It was time to do what I had originally planned.

It wasn’t far, and it didn’t seem like it would take long, so I organized a simple overnight bag for a 1-night, 2-day trip.

To be honest, there wasn’t anything particularly important in my bag aside from the assassination outfit I packed just in case.

The last time I went there was on the first day of school when the hideout was swept away by House Deretia.

At that time, I had to sneak around to avoid being seen, running back and forth overnight, but this time, with plenty of time on my hands, I decided to ride a carriage leisurely.

Clatter!

Unlike the expensive magical carriage I took when visiting my friends’ mansion, this cheap carriage, cramped with others, jolted every time it moved, sending a shock straight up my backside.

Realizing I was starting to miss my friends’ carriage, I couldn’t help but admit I had become quite the snob.

Still, since it wasn’t a long distance, I consoled myself with the fact that I wouldn’t be stuck in it for too long when I suddenly felt someone staring at me.

The carriage itself wasn’t spacious, with only four people, including me.

My senses couldn’t be wrong, so I lifted my head to find the source of the gaze.

In fact, it didn’t take long to find out—upon raising my head, I locked eyes with a woman staring directly at me.

She was right across from me, glaring at me intently.

I tried to ignore her, thinking it might just be a fleeting glance, but her gaze showed no signs of leaving.

It was uncomfortable having someone openly staring at me.

Instead of starting a useless argument, I frowned, indirectly expressing my displeasure at her staring.

However, the woman in front of me seemed unbothered by my annoyance; instead, she smiled slyly and got up from her seat, coming to sit next to me.

The already cramped carriage became even more uncomfortable with her squeezing in beside me, making it difficult to breathe.

The man who had been sitting next to me, scribbling something, frowned at her behavior, got up, and moved back to the spot she had vacated to continue his work.

“Miss. You’re not from Defel, are you? What are you going there for?”

The woman, who I just met today and happened to sit next to by chance, had no manners, pressing her ample chest against my arm as she spoke.

Even if she was a beauty and even if I was a man, I couldn’t just feel attracted to someone behaving so rudely all of a sudden.

Instead of answering, I slightly lifted my backside, attempting to distance myself from her on the cramped seat.

Yet she came even closer, disregarding my frown and my movements.

“Hehe. You’re a cute one. You look quite young; how old are you?”

Though she didn’t seem much older than me, it was rather hilarious for her to call me a baby, but her actions were no joke.

Ignoring her question, I tried to distance myself again, but after a few attempts, I found myself at the end of the seat with no further distance to create.

I hesitated, wondering if I should just stand up and yell at her, but instead, her actions became bolder.

Swoosh

“Ah!”

Despite wearing pants, her hand sliding up my thigh caught me off guard, and I glared at her in shock.

“Hey, can we keep it down?”

The man who had moved back to his seat muttered irritably, returning to his work.

“What kind of rude behavior is this?”

I scolded her in a whisper, trying to keep my voice low so the man wouldn’t hear.

“Aw, don’t be so sensitive, will you? Since we’ve got some time to Defel, I just wanted to get a little friendly.”

Given how nonchalantly she spoke, I briefly pondered whether it was common for women to act like this with one another.

However, recalling how Yuli or Selian occasionally rested their hands on my thigh, it seemed that this level of physical contact was fairly normal among girls.

“That’s quite rude. It makes me uncomfortable, so please stop.”

However, that kind of behavior usually only applied when there’s some familiarity between the two.

“Ah, don’t be so touchy. You really look young; how old are you?”

Ignoring my rejection, she kept her hand on my thigh and continued with her questions.

Since there was still about an hour left until we reached Defel, I thought maybe if I just answered her questions, she would tone it down a bit.

“…I’m 18.”

“Wow! You’re younger than I expected!”

Seeing her react by calling me a baby while barely being a few years apart in age was absolutely absurd.

However, as I turned my face to check her age out of curiosity, I unexpectedly noticed something.

A hint of pointed ears peeking out from behind her green hair.

“An elf?”

“Hehe. Surprised, huh?”

Of course, I was surprised. Elves are fewer in number than humans and are typically hard to meet due to their reclusiveness.

There was a reason she kept calling me young. From the perspective of an elf living for hundreds of years, I might as well be just a toddler at 18.

Of course, I had no idea how old this elf was. I doubted she could be hundreds of years old, but I couldn’t say for sure.

Seeing an elf, a race regarded as mysterious, behave like a typical middle-aged man shattered my illusion about elves.

“Hmm? Are you curious about my ears?”

When the woman brushed her hair back behind her ear, her distinctively pointed ears became fully visible.

Feeling it would be a losing battle to speak, I didn’t respond, but maybe my expression gave it away, as she smiled slyly.

“Want to touch them?”

What a tempting offer. When else would I get the chance to touch the ears of an elf? Considering she had casually touched my thigh, was this even acceptable?

“Then just once…”

Rationalizing it with that thought, I slowly moved my hand toward her ear.

“Be gentle; ears are sensitive, okay?”

My hand approached her pointed ear, and I lightly pinched the tip.

“Ah!”

Her sudden voice made me jump, retracting my hand in a hurry.

The man sitting across from us glared briefly in our direction before returning to his own business, while the woman sitting next to him stared over at us with a flushed face.

“Could you be a bit more gentle…?”

There was something a bit more bashful in her voice compared to earlier, but my curiosity about the elf’s ears was stronger.

Since she mentioned they were sensitive, I decided to be a bit more careful this time and gently placed my fingers on her ear.

“Haah…”

Fortunately, she didn’t raise a fuss like earlier.

I playfully poked and rubbed her elf ear with my fingers.

How long had it been?

It was slightly interesting, but aside from the pointiness, I realized they weren’t all that different from human ears, and my curiosity began to wane.

Having satisfied my curiosity, I lowered my hand but felt awkward without knowing what to say.

However, the elf broke that silence as she took a breath.

“Hehe, now that you’ve touched my ears, does that mean we’re close, huh?”

Though the elf’s hand had become more intrusive against my thigh, it didn’t cross any lines, so I didn’t stop her.

Maybe that was all she needed, as she continued silently stroking my thigh until we reached our destination.

*

“It was nice meeting you. I don’t know why you came to Defel, but let’s meet again if the opportunity arises.”

“…Well, I don’t really know if that will happen.”

Only after arriving at our destination did the elf finally remove her hand from my thigh and bid me farewell as she got off the carriage.

Although we had grown somewhat closer, I still found her burdensome.

After all, I was only planning to stay in Defel for one or two days, so I wouldn’t have another chance to meet her.

As another woman who had also boarded the carriage seemed to be with the elf, they walked alongside each other into the city, leaving something unsaid when the elf turned around and approached me.

Then she leaned in close and whispered just next to my ear,

“Elf ears are sensitive erogenous zones, so next time, be a little gentler when you touch them.”

What does that even mean? In my stunned state, the elf quickly turned back to her group.

Then, the elf’s hand clamped tightly onto the butt of the woman adjacent to her, who snuggled close to the elf like she was being embraced, and they began walking closely together.

No, this is completely insane! This psycho pervert elf!