Ball of Nothing

Chapter 549 - Wood Elf vs High Elf

They didn’t spend too much time in Windy Wood Town. Although Zero was still unable to learn more about the elven way of herding animals, they now had more information about the feud between Spriggan Alex and his World Tree.

"What do you think?" Zero asked Truen who was feeding his wyvern. They decided to stop for a short break by the river. The weather was lovely and Zero didn’t want to rush to Altear’s main city. He wanted to visit at least one wood elf settlement within Altear just so that he had something to compare the difference with when he met the high elves.

At the moment, Zero was stuck undecided. They were in between two wood elf settlements as indicated on the scholar’s map. However, Zero’s mini-map function wasn’t picking up anything. Truen decided to put his skills to better use and fired several Area Detection spells in different directions and waited for information.

They decided to have a quick lunch by the river as the paka-paka and wyvern rested. Bob wanted to stretch his legs and took off hunting. It was the Altear Forest and there were many animals for the young dragon to hunt. They were also away from the main path. Surely, it would be alright to relax a little.

Zero regretted his words. They should have been more cautious and Bob should have been more careful about getting caught by the elves lying in an ambush. Zero wasn’t sure how they did it but these wood elves had such strong stealth covers within the forest that not even Wii was able to sense them until they revealed themselves. In fact, Truen’s Area Detection spell malfunctioned for the very first time. He thought he sensed some life signature energy about ten miles away but that turned out to be a decoy.

Bob could easily blow the elves away but he played the role of a helpless summon and struggled weakly in the wood elf’s hold. Zero swallowed whatever that was in his mouth when he saw Bob’s poor acting. How could this fool the wood elves?

It was an awkward situation when the native wood elves saw one of their kind with a human lady leisurely eating lunch by the river who had a lizard summon. It felt as if they were disrupting their date but rules were rules. Any intruder without the tribe’s permission must be captured for a trial.

"According to the law, all intruders without travel permits must be apprehended for a trial! You may hold your silence and come with us without resisting to prove your innocence at the tribal hearing. Any resistance from you will be treated as hostility and we will not hold back from hurting you!"

The speaker was a scared and malnourished wood elf who carried a spear. She looked like she would run if she wasn’t on duty and the three other wood elves, including the one who was carrying Bob, didn’t look like they had any proper meals in a while.

Zero silently talked to Bob and Truen using the party call as he munched. These people had to eat a little more if they wanted to fight. However, having them walk up to him was a huge lifesaver. Now, they didn’t have to figure out where the wood elves were. They could simply be led the way, it was a win-win situation.

"Sure," Zero agreed. "But first, won’t you let us finish lunch? In fact, my summon there has just caught something. We have more than enough for everyone. Would you like some?"

The wood elves looked at each other and felt their stomachs growl. It was clear they were starving but the suspicion wasn’t cleared so they hesitated. Zero noticed that look of doubt and smiled charmingly. Who cared if they were ladies? Lilith said that a master of the womanly arts can charm anyone regardless of gender.

"I actually have not seen this animal before so I don’t know how to cook it. As natives of this forest, could you help me or teach me?"

The shy request made the wood elves feel slightly better. They were still wary and two wood elves held their spears up towards them but Zero was glad the other two were dismantling Bob’s catch for roasting.

Bob helped to make a small campfire by sneezing onto a pile of dried twigs. The sneeze was adorable and the wood elves quickly dropped their guard towards the intruders when the huge monitor lizard was cooking. Zero, Bob and Truen didn’t eat a lot of the grilled lizard. They decided to let the starving girls eat more and Zero even brought out some tea from his inventory, sneaking in a few additional sandwiches from his sling bag.

Zero didn’t mind. He simply allowed the wood elves to lead their mounts back. Bob w.h.i.n.ed a little when he was carried uncomfortably in a wood elf’s arms. Truen and Zero allowed the wood elves to tie their arms behind their backs lightly. It didn’t hurt and if they really wanted, these loose knots wouldn’t hold them.

The wood elf village wasn’t very far from the river. In fact, Zero didn’t sense it until they passed the barrier. Truen counted about thirty wood elves including children. It wasn’t a very big village but the barrier was so strong that it made Zero wonder if there was a powerful magician guarding this small village.

They were led to the village chief’s house and escorted inside. Bob was placed onto the ground at last and the trio waited for the wood elf chief to make their appearance. Zero wondered if it would be a man or a woman as they waited.

When the village chief appeared, Zero was surprised to see a high elf instead of a wood elf. Their gender didn’t really matter but Zero was certain that the pretty face was masculine.

"What’s a high elf doing here in the village of wood elves?" Zero asked and only realised that he said the words aloud when the wood elves glared at him.

Truen closed his eyes in resignation. Leave it to Zero to ruin a perfectly friendly atmosphere.