Chapter 17: Strategic Retreat

Luca couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

With each passing second, arrows kept flying in every possible direction except toward him. It had gotten to the point where, statistically speaking, at least one arrow out of the dozen each of them fired should have grazed him.

Yet not even one came close.

He folded his arms, completely unimpressed, as another arrow zipped past him and landed on a nearby tree trunk, upside down.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” He muttered.

But the more he watched, the clearer the problem became.

Neither of them was even able to pull the bowstring properly. Their arms shook, their stance was wobbly, and their fingers fumbled with the string like it was made of steel.

It was almost as if they didn’t have the strength to pull it to full capacity.

’So that’s it.’ He thought. ’They’re not just bad shots—they’re weak. Like, ’haven’t done a single day of training’ weak.’

That didn’t make sense to him.

Weren’t forest elves supposed to be the masters of archery? The very legends of precision and skill?

These two, though…these two couldn’t hit a tree if it begged to be shot.

He sighed as Luna let another arrow fly and it bounced harmlessly off a rock, while Lulu’s arrow curved midair and hit a bush.

By the time Luna’s quiver was empty and Lulu had just one arrow left, the clearing looked like an arrow graveyard.

Luca looked around before chuckling softly.

“You know.” He said, smiling good-naturedly. “Since you’ve only got one arrow left, and I honestly feel bad for both of you at this point, how about I help you out?”

“Help?!” Lulu shouted immediately, cheeks flaring red. “You? Help me?! I don’t need your help, you arrogant, fruit-stealing fiend!”

He ignored her insult completely and still decided to explain anyway.

“After you notch the arrow, don’t just yank the string straight back. Instead, raise your bow above your head first. Then, while pulling it down, pull on the bowstring. It’ll use your shoulder muscles more efficiently. Makes it easier to pull.”

“Shut up! Shut up, I don’t need your stupid advice!” Lulu yelled, stamping her foot. “This is nothing to me! I can totally shoot you if I want to!”

But even though she said that, Lulu’s eyes flickered to the bow, and a small, almost imperceptible twitch betrayed her interest.

She hesitantly followed his advice and slowly raised her bow first before pulling the string down.

To her utter surprise, it actually worked!

She was able to pull it much more than usual. Even though it wasn’t to its full extent, it still helped her out significantly.

The panic and anger momentarily evaporated, replaced by the sheer, unadulterated excitement of a breakthrough.

“H-Hey! Luna, look!” She cried out in pure excitement. “I actually managed to pull it! I’ve been struggling with this for so long, and I actually did it! I did it, Luna!”

But just as she turned toward her sister, giddy beyond belief, her foot landed squarely on a loose stone.

Her balance faltered.

“Oh no—”

The bow jerked up, the arrow slipped and with a—Thwang!—the arrow launched upward, spinning wildly into the sky.

“OH NO! OH NO, WHERE DID IT GO?!” Lulu shrieked, eyes darting upward as she spun around frantically. “WHERE DID THE ARROW GO, LUNA?!”

“TAKE COVER! TAKE COVER!” Luna immediately shouted.

Both sisters dove to the ground at once, covering their heads with their hands like soldiers under mortar fire, while Luca just stood there blinking, utterly lost.

And to his growing horror, it began to fall straight down—right toward Lulu.

It came down with a small fwip! and—

“YEEEEEEEOW!”

Lulu let out a scream that echoed through the entire forest.

“OUCH! OUCH! MY BUTT! MY BUTT!”

Luca’s eyes widened. “No way—”

The poor elf rolled over dramatically on the grass, clutching her backside.

“It—it actually pierced my butt!” She squealed, kicking her legs helplessly. “It’s in my butt, Luna! It’s in my butt!”

She started crawling desperately toward Luna, dragging herself across the dirt.

“Luna, help me! Help me! It’s in my BUTT!”

Luna stared down at her sister, her face pale, the sight of an arrow sticking out of Lulu’s butt cheek in a truly comical, yet clearly painful, manner, making her gasp. A small bloom of blood was already staining the green fabric.

“Goddamn it, Lulu! Why did you do something like this?!” Luna shouted, half-hysterical. “You’re supposed to shoot the arrow at him, not towards your rear!”

She grabbed onto the shaft protruding from Lulu’s rear and tried to pull it out.

But the moment she even touched it, Lulu shrieked,

“DON’T PULL IT! DON’T YOU DARE PULL IT, LUNA!”

“Then what am I supposed to do?!” Luna yelled back, completely flustered. “I don’t know how to deal with a situation like this! Mother never taught me how to remove arrows from someone’s butt!”

“Then don’t pull it!” Lulu wailed dramatically, burying her face in the grass while keeping her rear end raised helplessly. “If you pull it, I’ll bleed! I’ll die! I’ll—my butt will never be the same again!”

One sister was panicking uncontrollably, the other was moaning in genuine agony.

Luca on the other hand was completely flustered.

Before, it had been funny comedy routine performed by self-proclaimed archers. But right now, it was just pitiful how weak and utterly flustered both of them had become.

Their terror was real, and the pain was certainly real and he wanted to do something out of the bottom of his heart.

“Alright, stop!” He took a large, cautious step forward. “Both of you, calm down.”

But immediately Lulu shrieked.

“STAY AWAY, SEX DEMON! YOU SHOT ME!”

“I didn’t shoot you! You shot yourself!” Luca retorted. “And I’m not a demon! I just want to help!”

Luna quickly slid in front of her moaning sister, her face tight with renewed terror and determination.

“Don’t you dare come closer! I swear, if you lay a single hand on my sister, I will…I will—”

“You’ll what?” Luca asked gently, his tone softening. “Shoot me with your last arrow? Oh, wait, you don’t have any, and Lulu just used her last one to puncture her own rear.”

Luna froze. Her lips parted, but no sound came out. He was right. They had caused this disaster themselves.

Her hand trembled as she swallowed hard, trying to think of what to do. Finally, with a shaky breath, she slid a dagger out from her waist and held it tightly with both hands, the blade wobbling as much as her voice.

“I don’t care what you say.” She declared. “I will never let you harm my sister. Even if it costs me my life…I’ll make sure she’s safe.”

The words carried a strange sincerity that actually made Luca blink. For a brief moment, he saw something genuine behind her fear—loyalty, love, courage.

But then his lips curved into a small, amused smile when he something behind her.

“Wow. That’s noble.” He said before he tilted his head and asked, “But tell me, though…does your sister feel the same way?”

“Huh?” Luna blinked.

“I mean.” Luca continued, rubbing his chin casually. “If you were the one in danger, do you really think she’d give up her life for you?”

“Of course!” Luna said without hesitation, her blue eyes sharp. “She’s my sister through and through. Even though we argue, I know she’ll always have my back. She’d never abandon me.”

Luca’s grin widened.

“Really?” He nodded toward something behind her. “Then why don’t you turn around and look at what your oh-so-devoted sister is doing right now?”

Confused, Luna frowned and slowly turned her head.

And froze.

Because there was Lulu—on all fours—crawling away as fast as she could, arrow still sticking out of her rear like a flagpole.

“LULU?!” Luna shouted, eyes wide in disbelief.

The moment Lulu realized she’d been caught, she froze mid-crawl, her eyes darting around like a guilty puppy.

Then, very slowly, she raised both hands in the air.

“D-Don’t misunderstand, Luna!” She said quickly, sweating bullets. “I wasn’t running away! I was…uh…performing a strategic retreat!”

“Strategic retreat?” Luna repeated in pure disbelief.

“Yes!” Lulu nodded rapidly, her twintails bouncing. “I was going to get Mother and Auntie! And the village! You know—so we can all fight this sex demon together! It’s not like I was abandoning you or anything, honest!”

“You liar!” Luna’s eye twitched.

“I swear it’s true!” Lulu cried. “You think I want to leave you alone here with him? I just thought, you know…you could buy some time!”

Luna facepalmed so hard that even Luca winced.

“Unbelievable.” Luna muttered under her breath before sighing heavily and turning back toward Luca.

“Fine.” She said coldly, stepping aside and pointing her dagger weakly in his direction. “You can have her…Do whatever you want with her.”

“Wha—LUNA?!” Lulu screamed, her voice cracking. “NOOOO! Don’t sacrifice me! I don’t want to be pregnant! I don’t want a baby in me!”

“You should’ve thought about that before running away!” Luna scowled.

“Please don’t leave me!” Lulu desperately crawled back and threw her arms around Luna’s legs, clinging to her like a koala. “I don’t want to be impregnated by a demon! I’m too young and cute for motherhood!” She wailed. “I like my body the way it is! It’s perfect and balanced! Not with a big belly!”

But their panic escalated again as Luca—just trying to take a small step closer—moved his foot.

Both sisters reacted instinctively.

In perfect sync, Luna raised her dagger again while Lulu, still clinging to her, pulled out a smaller dagger of her own with one hand, holding it in front of her tremblingly while the other arm stayed wrapped around her sister’s leg.

“Stay back!” Luna shouted again.

“I’ll stab you right in the toe if you move a bit closer!” Lulu squeaked, her voice wobbling.

They looked absolutely ridiculous—two trembling elves, one with a dagger shaking like a leaf, the other still kneeling with an arrow sticking comically out of her butt.

And seeing this, Luca pinched the bridge of his nose, suppressing the urge to laugh, not expecting this to be his first encounter with the mystical elves .

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep