Why can't humans do it too?

Surprised, Suer turned around and saw Xinke leaning against the edge of the door frame, wearing a simple light blue bathrobe. She hadn't used magic to dry her long hair; she had only roughly dried it. Her light golden hair clung to her cheeks, and her face had a faint blush from the comfort of her bath.

"I thought you'd go straight back to your lab?" he asked casually. After confirming who it was, Su Er continued working in the kitchen.

Spread jam, add berries, and plate.

According to past practice, Xin Ke should have rushed back to her laboratory to continue her research on the inactivated marrow after being forced to take a shower by Su Er, and Su Er should have been the one to bring her meals.

According to the original idea of ​​this forest elf genius, she originally planned to continue her research along the lines of using spells to control the fantasy species, and to develop highly lethal weapons that could destroy other races, using the core of the fantasy species as the origin. However, after witnessing that the goblin species directly used the inactive divine essence as material, she abandoned this idea without hesitation.

Xin Ke also needs to use the essence as material for her weapons; she must not be overwhelmed by those pathetic moles in terms of courage and intellect.

At least that's the kind of solemn promise she made to Suer.

However, in reality, developing a weapon using a part of the divine species is extremely difficult, and there has been little progress to date; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that there has been zero progress.

This fact made Xinke increasingly anxious, wishing she could stick to her work desk all day long—so why did she suddenly change her personality today?

Suer was curious, but not entirely.

"Hmm~~, is this the blueberry cake we talked about last time?" Without answering Suer's question, Xin Ke walked briskly to Suer's side, bent down, and took a deep breath in front of the freshly baked cake, saying, "Wow~ it smells so good~~~, let me try it—hiss!"

While casually talking, Xin Ke's outstretched hand reaching for the cake was slapped away by Su Er without any mercy.

"Wash your hands first," the man commanded expressionlessly, leaving Xin Ke no room for leniency.

"Didn't I just take a shower?!" Xin Ke puffed out her chest confidently and reached for the cute cakes again.

Snapped!

Punish unclean hands!

“Go wash your hands,” Su Er said without any sign of backing down. However, seeing Xin Ke’s increasingly dangerous gaze, he could only sigh helplessly. “You must have touched something else just now, right? Don’t try to deny it. I will take everything you say about this as a lie. Go wash your hands now. You can only eat after you’ve washed them clean.”

After taking a shower, Jibril slipped into her room to tinker with some strange things she had collected, and Xin Ke didn't immediately follow her to the kitchen...

Therefore—on matters of hygiene, Suer will absolutely not believe a single word Xin Ke utters again!!!

Chapter 165 Keenness and Suspicion

Suer had long since lost all confidence in this forest elf's personal hygiene; she would even lie and cheat in order to be lazy, her obsession truly remaining in a strange place.

"...Tch," Xin Ke stared at Su Er for a moment, then finally lowered her head and clicked her tongue softly.

So—you really did touch something weird and were trying to cover it up, huh?!

Suer was almost unable to control his urge to make sarcastic remarks, and his eyes had completely evolved into dead fish eyes.

After washing her hands thoroughly under Suer's supervision, Xinke finally picked up the baked cake as she wished, and took a bite, biting off most of it along with the blueberry jam on top.

"How come the allowance is being subsidized with hot pot?"

"...Huh? Swallow your food before you speak."

Xin Ke's voice was muffled because her mouth was stuffed with something. Su Er squinted and complained, then handed her a glass of water.

"...I mean, why aren't you making cream puffs today?" Xin Ke asked, somewhat puzzled, as she swallowed the cake with the water Su Er handed her and patted her chest.

"You get tired of eating the same thing all the time, right? It's nice to change things up once in a while. How was it this time?" Su Er asked casually, picking up a piece of blueberry cake and taking a bite.

The sweet and sour taste effectively neutralized the greasy feeling. I don't know if it's because of the milk from some unknown species that Xinke got from the forest spirits, but there's a lingering fishy smell.

Chef Sue gave the cake a low score.

"Ha, to declare something you like as something you're already tired of just like that, are all humans this fickle?"

"It's just eating cake, don't drag it into a matter of morality and character, okay?!"

Upon hearing Xin Ke's unexpected comment, Su Er nearly choked on his own saliva and coughed violently.

"It's good that you're here now, so I don't need to bring the pastries in for you. Just take these with you," Sue said, rolling his eyes in annoyance. After leaving Jibril's portion, he simply stuffed all the remaining cakes into Xinke's hands.

Holding a white porcelain plate, Xin Ke took a light sniff of the lingering fragrance, but she remained seated on the edge of the kitchen counter, instead of returning to her research lab as usual.

"...Is there anything else?" Finally noticing that the forest elf with the pale golden hair seemed to have something to say, Suer felt his heart rise and fall with trepidation, and he didn't even know why he felt this way.

It has nothing to do with feelings like love.

"Rather than saying I have something to do, it's more like Mr. Monkey has something to do, right?" Xin Ke said, raising an eyebrow as she casually picked up a small piece of cake and put it in her mouth.

"Huh? Me?" Slightly amused, Su'er shook his head and said, "What could possibly be wrong with me—"

“I’ll be a little direct with you… Mr. Monkey, are you troubled by those humans?” Skipping over the annoying steps, Xin Ke interrupted Su Er’s denial and asked directly, “Today… no, I should say this has been going on for several days now, your strange behavior.”

Her words were so unequivocally certain.

Mori Seijin had complete faith in his judgment.

“Mr. Monkey is really bad at concealing his emotions. Well, maybe it was just an unintentional display? You should know that for our race, many of your subtle expressions and movements can reveal your true thoughts,” Xinke continued without giving Suer a chance to defend himself. “If you’re worried about those humans, then why don’t you accept my proposal?”

"Or wouldn't it be better to just present them with the best offer and let them choose for themselves?" The tray had already been placed aside. Xin Ke crossed her arms and tapped her fingers impatiently on her elbows. "Haven't you thought about this? Mr. Monkey, you unilaterally rejected my offer on their behalf—an opportunity for them to escape their dangerous lives and live a life without worrying about food and safety—but will they really thank you?"

"..."

His breath seemed to be caught in his throat, and Suer was unable to answer such a question.

Surely someone will agree... Suer was certain that as long as Xinke appeared and presented the wonderful option to everyone in the settlement, someone would agree.

There may be hesitation, there may be worry, but it will definitely happen eventually.

As Xinke said, he rejected her proposal because he was worried that humans would lose their will to move forward if they were kept in captivity by the forest elves—would the people in the settlement really thank him?

torment.

He didn't know when these emotions and thoughts appeared, but by the time Suer realized them, they had already filled his heart like a creeping shadow, never to disappear as the light appeared.

Whenever he ate delicious food, whenever he slept in the deepest part of his body in a comfortable temperature, and when he didn't have to be too vigilant about potential dangers, these thoughts would uncontrollably flash through his mind.

A sense of betrayal and self-loathing.

He was betrayed by everyone who saved him and allowed him to survive until now.

The more comfortable he lived, the more his physical desires were satisfied, the more tormented Sull became... The thought of Credo, Lennie, and... Nona...

The thought that they were still shivering from the cold, struggling with danger, and constantly moving their settlements because of the unknown crisis that might come at any time made Suer even more tormented.

Was his decision correct?

Is it right for him to live like this?

He yearned for a correct answer that would never appear.

Therefore, silence is the only option.

Even the eyes of the Mori Sei-seed could not be looked at directly.

“It’s not just me, I’m afraid even that Skywing species has discovered it, right?” Xin Ke’s voice carried a barely perceptible hint of pity. She pitied Su Er, pitied his fragility as a human. Her fair palm pressed against Su Er’s cheek, slightly cool.

"It started from that time, right?" Xin Ke slowly lifted Su Er's head so she could see his eyes. "That... when you couldn't recall any new knowledge anymore..."

Unconsciously, I clenched my fists, but they felt empty and aimless.

The forest elf with long, light blonde hair was right once again.

She was always like that, able to see right through herself—Suer hated this, yet couldn't find any way to refute it.

He was just an ordinary person, an ordinary college student, an ordinary office worker, with no extraordinary memory abilities.

More than two years had completely drained all the remaining knowledge in his mind, and no matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn't recall anything more.

Xin Ke understood all of this.

Chapter 166 Determination

"...Phew, if this level of insight were used to become a police officer, there probably wouldn't be any case he couldn't solve, right?" Su Er sighed and said with a wry smile.

His reaction undoubtedly proved that everything Xin Ke had said was correct, without a single mistake.

"Hmm~, I think it's better to call me Sherlock Holmes than a policeman, okay?" Xin Ke said with a smile, as she withdrew her hand and made a pipe-smoking gesture.

"I can let the first one go, but how did you figure out the second one?" Su Er asked weakly. She reached for a small cake again, but when she got close to it, she found it tasteless and put it back.

“Because Mr. Monkey has been trying to create new things all this time,” Xin Ke said candidly. “New flavors of food, new decorating styles, new tools… To be honest, those clumsy innovations were even kind of cute~, which made me clearly understand what it means to struggle in the ordinary?”

"Alright, alright, you don't need to say anymore," Su Er hurriedly raised his hands to stop her. He felt his cheeks burning uncontrollably. He hadn't expected that Xin Ke had seen everything he was doing. He thought that this woman usually stayed in her research lab and wouldn't think about anything unnecessary.

He was clearly just a useless person who couldn't even take a bath by himself.

Even so, the predicament that Suer faces will not change in the slightest.

He was worried, fearful, and troubled by the value he had lost.

It's only been a little over two years now, but what if we extend that timeframe to twenty years?

He was already forty years old at that time. How could he maintain his thoughts on the Forest Elf and Skywing races and his interest in the unknown over the past twenty years?

In just two years, he had already reached the point of exhaustion. Twenty years later, he would still be in his prime. Suer's rationality told him that the resources he had consumed were extremely small for Xin Ke. Even if you included the humans in the settlement, there weren't many, and they didn't have enough to make Xin Ke break his promise.

But Suer's emotions kept refuting all of this, refusing to believe in things that hadn't even happened yet—it kept clamoring, yearning to find its own value, a value that could prove its existence and give it peace of mind.

Unable to accept everything before them and enjoy it all.

“...I want to return to the settlement,” his voice became incredibly low. Sur was astonished to hear such words come out of his own mouth; it was as if he were asking for death.

"Ah~, and then?" However, Xin Ke didn't seem surprised at all. She just calmly asked, knowing that Su Er didn't mean to return to that precarious life.