After a round of negotiation and communication, the half-elf team finally agreed to lead everyone further into the forest.

On the one hand, The Azure Longsword Team did not have many members; on the other hand, most of the team comprised women. Usually, women are perceived to be less intimidating than men, so the half-elves subconsciously judged that these human girls posed no threat (though they were mistaken).

Several kilometers later, the group arrived at a half-elf village nestled in a clearing in the forest.

To Nora's disappointment once again, these half-elves did not live in the trees but rather built their houses on the ground... Hera's maternal grandfather was from Olympia, where the city was built in the trees; you instead build wooden houses on the ground, how is that elven at all?

Then, Nora suddenly came to her senses and guiltily admitted to herself that she had once again committed the sin of prejudice through stereotypes.

As everyone knows, the characteristic of a village like this is that every household knows each other, so when strangers arrive, word quickly spreads throughout the village.

Therefore, the members of The Azure Longsword soon found themselves the victims of an inhumane spectacle—they were surrounded by the half-elf villagers.

There was no friendly welcome, no reception, no malice in the form of questioning or threats, the half-elves simply stared silently at the members of The Azure Longsword as if...

...watching monkeys?

"Mom," a child behind them asked, "they look really strange, don't they?"

"They are human," the mother replied curtly, not intending to elaborate.

"Why don't humans have pointed ears?" the child continued.

"They are cut off with scissors after birth," the mother answered impatiently, to scare him.

As a result, the half-elf child ran home crying... Members of The Azure Longsword were Transcendents, with better hearing than the average person, and since the other side did not speak in hushed tones, there was a moment of speechlessness among the group.

Fortunately, the awkward spectacle did not last long before the village head was called out by the Sentry Team.

"Are you... here to see His Majesty?" the village leader asked.

"Uh," they paused, before Aske replied,

"We are here to deliver a message for the Bull Mercenary Group; the recipient is specified as the most important caretaker on the half-elf side. If you refer to him as His Majesty, then that is also correct."

"Oh, I see." The village leader nodded, "He must be His Majesty then. Sorry, our village is just on the outer edge, so if you want to see His Majesty, you'll need to travel west."

"Thank you, we must be on our way to complete our task."

"No problem, I'll have one of the village lads guide you there," the Elder said with a slight smile.

Aske, of course, saw no reason to refuse this offer of a "guide" who was in reality a form of supervision.

After all, The Azure Longsword was truly just here to deliver a message.

A few minutes later, as the group left the village, the relevant information was sent out through the trees nearby by a village scout.

90 kilometers west of the Badajoz Jungle, in the Dark Forest of Ailola.

A half-elf tree shepherd, who was meditating at the base of a tree, suddenly opened his eyes.

He quickly wrote down a line of information on a piece of paper and handed it to the Elf Guard standing watch beside him.

"Leave it to the advisor," he said.

————————

As The Azure Longsword Team members followed the half-elf guide westward, the trees around them became increasingly tall and dense.

If in the Badajoz Jungle area, the shade would allow some sunlight to seep through, then approaching the Dark Forest in the west, there were trees so large that it would take 3-4 people to encircle them. Their enormous canopies, spreading a radius of seven or eight meters, completely blocked the sun, not a drop reaching the ground below.

Even though it was daytime, the forest was utterly devoid of light. A few deer wandered along the tree roots, nibbling leaves from the bushes. The patterned spots on their fur emitted a faint blue phosphorescent glow, clearly not that of ordinary deer.

The half-elf guide signaled for everyone to stop, then raised his gun and fired a warning shot above the deer.

Consequently, the deer scattered in fright.

Nora: ??

What happened to elves and animals being naturally in harmony?

Her expression changed several times, only to hear the half-elf guide turn around and explain:

"When approached by predators, phosphorescent deer will ignite blue flames on their bodies. The flames aren't too hot, but they are poisonous, so I fired a shot in advance to scare them away."

"Do you often encounter attacks from these extraordinary creatures?" Nora inquired curiously.

"Of course. Phosphorescent deer are still manageable, but the carnivorous extraordinary creatures are far more troublesome," the half-elf guide replied.

Nora noticed that while he was talking to her, his eyes repeatedly glanced over at Miel, and she asked with a smile:

"Are you acquainted with our companion by any chance?"

By emphasizing that Miel was a "companion," she naturally aimed to dispel any suspicion and take a probing approach. As expected, the half-elf guide's face subtly changed, and then he said with some complexity:

"I apologize, it's just... Your companion bears a striking resemblance to someone I once knew."

"A striking resemblance?" Nora instantly became interested. A half-elf who looked very much like Miel? Could it be... a long-lost relative?

Her mind quickly filled with countless scenarios: Over a decade ago, a half-elf woman, due to family tragedy, sailed across the ocean to the distant East. After giving birth to Miel, she died full of resentment. Now, the grown-up Miel had returned to her birthplace—the Lucitania Great Forest—to seek out her mother's old friends.

"Don't be ridiculous," Medea spoke to her through the Mind Communication Channel, "Miel's family moved to Constantinople a long time ago. According to her family's lineage records, her known elf bloodline migrated from Lucitania to Italy during the Third Epoch and then moved to Macedonia at the start of the Fourth Epoch, eventually arriving in the East Solomon Empire."

"Medea, aren't you curious about who this half-elf who looks so much like Miel is?" Nora asked, batting her eyelids.

"I'm not curious," said Medea, "looking alike doesn't mean there's a blood relation. My sister and I were born of the same mother, but we look nothing alike."

"I think you two share quite similar personalities," Nora said with a chuckle, having met Marquina before.

Medea scoffed and turned her head away.

"Alright." After perhaps a few more hours of walking, the half-elf guide pointed ahead and said:

"We'll stay at the 'Konggu Youlan' inn this evening. According to our itinerary, we should reach Royal City Ailola by tomorrow afternoon."

The group looked where he pointed and saw a pond nestled within the forest ahead. Around the pond, large trees were fenced in with simple hedges, and atop each tree was built a treehouse.

According to the half-elf guide's explanation, these treehouses were part of the inn, rented out to passing travelers—for a fee, of course.

Though the group could have returned to Fire Island to rest, sleeping in treehouses offered a unique experience. Thus, the ladies eagerly paid at the largest treehouse, booking nine separate treehouse rooms in one go.

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