F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 333: Yields

Daru was about to do his best to violently struggle when a familiar, sweet voice — as soothing as honey — chirped with a hint of regret.

"And a silver angel descends from the heavens to save the handsome devil. A pity that this princess’s wings aren’t really silver. The narrative could’ve been perfect like my gorgeous face..."

Still, he instinctively turned.

"E-Elara? How did you get a wing? Is that your Sword Skill?" he asked in awe and wonder.

’What a convenient ability...’

Just when a bit of envy was creeping in, Elara clarified:

"Gods, no! Had this been my ability, the wings would’ve been a tasteful silver, too. This is just a consumable item I got from killing that Robari from earlier, which is why the wings are so unattractive. Please do not judge this princess’s aesthetics."

Daru was rather flabbergasted at how she managed to steer the conversation in such a direction, but he was a bit disappointed.

Perhaps he could’ve tried copying it if it were a Sword Skill.

Nonetheless, on the bright side, he, too, could acquire one by killing those half-birds, which they were probably about to do soon.

Given that...

"Right..." Daru began as the thick, vigorous winds subtly slapped him. "How did the sap-gathering go?"

Elara glanced at him, a wide grin tugging on the corners of her face.

"Probably better than you expected, I guess?" she responded. "It’s better to show you later. For now..."

She began descending.

"Prepare to run!"

In the next moment, Daru felt that he was falling. His heart skipped a beat.

Fortunately, Elara was a smart young woman. She knew it was paramount to keep track of the artificial wing’s timer.

Otherwise, a deadly fall awaited.

The two were quite close to the ground when the gray wings of the Emberchest Robari dissolved.

Daru neatly landed using his reliable Somersault Slash knockback tactic. A second later, however, he felt a weight crash above him, slamming him almost face-first to the ground.

[-320]

He pushed himself off a moment later, causing Elara, who was sitting on his back, to fall to the side.

She stabilized her fall with the side of her forearm. It helped that the ground was mildly bouncy.

Daru, scowling, turned to look at Elara.

"Err...please accept this princess’s apology. I shall honestly admit that it was my active decision to use you as a cushion. O-On the bright side, you get to be squished by this princess. That would be a win for some men...a fair trade, mayhaps?"

He shook his head a few times, deciding to drop the matter as he stood up.

"How could someone even think being squished by another is a win? It is a fair trade, but only because you saved me." Daru clarified, surveying the surroundings.

In the far distance, the Sabre Aphids — considerably fewer than before — were still fighting the Verdant Runebark.

The urge to harvest more sap struck him.

However, he decided not to, as that would be pushing their luck. He saw the Runebarks and the flowers earlier while he was being carried by Elara in the skies.

They were all on the way back to the forest, and if the two of them didn’t take this chance to leave and return to their fir hollow, there was a chance things wouldn’t be peaceful even if they somehow managed to make it back.

The princess, too, thought the same.

"Whatever, take it as you wish..." she sighed, a bit disappointed that her charm somehow wasn’t working as well as it usually did. "Let’s hurry back to the hollow before the path becomes unsafe."

Then, she recalled something, shaking her head with an amused chuckle.

"Follow me."

***

The main dangers of the Small Forest — the Runebarks and the strange flowers — were temporarily gone, so the return trip to the fir hollow was fairly smooth.

The Sap Traps and the relatively young predatory trees weren’t too difficult to avoid, especially now that the two of them were more learned about the environment.

Before ten minutes had even passed, the human duo was back in their hollow.

"That was quite the intense experience, probably more so for you," Elara said as she rested her back against the walls, accessing her belt bag.

"It was." Daru nodded. "Right, about the Golden Sap..."

Before he could finish his words, however, a prompt appeared before him:

[Sigrun has requested an official trade. Do you accept? Y/N]

He naturally chose "Y".

Two breaths later, his eyes widened as the image of a potion vial containing Golden Sap appeared, a rather unbelievable number beneath it.

Before he made conclusions, however, Daru tapped on the item first.

It was indeed the much-needed Life Sap!

"Isn’t this too much? Take your portion, then give me mine," he said, a bit embarrassed at the huge amount he would be receiving.

Elara, meanwhile, only raised one of her brows.

"Do you take this princess for a fool? Of course, I’ve already taken mine. Twenty-five for me, fifty for you, since you were so brave and manly back there."

"How is that fair?" Daru challenged. "We must split it as evenly as possible."

"Relax a bit, will you? Unlike your still-half-plebeian self, I have lots of resources on me, stamina potions included. Besides, I doubt this will be the last time we go on a sap-gathering date. I will take more if I need and feel that I deserve it, alright?"

His face changed, showing clear difficulty in accepting the situation.

In the end, however, he nodded. What Elara said made sense.

"Alright then, next time, we’ll split evenly."

The princess smiled.

A brief silence ensued, broken the next instant as the leaves close to the entrance of their hollow rustled violently.

Something passed.

It wasn’t too difficult to guess correctly, as yet another wave of chirps, screeches, and clangs boomed across the vigorous skies.

Another Savage Avian Riot has begun.

"Lovely!" Elara chirped. "How about we go on a bird-hunting date next, hmm?"