Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Judith glanced in Pelan's direction, pondered for a few seconds, and said, "Tomorrow morning, we happen to have a shipment of goods to be delivered to the Elven Forest. You can travel with us. I will provide you with letters of recommendation to ensure your successful entry into Ithilien."

"Ithilien is the city of the elves," Judith said, her gaze settling on Arnold as she spoke. "The Elven Forest is merely our name for it. Its true name is Ithilien."

The city of the elves?

The group exchanged glances. Pelan nodded and said, "We have decided to depart tomorrow morning. Thank you, kind lady."

With the issue of reaching the Elven Forest resolved, Pelan relaxed slightly. Once they arrived in Ithilien, Lou Guanyue's compass artifact should finally be usable, right?

"It's so strange. I dare say I know every city in the southern part of the Yakalanst continent, and none of them are called Ithilien," Arnold remarked, sipping on the unique fruit wine of Columbus Port and eating fried pork sausages, occasionally chatting with Pelan beside him.

Lou Guanyue casually studied the map and nodded. "Indeed, it's a place that doesn't appear on any map."

Pelan leaned over and pointed to the edge of the map. "This is the Elven Forest."

Sitting back down, Pelan added, "During the Great Cataclysm period, there were quite a few human towns near the Elven Forest. However, later on, that forest vanished, just like the ruins of Catlas City."

Lou Guanyue raised an eyebrow slightly but said nothing.

After finishing their dinner, they wandered around the lively, noisy streets for a while before returning to the inn.

Early the next morning, the three boarded a carriage. After nearly two hours of travel, the carriage slowly came to a stop.

They were unfamiliar with Columbus Port and had no idea where Ms. Judith had taken them.

Entering a concealed room, they saw an enormous and ancient magic array.

"Go ahead. I've already informed the elves. They won't give you any trouble."

The three stepped into the magic circle. Accompanying them were two figures with obscured faces, followed by a large quantity of goods wrapped in black cloth.

Upon entering the teleportation circle, Lou Guanyue sensed ripples reminiscent of spatial magic.

As he encountered more and more magic, he had developed his own understanding of the magic on the Yakalanst continent. In his view, cultivation arts and magic had similarities; in many aspects, the two weren't all that different.

The energy stones on the ground soon lit up, emitting a bright silvery-white light.

Ithilien.

A female elf alighted swiftly on the branch of a giant tree, retracting her gossamer wings. She raised her arm and forcefully knocked on the door of the treehouse, the deafening noise causing nearby elves to peek out to see what was happening.

"Hailisha, get up! Today is your first day of work!"

Inside, Hailisha was sprawled on her soft bedding, sleeping soundly, completely oblivious to the knocking.

Nifla gave a cold laugh, took out her magic staff, and immediately began chanting an incantation: "...Elements of Thunder, heed my call, go and awaken that lazy elf inside!"

As soon as the incantation ended, a crackling sound erupted inside the room. Hailisha was instantly startled awake, bolting upright in bed.

"Who! Who's playing a prank?!" The faint shock jolted Hailisha's mind awake. Her eyes widened as she clutched her quilt and retreated several steps.

A small cluster of crackling sparks fizzled out by the bedside after a moment, leaving only a small patch of black ash on the floor.

"Hailisha, aren't you up yet?" Nifla's urging voice came from outside the door.

"I'm up!" Hearing her voice, Hailisha finally remembered that today was her first day of work. She tossed aside the quilt in her arms, jumped out of bed, and quickly washed up and got dressed.

She irritably grabbed her magic alarm clock, only to realize she had forgotten to press the start switch last night.

"Hailisha! If you don't come out now, I'm leaving—"

Nifla called out again. Hailisha hastily dropped the alarm clock and raised her voice in response, "Wait for me! I'll be quick!"

After opening the door, she mumbled an apology, "Sorry, my alarm clock didn't go off this morning—"

"No time for explanations!" Nifla tapped her forehead with a bent finger and pulled her forward, hurrying along. "If we don't hurry, we'll be late."

They had grown up together since childhood. Nifla was well aware of Hailisha's habit of oversleeping. When she didn't see Hailisha at the agreed-upon square in the morning, she knew this scatterbrained elf had fallen asleep again!

Hailisha had no time to sulk. She spread her wings and flew outward. It would take at least an hour to fly from here to their workplace. To save time, Nifla cast a wind-enhancing spell on them both to increase their flight speed.

Finally, with three minutes to spare, they successfully arrived at the forest on the outskirts of Ithilien.

They were quite fortunate. Not only were they born in the same incubation room, grew up together, and studied together, but after graduation, they were also successfully assigned to work in the same place.

There were rarely any elves outside Ithilien. Apart from patrol team members, only trainee elves like them, specifically in charge of handling shipments, were stationed here.

After the Millennium Holy War ended, the Elven Queen sealed off the Elven Forest, no longer concerning herself with the affairs of Yakalanst. Aside from essential trade, she essentially severed ties with the outside world. Only a few elves who needed to gain experience after coming of age would journey across the continent after obtaining the Queen's permission.

Their workplace was at the edge of the Elven Forest. This was the trade hub between humans and elves. It was also the only place where elves living in Ithilien had a chance to see humans.

"We'll get to see humans today. It's my first time seeing real, live humans!" Hailisha felt both nervous and excited, clenching her fists.

Nifla had never seen humans either, but she curled her lip and snorted coldly, "What's there to be excited about? They're just a few humans. I'd rather not see them at all! The teacher said humans are a bunch of greedy, ugly creatures!"

If it wasn't for Hailisha, she'd never have taken this post where they occasionally saw humans!

Nifla added this thought internally, not showing it outwardly.

"I think those singing bards are wonderful. They love to recite poems about elves and spread elven stories across the land. Besides, not all humans are like that, right? Even among elves, there are bad ones." Hailisha recalled some unpleasant experiences, puffing out her cheeks as she spoke.

Nifla flicked her forehead and looked at her sternly, "Don't you dare foolishly fall in love with a human! Remember what the teacher said: once, a female elf fell in love with a handsome human man. Despite dissuasion from family and friends, she insisted on going to a human city, only to discover that nobleman already had a wife and children!"

"Blinded by love, she was willing to stoop to being his mistress, bearing him a beautiful daughter. But in the end, the man abandoned her! She could only return to Ithilien with her daughter. After her daughter grew up, she took her own life in silence!" At this point, Nifla couldn't help but show a sorrowful expression.

Her tone grew even more serious, "Humans are generally cunning and deceitful, often using despicable means to trick other simple and kind-hearted races. Falling in love with a man only leads to misfortune! Remember that!"

"Got it, got it," Hailisha covered her slightly reddened forehead and muttered softly, "Can humans possibly be more beautiful than elves? I won't even glance at men!"

Just as Nifla was about to say more, the Teleportation Magic circle beside them lit up with a glow.

The two stopped their playful bickering. Nifla quickly stepped forward, took out her magic staff, and stood in front of the teleportation circle, chanting a magic incantation.

After the silvery-white light faded, several humans and a small mountain of goods appeared in the previously empty magic circle.

Hailisha cautiously glanced at the humans in the magic circle out of the corner of her eye. When her gaze fell on one person's face, her emerald-green eyes instantly lit up.

"The goods have been delivered. You may leave," Nifla said with a stern face. She glanced at Pelan and the others stepping out of the magic circle, frowning as she blocked their path. "This is the Elven Forest. Humans are not permitted to approach."

Lou Guanyue hadn't yet learned the elven language, so communication had to be handled by Arnold. Fortunately, elves were naturally adept at language learning. Even though Arnold had only heard elvish a few times, he had still mastered the language.

He stepped forward proactively, a warm smile on his handsome face. "We have letters of recommendation from Ms. Judith, and we have items that need to be delivered to Ithilien and presented to Her Majesty the Queen in person. We hope you will allow us entry."

Nifla's expression didn't relax. Her gaze fell on Arnold's ears. Since she didn't recognize this unfamiliar elf, she still blocked his way. "Unnecessary. We will deliver the items to Her Majesty the Queen on your behalf."

As the standoff continued, a gentle, pleasant voice came from behind them. "Let them in, Nifla."

"Teacher!"

A flicker of joy crossed Nifla's face before her brows furrowed slightly. "But teacher, they..."

"This matter has also been approved by the Queen." The noble and gentle female elf glanced at Arnold and gave a slight nod. "Are you Norsen's child?"

A flash of surprise crossed Arnold's face. "...You, how do you know?"

"Her Majesty the Queen will explain this to you." The elf did not answer directly but introduced herself instead. "My name is Cathy, and I am also a half-elf."

Real surprise showed in Arnold's eyes. He hadn't expected to find a half-elf living within the Elven Forest.

No wonder.

Pelan's eyes traveled over Cathy's form. Half-elves only possessed the pointed ears of elves; they were "incomplete," lacking wings on their backs. Their lineage was likely closer to humans than to elves.

However, almost all half-elves inherited the elves' iconic long ears—and yes, their beauty was often part of that inheritance.

With the Elven Queen's permission, they encountered no further obstacles.

Nifla and Hailisha's task was merely to collect the goods. They needed to transport the items back to Ithilien, while the actual delivery was handled by other elves. The area around the magic circle also had dedicated personnel on guard.

The atmosphere on the way back was somewhat strange. Hailisha nudged Nifla with her elbow and whispered, "Did you notice? That man is really handsome! Now I get why some elves would seek out human men. Are all men as good-looking as him?"

Nifla glanced at the group walking ahead and said through gritted teeth, "Did you forget what you just promised me? Don't tell me you've already fallen for this man?!"

"I haven't," Hailisha whispered in defense. "I'm just appreciating him, the same way I appreciate beautiful scenery!"

"That's not the same at all!"

"Ahem." Cathy, walking ahead, cleared her throat, and the two noisy youngsters behind her finally quieted down a bit.

She shook her head with a hint of helplessness and offered an apologetic smile to Lou Guanyue, speaking in the common tongue, "Sir, they meant no offense. I hope you will forgive them."

Lou Guanyue waved his hand gently, indicating that he didn't mind.

No, rather than calling it an elven city, it was more accurate to say this was an elven kingdom.

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Author's note: Next chapter, we're off to find Sipo~~