Out of the four elves there, Altea was the only one who still showed obvious hostility.
The Elf Princess, Serena ended up becoming more friendly when she found out that Aurora was a fellow transmigrator. While the twins were cautious at first, especially Salia, after getting a little push from Serena to show Prince Casper and the others how to use the gun, they started to warm up too.
Altea, on the other hand, seemed to be in an argument with Ruby. Aurora couldn't hear what they were talking about, but she just hoped they wouldn't end up fighting for real.
"Look at them, they love my weapon," Serena said, looking happy.
Aurora was confused for a second because what she saw was two girls arguing with each other. But she immediately noticed that Serena was talking about the other group, Prince Casper and the twins. They did seem like they were having fun with their guns.
"Uh-huh," Aurora said, giving her simple acknowledgment.
"Still, I kinda feel bad because it's not my real skill," Serena said. "It's just magic."
"I have the opposite opinion," Aurora said to Serena. "It's a good thing that your gun was actually created using magic."
"Huh? Why?" Serena said.
"If you're someone who knows the ins and outs of guns to the point where you can manually recreate them in a fantasy world, I won't trust you no matter what," Aurora said.
"Ah, yeah, someone who's obsessed with guns to that point can't be normal," Serena said. "I mean, I like FPS, but I never touched a real gun in our original world."
Aurora nodded, "And there's no danger of the blueprint falling into enemy hands," she continued, "They could still try to reverse-engineer it if they get their hands on your gun, I suppose, but that won't be easy."
"Oh, you're right," Serena said, "You really think of everything, huh? As expected of my best friend."
"Are you sure about that?" Aurora asked, finally asking the thing that she had been wanting to.
"About what?" Serena asked.
"Being friendly with me," Aurora said. "The thing is, you're the only one who can create a gun like this. I might not let you go back to the Elf Kingdom, even if our deal ends."
"Eh? What's that?" Serena said, full of smiles, "Are you trying to keep me? Don't tell me, are you actually falling in love with me?"
"Forget it," Aurora sighed.
"Come on, don't be shy," Serena said, getting closer. "Aren't I cute?"
"Stop it," Aurora said, pushing her back. "I'm serious, you know."
Serena giggled. "Alright, sorry," she said. "If I'm being honest, I didn't really mind staying here. I feel bad for Altea and the twins, but for me, I'm just barely living there. As a transmigrator, the Elf Kingdom doesn't feel like home yet. I don't really have that much attachment."
"I see," Aurora said. "That makes sense."
Serena smirked. "So, if you want to keep me, you can."
"Stop saying it like that," Aurora said uncomfortably. "Anyway, I didn't play 'Gunslinger Goddess' much, but I believe in the game you can modify your gun, right? Can you do it?"
"Yes," Serena said. "As long as I have the materials, I can change the shape, color, weight, and more."
"What about the bullets?" Aurora asked. "Can you modify them so they use magic as bullets? So they won't need to stock up physical bullets on them."
"Oh, that's an interesting idea," Serena said, swiping her hand through the air. "Hm... Yeah, I can! Look at this!"
Serena pointed at the empty air.
"I can't see it," Aurora said.
"Oh, right," Serena said. "But why can't you though? I mean, I get why others can't see it, but you're a transmigrator too."
"Most likely because we entered a different game," Aurora said. "We're probably using different systems."
"I see," Serena said. "Anyway, your idea before can be done. I'm not sure why I had a modification choice that didn't exist in the game, but as long as we have enough materials, we have more choices to pick. The only problem is..."
"The materials it needs are rare?" Aurora guessed.
Serena nodded. "Ugh, it feels so annoying to have a choice but can't use it," she said, mashing a button in frustration.
"Tell me what you need then," Aurora said. "I will try to look for it."
"You will? Thank you!" Serena said. "But I still doubt you can find it. In the material description, not only is it rare, but a lot of it is from the Dwarf Kingdom. And they don't sell it. I heard you need to visit them yourself if you want something."
"Dwarf Kingdom, huh?" Aurora said. That place should be where the game 'Puzzle Empress' was set. "I need to look into it more closely then."
***
Later that day, Aurora was drinking tea with the purple guy.
Yes, Dante has come again today. They sat under some trees behind the building, not too far from Aurora's room. People rarely came there, so nobody would interrupt them.
Lyra was the one that prepared the tea, but Aurora dismissed her, so she didn't listen to what they were going to talk about.
"I'm impressed," Dante said, putting sugar in his tea. "I know you're something else, but to be able to gain favor from both Prince Casper and Princess Serena at the same time? And it only took a few days? I still underestimated you, it seems."
Aurora sighed. "It's nothing fancy," she said. "Things just worked out by themselves."
"Sure," Dante said, smirking. "That's obviously what happened. If only things could work out just like that, everyone would be happy."
"Whatever," Aurora said, not feeling like arguing with him. "Anyway, tell me what you know about the Dwarf Kingdom."
"The Dwarf Kingdom?" Dante said, drinking his tea. "It's a weird place where they live inside a gigantic maze underground. You will find puzzles all over the place. And if you succeed in solving them, you will get a prize. Money doesn't work there. If you want something, you either need to solve a puzzle or do some trading with the residents there."
"Sounds like a pain living there," Aurora said.
"Exactly," Dante agreed. "Unfortunately, my subordinates stationed there still haven't contacted me, so I'm not sure about the current situation," he said.
"So, no news about Gaia and Lumi?" Aurora asked. She had put those names on the list she gave Dante a few days ago.
Dante nodded. "Gaia, the empress, right? To be honest, even if I heard something from my subordinates, I doubt they can find out anything about her. She's stayed at the heart of the labyrinth. Normal people won't be able to reach her. On the other hand, about a girl named Lumi, they might find out something, but I'm personally not familiar with that name. Is she an important person?"
"She should be," Aurora said, "but I'm not sure either."
If she was a decent transmigrator, she should be making a name for herself right now, Aurora thought. But if Dante hasn't received any news yet, Aurora can't really confirm it.
"I see," Dante said. "Then we can only wait until the report comes in."
Aurora nodded. "But that's not what you wanted to talk about, right?"
"Yes," Dante said, pulling out a few pages of paper. "A full report about what happened in the Valoria Kingdom has arrived. I thought you would want to know it as soon as possible. A big event happened there, after all."
The Valoria Kingdom? Aurora thought. That should be a setting for the game called 'The Phantom Huntress.' It's a stealth-thief game where you play as an assassin's group that punishes corrupt figures by eliminating them and stealing their riches.
"Alright," Aurora said. "Let's hear it."
***