The panther-woman was eventually forced to share a few toasts with the rowdy but friendly dwarfs, the tavern keeper’s favorite customers. Maybe they were loud, but they drank a lot and didn’t get into fights inside the tavern, which was kind of a sacred place for them. Of course, due to their number and their toughness, nobody dared to mess with them.

There was admiration for her, both for her fighting skills and for her drinking ones, even though she was reaching her limit. It was more for the amount of liquid than for the alcohol itself.

However, the admiration turned to adoration when she assured them that she could get a certain type of beer.

“Really? Could you send us even a little bit?” one of the dwarfs almost begged.

“We will pay whatever it costs” another one assured, who was obviously not very skilled in business.

The elf smiled. Those dwarfs seemed as loyal and sincere as in the game. She decided to bet on them, that they wouldn’t betray her, that they wouldn’t take advantage of her. If they did, she wouldn’t lose much either, and in return she would confirm the character of the dwarfs.

“I’ll try to get it and send what I can to you through the Merchants Guild. Taste it and pay whatever you consider appropriate,” she offered.

Tears almost fell from some of their eyes, as it wasn’t easy to find someone who trusted them so much, except for other dwarfs. Some of them were somewhat suspicious. They were doubting that she would keep her promise. Nonetheless, they didn’t say anything. It wasn’t as if they lost anything by accepting it.

When a couple of barrels arrived months later, they had almost forgotten the deal. When they tasted the beer, they couldn’t help but consider that panther-woman as one of them, perhaps as a goddess. Not only had she sent them a delicious beer, but she had kept the conditions.

They paid her more than handsomely, more even than she could have gotten by negotiating with them. She had earned her appreciation and trust. So much, that they asked her to send them more in the future, even advancing the payment, without deadlines.

She felt somewhat guilty, so the next time she would send them an additional sample keg of another type of beer. It cost her very little to get that beer, much less than they had paid for. After all, she could create it herself, or her assistants.

The dwarfs wouldn’t only find the new beer shocking, for it was a quite hard drink, but they would ask her for more. They would even ask if they could order both types of beer for their hometown.

She left the settlement behind and continued to advance through the forest, without forgetting to cast Life Detection. She even used Tarzan a couple of times, when there were the right vines. It was too tempting, no matter how much her sister laughed at her. In fact, she only laughed a little, since it had cost her a lot of begging to avoid being punished without dessert. For now, she preferred not to push her luck.

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They had left that same day, since they didn’t want to delay. Partly, because they wanted to get there as soon as possible. In part, because their feared that those three miners she had beaten wanted revenge on her.

Not that they were afraid of them, but if they attacked her, it could turn into something much more serious. It is true that she disliked them, but not as much as wanting to kill them over an incident when they were drunk.

In fact, they did ask about her. However, not only was she already gone, but the response they received from the dwarfs made them forget about any idea of revenge.

They traveled through the forest, but they had the road in sight, which served to guide them. It is true that the direction was clear, but, according to the map, there were some rivers that could be difficult to cross if they didn’t go through the bridges.

On one of the occasions when they could see the road clearly, they discovered a group of three, who were hiding behind some bushes. They were spying on the travelers who passed by.

Goldmi frowned. She didn’t want to delay, but she couldn’t pretend that she hadn’t seen anything. The simplest option would be to pierce them with arrows, but that would mean executing three people for no good reason.

“Can you get near?” she asked her sister.

Quickly and stealthily, the feline approached the three men, who did not even suspect that dangerous yellow eyes were staring at them. They could never imagine that, through them, an elf was also watching and hearing them

“That married couple seems wealthy. I think they’d be good targets,” one suggested.

“The woman is attractive. We could have some fun with her,” another one added, excited.

“Are you an idiot? Don’t even think about it!” the first chided him.

“Why not? We can rob them and we rob them. If we can have fun with her, why not do it?”

“You really are an idiot. If we steal from them, no one will pay much attention, maybe they’ll send some patrols. However, if we kill or rape, they will hunt us down, come after us, track us. If they catch us, which they will, we won’t be lucky enough to just get behind bars. Is that what you want?” the first one answered angrily in a low voice.

“Besides, we all have mothers or sisters. I don’t like your thinking,” intervened a third one, in a threatening tone.

“No, no, you’re right, I’ve gotten carried away,” the second one apologized, while sweating.

He wasn’t very sincere, but he knew it was better not to upset them. Perhaps, at another time and with other people, he wouldn’t hesitate.

Suddenly, three mana arrows arrived without warning. One of them hit just an inch from the crotch of the second one. The other two were close to the hands of the others.

Terrified, they understood that this was a warning, a warning from someone who was powerful and skilled enough to shoot arrows that could kill them, and not pierce them just for a breath. Especially terrified was the one with an arrow between his two legs.

They looked at each other and ran, each in a different direction. The travelers who saw them go by looked at them strangely. They even looked fearfully in the direction they had come from, but nothing was there. Whatever it was that had scared them hadn’t come out of the forest.

“Have you seen their faces?” laughed the lynx, as she returned to her sister.

“I just hope the warning would be enough,” she sighed.

She was worried that they would hurt someone in the future, but she couldn’t do more. Killing them before they did anything wasn’t an option for someone from her world.