Chapter 171: The New Life as a Tail

"NOOO!!!" The wraith floated in horror as the seal shattered. Its form was drained as smoke poured out of its body. It writhed and grabbed Alistar's neck, attempting to choke him. Corruption spread from its scaly hands to Alistar, and we could see his skin darkening.

We rushed to Alistar, but it turned out our help was unnecessary. The hand that had gripped his neck became incorporeal, phasing through Alistar's body, leaving him free to breathe again. Death had now become nothing more than a simple ghost. Its body was becoming translucent as more of its physical form was swept away by the smoke.

"Mortals... remember, our will was eternal," the wraith spoke to us as its ghost grew more translucent and finally disappeared. With it, all of the undead it had summoned dissipated into thin smoke.

"Hahahaha!" Alistar laughed as the undead corruption in his neck stopped and disappeared as well, leaving only bruised flesh soon to be healed by Edelweiss.

"Did we finally win?" a soldier whispered. The whisper grew stronger as they finally shouted, "We won!"

"Alistar!" Edelweiss ran to him, her hands bathing him in light, curing his afflictions in one go. Then, she hugged him, tears streaming down her face.

"Where is Ghander?" she finally asked when she noticed Alistar had come here alone.

"Well, he was occupied with the undead. I think it will be quite a while before he arrives. You know the side effects of his clones, right? He gets tired easily if he uses them." Alistar chuckled as he looked into Edelweiss's eyes. The tears in her eyes shone like stars on sunny days—glittering, yet sad. "Sorry for worrying you."

His mouth leaned closer to hers, only to be interrupted by the innocent Lily. "Uhm... if you kiss her, that means you'll get married to her, right?"

"Ah!! My apologies!" the couple immediately distanced themselves.

"Lily! What are you doing? Ruining the mood like that."

"But kissing equals marriage in the elven community. I read it somewhere in an etiquette lesson!" Lily whined out loud. "Besides, if they do get married, wouldn't it be more romantic to kiss in our Hoeth Grand Cathedral?"

"Lily... You are too innocent for this world." I sighed.

"Ahem... You're right, Lily. This place wouldn't be romantic for such weddings. Hahahah..."

"Yes, yes..." Edelweiss also chuckled wryly at us, and the awkward atmosphere persisted. Despite the awkwardness, both of their faces were beet red.

"So, Lily! Let's focus on our job! Yes, our job!"

"Hmm? What? I'm not going to help you guys repopulate the elves?" Lily tilted her head innocently. This airhead was too much, even for me.

"NO!!! THE LEYLINES!!" Edelweiss's face steamed, either with anger or embarrassment.

"Ah... sorry, Lord Edelweiss and Lord Alistar, but my mana is spent. I don't think I can help you here."

"Well, all of us could use some rest. Let's sit around for an hour or two while the soldiers prepare the stakes," Alistar said.

*thump *thump

The rhythmic hammering of the stakes being driven into the ground could be heard echoing in the silent basement. Nobody engaged in small talk, and the atmosphere was uncomfortably awkward for Edelweiss and Alistar. Oblivious to the tension, Lily didn't notice that both of their faces had turned as red as boiled octopus.

"It's fine, really. No other races would give you weird looks," Lily tried to console them. "Hugging each other is normal. We do it all the time."

"Well, it's fine for tailfolk to hug. But for elves, hugging is like entwining your tails with each other," whispered another soldier who failed to read the mood.

"That's lewd!" Lily exclaimed, her face turning red.

"Lily..." I admonished her. When we looked back at the couple, Edelweiss couldn't bring herself to show her face. She hugged her legs and hid her face between her knees, her long elven ears tinged with red.

"I'm sorry..." Edelweiss apologized, continuing to hide her embarrassment.

"Uhm, sorry. I misspoke just now. It's actually fine to hug and kiss your spouse. You guys just did it too soon, that's all," Lily tried to make excuses, but it only added fuel to the fire.

"We're not husband and wife! And it's not okay to kiss your spouse in public anyway!" Edelweiss whined. Alistar simply stroked her head to calm her down. This couple was giving me diabetes.

"So, you guys won't get married? I thought for sure that..."

"Lily..." I exasperatedly sighed, attempting to stop her.

"Lily, stop it. You're just teasing us," Alistar said. "I do plan to marry her, but it's still far in the future."

Everyone stopped their work and glanced at Alistar after his bombshell announcement. He quickly shut his mouth, realizing his slip-up. Edelweiss shot up from her shy position and looked at him questioningly.

"Um..."

"Was that true, Lord Alistar?"

"Um, well..." Alistar glanced to the side, but knowing he had no way out, he finally confessed, "Well, I do plan to propose to you eventually. Later, maybe..."

"Oh, so you plan to propose to me! I see!" Edelweiss went from sulking to beaming with a smile as the awkward couple continued to gaze into each other's eyes. The embarrassment was gone, and now they exuded an aura as if the world belonged to them.

"Edelweiss! Ah, am I interrupting something?" Ghander stumbled down into the basement, clearly in a wobbly state. As I looked at him, I noticed nasty gashes on his sides.

"Lord Ghander!" Edelweiss quickly turned towards him. The pink atmosphere that had enveloped them was long gone.

"Ah, no, you're not interrupting anything. We were simply resting while waiting for Lily to recover her mana. Then, we'll seal this hole," Alistar answered, attempting to sound formal. However, Ghander dashed all his hopes.

"What were you thinking, proposing to her in this hellhole? Do it in Hoeth," he smirked but groaned soon after due to his stomach injury.

"You guys, stop teasing us!" Edelweiss said in a business-like manner as she approached him to apply the healing light. But we could see that her ears turned red again.

"Alright! Let's stop joking and go back home. We've been here for almost four days. The folks back home will be worried sick, fearing we failed," he said, grunting. Lily and Edelweiss finished our job with the sealing ceremony and went outside.

The sun cherished the scenery, lighting Northlandgard for the first time in over fifty years. Despite the lack of maintenance, the dilapidated buildings soon transformed from gloomy to serene, almost like a tourist spots that displayed abstract art. The weight in our chests was lifted as the undead corruption receded from this land.

"It's as if last night was a lie. Northlandgard..." Edelweiss cried as she looked towards their city.

"Yes, it has finally returned to us," Ghander said.

"So, this is Northlandgard. Our ancestors' home... We did it," the young elves who had never seen Northlandgard before were in awe as the city shimmered and warmed in the sunlight.

"You know, they look very touched. But I didn't particularly feel anything..." Lily, the bystander tailfolk, whispered. After being admonished by me multiple times, she knew how to read the room and chose to remain silent. However, her thoughts were laid bare to me, her only tail.

"This is their moment, and you are you. We are just a tail in this story. It's their feelings, and we might not fully understand them. But we definitely helped them, and it feels good to see them happy, right?" I answered lightheartedly, and Lily received it with the utmost positivity.

"Yes! I am happy!"