5

Riley had never been defeated so badly in battle against anyone before.

If it seemed like she was going to lose, she would immediately flee, and even when attacked by creatures or wild animals, she always managed to retaliate. No team member had ever suffered a fatal injury.

The white woman in front of her was incredibly powerful.

Her body wasn't too tall, but not too short either. Maybe about Riley's height.

Although her ears were located beside her face, those classified as elves should have ears like that.

Her long white hair rarely moved, and she could easily evade attacks from our side.

Although she didn't have extraordinary strength or speed, we couldn't successfully attack her. We soon realized that this white woman was doing something that made our attacks fail. Even with Remy, we couldn't do anything. We felt that whatever we tried would fail. And it did.

Unconsciously, we lost consciousness, and when we woke up, the four of us were bound and rolling around.

Our leader, Kelly, was trying to handle the situation with noise and rebellion.

However, as soon as the white woman touched or even just grabbed her a little, Kelly screamed and cried with a voice I had never heard before. The white woman instructed Kelly to be quiet, grumbling about her voice, and then struck her. Kelly looked like her mouth was injured and bleeding.

When we saw that, both Riley, Remy, and Marion stopped screaming. We became more obedient than ever before. We had never seen Kelly, who was so patient, cry like that before. We never thought we could make her cry like that.

After that, Kelly tried to fight back several times, but each time, the same thing happened again.

A few moments later, Kelly also became calm and obedient.

The white woman introduced herself, and Kelly did too. But Kelly's tone made the white woman unhappy, and everyone's faces except Kelly's turned gloomy.

The white woman gave Kelly a drink from a strange little bottle. And suddenly, Kelly's swollen cheek returned to normal. Kelly was surprised to see the white woman. So were the other three.

It seemed like the woman gave Kelly a magical potion. Maybe that was the effect of the potion.

Kelly, who had resigned herself, began to tell her life story, and the other three added missing details. Although we were worried about being scolded for telling these things without permission, the white woman just smiled as she listened.

Maybe the white woman was a good person. Although we were tortured, she didn't try to kill us or sell us anywhere. If she intended to sell us, she wouldn't need to listen to Kelly's story.

Not only that, it shouldn't have been necessary for Kelly to use such powerful magical potions. She's a type of person I've never encountered before. It's not like a race of animals, that's not what it means.

If our mother was as strong and loving as this woman, maybe the three of us would still be living in the village.

I think Marion and Remy might think the same way too. Kelly cried while telling her story. I thought Kelly was always strong and never cried before, but she didn't. I thought it was because she was the oldest among us, so she never cried. She had to be strong.

Now, I think Kelly can't hold on because there's a white woman stronger than her.

After listening to the thieves' stories, Leah sighed. Besides the fact that their stories were heavier than she imagined, from the way they told them, it seemed like their memories were based on real experiences, and it made me think.

Just by hearing rumors about the World Simulator, the world in this game is very vast. Extremely vast, even arguably unnatural. If the announced data is true, the landmass is more than twice the size of Earth.

Using random map generation algorithms, this is automatically calculated over several years.

It seems they keep counting and successfully completing map and object data, but can players really explore a field twice the size of Earth?

And if there are various species that can live and compete without problems on such vast land, how many AI are needed?

Although the population density of creatures equipped with artificial intelligence at the living level is not as dense as humans on Earth, and although there is competition between stronger creatures and habitat areas, if the land is twice as large as Earth, at least several billion high-level AI may be needed. If we also include humans, spirits, and others.

Who will make memory arrangements for so many AI? And how do you link each AI memory flawlessly across an area twice the size of Earth?

Instead of doing that, it might be more realistic to run the world simulator discussed in the rumors, which has been running thousands of times faster than normal time, since a few years before the service started.

In this case, is it true that this game is as discussed, simulating another world?

However, technical analysis like this is not Leah's expertise.

It's just speculation from a beginner influenced by rumors.

Perhaps the technology that allows such work to be done in seconds, where specific AIs are developed for that purpose, and these specific AIs then develop other AIs, and so on, surprisingly making it possible very efficiently.

After taking a breath, I decided not to think about it anymore and chose to think about the thieves in front of me, especially the girls. Their appearance looks very shabby. Their hair is long and unkempt, their ear tufts and tails are also tangled, feeling rough. Although all four have similar fur colors, in reality, they are already so dirty that it's hard to tell their original colors.

From the fact that they are all female, young, and their numbers are small, at first, I thought they were just a group of amateur thieves who only stole for fun, but it turned out they were ruthless killers.

Two older women, Kelly and Riley, probably had a height of about 160 cm, while the two younger girls were clearly smaller than their peers. They may not have received enough nutrition when they were young.

Although I feel sympathy for their background and situation, and I feel pity, but more than that, their willingness to kill without hesitation if it means protecting themselves looks intriguing to Leah.

Although living like that would be considered a serious crime in real society, it's likely that it also applies in this world, but from their conversation, it seems they are not fugitives. They may have skills in operation, or maybe they know when to stop.

Although they are now identified as thieves, it feels a shame if they have to use their lives just as an experience.

Is there a system in this world that allows you to always bring NPCs with you? "I understand... I now understand your background well. You've been trying hard so far."

"You've realized it, haven't you? However, if you continue living like this, someday someone will take everything from you. Do you understand?"

The expressions of the four looked surprised to hear Lea's words. They seemed to have never considered such a thing before. Of course, that's understandable.

"Although you need to do a little crime to survive, you should do it more inconspicuously. Not being conspicuous doesn't mean avoiding interaction with others, but being part of society without being a standout figure.

Even when you only go down to the city to buy clothes or food, for city dwellers, they will wonder how you live day to day and where you get your money. Even if the money is obtained by killing competitors or wandering merchants, if people find out, you'll immediately be treated as a fugitive. Although killing competitors isn't too much of a problem."

"But, you... Even when going to the city, you don't have a place to sleep, and there are no people like us in the city center, so you can't steal money, right?"

"Oh, from there, yes."

Lea decided to first teach them how to earn money legally. For that, she had to explain about the economic system, economic activities, social structure, and the origins of the six representing countries. She felt sorry seeing their condition, so she untied them and gave them clothes while explaining.

Given the freedom to ask questions, the lecture ended after about five full hours passed. Initially, I created the character with enthusiasm to start quickly, but it was entirely in vain.

However, if I think about it instead, I managed to build a connection with NPCs. Maybe it's not so bad. Although I don't know how useful these girls are as NPCs.

Thinking about it, I glanced at the girls, they looked at me with shining eyes. It was a look of respect or admiration, a look that amused me.

"Rae-sama Elf, so knowledgeable. I've never met someone like her before. And, she's very kind."

"And she's very strong. And also kind-hearted."

Kelly and Riley praised Rae enthusiastically. The two young girls nodded in agreement.

"Oh no, I can't say I'm kind-hearted. I just like explaining things to others, so I do it because I want to."

"But so far, no one has ever explained something so politely to us before."

"When I was still in the village, if I asked about something I didn't know, I would be beaten because I was considered useless."

"That's for sure... difficult."

However, in a village society where the population equals the workforce, maybe there's nothing that can be done. If someone will never leave the village throughout their life, whether they know about monetary economics or state formation, it might not be that important. Maybe the villagers themselves can't answer questions because they also don't know. Maybe because they have experienced the same thing too.

"You are kind, Rae."

Kelly looked at Rae sincerely.

The shining eyes dimmed, now slightly uneasy.

"Rae-sama Elf, please. We want you to be our boss."

An odd error message appeared: 'You haven't acquired the appropriate skills. To tame Kelly, you need the skill 'control'.'"

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