Versatile: Alternate World

Walking on the streets with our ragtag group attracted various reactions to the elves. But not all reactions are negative, some are even looking at them with curiosity and some are just friendly. Some would just make a small nod before evading from their path.

"At least not all elves are hostile to us," Akira glanced around.

"Don't bother talking to them and don't trust them just yet. They might be friendly just now, but they are not that trustworthy. Unless they are someone who has been with us for so long like Alena and Labo, we can't trust them," Renatta reminded them.

"Indeed. They are not trustworthy enough. Most of them would more than likely think of how to exploit us and try to see our usage. That's how they are and they are pretty calculative. We also think like that before but after seeing the truth and how narrow we think, we abandoned those kinds of thoughts and embraced what we believed in now," Alena explained.

"Damn, and here I thought we would be able to find a friendly elf like you guys. Guess it's just some sort of a dream then..." Akira sighed.

As for me, I continue to glance around, trying to determine the surroundings and taking a mental note of some interesting spots I have spotted. If this was still a game, he could still put some objective markers on the spots he found unusual or worth looking into but since the system that was currently with him is no longer as good as before, that thing is no longer possible and he can only mentally take note of those.

As we kept walking, I saw two elves that looked so thin and their disheveled looks only amplified their hopelessness they looked like they were being persecuted and had lost all of the signs of life in their eyes.

They looked so young and according to Renatta, what can be considered young for the elves are elves with ages from 1 to 100. Once they pass that threshold, they will look like human teenagers once they reach 101 to 200. 201 and beyond will only give them the looks of a mature human look but they won't look old enough. Only elves that will pass the 1000-year mark would look like a grandma or grandpa who is still capable of moving like a teenager. After all, age doesn't matter to the elves.

That means these two poor elves who are huddling in the corner of the streets are still considered children.

"Renatta, there are also many poor people in this kingdom?"

"Yes. Beggars are still plenty in here. Of course, not all beggars are that bad. The only poor beggars that I can think of are children as they have yet to experience hardships and are more likely to suffer from the harshness the elves do to their brethren. In short, if you see an adult beggar, don't take pity on them as they can handle themselves just fine. They just prefer to be a beggar but they remain totally normal. The ones we should take pity on are children. They either die in the streets or they would just find a big hole they can lie in and wait there to die. That's what life here in the kingdom is like."

"There's no people helping them at all?" Sora asked.

"Elves are proud people and they are more likely to not help anyone if they look miserable. Even the adults will justify the deaths of the elven children who are abandoned or persecuted that they were just not capable or creative enough to survive or the goddess has abandoned them. They would not care if we help any or if we ignore them."

"Then, can we help them?" I asked and pointed to the two elves that we have seen."

"Not now. We will attract unnecessary attention if we decide to help them right now. If you want to help them, we will come back later once the coast is clear. During the night, we can go and help them. Looking at them, they are almost too weak to even move and I can tell they are only waiting for their turns to die."

"Can't we help them much sooner?" Pandora tried to see whether it was possible for us to extend our help to them sooner than expected.

"Unless we wanted the unnecessary attention and we are indeed giving invite for trouble, we should stay clear from them for now. It might be a pity but that's just how sh*tty this place is."

I turned my attention to them again but what Renatta said was indeed correct. If we decided to attract the attention of these people, we would indeed need to help them. But if we wanted to lessen them, helping them secretly later would be more plausible. The fact that they will not move there and no one will help them cemented the idea that we can still help them later on with lesser chances that we attract the crowd while also undercover the darkness.

"...Alright. If that is the best option, then we will just do that later."

I glanced at them one last time before we moved on.

...

...

...

After a few minutes of enduring the attention of the elves staring at us, we soon arrived in a centralized area of the kingdom but less crowded and more surrounded by nature as it is near a forested area. I assumed that we would have a mansion similar to my mansion here in Alternate World or perhaps closely resembling my mansion back in the real world but when we arrived, we were greeted with a big gate and big walls. Beyond the gate is a big garden with a single road that leads straight to the mansion which can only be slightly seen in the distance due to the trees blocking the view of the entire mansion.

Renatta looked at the gates and seeing it locked, she touched it and it opened up.

"Looks like my family didn't confiscate it. Seeing that I still have access to it, that means we can settle here until things in this place are done."

"Can I come out now?" the voice of Pixie who is still hiding in Renatta's breast pocket can be heard muffled.

"Yes. It's safe to go out now."

Hearing that Pixie flew up into the air and looked around the place.

"Wow! There's a lot of activity in this area! I can feel the presence of fellow spirits here as well!" Pixie was delighted.

"So they are still here huh? I guess even without me, they still decided to stay and keep the place clean and functioning then?" Renatta seemed happy after hearing Pixie say those.

"Are there other beings like Pixie existing here?" I asked.

"Yes. Instead of servants, spirits like Pixie are present here, allowing me to have the freedom to keep the place clean, loyal followers, and less likely traitors from the elves. As a royalty, having traitors in your household is something I wouldn't like to see at all."

After Renatta closed the gates, we continued towards the mansion, and being there made me feel the abundance of mana in the air. It's very amazing and I must say that it is the best and ideal place to train my magic spells as well. Although it doesn't do much now that I am here compared to the obvious changes on Earth, there might be some significant change if I try it in here.

As we get close to the mansion, a few beings similar to Pixie appear before us. They vary from different color and they look like miniature humans that know how to fly.

"What the... Who are you people?! How did you all enter this place? This is only accessible by Renatta-sama!" a spirit with a green color motif on his clothes and hair appeared. The others are also in combat stance, ready to fight against us "intruders"

"Calm down guys, they are not intruders, they are my friends. Calm down and stop your aggression," Renatta stepped forward to calm them all down.

The moment they saw Renatta, the spirits flocked towards her. "Renatta-sama!"

"Is it really, really, you? Am I not dreaming right?" one of the spirits rubbed her eyes.

"Quick and call the others! Renatta-sama has returned!"

The spirits scrambled in different directions as they started calling the others. Only one spirit was left behind and her outfit is very similar to how butlers would wear their suits, with the only difference being she is very small. Otherwise, she does look like a butler, even her mannerisms are those of a butler as well.

"You look well, Renatta-sama. Welcome back, we have retained the status of your mansion to its usual state as well as we wait for your return. As for Renatta-sama's guests, we also welcome you to her estate. Please come in, we are pleased to make your acquaintances."