Changelog Chapter 7,8,9 (Human Language)

Added 3 small scenes that I forgot (thought I had them inside, but I didn.t). It's about how MC learns the human language whilst in the caravan.

Changelog Chapter 7: 

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Listening to those kids wasn’t all bad in the end. Their constant blabbering and yelling actually improved my understanding of their language—young ones tend to use simpler and more common words. Memo to self: develop a better earring…

This part:

Over time, I started piecing it together. The elven children we were traveling with—clearly being taught by the caravan—spoke both human and elvish, and the way the others talked to a certain one made it even easier to absorb the two languages together. I soaked it all in before I eventually sighed.

Changelog Chapter 8: Added and slightly changed a few things. 

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‘Oh, that’s re—wait. ‘Would’ suggest?’ Asche’s voice sharpened. ‘What happened to the tenth one?’

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‘Oh, look!’ I interrupted brightly. ‘Isn’t that a dragon flying overhead?’

‘Nonono, answer my—'

A knock on the carriage frame saved me from further interrogation. One of the elves outside called out, “Just a heads-up, we’ll reach the village by late afternoon.”

'How late is it, anyway?' I added, bulldozing whatever thought process she had left.

‘Uuh... midmorning, maybe?’ she answered after flickering out of the carriage for a second in her spectral form.

‘Great. Guess we’ve still got a few more hours…’

About an hour later, once the wagon finally stopped groaning and most of the passengers were asleep, Nelua shuffled over, eyes gleaming with nervous excitement.

“I-I have something for you,” she said shyly, holding out something unexpected: a small, hand-bound book.

The pages were uneven, the ink slightly smudged, but her careful handwriting filled every line. Human words.

“I thought it might help,” she murmured, ears twitching and cheeks flushed. “It’s just basic stuff—greetings, food, signs… a bit about customs. I added some notes too. It’s my personal notebook and how I learned the language.”

Before I could thank her, she scurried back to her place.

'She's really a nice girl, huh?' Asche noted.

'She is,' I said, the weight of how I’d toyed with their souls brushing against the edge of my thoughts.

I hadn’t really cared about books yet—but with the village getting closer and the human language creeping in from all sides, I figured it couldn’t hurt to open it. Might as well see if it was worth anything.

The letters were easy. Too easy. I skimmed whole pages without stopping. What used to look like scribbles now made sense. Crude, but effective.

Between this book and overhearing the elves—especially how they spoke to Nelua—I’d picked up more than I thought. Common phrases, strange expressions, the way they bent meanings sideways and called it clarity. I still tripped up sometimes, but I could speak. I could read. Close enough. I’d probably ask Nelua later if she had something more advanced.

At some point, another knock came, "We've reached the village. We'll be resting a little further down the road at a designated camp. The Elder is meeting with the village chief, so please keep the children from wandering off. Even if we’ve passed through here many times before, you can never fully trust these people."

Changelog Chapter 9:

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If I had to describe them, they were pikemen. Their armor was light but flamboyantly decorated—designed more to impress than protect. They moved down the line, glancing at each carriage, assessing each traveler.

This part:

I pulled Nelua’s latest book from my bag—the one she said had all the advanced stuff. Nobles, slang, formal grammar. I flipped through a few pages, skimmed a paragraph about trade etiquette, and shut it again.

Didn’t need it anymore.

I understood everything just fine now. Spoken, written, even their weird metaphors that barely made sense. What I hadn’t picked up from the caravan, I got through Asche and her outdated knowledge of dialects. Another bonus of the soul-link. But honestly… most of it was probably buried in my head since before seclusion.

I tucked the book back into the bag beside me and leaned against the side of the wagon, waiting.