The Genuine Hero Liana

Mo Lini noticed that Liyana was truly famous here—almost every few steps, someone would come up to greet her or strike up a conversation.

"Ah, it's Lady Liyana!"

"Long time no see, Lady Liyana."

"The last time I saw her was three hundred years ago."

When elves said "long time no see," it probably wasn’t just small talk—it might genuinely have been ages since they last met.

"Hello."

"Hello to you too."

"Ahaha..."

At first, Liyana seemed to enjoy the attention, but soon, the overwhelming enthusiasm became too much for her… much like how Aina felt when facing Xia Lun in bed.

Liyana dragged Mo Lini into a narrow alley, dodging the "pursuit" of the other elves.

"I never expected you to be this popular," Mo Lini said, genuinely surprised. "What exactly did you do?"

"Hehe…" Liyana scratched her head, looking somewhat embarrassed.

Mo Lini’s expression gradually turned odd. She had only asked casually, but judging by Liyana’s reaction, there seemed to be more to the story.

"I’ll only tell you this—you can’t share it with anyone else," Liyana whispered after checking their surroundings to ensure no one was listening.

Mo Lini nodded solemnly. "Don’t worry, my lips are sealed."

"Well, it’s not really a big deal… Let me think… It happened quite a while ago, maybe seven or eight hundred years back…" Liyana hemmed and hawed, making Mo Lini roll her eyes impatiently.

"Alright, alright, I’ll tell you. Basically, I got drunk once and spun some tall tales, but everyone actually believed me." Liyana stuck out her tongue sheepishly.

"That doesn’t sound like much?" Mo Lini blinked, puzzled as to how such a trivial matter could earn Liyana such prestige among the elves.

After all, adventurers boasting in taverns was as natural as humans dying when killed—nothing out of the ordinary.

Mo Lini pressed further, "So, what exactly did you say that they all believed?"

"Uh… They seemed to think I was the one who defeated the Demon King," Liyana admitted, scratching her head guiltily.

Mo Lini: ?

"I had no choice! They kept asking how I fought alongside the Hero to take down the Demon King. How could I admit that Xia Lun disbanded the party and defeated the Demon King alone, while I never even laid eyes on him? That would’ve been way too embarrassing… So I just… embellished things a little. I only said my arrow pierced the Demon King’s heart—I never claimed I was the one who defeated him! They jumped to that conclusion themselves. Yeah, it’s totally their fault!" Liyana began shifting blame wildly.

"Then, the story spread. Everyone started believing I was the true Hero who defeated the Demon King, but I was too humble to claim the glory, so I let Xia Lun take the credit. And to avoid causing trouble with the humans, the elves all silently agreed not to spread this outside our race."

After all, if humans found out the elves were circulating such rumors, it would spark endless debates over who the real Hero was… Liyana knew full well how influential Xia Lun was among humans.

Liyana glanced nervously at Mo Lini, whose mouth hung open wider than when she was eating—as if she could fit an entire egg inside.

"You’ll keep this a secret, right?" Liyana ventured.

Mo Lini was too stunned to speak. She nodded at first, then shook her head.

"But in reality, you never even saw the Demon King… This whole mess is just the result of your drunken bragging."

"Waaah—" Liyana pouted tearfully, her adorable expression making her look undeniably cute when she acted like this.

Mo Lini: "I think, at the very least, Xia Lun should know about this."

"No! Mo Lini, if Xia Lun finds out, I’m dead!" Liyana wailed in despair.

Mo Lini tilted her head. "Liyana, from what I know of Xia Lun, he wouldn’t blame you for something like this."

After all, Xia Lun surely already understood Liyana’s personality… Her accidentally causing such a stir was unexpected, but not entirely surprising.

"I know, Mo Lini, I know that," Liyana explained. "Of course I know Xia Lun wouldn’t hold it against me—he’s the Hero, after all. But if Xia Lun knows, Aina will find out too. And if Aina discovers I stole Xia Lun’s glory, she’ll never let me off the hook!"

"Oh!" Mo Lini paused, then nodded in sudden understanding.

Mo Lini concluded: "Liyana… then you really are doomed."

Liyana: …

"So, you absolutely cannot tell anyone! You promised me!" Liyana grabbed Mo Lini’s hands tightly. "Please! If you keep this secret, I’ll do anything for you."

"Let go of me first." Mo Lini pulled her hands back, not forgetting Liyana’s reputation as an elf with certain… preferences.

"I’ll treat you to ten more green dumplings!"

Mo Lini gulped.

Liyana waved grandly. "Unlimited! Whenever you want them, I’ll treat you!"

Mo Lini’s eyes widened instantly.

"O-only if Xia Lun and the others don’t ask me directly, I won’t bring it up," Mo Lini muttered, turning her face away. "B-because you’re my friend too. I can’t just leave you to die."

Liyana grinned, looking like a schemer who’d gotten her way, and patted Mo Lini’s shoulder. Then she picked up Little Blue from the ground and poked it. "You’re not allowed to spill either, got it?"

"Blub—blub—"

The slime’s round little mouth opened and closed, making bubble-like sounds.

"Good, I’ll take that as a yes." Liyana placed Little Blue back atop Mo Lini’s head.

Then, under Mo Lini’s watchful gaze, Liyana began fiddling with her long ears.

"Liyana, what are you doing?"

"Oh, this is my disguise." Liyana pulled out a hair tie from nowhere and tied her hair into a ponytail. "Now no one will recognize me."

To Mo Lini, Liyana’s appearance didn’t seem to have changed at all.

"Among elves, we don’t identify each other by faces—it’s the ears first, then the hair. Most of us look pretty similar anyway," Liyana explained, flipping her newly tied ponytail. "Beautiful faces are a dime a dozen, but a soul as fascinating as mine? One in a million!"