After thinking all possible ways for a long time, Lily had come to the conclusion that to ensure the survival of her remaining people, she had no other choice but to depend on Add. She had already lost her parents, most of her friends, and she couldn’t afford to lose anymore. It was clear that they had to go, the humans would be back any day, and they would keep coming. Staying here, would undoubtedly be a foolish choice, so they had to try and get to the larger Elven cities and settlements. But for that they needed a strong force to protect them from the dangers along the way, and the only available person who could help them was Add. She had seen his strength, and he was probably the only one who could help them now. He had already saved them from peril once and she was not so naïve to think that he would help them without receiving any benefits. The question then came to that what could she offer r to him that he would take such a big risk as going deep into Waldesten.

They had no money to give him, neither they had anything like treasures or precious items which they could offerhim. After deliberating some more, she realized that the only possible thing she could offer him was herself. The licentious nature of elves was not hidden from any Elf. Although in the short while he had known him, Add had never shown any signs of lust or desire towards the Elves,but in the end he was still human. Elves were naturally beautiful, and even among her race Lily was considered a top tier beauty, and she had enough confidence in her looks that she felt that if she offered herself, no human would possibly refuse. Thinking of what she had to do, her eyes filled with tears. She had always thought that she would marry a elf who would love her and care for her. They would have a happy little family, and would spent their lives together happily.

Elves were a very prideful and honorable race and they despised such vile acts like selling oneself for profits, and it would be utterly humiliating for herself to try and seduce Add acting like a prostitute, but it was the only available way now. She was the Acting leader of her people and for their sake she had to do it.So with her goal decided she began preparations. She could not let Anna or the other Elves to find out about this or they would surely oppose her decision. So it all had to be done secretly. She waited for nightfall to begin her work. When Anna returned after managing all of her work, Lily greeted her normally. However being with her since when they were kids, Anna felt something was off with Lily but she thought that it was just stress and didn’t bother anymore. Lily felt bad for doing this without consulting her best friend, but she had to harden her heart and carry on. They had a little chat and then both went to sleep.

She and Anna slept in the same hut, so Lily had to wait for Anna to fall asleep, before she quietly left the hut. Though sentries guarded the camp at night, they normally stayed a bit farther away from the huts so encountering them was of little concern. Lily went to a small spring nearby and hadbath, to make herself more presentable. Then she dressed herself in a simple white one piece dress, made of thin silk. It exposed alot of her skin and bared the voluptuousfigure which her normal clothes hid behind them.

After dressing herself and fixing her hair, she made her way towards the hut Add was in, on the way she almost ran into two patrolling Elves, but managed to hide in time. After they left, she once again carefully went on her way. Thoughts of stopping came to her mind many times, she persisted solely through her determination and moved on. Soon the hut came into view, and her heart began beating faster and faster. Lily still had fears in her heart. What if Add rejected to help her, or what if, even after taking her body, he ran away leaving them to die? She felt scared thinking all this, but there was no way left other than this. After tonight it would be clear if she and her people would survive or not.

_ _ _ _ _

Unaware of her ideas, Add was busy searching the system shop, for anything useful. Except the very basic skills, almost all other skills cost a lot. Their price depended manly on their utility and effects. The skills he had purchased earlier were among the cheapest ones available. As he moved down the skill trees, the prices increased exponentially. Add could only sigh as he closed the system shop. There were so many lucrative skills yet, they were well beyond the reach of his current CP amount.

For example, the skill Iron body cost him 10,000 CP, yet it was the cheapest defensive ability possible. There was of course a skill [Defence Enhancement] which was cheaper at 1000 CP, butin the long run, its effects came nowhere near [Iron Body]. This was the innate disparity between cheap and costly skills.

However he bought a few more things like a Analogue compass, a pocket watch and a Swiss-army-knife for a total of 2,000 CP. The system was kind enough to mention that the watch and compass would work just fine, as the duration of a day on Iseria was almost the same as back on earth that is, 24 hours and helped him adjust the time. The compass also worked just fine. As for weapons, he was pretty set, so unless he carried out another slaughter, he need not had to worry for buying more weapons.

“System, can’t you offer some reduced prices for the skills? The good skills are all so costly.”

[Host, the system charges only reasonable prices for its items. You should keep in mind that in the whole universe only the system can allow you to obtain skills with such ease jut by paying CP. Where else will you find such cheat like this great system? Host should show some appreciation to the system as it provides you with such unique opportunities as such low prices! It is already doing so much for you what more can you ask for?]

“Cheapskate…” Add mumbled dryly, hearing the usual shameless self boasting of the system…and gazed at the small oil lamp hanging from the roof. The Elves were kind enough to place one in his hut.

[But the host still has to depend on this cheapskate system. Too bad for you….]

“This damn…”

Add was left speechless by the retort of the system and decided not to engage in a debate with it, as he felt that he would suffer a loss if he did so. Now that he had completed the Mandatory mission, and the System had not issued any new missions, for the time being he had nothing to do. He considered resuming his journey to Helmsberg, but then he thought of the Elves. He had solved their imminent troubles, but the troubles would only keep coming after this.

(I managed to stop the Humans this time, but hey surely will not stop…now that so many of their soldiers had mysteriously died, when they got news of this, the Imperial army of Reinglief will surely investigate it and the first target would be the Elves.)

From what little he knew about the politics and the humans here, it was clear that they would not stop anytime soon, at least not until they successfully destroyed and enslaved the elves. And he had aggravated the situation by killing so many human soldiers, and this would surely cause a stir on their side….

(Sigh…..although it is not my problem, now that I am involved in it, I guess I will have to do something for the Elves…at least let them have a chance of survival….)

*Knock-Knock*

His thoughts were interrupted by a series of sudden knocks on the hut’s door.

(Who is it at this time ? What could they need from me, so late in the night?”

It was almost midnight, and normally no one should visit him at this time. Add kept himself on alert and went to open the door which was fastened by a simple wooden latch. What greeted him n opening the door, however was something he had not expected. Standing before him was a familiar Elf beauty.

In the dim lighting of the moon, her whole body was emanating an enticing mature aura. As she just had had a bath, her body was still moist and the thin one piece stuck onto her body, enhancing the curves of her large and perky breasts , full round buttocks, and the narrow waist which could be held in one arm. She had a perfect hourglass figure. It was a body every man could only dream of and countless men would die for. However, her soft, smooth skin, which looked like milky white porcelain and had a healthy pinkish blush, seemed so tender and alluring that one could not help wanting to touch it, while the expression on her Angel-like face wasthat of an innocent maiden.

Her long silky golden hair was still wet sticking to her body here and there. As tiny droplets of water slid along her jade like skin, they looked like little pearls. Her appearance was aperfect mixture of beauty and seductiveness. She had the face of an Angel and the body of a devil. With her slightly swaying chest, her slender legs, her elegant way of walking, the fullness of her body, it was impossible to move one’s eyes away from her. Add to was enamored by such an appearance, albeit for a short while only. This was none other than Lilliana Nostariel.

“Mr. Add…..that, may I come in..?”

“Huh?”

He failed to understand why she would come looking for him so late at night in such a get up. As if realizing his thoughts, she Lilliana AKA Lily hurriedly explained;

“I wanted to discuss some important things with you….”

‘What could she need to discuss at this hour? And what with this appearance, looks like she has just had a bath…’He thought. Still thinking that it might be really important, he invited her in.

“…..Well….then come in…”

The hut was small barely 10 square meters in area, and had only a bed made with leaves on the ground. Luckily the Elves had used certain leaves which repelled insects so there was not much risk of being bitten by spiders or scorpion while sleeping. Once inside he closed the door behind her and turned towards her.

“So what did you want to talk about?”

At his question Lily was at bit of a loss. She didn’t know how to say what she had planned to say. She looked at Add up and down, he was not dressed in that strange armour of his, rather he was wearing a black shirt and black pants, which showed his well balanced physique. His silky black hair with some silver hairs here and there, and androgynously handsome face made him look quite attractive if not for his lack of emotions and cold eyes. Lily felt, however, that his mismatched eyes, one red, one blue were very beautiful. He had an unique charm not possessed by any Elf she had seen.

(At least he is a handsome man….what am I thinking!)

Shaking her head she composed herself.

“I wanted to thank you for helping us this time Mr. Add…you have saved the lives of my people…I can never thank you enough….”

She offered her heartfelt thanks.

“Ah, you don’t have to, I did it for myself, just because I wanted to, so don’t be too serious on that.…”

Hearing his words she smiled lightly and spoke;

“You may have done it on a whim, and it may not be much of a matter to you, but we who were saved, to us this is really a great matter, you are our saviour Mr. Add, and that fact alone will not change…”

He could not say anything in return. Elves were a noble race known for their sense of justice and righteousness. But what she said next was truly unimaginable to him.

“On behalf of all my people I wanted to repay you…..but you see….after thinking of how o repay you….I could not come up with anything of value….we have no money or treasures, or any other things of value that can work as a repayment….and we would probably need your help in the future too….”

“Uhh…Miss. Lily as I said, you don’t have to…”

Watching her getting so worked up, Add wished that he could tell her that the System had already repaid him a lot. But that he could not do, and so Lily continued, her voice becoming lighter and lihter…

“So….after thinking for a long time…I realised that the only thing I could give you was myself…I have nothing else to offer you…..”

“Eh?”

She held his hands and brought them to her chest. Add was surprised and felt the softness momentarily before snatching his hands away.

“Miss Lily what exactly are you implying….” His gaze hardened. But lily didn’tback down.

“I mean what I said Mr. Add, I will be your woman, I will warm your bed, do whatever you want me to….and in return I wish that you would help us….”

She said seriously, making Add twitch a brow.

“Listen… you are supposed to do these kind ofthings with someone you love Miss. Lily, and that someone cannot be me now can it? We have just met barely a day ago. You just cannot sell yourself like this….”

But she was still adamant,

“Is there some shortcoming in me? Is that why you are rejecting me? Then please tell me, I will work hard to reach your standards….”

Add wanted to face palm.

“No there is nothing wrong with you…In fact you are the most lovely girl I have seen…..” he sighed helplessly.

“Then!”

“But, it is just that….you deserve a happy life miss lily, with a man who would love and treasure you. People like me….we do not deserved to love orbe loved…our fate is to one day die alone, forgotten by the world…and burn in hell…you do not know Miss. Lily, the things I have done, there is a special place in hell for me…..”

Add understood that she was doing this, because she had no other choice. To save her people, Lily this girl was ready to sacrifice herself. He could not help but respect her. Honestly, even if he was a cold and unfeeling soldier, Lily was so beautiful and she was also very kind, caring and devoted. Add would feel blessed to have her, to be loved by such a beautiful and kind woman, would be a wonderful thing, but that was if he deserved to be loved.

He moved to the small window in the hut and looked towardsthe moon and then at his hands and smiled wryly. These weren’t the same hand he had killed hundreds of people with but the soul that did was still his. He still remembered, each and every innocent life he had taken while following orders. How he and his comrades had massacred children and women following “orders”. How he had mercilessly dragged out elderly people and slaughtered them in cold blood, how he had killed a man while his wife howled and begged for his life.

The crimes he had done would all be hidden in the guise of war causalities, but he still vividly remembered what he had done. He was a monster and he knew it. Those memories still came to him asnightmares even after he had been reincarnated. His eyes which were gazing the moon did not change, yet guilt, pain and self loathing filled in them. His back was facing Lily, but to her his wide back felt very desolate and lonely.Shaking his head to clear those thoughts he turned to face Lily again and game a small smile.

“…Well that aside, I was already planning on helpingyou and your people, so you need not do this. Come on, let me send you back now and we will discuss the plans to deal with his situation tomorrow…”

He moved toward the door gesturing her to follow but despite this, Lily didn’t move from her spot. His words kept echoing in her mind. What kind of man would reject such a direct proposal from a beautiful girl like herself, just because they didn’t love each other?Most human men would jump at the first chance, yet Add was rejecting her even after she tried so hard to seduce him. Although he agreed to help her, but he wasn’t willing to take any payments. This should have made her happy but for some reason she felt a sense of defeat. Women were poor creatures in this regard. If a man lusts after them then they would be disgusted and loath him. However if the same man rejected their advances then that would make them feel defeated, and they would think that they are losing out their value as a woman.

Lily was feeling something similar. Furthermore Add had accepted to help them, without asking for any benefits for himself. She raised her face and looked towards the man she was holding. He was a human, she was an Elf, one was a hunter, other was a prey. Normally she should hate this person, for his kin had harmed countless of her kin, but for some reason she was unable to. In fact this human had helped them so much and would also help them more in the future,for their sake he had killed so many people from his own race and also saved her and her friend twice. She felt deeply indebted to him, and now that she offered the only thing that she could offer, he didn’t take it. Further he even said self depreciating things like he deserved to burn in hell.

Lily who was looking down, raised her face and looked at the boy before her, and her eyes met his, women are naturally more sensitive to emotions and she was able to spot the pain hidden behind those cold eyes of his. Although his expressionless face hid those emotions very well, still they didn’t escape her eyes. She realised, that he too had a painful past, which he kept bottled up within him. After all, not many people can say such heavy words like “I deserve to burn in hell”, accepting their sins. He was such a tragic person, yet also such an unfair person.

Waves of emotions began surging in her heart, unknowingly a seed of emotions had been planted in her heart which began germinating. “I want to comfort him…” such feelings of care and concern filled her heart. Then again, girls often formed favourable impressions of a man who saved them in their most perilous moments, and Add had done this more than once. As if being mystified by such feelings, she didn’t think anymore and decided to follow her heart. Lily slowly walked up to Add who thoughtthat she had come to her senses but the next moment he was shocked.

She suddenly hugged him tightly, pressing her soft body onto him. Her thin dress and his clothes weren’t able to hide the softness and warmth of her body. A sweet smell like wild flowers filled his nose as Add momentarily banked. In his two life times, this was probably the first time he was so closeto a woman, moreover, such a gorgeous beauty at that. Lily also got his smell, which to her, felt similar to that of wild grasses, mid but strangely refreshing.

“Miss Lily what are you….” He tried to speak but his mouth was suddenly blocked as a pair of soft lips covered his, and like this his first ever kiss was taken. He froze, unable to push her away or respond. For a person like him who had close to no experience in romantic matters these were unchartered waters.. Lily who was closing her eyes, was also anovice at kissing, but she continued. Her small tongue made its way into Add’s mouth fumbling around as if trying to reach every nook and cranny. The boy helplessly stood still as the girl enjoyed her meal. Only after a tens of seconds had passed, did she let go of his lips, leaving a sweet taste in his mouth, and a string of saliva still joined them. Lily looked at him, her emerald eyes had turned misty and her face was blushing, making her look ever so erotic.

“Add…..”

She softly cooed in her voice which was as soft and beautiful as her face, and it send shivers down Add’s spine. Although his soul was that of a veteran soldier, his body was still of a boy in his teens. Till now he had been suppressing himself by sheer will, but that was no longer possible. Blood began rushing to his head, and he failed to retain his composure. This seductive Elf had completely breached through his thin defences, yet clinging onto reason he tried to push her away, he didn’t want her to make a mistake in the heat of the moment which she would regret all her life.

“Do you hate me ?”

Sensing his attempts Lily who was in a daze asked…

“No I don’t …Lily listen to me….”

Add tried to speak but noticed that her eyes were brimming with tears. His words froze midway seeing her like that. His cold heart which should be unfeeling, felt pain watching her cry like this because of him.

“Then why do you push me away…am I really that unacceptable…..?”

Tears rolled down her eyes as she looked at him. Add looked into her eyes and realized he had hurt her. After watching her like this the last line of defences in his heart broke.

(Really…..what am I doing…..she used so much courage to reach out to me and…..I…..)

Lilliane Nostariel was still a girl after all, having lost her family and friends, this brave girl had suffered so many disasters and hardships yet she bore so much responsibility on her shoulders. Even with Anna she could not show her weak side, as it would scare the latter. She was the support of the survivors, and had to be collected always.And suchgirl who had so few people to depend on, had come to him throwing aside her pride and shame and he was treating her like this….

(Fine then, I have already sinned a lot, guess I will do another….)

For the first time, Add slowly wrapped his arms around her soft body and brought his mouth beside her ear.

“I will treasure you…” he said softly.

“Mmmm” Lily nodded, resting her head on his shoulder as tears once again streamed from her eyes, but this time, they were tears of happiness.

Lily did not know then, but in the future, she would be so happy that she had not hesitated and followed her heart on this night, and managed to bring down this cold yet caring man. As long as she lived, she would remember it as the best choice she ever made in her life. But that is the story for another day.

The hut soon filled with a steamy atmosphere of warmth and desire. This was destined to be a long night, a long night of Love.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _