Chapter 8

Edward quickly came to his senses and glared at Sylvano before turning to the little girl.

"He's right, I was just joking, sorry about that. My name is Edward, you can call me Ed."

The young girl hesitated for a few seconds before returning to hide behind her father's leg.

"I-My name is Sylphiette."

Sylvano chuckled and took his daughter in his arms placing her gently on his shoulders.

"Come on kids, if I called you today it's to show you how to survive in the forest, go on the road!"

As the tall elf began to walk, Edward followed without wasting any time.

"How does it survive in the forest? I thought we were going hunting." Edward asked while tilting his head slightly.

Sylvano turned to him before speaking solemnly "Being a hunter is not limited to shooting a bow, you have to know nature as well as you know yourself, that's the only way you can survive. Above all, we must not forget that in the face of nature we are only ants, one moment of inattention and death is assured."

Edward swallowed, the half-elf's expression showed that he was speaking from experience, even though the Fittoa region was one of the safest regions, it sometimes happens that you encounter monsters, and often such an encounter means death. .

Edward made a mental note not to ask more questions on the subject in the future.

The small group continued walking in silence, a few minutes later they finally arrived in the forest.

Sylvano placed Sylphie on the ground and pointed at a tree. "You two, go look at that tree and tell me what you see."

Without arguing, the two children walked towards the tree and examined it for a few moments.

The tree was just normal to Edward, after a few seconds he turned back to Sylvano and shrugged "I don't see anything special."

In agreement with him, the girl also nodded several times in a childish way.

Sylvano shook his head and said "Look closely at his bark."

Once again the two turned around examining the bark of the tree, suddenly Sylphie pointed her finger towards a place.

"Look here Ed!"

Directing his gaze in the indicated direction, Edward noticed a small red hair.

"Well done girl, I knew that brat couldn't find it before you did, I'm very proud!"

Arriving suddenly between the two, Sylvano rested his hand on his daughter's hair with a smirk on his face as he looked towards Ed.

"As you noticed, it's a fox hair, from the color we can deduce that it's still a child, there is probably a fox burrow hidden under a root in the vicinity."

Edward opened his eyes wide, not only had Sylvano directly noticed the hair from afar but he could deduce so much information just by observing it for a few moments. The experience of a seasoned hunter was truly on another level.

Noticing his gaze, the half-elf smirked, "So impressed? Do you want to marry my daughter now?"

Edward rubbed his temples "Why would being impressed by you make me want to marry your daughter…"

Sylvano burst out laughing before pointing to a mushroom next to the tree.

"Well, look at this mushroom, it doesn't look like much but if you simmer it in hot water and mix it into a meal, it will create a poison that can paralyze a small animal for a few minutes. And this plant, it..."

Edward listened carefully to Sylvano's words, the amount of knowledge he had on each plant or corner of the forest was impressive, Edward was convinced that in his world, Sylvano would have become an expert recognized even internationally.

Finally the time passed, the two children were sitting on a tree stump in front of the forest while nibbling a strange fruit that the half-elf had given them, the latter had gone towards the hunter's hut visible a few hundred meters in front of the children .

'This fruit is really strange, it looks like an apple but it tastes like a banana'

As Edward eagerly tasted the fruit, he felt a small hand pat his shoulder.

Turning his face, he saw Sylphie hand him the fruit she had in her hands.

"T-Here you can take mine!"

Without hesitating for a moment, Edward took the fruit from the girl's hands, a big smile on his face.

"Hehe~ Thanks~"

The little girl nodded shyly with a small smile on her face, she then turned her gaze to the side avoiding all eye contact with Edward.

The girl hesitated for a few moments before speaking with a trembling voice "Y-You're not afraid of my face?"

Edward frowned 'It's true that in this world, having green hair is a bad omen, however I already know the truth behind this fear, and above all I know more or less Sylphie's character, so...'

"Of course not, why would I be afraid of a child? Do you really think that I would be afraid of you because of these old legends, you know, in the village the children see me as a demon so I know better than anyone that believing in rumors is a waste of time and energy. "

At these words, the girl's ears began to ring like a butterfly and Sylphie hurriedly got up. "O-Okay I see, see you later Ed!"

Without showing her face for a second, the young girl started running towards the hunter's cabin leaving Edward alone.

'I knew from experience that the children of the village were particularly harsh on those they considered different but now that I see Sylphie... I'm lucky to have my memories of another life otherwise I probably would have been like she sees worse…'

'Well let's give her time, she's still young, soon she'll be less shy… I think?'

Edward slowly got up from the tree stump, delicately setting down the fruit the girl had given him, he stretched his hands forward and closed his eyes.

'Okay, now that I have some alone time, let's try silent magic!'