The Sword and The Shadow

Oljharok and Eiron

On the way back to the tavern, Kurdak and Vera discussed their options. Even though they didn't know magic, they could be reasonably sure removing a spell wouldn't take as long as two years.

There was certainly another reason Eiron wanted them to be in the elven settlement for so long. Did that mean he was trying to get them to leave Starfall?

If so, why would he do so?

The two of them weren't able to figure out the reason. How could they know that even after coming to Lance, someone would be trying to use both of them to suppress Leguna?

They had no choice but to ask the more experienced Manhattan for advice and listen to Lamir's opinion as well. Though, they knew they didn't really have much of a choice since Eiron seemed to have quite a lot of power in Moonshadow. Basically, they couldn't choose any other option even if they decided they didn't want to go to the elven settlement.

Manhattan was of the same opinion as Kurdak. While they had to keep up their guard, there wasn't a need to resist or escape. That would only make things difficult for both sides.

Surprisingly, Lamir seemed rather excited at the prospect of staying in the elven settlement for some time. Even Vera didn't know what to make of it. She had gone there before and wasn't too interested in it any longer.

Incidentally, even though they had been living with each other for half a year, their relationship was still quite vague. While Vera felt accepting of Lamir, she didn't know if the other felt the same, so she was rather hesitant.

On the other hand, Lamir was still testing the waters to see what Vera was fine with. Perhaps only she knew what went on in her mind.

So while the two seemed fine on the surface, the eerie sense of calm unnerved Kurdak quite a bit. He felt like he was sleeping beside two blades that could cut him when he wasn't paying attention.

The thought of that made Kurdak even more impressed for Leguna. How did he do it? How did he get all three of his girls regard each other as sisters? Both the quality and quantity of his relationships were better than Kurdak's, which made him feel rather perplexed.

After a few simple discussions, they decided to go with Eiron's plans to head to the elven settlement together.

The four of them packed up and left Starfall for the beautiful and ethereal settlement.

……

A few days later in Nightsong Forest…

Jelanoe sped through the trees like an agile monkey. When he returned to the settlement, he loudly proclaimed, "O' my fellow kind and gentle tribesmen, we are going to host human friends from afar. I admit that most of us think humans are sneaky and insidious creatures, but these four have been brought back by Elder Eiron. They are humans acknowledged by him and isn't it time for us, noble and forgiving elves, to show our grace?"

The elves began to whisper and chatter. As a race that appreciated silence and elegance, they wouldn't babble like orcs unless absolutely necessary. While there were a number of elves that still didn't want to accept the humans, most were convinced by Jelanoe's rhetoric.

Jelanoe was the captain of their patrol and Eiron was the wisest and most reputable elder they had. With the guarantee of those two, perhaps those humans were friendly after all.

Seeing the response of his tribesmen, Jelanoe was filled with relief. Eiron had instructed him to try to convince the rest of the elves to accept the humans before he left and he had done much in the past few days for that.

He drew much inspiration from the so-called sneaky humans. First, he spread rumors in the tribe that humans would be coming to the elven settlement. He then secretly took note of the response the rumor generated and personally went to convince those that had more extreme reactions.

After much effort, he was finally able to get most of the tribesmen to accept that fact. When he noticed Eiron and the other four on the way, he rushed back to give the last shot he needed to prepare the elves for that fact.

He felt rather ashamed over the past few days as he had resorted to human trickery. Did that mean he could no longer continue to be a pure and kind elf?

As he was mulling over that fact, Eiron had entered the settlement with the humans.

While the elven welcoming ceremony seemed rather elegant, it lacked the warmth and hospitality of the humans'. Despite that, the dark-blonde, short-haired priestess ran about excitedly in the settlement like a curious little girl.

It didn't come as much of a surprise. Though Lamir was nearing her late twenties, the naivete and callousness she had as a young girl was still preserved. What kind of girl wouldn't be amazed by the mysterious magical lights and grand artful buildings of the elves?

At the very least, she more or less still behaved like a human noble. Though her excitement was practically leaking out of her eyes, she didn't make much noise or touch any and everything. The elves even found that a little endearing.

Kurdak looked at the excited Lamir and felt that the trip was worth it. Eiron had saved him once before, after all. While he couldn't be sure of his intentions now, the elder was still his benefactor. It wasn't becoming of Kurdak to continue to suspect him. What could the elves want with him anyway? They were famous for their innocence and purity, after all.

He was even more moved by the fact they were welcomed, despite the slight unwillingness on the elves' part. It was rather commendable for folk as aloof and conservative as them to accept strangers like him. Eiron truly had done much for them four.

"I hope that you can have a good time during your stay here," Eiron said with a smile.

"We won't be leeching off you here."

Kurdak had wanted to take money out of his dimensional pocket -- he had earned quite a lot from his tavern business over the past half a year and brought his savings with him -- but he found that the elves were completely uninterested in his gold coins.

As Kurdak had his mouth hung open awkwardly, Manhattan reacted. "We will do our best to help the elves in development if we can. While our architecture may not be as fancy and beautiful as the elves', I believe the accumulated technique and knowledge from our ancestors are worthy of consideration and study."

"We greatly appreciate it." Eiron bowed and the other elves soon followed.

Kurdak and the rest hurriedly returned the bow it all turned awkward once more. They didn't know how to speak elven at all and only Eiron could interpret for them. However, he was called away by another elf all of a sudden.

The four of them could only use their expressions and body language to communicate.

Eiron was brought to a small treehouse with a glowing magic platform. There was a large face inside the screen.

It was the face of an orc. As a race that fancied beautiful things, elves had always looked down on orcs with hostility. However, Eiron and this orc's relationship was different.

Eiron had traveled the world and had seen much more than most elves. His rich knowledge had long bridged the gap of petty racial differences.

That orc was also no normal orc. He was known as the greatest orc of the Wild Flatlands. Even though he was only in his middle age, he had built a never-before-seen orcish empire and was named the first Orc Great Chieftain.

He was the chieftain of the Earth-shaking Hammer tribe, Oljharok. However, most people didn't know that most of his knowledge and wisdom had actually come from the elder of a small elven settlement, Eiron.

"Teacher…" Oljharok bowed to Eiron calmly. He was quite the odd orc as adjectives like savage or beastly couldn't be used to describe him. Even though he did have fearsome tusks like orcs, his eyes were calm and had the wisdom of a sage.

"Kurdak and the rest are here," Eiron said, "What about your side?"

"Sir Kreighdon is more than willing to go to the other continent for a trip. He has set out as planned," Oljharok said.

"Good. Hopefully, Sir Kreighdon will come into play at the crucial moment." Eiron nodded with satisfaction. With the blood-colored wargod's help, things would be much easier.

"Teacher, I wonder how much time is left?" the orc asked.

"I can't be sure, but I know we're running short of it. At most, we have around a year. If someone finds out about everything, things might change. But if we fail, we can only bet all our hopes on that child."

"That child is a magnificent one," Oljharok said, reminiscing the black-haired boy. "At least, he has really good luck."