Enforcement Team, Bella was almost embarrassed to have any wicked thoughts towards her. With Princess Delias’ naivety, Bella could easily trick her into bed at least three times, perhaps even for the rest of her life.
“Strange, I remember there wasn’t a mirror in the room! Where did this mirror come from? Someone...”
“Delias, you don’t have to call someone to remove it. We’ll have to use it in a bit, so just leave it there!”
Delias looked a little surprised at the additional large mirror in the room that stood on the ground. There wasn’t a speck of dust on it, and it looked like it was newly brought in. But Delias clearly remembered there was no such mirror in her room. Did her elven sisters secretly send it while she was away?
Bella stopped Delias from moving the mirror because she would have use for it in a while. Delias looked into the mirror in front of her. Except for being relatively new, it was no different from an ordinary mirror. The frame of the mirror still carried the strong scent of wood. Having found nothing unusual, she turned back to Bella.
When Princess Delias turned around, she noticed the wariness in Bella’s eyes. Bella’s right hand was pressed against the hilt of the sword at her waist as if she were ready to draw out her sword and fight. However, Bella eventually moved her hand away and skipped the attack altogether.
“What’s the matter, Bella? Are you...”
“It’s nothing. Perhaps I was just a little too nervous. Anyway, let’s get down to business!”
Earlier, Bella had discovered something strange about the mirror the moment Princess Delias turned around. The reflection of Princess Delias in the mirror had turned around much slower than Princess Delias. When Princess Delias was already facing Bella, her reflection in the mirror had only turned halfway.
There was obviously a serious problem with the mirror. Bella had almost pulled out her sword to split the mirror in half. Last night, she was tormented by spirits at the Hausmann Hotel for a long time and was sick of this “miraculous” phenomenon. All she wanted to do was to get Demon God Angel to come over and remove all these damned spirits so they wouldn’t disturb her fun.
“What?! My clothes aren’t right? Isn’t this uniform nice? “
“Delias, it’s not that you don’t look good! But.. just look at this! This school uniform is too tight for you to move around in the tavern. Can’t you change into elven clothes?”
“Bella, in the outside world, elven clothes cannot be shown to outsiders. This is the rule of our race. Even though I’m the princess, I cannot go against that tradition.”
Princess Delias had other clothes, but due to the tradition of the Moon Elves, she couldn’t change into her own clothes for outsiders to see if she weren’t in her own territory. Not only do the Moon Elves have traditional rules, but the elves of other clans also had similar requirements.
Bella wondered what exactly the Elven King had gone through to be motivated to create such a rule. However, it didn’t matter to her. After all, Bella’s real purpose here wasn’t to see Princess Delias in her Moon Elf clothes.
“Bella, do... do I really have to remove all my clothes? Can’t I keep one or two pieces on...”
“Princess Delias, I’m going to help you design some new clothes. In the future, don’t wear your school uniform in the tavern. If you don’t take it off, I won’t be able to measure your figure...”
“O-okay, Bella. I believe you!”