With Loreleia's speech finally coming to an end, an almost immediate and well-deserved round of applause erupted. The lighting in the area began to brighten and take her out of the spotlight. Unfortunately, that meant there was a new target—me.

There had already been some inquisitive glances my way during her speech, especially during her dramatic retelling of my cover story. Still, it was never more than a glance before they returned to focus on her.

"Wow, what a speech!" Vee said, still sounding very much in awe. "And that retelling, I was on the very edge of my seat until the very end!"

"I thought you said the story was a load of sappy bollocks?" I asked.

"What, me? Never!" Vee casually denied. "Or maybe your storytelling was just terrible compared to hers."

"I mean, it's quite literally her job to lead the elves; you can't really compare me, who's doing it as a disguise."

"True… also heads up, looks like someone is approaching us!"

I sighed and noticed a male elf approaching. I'd estimate he was younger than Llewel just from a glance, but it was tough to tell with these elves and their supernatural lifespans and appearances. He was wearing a large, billowing black robe with purple trim that looked particularly unfashionable because it was oversized in comparison to his lithe frame.

Well, that's lucky, the Carren elves are the first to approach me!

Vee must have also recognized the elf by his attire, and I could sense a bubbling excitement from her.

"Nice to finally meet you, Lady Vee, Lady Sylthaeryn," he said with a tiny polite bow.

"Ha! He greeted me first," Vee bragged.

Aimon Carren.

"Pleasure to meet you, Lord Carren," I replied politely.

"Please just call me Aimon," he quickly said.

"Very well, Lord Aimon," I corrected. "What brings you to this side of the buffet table?"

"Oh, I'm sure I'm the first of many," he chuckled. "But after seeing Vee here, and hearing the tale of how you two met, I knew that I had to be the first to see both of you!"

"Well, that works out for the both of us," I admitted. "We were hoping to seek out the Carren elves to seek some guidance for Vee. Regrettably, there have been few and far between arachnid companions from the Feirelle branch, as hardly any of us ventured outside of the comfort zone of felids."

"I can sort of understand why, they are more cuddly," Aimon joked.

There was a muted hissing noise in response to his words, and Aimon twitched a little as if he had momentarily lost control of his limbs. He nervously cleared his throat and looked at me apologetically.

"I'd say Vee is pretty cute," I replied.

"A somewhat surprising development, I must admit," Aimon said, still looking a bit uncomfortable as he seemed to be fighting with his oversized robes. "I can't say I've ever seen or heard of a spider in her monster tier that has remained so small. It must be both convenient and risky."

"Well, Vee can shrink and grow," I said in a hushed voice. We had already agreed to tease the Carrens with some information about her to secure their support.

"Truly!?" he cried out in surprise, causing quite the ruckus.

I tilted my head in a gesture towards Vee, who proceeded to grow a little while still remaining capable of balancing on my shoulder. Aimon's eyes widened in shock and awe, and I swear I could see them sparkling. There was another hissing noise, and he twitched a bit more.

Something was going on, and I needed to get to the bottom of it. I activated my plethora of senses, and while quite a few of them failed to penetrate through his robe, which clearly housed a form of protection, I managed to get the outline of a shape thanks to [Electro-Magnetic Sense].

Beneath his robes was a creature with vastly different conductivity from him. I could see it sprawled out across his back, through his sleeves, and down his leggings. It took me a moment, but I eventually pieced together the strange shape as some form of spider due to its eight legs.

"He's wearing his companion as a backpack," I informed Vee telepathically.

"Well, that's one way to bring him or her to the party!" Vee giggled.

"Sorry about that…" Aimon grumbled, looking quite disheveled now. His attitude made it clear that he wasn't very "politically" motivated, or at least he didn't seem to care too much about his appearances. If Paeris were his teacher, he would have been scolded to death by now.

"I take it your companion is a little clingy?" I joked.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to NovelBin for the genuine story.

Aimon's eyes went wide, before he hissed out in a hushed whisper, "You can see her?"

I nodded, as did Vee.

"Well, this robe was a big waste of money," he whined. "I spared no expense in having it be the ultimate deception, even fooling an oracle, and yet you saw right through it on our first meeting!"

Seeing how distressed he was about his expensive robe, I felt bad, while Vee found the situation terribly amusing.

"If I'm honest with you, it baffled most of my senses. But I have one in particular that seems to have been overlooked, possibly due to how rare it is."

"Please, you need to tell me!" he begged.

"Of course, and hopefully the Carrens can return the favor?" I suggested.

Aimon winced before sighing, "Depending on what it is, it can certainly be arranged. Payment would be limited, while a trade in information would be much more feasible."

"It's information I'm after," I replied.

"Oh, thank the gods, I was worried you were after some rare resources," he sighed in relief.

Vee poked me.

"Well, correction, it's Vee who wants the information. We've been trying to uncover some non-conventional evolution options for her future goals."

"Rare evolutions, huh…" Aimon muttered. "I dare say we have a method of finding every and all arachnid evolutions."

Vee squealed in excitement and even wiggled her front legs. Seeing her reaction, Aimon gave a friendly smile.

"It seems like Vee is on board," he chuckled.

His body twitched a bit in response, and since I still had my [Electro-Magnetic Sense] active, I noticed that the spider creature on his back was twitching down the clothing, causing Aimon's limbs to conform.

"And I'm on board too," I replied happily. "Depending on how rare the information is, I can provide further compensation. I have permission to trade some classified information as well."

"Wonderful, I'm sure we have a few elves in our branch who would love that. I wish Kali were more open-minded with these situations… she's worse than my mother."

His body twitched again.

"I hope you understand that I mean no offense, Kali, and that neither Vee nor I will take Aimon from you," I said, hoping to calm down his companion. "As for the reason I spotted her, well, she has a different conductivity level than you or your garments."

"Conductivity?" he asked, looking genuinely baffled.

I gave a light finger flourish while allowing some lightning Mana to coalesce and spark between them.

"Wait, you're a lightning mage? I thought the story said you were an elementalist?" he asked with surprise.

"Lightning is an element," I replied.

"It is? I guess I should have paid more attention in magic class…"

Definitely younger than Llewel.

"To answer your question, conductivity is how well your body will absorb lightning spells. You could also take that as your body's weakness to lightning magic."

"I see…" he mumbled thoughtfully. "But how did that let you see through my cloak?"

"I can see the levels of conductivity. You are far weaker to lightning than Kali is, so I can differentiate between you two."

Vee poked me, "I can also see her with [Spatial Sense] if I focus down."

I quickly tried it myself and saw what Vee was saying. It was a lot harder for me to differentiate the two as separate entities with different coordinates, as I still wasn't as used to utilizing it as she was.

"Vee says she can also see her, but to explain that would require a more secure environment. You could also take my word that I wouldn't bother trying to find a method to counter Vee's method."

"Interesting…" he mumbled again. "I could hazard a guess based on Vee's species name, but I'll refrain from doing so and take your word for it. But this conductivity

is definitely an issue… especially since humans are well-known for their [Lightning Magic]."

They are? I wondered to myself while suppressing my genuine surprise.

"Adding a lightning resistance enchantment to the robe should be enough. Otherwise, you could raise your own resistance to be equal to Kali's, through traits or items. Although that might make you look like a singular misshapen individual under the robe, rather than a pair."

He nodded, taking my advice to heart. He looked genuinely happy with my explanation, and it seemed he was already puzzling out which solution would best fit his needs.

"I might try a few things and then trouble you to use your conductivity vision again," he suggested.

"That works for me. Especially if you can aid Vee with her request."

"Yup. It's time to pay up, bub!" Vee agreed, although it was still just me hearing it.

"Do you know what type of evolution she is seeking? If you can't give specifics, then an idea or theme you are targeting can help me start narrowing it down. Although I'll need to possibly consult with someone smarter than me in the matter, or at least raid a few books."

Vee giggled, possibly taking delight in the elf calling himself dumb. He was very different from the elves I had been exposed to.

"We're looking for a spider equivalent of werewolves, or one that allows some other form of shapeshifting. At the very minimum, she wants an evolution allowing her to speak."

As I answered, I could see Aimon's expression changing. At first, he was curious, then nervous, then resolved. It was very odd to see an elf behave so… human, and it made me reevaluate whether I'd just been blindsided by how absurd Loreleia, Paeris, and Llewel were.

"I… might have an idea. But I will need to get permission from my mom before I can say anything, or bring you there," Aimon said, looking somewhat troubled.

"Hey! We had a deal!" Vee yelled as she began shaking her legs angrily.

Kali must have sensed the hostility as the low hiss returned, and Aimon began to twitch uncontrollably again.

"I'll try my best, I promise," he said directly to Vee.

"You better, or you're slime food!" Vee threatened. "I can't believe we've got a mommy's boy holding me back!"

I wanted to laugh at the conversation happening behind the scenes while Aimon tried his best to understand Vee through her gestures alone. Still, I trusted him to stay true to his word.

"How long are you going to keep her to yourself, Carren boy?" a melodic boyish voice said aloud.

Aimon shuddered on the spot, and Kali went from her hissing to a strange growling noise now.

I turned to the source of the question and saw what looked like a child with an arrogant sneer on his face. He was decked out in clothes and jewelry that even made Loreleia's exquisite look humble, while the other elves at the event were paupers. His appearance screamed "spoiled brat," emphasized further by his entire outfit being pure white with pastel-pink highlights and trimmings.

That's the Elarinwes. While they have a variety of companions, the most common is butterflies because of their supposed beauty. They also specialize in light magic and glamours while trading in jewelry and other beauty-based luxuries.

Galan "Dewdrop" Elarinwe.

"Dewdrop!?" Vee yelled out before bursting out with uncontrollable laughter.

It was good that he couldn't hear or understand Vee, as it would undoubtedly set the spoiled brat off. Likewise, I was immensely grateful to have [Roleplay] active, as I may have caught the contagious laughter myself.

I sighed, seeing how disturbed Aimon was by this child's appearance.

I smell trouble brewing…