I didn't get in their way as I sat down on the side and picked up a drink for myself.
I wasn't suited for that kind of work, so there was nothing that I could do to help them anyway.
Instead, I took this time to take a closer look at the women.
Since I had been in a rush to get them back before the rest of the bandits chased us, I didn't actually get to look at them closely.
There was one thing that all of them shared.
All of them had pretty faces.
Though in terms of their bodies…perhaps they would have looked better if they were filled out, but they were quite skinny. It was clear that the bandits had abused them and starved them during the time that they held them captive.
At the same time, with the fact that they all had pretty faces, it was clear what the bandits were using them for. Some of them most likely wouldn't have been used for that since they would be sold off as sex slaves, but there were some that had clearly been abused already.
It really was a dog eat dog world out here in the wilderness.
That was the thought that passed through my mind as I gave a sigh and took a chug from my drink.
I was about to lose interest in them when I suddenly noticed something.
Or rather, it was something that I noticed after this girl finally took off the hood that she had been wearing.
She had this hood on the entire time as if she was afraid to show herself and she had only taken it off now that she felt a bit more comfortable.
The moment that she took off the hood, it was made clear why she hid her appearance.
That was because there was a pair of sharp ears coming from the side of her head, poking out from the middle of her hair.
These weren't just any ears, these were the ears that defined a race.
It was a very special pair of ears.
But that alone was enough to fool those that didn't have enough knowledge.
When one looked closer, they would be able to tell that there was something else special about this elf child. This was something that no other elf child would have…
It was the colour of her hair.
Only those that were special and blessed by nature would have this kind of hair.
"A high elf." I couldn't help muttering to myself.
But that was a mistake.
The moment that I did, the ears of that girl seemed to tremble before she turned to look at me. The look in her eyes was filled with fear and wariness, it was as if she was scared that I would gobble her up or something.
It seemed like the ears of the elves were quite sharp…
I couldn't help shaking my head with a bitter smile when I saw her looking at me like this, but it was already too late to say anything.
She had already heard the words that came out of my mouth and was looking at me with this wary look in her eyes.
The woman who took care of the others saw this and couldn't help looking confused at first before heading over to ask the little elf girl what was wrong. The little elf girl seemed to hesitate at first, but then I saw her lean in and whisper something in the ear of the woman.
It seemed that the trust between them was quite good that the little elf girl would trust her with her secret.
When she finished hearing what the little elf girl had to say, the woman turned to look at me.
There was a moment where she looked at me with the same wary look as the little elf girl, but then she started walking towards me with a calm look on her face.
I couldn't help feeling a little surprised, but I didn't let that show on my face as I waited for her to come over.
Once she was in front of me, she asked, "What do you know?"
I couldn't help raising a brow when I heard this, looking at her while trying to figure out what she meant by this.
When the woman saw this, she gestured towards the little elf girl with her eyes, but she didn't say anything.
Though she didn't say anything, it was already clear what she was implying with that gesturing from her eyes.
I revealed an awkward smile before saying, "I know a few things, but it isn't as if I know everything." Then as if feeling that I should say something else, I added, "I won't make you stay with me. You're free to go wherever you want, I will keep my word."
I made sure to reveal a serious look to ensure her of this.
But to my surprise…
"I want to follow you along with her."
This time, everyone turned to look at us when she suddenly said this while moving forward to bow down.
There was an awkward look that appeared on my face when I saw her bowing like this and I wanted to go forward to help her up, but it seemed like she didn't want to let me help her at all.
The only thing that she wanted was an answer to her question.
With the same awkward look on my face, I said, "I'm not really looking for a companion right now. You should know what kind of work I do, so it's not really appropriate for people to follow me. Much less young girls like you who have their lives ahead of them."
"Please don't reject me. Please let us follow you."
The woman even started bowing her head into the ground as if she was going to knock blood from her forehead at this rate.
"Will you cut it out already?"
I wasn't the one that said that.
The one that said that was Vanessa who came out from behind the counter when she saw her doing this.