A deep bronze tan colored his skin.

The man somewhat reminded Ellis of himself. He wore nothing but a single loincloth and exposed the rest of his body to the natural elements. The body in question practically bulged with well-trained muscles. A few pale scars dotted his skin, most notably around his chest and lower thighs.

For such a muscular man, there was a strange flexibility to his body.

He possessed the body type of a swimmer, except with noticeably more defined calves and lower arms.

And finally, to top it all off, a conventionally handsome face was attached to his head. It was the same sort of face that could make even male models weep by comparison. Had this been back on Earth, this man would have definitely been the type of guy that Ellis unconditionally hated.

What set him apart from his earthling counterparts though, were the fur-covered ears attached to the top of his head and the fluffy tail that stuck out from behind him.

Out of Ellis’s earlier predictions, number three had prevailed. It was the traditional beast-man that he was familiar with. In this case, beast-men were otherwise ordinary people except with various animal appendages attached throughout their body.

I appreciate it. I really do. This was what I was hoping for in the first place, but… why? Why did my reception have to be with a guy?

The young man had a somewhat arrogant face. Right now, he was smiling rather amicably, but Ellis could tell. A hidden contempt… or something along those lines. His lips possessed the ghost of a sneer that had not yet come but was surely waiting to make its entrance.

“That’s Nar-Wynn,” Grisella whispered words danced on his ears. “He’s a pretty important member of the tribe. I think it was the son of the head warrior… or was it the son of the village shaman? Well, one of those things.”

Her noncommittal attitude dissipated some of his earlier tension.

The moment Nar-Wynn arrived, his eyes immediately locked onto Grisella. A warm smile with uncouth intentions stretched his lips. “I knew it would be you. Welcome, Miss Lorelei.”

“Lorelei?” Ellis immediately raised his brow.

“Ah, that’s a fake name!” She hurriedly whispered back.

“How do I not know Grisella isn’t the fake?” he countered.

“It’s not! Please, trust me, I have no reason to lie to you.”

Besides, back then, I was far too afraid to lie. She mentally added.

Amidst their bickering, Nar-Wynn continued, seemingly unaware of their hushed exchange.

He let out a loud chortle. “After so long, it’s good to finally see you again! In the time that we’ve been apart, my heart yearned for your presence. On that note, have you considered my proposition from last time?”

Ellis was somewhat curious. This damn bastard, wasn’t he quite articulate?

“Last time?” Grisella tilted her head. The last time she had been to this village was over five years ago. She really couldn’t remember what ‘last time’ he was talking about.

“Yes. I said it to you back then, and I’ll say it to you now.” His expression suddenly turned stoic. “I have always been sincere, so Miss Lorelei, I ask you once again, please marry me.”

Ellis widened his eyes in surprise. The last thing he had expected to come out from this guy’s mouth was a marriage proposal. He hurriedly turned to Grisella and tried his best to gauge her reaction.

“You do know that I was there with your mother during your birth, right?” The solitary witch smiled a strained smile. There was a hint of annoyance in her voice. “I watched you grow up. I don’t think a relationship with me is very appropriate.”

“That doesn’t matter!” Nar-Wynn loudly declared. “Age is but a number. An elder warrior just recently married my younger sister. Age holds no bounds to the people of my tribe! If my little sister can do it, then surely we can too!”

“Er…” She was truly stumped. Truth be told, this wasn’t exactly the first time such a thing had happened to her. Whenever she visited this village, ridiculous proposals were quite the norm. What’s more, they came from a variety of different generations.

Well, it was only natural. After all, she was an eternally beautiful lady. Grisella let out a sigh. If she had to blame someone, then she could only blame her devilishly good looks.

At the same time, she discreetly glanced over towards a certain grey-haired homunculus. See! This is why I lied! Who would want to give their real name to a village filled with creepy guys like that!? Of course, Ellis completely did not notice the silent telepathic message that Grisella desperately wanted to send out.

For the most part, Ellis’s attention was solely focused on the young man in front of him.

This guy, wasn’t he kind of comedic?

Who was this kid? Trying to flirt with a one-hundred-year-old witch? Hah! You’re probably no older than twenty. Grisella’s defenses are way too tough for some youngster like you to break through. Come back and try again after another one hundred, no, one thousand years!

Ellis really was a petty individual.

Just as he inwardly mocked Nar-Wynn, a thought suddenly struck him. Wait a minute… isn’t our age gap even greater?

Ellis, the six-year-old homunculus and Grisella, the one-hundred-something-year old witch… There was definitely a problem with their situation.

He knitted his brow.

Almost as if he had detected Ellis’s wandering thoughts, the young tribesman glared suspiciously at him.

“And this one is?” He did not address Ellis directly and instead asked Grisella.

“He’s a… a friend.” She muttered out on the spur of the moment. Right now, Grisella needed to give an identity to Ellis, one that would allow him to enter the village without a problem. The wheels in her head turned. After a while, she added, “he helps me out with my alchemy.”

Ellis raised his brow. He could somewhat tell what Grisella was trying to do, so he chose to stay silent for now.

“Ah, so that’s how it is.” The knot between Nar-Wynn’s brow immediately disappeared. He broke off into a hearty chuckle. “So, it was a little apprentice, huh? I see, I see. For a moment there, I was worried that Miss Lorelei had brought back a husband.”

Grisella’s cheeks slightly reddened, but of course, Nar-Wynn did not notice. He looked down at Ellis with a playful smirk. “Little fellow, you should show proper respects to your seniors. Since I am an acquaintance of your master, you must treat me similarly, got it?”

Ellis felt his upper lip quiver. This guy was exactly the type of guy that he hated. Entitled womanizers! He had a few run-ins with his kind back on Earth. Suffice to say, none of them ever ended well.

Seeing the smug and arrogant expression on Nar-Wynn’s face, Ellis felt inclined to say something, but he knew better than that. He couldn’t just start shouting insults at the guy. That would be a bit too uncouth. Ellis learned from his past life that shouting matches never ended well, nor did they leave a very good impression on the surroundings.

He sank into silence.

What’s the best way to humiliate this guy without stooping to his level?

Of course, Ellis could always just run up to him and punch him unconscious, but if he resorted to such tactics, then that was practically tantamount to admitting his defeat. No, he needed a less violent and less crude method of revenge.

His eyes momentarily drifted to Grisella. He caught sight of her strained smile. It was clear that Nar-Wynn’s advances were bothering her. Just then, an idea suddenly popped into his head.

A soft smile floated to his lips.

Nar-Wynn furrowed his brow. The grey-haired youth couldn’t be any more suspicious.

Without warning, Ellis suddenly wrapped his arms around Grisella’s shoulders and pulled her in close.

Grisella instinctively let out a gasp. “Wha, what are you doing?!”

“You, you, you villain!” Nar-Wynn stuttered out. His eyes flared with rage. “Let her go this instant!”

“Actually, you’re wrong.” Ellis ignored his shouting and continued unperturbed. “I’m not JUST her apprentice. We’re actually lovers.”

“Lo, lo, lo, lovers!” Grisella’s ears reddened. Right now, her entire face resembled a cooked lobster. For a moment, she squirmed against his grasp, but Ellis keenly noticed that she did not try to escape.

He ‘gently’ smiled at Nar-Wynn. “This sort of physical contact is only natural for us. After all, we’re just a pair of crazy love birds.” As if to emphasize his point, he pulled her in even closer. “In fact, this is rather conservative for us. Usually, we’re out and about, skipping through fields of flowers, holding hands, making out…”

The more he prattled on, the more outlandish his claims got.

The blush on Grisella’s face continued to intensify. At this point, her cheeks felt warm, almost scalding to the touch. Invisible lines of steam exuded out from the top of her head. She was practically overheating.

A vein in Nar-Wynn’s forehead bulged. He took a deep breath and tried to regain his calm. He glared at Ellis and condescendingly laughed. “As if a bumpkin like you could ever attract Miss Lorelei’s fancy! The most you can ever hope to do is wash bottles and pick berries! A man of your caliber is not fit for the most beautiful rose of Ilpin forest. Isn’t that right, Miss Lorelei?”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

He turned to Grisella with a smug expression. A part of him hoped that she’d agree, that she’d corroborate his words and maybe even distance herself away from this bastard. Unfortunately, to his dismay, her expression told a completely different story.

“I, I….” Right now, she had trouble forming real words. The most she could manage was a choppy stutter. She pressed her hands close to her chest, while the blush on her face began to stretch down to her neck.

Seeing such a reaction, Nar-Wynn’s expression darkened. His fists tightened as he took one heavy step forward.

“I will only say this once, apprentice. Let go of her now.”

Ellis did not respond. Instead, he simply stood there, content with watching Nar-Wynn work himself up into a frenzy.

Nar-Wynn did not appreciate Ellis’s silence. He took another step forward. If looks could kill, then Ellis would have certainly died a long time ago.

Unfortunately, before anything could happen, a loud voice reverberated through the forest. “Nar-Wynn, stop!”

Nar-Wynn’s expression froze. He hesitated for a long time but ultimately, he gritted his teeth and restrained himself.

Ellis looked up. Another one?

He watched as another figure fell from the sky.

The newcomer landed gracefully on the ground besides Nar-Wynn.

Upon closer inspection, he soon discovered that the newcomer was, in fact, a woman.

Somewhat short, with dark brown hair that fell all the way down to her lower back. Like Nar-Wynn, she too possessed both ears and a tail. Unlike him though, she did not expose her body. Instead, she wore a silk dress that reached all the way down to her knees.

What stood out the most was her skin. It was pale white, kind of like snow.

The newcomer briefly inspected the situation.

“Lisbeth, what are you doing here!” Nar-Wynn immediately barked out. “It is my duty to greet the guests, you should not be here.”

In response, the woman glared at him. “Don’t think I’m dumb. I know you were about to attack someone.”

“What I do is none of your concern!” He countered, although his countenance grew uglier with each passing second.

“Enough already!” Her sweet voice jumped another octave higher. “Go back up, I’ll handle things from here.”

“You can’t just—”

“I said go!” She cut him off. “Before you cause any more trouble, leave.”

No matter what, the best thing to do was to first get this troublemaker out of here. After some consideration, she added, “don’t take everything you see and hear at face value. There might be an underlying meaning to it.” She spoke with sincerity, but in truth, she was just bullshitting.

“You mean…” Nar-Wynn widened his eyes in apparent understanding.

She nodded her head. “Yes, yes, now head on up.”

He hesitated for a moment. After what felt like forever, he reluctantly walked back over to the tree. He threw one last glare at Ellis before he jumped up and disappeared into the distant thicket above.

At this point, the woman breathed out a sigh of relief.

She turned to the pair. Ellis’s arms were still wrapped around Grisella’s shoulders.

Ellis noticed the strangeness in her gaze. For some reason, he suddenly felt awkward about the whole thing. He reluctantly let go of Grisella.

At this point, Grisella breathed out a puff of air that she had not even realized she was holding. It was unclear whether that had been a sigh of relief or of disappointment.

The woman smiled at the two of them. “Miss Lorelei, welcome back.”

Grisella numbly nodded her head. Although she was beginning to calm down, there was still a trace of red on her cheeks.

The woman then turned to Ellis. “And you too Miss Lorelei’s lover, welcome.” She slightly dipped her head in a bow.

Ellis coughed, “No, um, Ellis is fine.”

She tilted her head, “Ellis, is it? Alright, I will commit it to memory.” She then smiled at him. “My name is Lisbeth. I am the assistant to the village chief.”

“Assistant, huh?” he couldn’t help but raise his brow in surprise. To be quite honest, Lisbeth looked young, young enough to be a high-schooler. It was hard to believe that someone like her held such a high position. “You have a pretty important role.”

She laughed lightly. “Well, I would like to think so too.” She then turned back to Grisella. “What brings you back here? As always, your arrival ushers forth a celebration.”

“No, I’m not staying for all that long this time.” She shook her head in response. “I brought some medicine. Also, I’m looking for a guide.”

“As always, my people appreciate the medicine, but a guide is kind of…” Lisbeth hesitated for a moment. A look of conflict flashed through her face. “Are you planning a trip to the other side of the river again?”

Ellis’s ears slightly twitched. Judging from his words, this was not the first time Grisella had asked for such a thing. In fact, it sounded like she was quite an avid customer.

“Yes. Is there something wrong?” She asked.

For a moment, she struggled to find the words to express herself. After a while, she simply shook her head. “As for finding you a guide, I’m sorry, but I won’t be of any help. For now, all you can do is head up and try your luck… although I highly doubt you’ll be successful."

She walked back over to the base of the tree and prepared to climb back. After a short pause, she turned back to the group. “Are you planning on bringing these… monsters with you?”

Although she had hidden it quite well, for a while now, Lisbeth had been on edge. A group of dangerous beasts surrounded the area. Normally, she would have avoided such a group. Unfortunately, the commotion from earlier caused her to take action.

Ellis nodded in confirmation. “Yes. Can we bring them up too?”

“I’m afraid you can’t take such dangerous monsters up with you. It’s standard policy.” Her gaze then drifted towards Ena. “Ah, your pet fox can come though.”

“Then, I’ll be going now.” With that, she bowed towards them once more, she jumped up and practically sprinted up the tree. Before her departure, she couldn’t help but add, “If you’re really that determined to go to the other side of the river, then I recommend you talk to the village chief. Maybe it will help, although I’m not sure.”

And with that, she quickly disappeared into the distant canopy above.

“Oh yeah, that girl, she didn’t really react all that much to Ena, did she?” After a few seconds of silence, Ellis wondered out loud. “I thought nine-tailed foxes were supposed to be quite… mythical.”

“The squirrel tribe is cut off from the rest of civilization. In a way, they lack common sense.” Grisella paused for a moment. “It’s also why they didn’t react to you.”

“To me?” Ellis tilted his head.

She rolled her eyes in response. “Yes, you. If you were to go out into any other country in the world looking as you are now, then you’d definitely cause quite the uproar. After all, an intelligent homunculus is basically an impossibility.”

“Ah, that’s right.” He absentmindedly scratched the back of his head. I almost forgot, but I’m a homunculus.

The topic of his existence hadn’t really come up all that much in the past month or so, so it couldn’t be helped that he almost forgot.

As Grisella looked at him, she couldn’t help but recall what had just previously happened. Her face once again flushed.

Ellis was quick to notice the change in her complexion. He awkwardly scratched the side of his cheek. “Was that a bit too much?”

“Yes, it clearly was, you idiot!” she practically shouted. “What, what will I do now? I have a reputation to uphold within this village as the beautiful and mysterious traveling witch! What if they really think that I’m your, your….”

She couldn’t bring herself to finish her words.

After a moment’s pause, Ellis responded, “well, it's fine, isn’t it? Besides, wasn’t he bothering you?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, the best way to avoid situations like that in the future is to pretend. Pretend to be in a relationship, I mean. Even if it is fake, it helps to stave away the suitors.”

Ellis was not entirely dull. He had lived in an orphanage for most of his life. There, he interacted with many people, some of whom tried their best to keep others away. Although it wasn’t to the point where he was an expert, Ellis was not entirely dense to a person’s emotions.

Grisella’s reactions were a lot more colorful than any orphan’s. It wasn’t all that difficult for him to piece together the situation.

“…”

Grisella remained silent, but the flush in her cheeks did not lessen. In fact, they intensified. She inwardly grumbled to herself. This asshole… he clearly took advantage of me, yet he tries to paint it in a positive light….

Despite her thoughts, a warm feeling spread through her chest.

Ellis stared at her for a few seconds, before he suddenly said, “Or maybe you don’t like lying? In that case, why not turn fiction into reality?” His smile was somewhat ambiguous.

Grisella’s puckered her lips. She glared rather reproachfully at him. “Enough talk already! Let’s head up.”

She instantly changed the subject, but Ellis did not mind.

“Alright.” He turned to the rest of the group. “You guys stay here. Don’t wander off, alright? Ena, you’re coming with us.”

Wight and the rest of the wolves whined in protest. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could really do about it. After all, those were the rules that the village had set down. As they say, ‘when in Rome, do as the Romans do’.

Ena giddily hopped onto his shoulder. Along the way, she did not forget to stick out her tongue and taunt the wolves.

Ellis approached the tree and prepared himself. Climbing a tree wasn’t exactly all that new to him, but knowing that on the other side existed an actual (not) human settlement… well, he couldn’t help but get nervous.

“What are you doing?” Grisella suddenly questioned. She currently sat on her broomstick in a way that made her resemble the traditional depictions of a witch that Ellis was familiar with.

“Huh? I’m preparing to climb up.” He made a face as if to say, ‘isn’t that obvious?’

She rolled her eyes in response. With a slightly red face, she pulled Ellis’s hand forward.

“Just get on already.” Guided by Grisella, he climbed to the back of her broom.

The broom was deceptively comfortable. It did not feel as if he was sitting on a stick. Ellis did not know if this was a result of magic, but for the first time, he understood why witches liked to travel by broom so often.

On another note… his hands hovered awkwardly in the air. For a moment, he felt conflicted. He did not know where he should put his hands. On her shoulders? Her waist? Maybe he should just grab the broomstick instead?

After deliberating for quite a while, he swallowed down his last remaining bits of reluctance and bit the bullet. He already hugged her shoulders, naturally, he needed to continue his advances. Ellis was a man who only moved forward and never backward! With such resolution in his heart, he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Eep!” A soft sound leaked out from Grisella’s lips. Unfortunately, Ellis had not noticed. His heartbeat echoed loudly through his ears. It was to the point where he was completely unaware of the angry fox standing on his shoulders.

Is this right? Is this how people flirt? I didn’t mess up, did I? Ellis was not a person with a lot of experience in love. In the past, he was so busy with work and the orphanage, that everything else sort of just faded into the background. This was probably his first time holding a woman in his arms like this.

Grisella, she felt warm. A rosy smell tickled his nose. It smelled faintly of lavender, faintly of potion, and faintly of something that he couldn’t quite identify. He looked up and noticed that her ears had turned a deep shade of red.

“…Alright, let’s go.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. The broom kicked into life. It rocked like a horse and darted towards the sky.

Ellis unconsciously tightened his grip around her waist.

The world around him blurred. This was a completely different experience than being on a straw platform. The broomstick felt more confined, more personal. The only thing he could feel was the rush of wind pressing against his cheeks and the distinct warmth of Grisella’s touch.

The ceiling of leaves rapidly grew larger and larger. During the moment of impact, Ellis instinctively flinched.

Less than a second later, he felt the leaves brush past him. Twigs and stray branches jabbed at him. It felt as if the entire forest had just breached his personal bubble. After a few seconds passed, he suddenly felt it.

Freedom. He had broken through. A rush of light assaulted him and transformed the world into a haze of fuzzy white.

As his eyes slowly adjusted, the first thing he noticed was the sun. It was bright and it was close. He was not completely out of the forest just yet, but rather, he was in an area that existed within a small cove amidst the dense tree branches.

The new ceiling above him comprised of a thinner canopy that allowed for more light to pass through. The forest here and the forest below were like completely separate worlds.

The second thing that he noticed were Lisbeth and Nar-Wynn. Lisbeth stared at them with a small smile, while the young warrior stood stock still with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

The squirrel tribesman had seen their display. He saw Grisella’s slightly flushed cheeks and Ellis’s arms wrapped around her waist. His expression quickly turned sour.

“Don’t you think you’re a bit too close to her?”

In response, Ellis just smiled while Grisella let out a bashful laugh.

His eyes narrowed. After a few tense seconds of silence, Nar-Wynn shook his head. “The norms of an outsider are things that I cannot understand, but once we are married, I will make sure to properly and thoroughly educate you.”

He suddenly said something quite outrageous without even blinking an eye.

Ellis frowned. Did he see through the charade, or is he just pretending in order to make himself feel better?

Grisella did not even bother to respond. She had heard similar such words from this man back when he had only been five-years-old and ran around naked with snot dripping from his nose.

“Then, I will take the medicine to the warehouse. The Chief is in the same place as always.” At this point, Lisbeth stepped in. “Nar-Wynn, you come with me.”

“But I must show Miss Lorelei around the village...”

“Don’t argue.” She simply stated and Nar-Wynn instantly turned quiet.

She nodded in response. She quickly handed him the medicine. The trio (Ellis, Grisella, and Ena) watched as the pair turned around and walked away from them.

It was at this point that Ellis redirected his gaze to the rest of his surroundings.

Grisella's words echoed through his ears.

“Welcome to Ilpin Village.”