Lyod and Hill walked over to Ryth and Azalea.Llyod smiled down at Azalea and said, "Wow, Miss Bryhana! You were incredible!"
Azalea was surprised by the sudden praise that she blushed furiously. "Ah, uhmm… Not really," feeling a bit embarressed.
Ryth bowed down in grat.i.tude at Azalea. "Yes, you really helped us a lot. I thank you."
Azalea waved her hands in an agitated motion. "No, no!" she said, with a troubled look on her beautiful face. "Its nothing much! You helped me alot too!"
Ryth turned to Llyod and Hill and said, "You guys go ahead first."
Llyod and Hill nodded their heads.
Hill walked up front but Llyod slowed down his pace. He then turned to give Ryth a smile and a thumbs up.
Ryth sighed as he watched them go. "What the heck is this guy thinking?" he thought.
He turned to Azalea. "Okay, lets go."
Azalea nodded her head. "Okay."
The two of them began to walk behind Hill and Llyod, a little further back.
Ryth scratched the back of his head awkwardly as he tries to open a topic. "So…." he began slowly. "Do you know anyone from the Dark Elves Tribe?"
Azalea peeked at him and then lowered her head, blushing. "Mhm… kinda," she said. She felt that she could trust Ryth. He hasn"t been trying to do anything to her. So, its probably alright to lower her guard around him a bit.
Ryth nodded. "I see…" he then continued. "Well, we will be arriving at the Dark Elves Tribe sometime this evening if we hurry."
"Okay, Mr. Myrad."
"Eh? Don"t be so formal, just call me Ryth." Ryth waved his hand. He then said awkwardly, "I mean, I guess I was too ahead of myself. I did call you by your first name when we were fighting that serpent. I apologize if I am too forward."
Azalea hurriedly said while waving her hands. "O-ohhh no, you can just call me Azalea like before."
"Oh... okay then." Ryth heaved a sigh of relief.
They continued their walk for quite some time. Azalea and Ryth began to talk about the fight against the blue serpent earlier. Azalea became easier to talk with as she began to slowly open up. She grew more animated as she talked about the skills and techniques Ryth had used against the serpent.
A couple of hours later, they finally entered the forest. Fighting off the smaller monster in the forest, Azalea became more accustomed to Ryth, Hill and Llyod"s teamplay.
After hours of fighting in the forest, they finally got out of the forest and arrived at the entrance of the Dark Elves village. The guards at the entrance hurriedly greet Ryth and the other two.
When they saw Azalea in their party, confusion can be seen in their faces. How did a High Elf end up together with these three men?
Ryth originally wanted to level up and gain more experience, while waiting for the dark elves to sort up their matters. And now, they hurried back to the village because it seems like Azalea is in a hurry to reach the Dark Elves village. So, they decided to comply with Azalea"s request.
Since Ryth already have all the necessary materials to make a new weapon, he thought maybe it is better to head to village then.
They immediately went straight to the Chief house. Ryth wanted to talk to Fenar about Azalea.
The guards who were guarding the Chief house looked surprised to see Azalea behind Ryth.
Ryth knocked on the door and walked in when he heard Fenar"s voice to come in.
Fenar stood up from his mat when he saw Ryth and the others walked in. "Ah, you are back, Mr. Myrad," he greeted.
Ryth bowed and cupped his fists together. "Yes, we have just arrived at the village."
"Do you have any busine-" Fenar couldn"t finish his sentence when he saw a high elf girl behind Ryth.
"Miss Azalea!" Fenar exclaimed in surprise.
Ryth c.o.c.ked an eyebrow at the greeting. Seems like they know each other, indeed. Hill and Llyod looked at each other in surprise too.
Azalea slightly bowed in respect and said softly, "Greetings, Chief Fenar. Its been awhile since we"ve last met."
Fenar bowed back. "Ah, yes! Long time no see," he greeted. "But why are you here, Miss Azalea?" he asked, confused.
Azalea sighed. "Um, yes. But can I meet with Lady Elsa first, Chief Fenar?" she requested, looking awkward.
Fenar nodded his head.
He then turned to one of the guards, standing beside him. "Please call for Lady Elsa to come over," he said.
"Yes!"
The guard immediately went out of the house to call for Lady Elsa.
Few minutes later, Lady Elsa came, with the same guard behind her. When she saw Azalea in the room, she looked quite surprised.
Azalea quickly rushed over to Lady Elsa"s side and hugged her.
Lady Elsa rubbed Azalea"s head and asked, "What happened? Why are you here, my dear? Are you alright?"
Azalea nodded, closing her eyes as she continued hugging Lady Elsa. "Yes, Lady Elsa. I am fine." She then turned back and looked at Ryth and the others. "These gentlemen helped saved me earlier."
Lady Elsa blinked her beautiful eyes and said to them, "I thank you for saving this girl," bowing in respect.
------------------
Optional Quest Completed
Rescue Operation.
Save the kidnapped elf from the bandits.
Reward : +300.000 EXP
-----------------
His EXP bar soared to 90%.
But Ryth ignored the announcement. He felt awkward, seeing Lady Elsa bowing her head to him. "Eh, its no problem! Please rise your head," he said quickly, trying to make Lady Elsa lift her head. "Azalea also helped us with the fight."
"Oh?" Fenar said in surprise. "Mr. Myrad, you help saved Miss Azalea, is it?"
Azalea nodded, releasing Lady Elsa. "Yes, he did. I will explain what had happened earlier on."
Ryth scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Ahh…" he said slowly. "Should we go? We will return back to our house if you need some privacy."
Azalea shook her head. "No, you can stay and listen."
Azalea already had a good impression of Ryth after he had saved her from the bandits. She believed in his good intentions. And from the way he had interacted with the Chief and also to the other elves, she knew that these humans are good people and she can fully trust them.
Fenar gestured to the guards to wait outside to give them privacy. Now, the only people left in the room were Lady Elsa, Chief Fenar, Ryth, Hill, Llyod and Azalea.
Once everyone has settled down on the mat, sitting on a circle, Azalea began to talk how she got caught by the bandits. She talked about how her mother had pa.s.sed away a long time ago and that her father was the High Elf Tribe"s Chief. He was her only family left. But then, her father suddenly died, making her the new Chief of the High Elf Tribe.
She was mourning over the death of her father. It was so sudden. She did not know the details of how he suddenly died but she had her suspicions.
A month of mourning, her ambitious uncle came knocking on her door, trying to force her to marry him. Marriages between close families are common when it comes to the race of Elves. However, Azalea rejected his proposal because she still suspects that her uncle has a hand to her father"s death. Problem was that she has no evidence nor proof.
A day after she rejected her uncle"s proposal, late at night, her house was ambushed by many men in black hoods. All of her guards were killed and her personal team of guards were injured. But they managed to help her escape. She tried to help blocked the chaser but they pushed her further to safety.
She somehow managed to escape from her chasers, a couple of days later. Running nonstop for days, Azalea became more tired. Her stamina began to run out from running and hiding.
However, her bad days continued on when she suddenly encountered a group of bandits in the forest. She was already weak from the fights and the running when she met up with them.
A group of 25 bandits were too much for her to fight. After minutes fighting with them, they saw an opportunity when she made a mistake and got captured by them.
It was a few days later when they encountered Ryth and the others. She was finally saved by them.
Present time.
Lady Elsa patted Azalea on the hand, as she sat next to her. "I see… You have experienced a lot, my dear."
Azalea put her head on Lady Elsa"s shoulder and hugged her. "Mhmm…" she murmured softly as tears started to fall from her beautiful eyes.
"Don"t hold back," Lady Elsa said, concerned. "Just let out all your feelings now. You"re safe now."
Ryth hung his head. "Azalea is such a strong woman... seems like Lady Elsa is like a mother figure to her," he mused thoughtfully. "Guess meeting up with Lady Elsa can put her heart at ease. She can finally cry out her sorrows now."
"What a despicable man! This world is filled with b.a.s.t.a.r.ds such as your stepbrother and her uncle! Making a beautiful girl like that suffered! What a sc.u.mbag!" Daedalus said in anger.
Fenar touched his forehead with his index finger and his thumb, he said. "I didn"t expect that the situation there has become terrible," he paused for a bit and turned to Azalea, "You can stay here, Miss Azalea."
"I actually already heard about the news of your father"s death. And you, being the new Chief of the High Elves Tribe," Fenar said. "But I didn"t know that your uncle had anything to do with your father"s sudden death."
He then turned towards Lady Elsa and said, "Elsa, let Miss Azalea stay with you for the time being. Will that be alright with you?"
"Yes, chief." Lady Elsa nodded.
Azalea sniffed as she brushed away the tears from her eyes. "Thank you for listening. And I apologize if I make you all uncomfortable."
"It"s okay," said Ryth, waving away her apology.
Azalea nodded. She then turned to Fenar and asked, "Can you help me?"
Fenar looked slightly surprised at her request and nodded. "Of course, we can," he said slowly. "However, we already promised Mr. Myrad to help him as well…"
Ryth frowned thoughtfully and then shook his head. He turned to Fenar as well and said, "Ah, that should be alright. We can postpone our plans for now. Lets help her first."
Azalea and the others were surprised. "Is that really okay with you, Ryth?" she asked nervously.
Fenar and Lady Elsa turned to Azalea in unison. "Eh? Ryth?" they said, surprised. They already call each other by their first names?
Fenar quickly turned to Ryth. "Are you sure, Mr. Myrad?" he asked, worried.
Ryth nodded. "Yes, it should be fine." He turned to Azalea. "We will help you. But we will seek your help as well once we are done with your matters," he said.
Azalea jumped up in happiness as she grabbed Ryth"s hands. "Thank you, thank you!" she said, "Yes, I promise to help you!" with her face close to his.
Ryth began to look mesmerized by her beautiful eyes and said, "Uh… yeah… Its a promise then." He quickly cleared his throat, feeling so shy suddenly.
Azalea immediately dropped his hands when she saw his red face and said awkwardly, "Haha… okay…"
Ryth felt this is a good way to recruit more strong parties in his party. He will help Azalea first then he can get her help in return.
Azalea was still sad, but her expression was so much better than before.
Lady Elsa turned her head towards Fenar and said. "We will be going to my home, she need to rest."
"Yes, I understand," Fenar nodded. He turned to Ryth. "Again, I thank you for saving Miss Azalea."
"It"s alright, we only did what needs to be done." Ryth smiled, "We will taking our leave as well, Chief Fenar." He cupped his hands.
"Yes, rest well, Mr. Myrad, Mr. Hill, and Mr. Llyod." Fenar nodded and cupped his hands.
Ryth and his teammates went back to their a.s.signed house where Ryth took a bath, ate dinner, and went straight to his room.
"Daedalus, tomorrow you will make a weapon for me."
"Oh? With that rare materials?"
"Yeah. And I want to give Azalea a new sword too. She might need it and the most important thing is, it might cheer her up."
"Eh? Cheer her up? Falling for her, I see."
"What are you talking about?" Ryth retorted, "I just thought that she might need a new weapon.
And since she will be helping us later in the future, this might help her a lot in battle." Ryth paused, and then continued, "Although she was smiling earlier on, she must still be feeling very sad right now. And with that new weapon, she can train with it and forget about her sadness and sorrow."
"Hmm... suspicious... but, okay, then! Ku ku ku!"