Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The sunlight illuminated the mist, leaving a gold spot where the rays were vaguely changing between the different shades of greenness. Nature’s Residence was made even more dreamy and exuberant.
“Everyone, you will live here for the time being. Don’t go to random places. Some elves are not friendly with human beings.” Iristine pointed at a forest that was made of dozens of trees. There were plenty of houses on them.
Hearing her words, Alferris shook his tail and said solemnly, “No problem.”
He heard it very clearly that some elves were only unfriendly to human beings. It seemed that he could wander around and collect souvenirs for himself.
Jurisian smiled at Iristine. “Your Highness, please give me the list of the corrupted elves.”
“They are caged in a prison near the elvish tree. Are you going to investigate them now?” Arcelion acknowledged the sorcerers’ activeness.
Jurisian shook his head. “In that case, I’m sure that Mr. Evans will check them later. We’ll simply walk around in the forest and ask the friends of those corrupted elves for more details, so…”
Smiling, he left his intention unfinished.
Iristine nodded. “I’ll give the files of the corrupted elves and their friends to you.”
“You’d better mark those who were close to them before their corruption.” Felipe added. Although it did seem to be the corruption caused by the abyssal air, no possibilities should be ruled out until things were investigated, or they might be misled.
Arcelion’s face slightly changed, before he nodded in acknowledgment.
It was not because he had any secret but a normal reaction that every leader of the elves should have when they heard Felipe’s words, which obviously stated that something went wrong within the elves.
Under the sunlight, Felipe looked no different from vampires who hadn’t been out for years. However, he did not explain that it was a regular procedure of investigation but simply let Arcelion and Iristine guess. What if some of them jumped out under the pressure?
After ten minutes, Annick and Sprint walked to the southeast of the forest with the list and the marked location.
“Ulmer, the best friend of the corrupt elf Kalette…” Annick read the list.
Watched by the elves who were beautiful regardless of their gender, his face flushed beyond his control. He hurried to cast ‘Mechanized Mind’ onto himself.
Sprint looked at him. “What’s to be shy about? We’re investigators, and we take the natural initiative. It should be them who are nervous!”
“I’m always anxious and unable to control my feelings when I’m faced with strangers.” The redness on Annick’s face was gone, and he became as cold as an iron golem.
Sprint sniffed. “Anxious? You are too unconfident. It’s perfectly normal to say or do wrong things.”
“Are you afraid that you will leave them with a bad impression? Hilarious. There’s no telling whether or not we will ever be back to the Stroop forest. Even if you may do something downright humiliating, so what? Also, your awkwardness will leave a more terrible impression than any humiliating thing ever will.”
He had always been criticizing Annick’s personality. This time, he had accepted Heidi’s mission to help Annick to be more confident and bold, so that he could face his teacher with a better attitude without caring about the argument about arcana.
“Why? I like the shy boys most. It means that they have a pure and simple heart!” Suddenly, a mild voice joined their conversation.
That is not necessarily true. Some people don’t talk much simply because their heart is too filthy. Sprint thought to himself while he looked at the source of the voice, only to see a beautiful elf walking toward them. She had black hair, silver skin and was wearing simple clothes made of tree leaves, with a harp in her hands.
Eyeing the stranger up and down, Sprint secretly said to Annick, “This elf is interested in you. Don’t let go of this opportunity, or you will live the rest of your life alone.”
Clearing his throat, he asked on behalf of his best friend, “My lady, may we know your name?”
“I’m a male.” The pointy and soft ears of the beautiful elf waved. He did not seem surprised at the situation.
Despite the ‘Mechanized Mind’, Annick’s face couldn’t have looked more awful. Sprint asked, his facial muscles cramping, “You are a male? And you said you like boys most?”
The beautiful elf shook his harp and spoke like a poet. “Love is genderless.”
Pulling Sprint, Annick held back his discomfort and turned around.
“No wonder the files in the library said that elves have all kinds of quirks because of their long and casual life…” Sprint regretfully thought to himself. He had almost pushed his friend into an abyss.
Before Annick was able to reply, the beautiful elf behind them already spoke with a smile. “Right, I haven’t introduced myself yet. I am Ulmer. I heard you mentioning my name just now.”
As a Moon Elf, he had exceptional hearing abilities, particularly when the wind was in his favor.
“Ulmer?” Sprint and Annick stopped. They turned around, neither of them looking too good.
“Mr. Ulmer, there’s something that we’d like to ask you.” Eventually, Annick, with ‘Mechanized Mind’, summoned his courage and asked.
Ulmer replied with a smile, “What’s your opinion on the heptachord? Has the human beings’ modification on the harp lost its essence?”
“…” Annick and Sprint were immediately rendered speechless. While their teacher was a great musician, they had been learning arcana and magic after him, not music! They did not even know what the professional music question was about at all!
Ulmer sighed, “We can’t be friends if you don’t know art, and we can’t have a pleasant conversation if we are not friends. Do you have any opinion on wax figures? I bought one of them recently and I feel that they are very interesting. Do you like them?”
“…” Sprint and Annick were lost for words again, suddenly feeling that their life lacked a profile.
“You don’t know wax figures, either? Well, what about the lost civilizations? I’m told that the Congress of Magic found a relic of a steam civilization?” Said Ulmer in disappointment.
Hu. Annick and Sprint both heaved a sigh of relief. History and lost civilizations were the specialties of every arcanist, or they wouldn’t be able to explore and identify things. Also, their teacher was the discoverer of the relic.
After a pleasant exchange of opinions, Ulmer finally changed his attitude. “You have come to ask about Kalette?”
“Yes, we would like to know if he showed any anomalies before his corruption.” Said Annick, greatly relieved.
Ulmer moved his long and beautiful hand on the strings, producing cheerful music, but he said sadly, “Everything was good. Kalette even mentioned that he learnt a special dance and was going to perform it for you. However, he was corrupted and demonized later…”
His voice lowered and was barely audible.
“A special dance?” Despite his shyness, Annick had always been scrupulous and wouldn’t let go of any clue.
“It’s our deal. We write poems, songs and create special dances according to the records of different civilizations to entertain each other.’ Ulmer explained gloomily.
There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong about that… Sprint continued asking, “Who else was Kalette intimate with except for you? Or rather, which faction of elves did he prefer?”
“We are both believers of Nature’s Balance. We both love the music, statues, painting and other artworks of human beings.” Ulmer did not keep it a secret. Suddenly, he remembered something. “He did have a few friends who believed in Nature’s Abhorrence. However, the society in Nature’s Residence is small. Everybody has a few friends who believe otherwise. Right, before his corruption, he just served in the abyssal gap. That was probably the reason why he was demonized…”
It was a major clue provided by the Elvish Court. Both Annick and Sprint knew it very well. Seeing that no other valuable intelligence could be obtained, they bid Ulmer farewell and looked for the next elf on the list.
……
Heidi and Katrina traveled in the woods protected by Nature’s Residence. Now and then, they saw the elves making statues with the dry roots of trees, or painting with special natural pigment on the rind paper. Their life couldn’t have looked more peaceful.
“Everyone…”
A hundred elves had been gathered on the empty ground up ahead. A medium-height female elf was giving a speech on the tree. Heidi was certain that she was a female because she was wearing a long skirt woven with fresh tree leaves. The male elves, on the other hand, wore two-piece suits made of leaves that were covered by beast hide.
If they wore the same clothes, Heidi and Katrina would have to observe them more carefully to decide their gender. After all, both the males and the females of the elves were slim and gorgeous, and it would be too rude to examine them with magic.
Stopping next to the empty ground, Katrina pulled Heidi’s clothes and pointed at the other side. “Mr. Felipe is there…”
Felipe was standing below a tree quietly with his hands in his pocket, listening to the speech of the elvish girl.
“…I am Nodanielle. I’m here to call for you to capture more deer.” The elvish girl spoke in a high but not unpleasant voice.
“What?”
“Why do you want to kill such a docile animal?”
The elves down below were all confused.
Nodanielle? Heidi and Katrina looked at each other. That’s the target that the two of them were looking for.
Nodanielle said earnestly, “The previous incident made the predators in the forest more crazy and bloodthirsty. Their number has greatly reduced after many of them were killed by us. Under such circumstances, the number of deer will grow exponentially after their nemeses are gone, because they are as fertile as mice.”
“Once the number of deer surpasses a certain threshold, they will cause irrecoverable damage to the forest because they feed on the roots and stems of the plants.”
“We have to maintain the balance of nature!”
Was she a member of Nature’s Balance? Heidi and Katrina joined the crowd and listened to her with great interest.
After Nodanielle finished her speech and most elves accepted, the two of them went forward to greet her.
