You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

Her figure is quite good for a female college student of her age, but compared to a character like the "Saintess," designed by a seasoned professional and perfectly designed to arouse the excitement of seasoned anime fans, she's simply not in the same league.

Transformation magic is amazing! By the way, can this kind of magic only change a part of the body? If I learned this kind of magic... Fujimiya glanced at Keibun.

The girl has a strong affection for Jingwen, a feeling that hasn't changed since elementary school, but she's caught in the classic "childhood sweetheart dilemma":

Jingwen always treated her like a buddy, not a woman.

Fujimiya thought she was pretty good in every way, but all her overt and covert advances were dodged by Keiwen, which made her wonder if Keiwen had some kind of sexual orientation problem... However, she just noticed it.

Jingwen, who was usually as straightforward as a man of steel, showed a significant change in his eyes and expression when he saw Celestine appear! And that was undoubtedly a sign of excitement!

Yes...it's impossible for any man not to like it...

"Tsk!"

"What's wrong, Fujimiya?"

"nothing!"

Fujimiya pouted; there was no need to explain a girl's little thoughts to others.

"Sorry to interrupt, Uncle, please continue!"

"Okay... but there's nothing much after that, just having a meal with the lord and strolling in the garden."

Images flashed across the memory screen, and because of the presence of the "Saintess," it looked like some kind of game CG, which made Jingwen quite uneasy, but fortunately the other two did not seem to notice anything unusual.

It was clear that the lord was trying hard to please the "elf saintess," but because Yosuke was someone even the appraiser couldn't win over, no matter how hard the lord tried, he could only get a fake smile, which left him dejected.

Miss Celestine, did I make you uncomfortable? Why is your fleeting smile so sad?

No, I just...

[It was my fault; I shouldn't have added to your stress with human entertainment... How about this, Miss Celestine, you suggest the next itinerary, and let's enjoy some elven entertainment.]

Even if you say that, I still... wait a minute, does that mean I can do whatever I want?

Yes, I'm a very tolerant man!

[Great! Let's play Sega games together!]

[Sega? Game? What's that, Elvish?]

It's okay if you don't understand, I'll teach you!

...Half a day later.

In an effort to please the saintess, the lord diligently learned how to use the controller and successfully teamed up with Yosuke to complete a two-player adventure game.

Yosuke seemed delighted: "You learn very quickly! I feel you have a lot of potential!"

As long as Miss Celestine is happy, is this thing called 'Sega' a specialty of the Elf Kingdom? I've never seen such powerful magic before.

However, this thing called "game" doesn't do justice to such powerful magic; it's just too boring.

【……well?】

Miss Celestine is too lenient; she can tolerate such shoddy workmanship... Look, the characters are all like blocks, and the weapons and equipment are like building blocks assembled together.

Not to mention comparing them to oil paintings and sculptures, even the chess pieces used by ordinary people look more exquisite!

This crude stuff is utterly unworthy of your beautiful face!

【…】

【If you like these little figures, I can commission a renowned magical craftsman to create a batch of freely moving clay figures, each one guaranteed to be lifelike.】

No...no need...yes, in your eyes these are just shoddy products...

Perhaps because his favorite thing was rejected, Yosuke unconsciously deactivated his transformation magic, and the pale-haired, fair-skinned elf gradually transformed into a long-faced young man with black hair and black eyes in a strange way.

The lord who witnessed all of this:

[Ce, Celestine, ah... what the heck is this?! Aaaaaaaahh ...

-

In a brightly lit classroom in the royal capital, Miss Farrell, an appraiser, was intently studying a crystal ball on a red satin cloth, while her tutor carefully instructed her:

Divination isn't all prophecy; that's something you'll learn last. In the beginning, it's more like having clairvoyance. You need to focus your attention and visualize what you want to see. The power of thought can transcend distance and bring to life what you desire...

After a long period of trying, Farrell finally succeeded in releasing the divination magic, and in order to evoke emotions, she sketched out the image of a certain person in her mind.

And just as her mentor said, as long as your faith is unwavering, you will see it in the crystal ball—

Imagine seeing your crush dressed in revealing, ancient Greek-style women's clothing, sitting intimately with a nouveau riche man who is overweight and screaming in despair.

--Snapped!

The image disappeared.

【…】

【…】

[Sorry, teacher... I might have broken the crystal ball; it's just displaying illusions.]

No, Farrell, that's—

Please, teacher, you must tell me that the crystal ball is really broken!

Please let me pay you back!!!

Chapter 261: Everyone Says He's Petty (4.5K words, bonus chapter)

The exceptionally hot summer sun assaulted this old-fashioned low-rent apartment. The uncle and nephew, who were careful to save on electricity bills, had not installed air conditioning. In this situation, they could only practice the famous saying "a calm mind brings coolness," reducing all unnecessary activities and staying quietly in the room in an extremely energy-efficient way... looking like they were wasting their time.

When Fujimiya Sumina visited with cold drinks and ice cream, the two could hardly contain their joy, almost regarding the female college student as a savior goddess.

"That's outrageous! That's absolutely outrageous!"

Fujimiya didn't know whether to feel pity or be speechless; he had already given up hope for the two's living conditions: "Can't you try to find a solution using magic?"

“No, last time we used magic recklessly, we almost wiped out humanity… Let’s not take any more risks.” Jingwen looked terrified, and Fujimiya sighed helplessly.

The reason I say this is because a few days ago, out of curiosity or perhaps due to his childishness, Jingwen took out the moves he had previously imagined and asked his uncle to demonstrate them one by one using magic. As a result, his dismissive attitude displeased the "fairy spirit" who cast the magic, and he was given a small punishment.

Specifically, he was to prepare offerings, and if he couldn't, he would reverse the ocean currents around the world... It's no exaggeration to say that this is a super natural disaster that could cause mass extinction, and the entire biosphere could be wiped out if we're not careful!

Fortunately, the "fairy spirit" didn't make any unreasonable demands, and the uncle and nephew managed to get through it, saving the world without anyone knowing.

"No, wasn't that trouble you caused yourselves?"

While Jingwen was still indulging in self-pity, Fujimiya began his merciless critique: "Seriously, if magic is such a dangerous thing, then don't use it so casually!"

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Jingwen felt ashamed but also somewhat puzzled: "But... Uncle uses magic so casually. I just wanted to satisfy my curiosity. In terms of scale and quantity, it should be far less than what Uncle uses..."

"How can this be the same?"

Yosuke explained, "My ability is not magic in essence, but rather to communicate directly with 'celestial spirits' and expel the supernatural phenomena they cause."

When I communicate with them, I am always sincere and never mean to belittle them. But Jingwen, you treat them as mere tools, don't you?

I must remind you that although spirits have no personality, only a very abstract consciousness, they undoubtedly experience joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. And because they are omnipresent, your thoughts will absolutely not escape their notice.

"I was too careless... But speaking of which, Uncle is really amazing, he managed to get along so well with the fairies."

"I've been in this other world for seventeen years, which is half of my current lifespan. Throughout this long time, the only ones who have stayed with me are the fairies. Only they will respond to me no matter what. I consider the fairies my friends, so naturally we have a good relationship~"

Yang Jie earnestly instructed, "The understanding of immortals is different from that of humans. To them, there is no difference between animals and humans, or even between living and non-living things. The reason they ask for offerings is just a sudden whim. They themselves do not need to eat and have no concept of desire... In the end, they don't even have a body."

They are conceptual entities; what we perceive as world-destroying catastrophes might be just ordinary phenomena to them… therefore, we must treat them with utmost care.

"Could it be that Uncle's abilities are actually... extremely dangerous?"

Jingwen and Fujimiya both swallowed hard, suddenly realizing that the person they were living under the same roof might be a walking "doomsday horn".

Fortunately, my uncle isn't an antisocial personality; in fact, he's overly kind... If he had even the slightest bad thought, with his (Fairy Spirit's) abilities, saving the world might be impossible, but destroying it would be a matter of a single word.

"No, no, I can only communicate with the 'fairies', I can't command them—that would only incur their disgust. Ultimately, it depends on the fairies' will. If they don't want to, I can't use a single spell."

Moreover, even if something does go wrong, Iori will step in to stop it, so there's no need to worry about the situation getting out of control.

"Uncle, you really trust Mr. Iori, don't you?"

"It has nothing to do with trust; it's an objective difference in strength." Yosuke tilted his head back and thought for a moment, as if recalling something. "In terms of combat ability, Iori is far superior to me, and his rate of improvement is astonishing. About five or six years after we met, even the fairies began to revere his existence. Even if we were to face an apocalyptic crisis, he would definitely be able to survive and save the world, right?"

“That’s truly astonishing.” Fujimiya Kazufumi said with deep respect, “Compared to my uncle, that Mr. Iori is more like the protagonist… After all, someone is so oblivious that he has completely avoided all the romantic opportunities that belong to the protagonist…”

"Huh? What are you whispering about?"

"Nothing~"

Jingwen chuckled and laughed it off: "By the way, last time I saw your daughter... use transformation magic to punish that nobleman, and then what? Just like many classic storylines, she used a scheme to obtain the key item (the Serpent Staff), defeated the BOSS, and became a dragon slayer, right?"

"Well... how should I put it, Jingwen, you've got it wrong. We didn't defeat the Demon Poison Dragon, and that staff isn't a key item either."

Yosuke stroked his chin and said, "To be precise, it wasn't important to Iori, because I was in a slump at the time, and he went to fight the Demon Poison Dragon alone, so the staff was of no use to him."

"Ugh?"

"Because he is completely immortal, the biggest danger of the Demon Poison Dragon's miasma to him is that it smells bad."

"What... If that's the case, why bother looking for the Serpent Staff?"

"I was just curious, and also wanted to find clues about other transmigrators. In short, it was 'interest'."

Yosuke spread his hands and said, "I spent most of my time exploring the other world alone, and I wasn't always with Iori. Compared to me, who had a clear goal, Iori's actions were almost all out of interest... How should I put it, although he's not a hardcore gamer, his behavior is more like that of a player than mine."

Wow, that's so cool!

Fujimiya, who had just joined, didn't know much about Iori. Hearing this, he smiled and said, "He seems to be a very cheerful person."

"Yes, it's very comfortable to be with Iori. She's perfect as both a friend and a lover."

Yosuke placed his hands together under his nose, his glasses gleaming, and said with a rare seriousness, "But for some reason, I've always been a little afraid... no, I should say 'uneasy'."

Iori isn't a bad person, and he wouldn't hurt me, but I always feel he's shrouded in mystery, and I can't predict his actions... How should I put it? If one day he were to overthrow a country because of a joke, I wouldn't be too surprised.

"How can I put it... Mr. Iori seems to be a person with common sense. It's probably just that you're overthinking it, Uncle."

"Well, in the end there's no real basis for it, maybe I'm just overthinking it."

"Wait, didn't you defeat the Demon Poison Dragon?" Fujimiya noticed this keenly.

“I didn’t go, so I don’t know the specifics, but when Iori came back… well, you can see for yourselves, it was the day he returned to the city…”

-

The Demon Poison Dragon's lair is located in the mountains, but it is easy to find. Like the Flame Dragon in "Shadow Reality," the existence of such a powerful individual affects the surrounding environment. Although it did not create a vast desert comparable to a city, it did leave several nearby hills barren, with no mature trees visible except for a few weeds.

When Iori found this place, she unexpectedly encountered a familiar face:

"It's you?"

Princess Elgar and Iori met at the entrance of the valley, which was more than ten meters apart. The elf girl immediately noticed the strange staff in Iori's hand, and her gaze darkened.

It was made of some kind of white jade as the main body, with a long snake carved from green jade winding and climbing on it. At the top, the snake opened its mouth as if to swallow a fist-sized golden gem. Judging from its appearance, it was the legendary snake staff, a miraculous object that could cure all diseases except for resurrecting the dead.

Of course, it only "cures" the disease; it cannot stop the physical death caused by aging.

It is said that in the hands of its original owner, this serpent staff could be used without limit, and there is a legend that it saved a city from a plague. However, the descendants could not unseal it and could only use a small part of its power through their bloodline, which is why the serpent staff can only be used once every once in a while now - even so, it has made the lord's family very rich.

"That lord actually managed to lend out the Serpent Staff so easily..."

The elven girl was clearly indignant. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't persuade the lord to grant her the blessing, yet someone else was able to bring the Serpent Staff itself to fight the Demon Poison Dragon... This gave her very bad thoughts.

"Does he really not want me to succeed? He's even willing to lend you his family heirloom just to stop me from defeating the Demon Poison Dragon."

"Don't wrong an innocent person, Miss Elf."

Iori picked up the snake staff in her hand and shook it, saying with a smile, "That lord is not qualified to hire me. I'm just here to rid the people of evil and, incidentally, level up my 'Dragon Slayer' proficiency."

As for the serpent staff... I wear it purely for the sake of ritual.

Proficiency? A sense of ritual? It's all so inexplicable.

However, the elf understood one thing: "Is that so? You want to become a dragon slayer... or give up. That's not an opponent you can handle. This is not sarcasm but advice."

That was a legendary magical beast. Unlike wyverns and dragons, its scales were harder than adamantite and mithril. Very few weapons in the world could pierce through it, let alone dragon flames that could inflict instant death.

In other words, to defeat the Demon Poison Dragon, you'd need at least a weapon capable of breaking through its scales, armor that can withstand its dragon fire, and a sufficient number of antidote talismans... But you've only brought a staff and nothing else!"

Moreover, judging from his temperament, he doesn't seem like a particularly powerful adventurer; rather, he's closer to a bard.