It seemed that due to the sudden ambush just now, the night-drenched streets were unusually quiet. The once slightly bustling scene had turned desolate, leaving only three people on the entire street: me, that girl beside me, and the Elf standing before us.
"Please step aside. You're blocking the road."
After a long silence, the Elf girl slowly spoke. Her voice was incredibly soft, carrying a magnetic allure that was strangely pleasant. Yet it held no extra emotions—as if stating something utterly unrelated to herself.
Her sudden, light voice made me instinctively look up. I noticed her staring straight at me, then quickly lowered my head again. For some reason, her words carried an indescribable aura of authority.
"Hey, Master already said to move~" Noticing our daze, the Elemental Spirit bobbing on the Elf girl's shoulder chirped in a bright, energetic voice. "If Master gets impatient, she'll get super violent and blast you away with a fireball 'whoosh'... Ouch, ouch, ouch... Master, don't pinch me!"
Hearing this, the Elf girl said nothing. She simply reached out and firmly grabbed the Elemental Spirit's tiny ear. Only after it winced and begged for mercy did she slowly state in a flat tone, "I'm not violent."
After her words, she glanced at me and that girl again, without a trace of emotion.
"Tida."
After a pause of just a few seconds, she spoke in a calm, emotionless voice, as if stating a trivial matter unrelated to herself. Yet her voice held an indescribable magic that made us stare blankly at her, wondering why she had spoken.
"My name."
As she spoke, the girl abruptly extended her flawless, pure white right hand, holding it slightly stiffly in the air.
Seemingly... this girl was introducing herself?
"Ah... I'm Lilith, and this is my Contract Beast, Yiyi. Hello."
The girl beside me quickly snapped out of it and hurriedly shook Tida's hand. But judging from her slightly flustered movements, I guessed she was still very nervous inside. After all, shaking hands with a girl who had just unleashed power akin to a human-shaped nuke undoubtedly required great courage.
"Oh my~ Master, really, wanting to shake hands and all... ugh... don't glare at me like that, I won't say anything more, okay?"
I noticed that after the handshake, the little Elemental Spirit bobbing like a firefly beside Tida was about to speak. But Tida's flat yet pressuring voice rendered it speechless. After a while, it spoke like a child who had done something wrong, in a quieter voice: "Master is shaking hands with that human, so I'll shake hands with the cute Contract Beast~ I'm Xia Mu, but just call me 'Xia'."
"Um... hello, Xia. I'm Yiyi."
Looking at the hand extended by the palm-sized Elemental Spirit, I hesitated slightly, then gently touched it with my index finger.
"Little Yiyi is so cute... soft moe loli vibes acquired!" But that girl tightly hugged my finger, shaking it nonstop. "Ah... after following my emotionless master for so long, I'm severely lacking in loli soft-girl elements~ So adorable~ Let me pet you more."
"So fragrant... so soft... loli energy replenishing~ So happy... uh oh, nosebleed coming!"
Eh...?
"However... Little Yiyi, your magical elements are so abundant~ so plentiful~"
But just as I was thinking how to escape the little spirit clinging to my finger, Xia suddenly froze. After dancing a circle in the air, she whispered softly, "This doesn't seem like a Milo Beast at all... wait... Little Yiyi, you...?"
