A Group of Elders
"Your Majesty, some humans are adept at bewitching hearts," the Ice Lord carefully chose his words–he really wanted to be blunt and ask if His Majesty the Demon King had been deceived by the brave, but Ice Lord Weize had a sense of propriety. He would never act like that abyss lord who spouted out nonsense without thought. "I hear that human warriors wear accessories that can disturb the mind or even the soul in order to save their lives when adventuring."
"What are you trying to say?" He heard His Majesty speak with a solemn, yet impatient tone, “This Brave Xu Jun"s mental strength is extremely weak. It is more likely that Your Emperor would delude him instead. Weize, don"t forget your ident.i.ty."
–You are the head of Your Majesty Dark Demon King Rozenke"s Four Lords. Don"t spend your time thinking about such things.
Ice Lord Weize understood what His Majesty was implying, so he bowed down with more respect and withdrew. Xu Jun and the others simply felt a sudden cold breeze blowing around them. The Ice Lord sank into the ground, following Xu Jun towards the center of the Holy Light Elves" dreamland. His mood was extremely complicated.
Your Majesty, why can"t you explain things to me clearly. What do you mean when you said, "It is more likely that Your Emperor would delude him instead?"
Some elemental holy light bodies still without a complete consciousness that were around the Ice Lord fled in a disorderly manner. They didn"t even possess a physical body and appeared as groups of warm, b.a.l.l.s of light. These small orbs of light were making a ruckus. "So cold, ah, so cold!"
Obviously, these elemental holy light bodies, which had the intelligence of a five to six-year-old child, were unable to understand why the Ice Lord would suddenly appear here. In fact, they had even thought that the Ice Lord was just an elemental ice body. What was strange to them was why this elemental ice body was so huge and so dull.
"Hey, you stupid and large elemental ice body, why aren"t you paying attention to us?"
The group of elemental holy light bodies lazed about by Ice Lord Weize"s side, like a group of brats.
The large and stupid Ice Lord: "…"
He didn"t know why, but he suddenly thought of that wretched Third Elder tragically being surrounded by that group of geese. At the time he had found the scene laughable, but now he understood –how painful it was to be surrounded by a group of fellows that were impossible to communicate with!
The Ice Lord inhaled, thinking back to when the other lords were still small… ah, what a disaster.
Therefore he did what he had always done in the past–directly casting an Ice Bind, freezing the talkative, bratty elemental light bodies.
He was very careful. To avoid unnecessary complications, he only froze the elemental light bodies that were around him. The elemental bodies further away still drifted about, completely unaware of the terrifying event that had occurred just beside them.
Like this, these elemental holy light bodies were frozen for an entire year. As for why they were frozen there and who had done such a frightening thing, that remained an unsolvable mystery amongst the Holy Light Elves. Afterward, these little elemental holy light bodies obtained great benefits after tiding over this disaster. They had all become elemental bodies with the dual attributes of ice and light. Their abilities also underwent a great change; they had developed into the rarely seen dual attributes, Elven Grand Magisters.
Truthfully, even if these small elemental bodies had undergone tens of thousands of years of development and were about to become actual, little elves… their physique and attributes would have been full of impurities. There would have been quite a large difference between them and purebred Holy Light Elves. Going by their original fate, they would have ended up becoming low-level figures within the Holy Light Elves.
In the beginning, while they were frozen for a year, many impurities, which sought benefits and avoided harm, dodged away from these small elemental bodies. Perhaps it had seemed to them that these elemental bodies had already "died." For this reason, these small elemental bodies" physiques improved greatly.
Thus, a certain legend began to spread amongst the Holy Light Elves. It was said that a certain Ice Elf with strong and profound magic had appeared within the Holy Light Elves. He kept a low profile and liked to play around with the elemental bodies. Whenever he encountered the lovable, little elemental holy light bodies, he would use a special method to stimulate their second element. He truly was a rarely seen, good Elf!
This legend eventually spread from within the Holy Light Elves out into the entire world. The other Elven races were all very envious: that was the ice element! The rarely seen, yet precious, ice element!
As for the "good Elf" Weize who happened to hear of this legend, he was speechless.
…Had he known earlier, he would"ve frozen those little elemental bodies to death, even if he would"ve been discovered!
The outside world believed that the Holy Light Elves" dreamland occupied all of the Sacred Highlands and that the Elves" dreamland was inhabited by a mult.i.tude of Elves. Pretty, Elven sisters and handsome, Elven brothers appeared in batches, satisfying some unbearable, filthy adults. Furthermore, some traveling bards, who were human, would write popular novels or poetry to describe the lives of the elves. Under their pen, Elves were kind and pure creatures; they despised love, yet were easily tempted by human emotions. They lived amidst the birds, trees, and flowers of the forest; just by singing and dancing every day, they lived happily. They did not need to work, nor did they need to fight in arduous battles–the Elves seemed naturally separate from the word "difficulty."
There were even some fairy tale authors who sincerely wrote, "The Elves, especially the Holy Light Elves, n.o.blest of them all, were born with the Creator"s glory. They possessed a beautiful yet powerful strength; truly, they were favored by the heavens. With soil that produced grains without the need for seeds, they lived in a forest with eternal, perfect weather, protected within their Elven dreamland1…"
These were humanity"s daydreams; ones that differed greatly from reality. The Holy Light Elves didn"t even eat grains. For their elemental bodies, the consumption of human food was nutritionless. The forest the Elves lived in didn"t have gentle weather all the time either. Take the Sacred Highlands for example: besides the elements and magic of this land being very active, and the mana storms that frequently occurred, four to five rebellions also occurred almost every year. If such things happened in a human country, they could rip the country apart. The Holy Light Elves did enjoy the benefits of the Sacred Highlands, but they also had to suppress the mana storms that occurred every year. How could they not experience hard-fought battles?
All of the Holy Light Elves who were of age that lived on the Sacred Highlands were warriors, and every Holy Light Elf youth were a part of the military reserves.
Their population wasn"t that high, yet they managed to keep the entire Sacred Highland in perfect order. As far as Xu Jun was concerned, the place was better organized than when he had last come.
Xu Jun was walking in the central hub of the Sacred Highlands, within the Holy Light Elves palace. The teleportation array had sent him here. He saw numerous Holy Light Elves entering and leaving, all wearing gold and white robes. There were both young and old–however, even the oldest of them only had the appearance of a middle-aged human. The Holy Light Elves truly were long-lived.
They all held sheepskin scrolls, creasing their brows in confusion after seeing Xu Jun.
"Knight Commander Jesse, this human… is the Brave, Xu Jun?!"
The one who spoke was the Holy Light Elves" Alchemy Elder. His hair was light gold, with a squarish face rarely seen amongst the Elves. He appeared grave and solemn. No matter who it was, being glared at by Sir Alchemist Elder Rudy of the Holy Light Elves would give them gooseb.u.mps. It was like a delinquent making trouble, only to find their cla.s.sroom"s backdoor suddenly opening to reveal their homeroom teacher"s face.
The Alchemist Elder Rudy looked at Xu Jun.
He looked with eyes that dispersed the killing intent of a homeroom teacher at the backdoor.
This att.i.tude then seemed to change instantly. Truthfully, Xu Jun had originally been discreetly following after Knight Commander Jesse to Princess Allie"s–who was now Her Majesty the Queen–personal guest reception room. Xu Jun had some things that he wanted to as the current Queen Allie about, and subsequently, tell her that he had already killed the Dark Demon King and that he had not renounced their contract. It was just that these things shouldn"t be publicized and were better off said inside the Holy Light Elves" land.
However, he hadn"t expected that he would be stopped halfway there. _(:зゝ∠)_
Xu Jun himself didn"t react much, but Daeniste and Nar were extremely nervous. They had come to the Holy Light Elves, and had even entered the Holy Light Elves" dreamland–and they had even entered directly into the race"s palace. This was way too out of line!
According to the agreement between the Holy Light Elves and humans, before humans could visit the Holy Light Elves, they must submit an application, which would then be reviewed. In the end, an emissary would lead them in through a special channel, within which humans were not allowed to use any sort of magic or else they would be determined to have ill intentions towards the Holy Light Elves. At that point, it was possible that they would be directly killed.
These rules sounded very harsh as if the Holy Light Elves were looking down on humans…the truth was, they really did look down on humans. However, humans were powerless. After all, there have been cases where humans were trafficking children of the Holy Light Elf race. Furthermore, the Elves possessed great power, and the Holy Light Elves were outstanding amongst the Elves. How good of an att.i.tude would the powerful have towards a weak chicken?
Daeniste still remembered how his immature mind had been greatly damaged by an event that had occurred when he visited the Holy Light Elves a few years back. Almost everything, from his strength to his appearance, had been disdained. Although he hadn"t been born with high-standing in the Bright G.o.d Church, everyone had to acknowledge his talent. However, after arriving here, where the Holy Light Elves dwelled, he became a pitiable character. He personally witnessed a newborn separate itself from the Tree of Life, glowing with a power of holy light even stronger than him, a Bright Holy Son who had been training for many years.
–However, what Daeniste didn"t know was that the newborn was the Elven Queen"s child. The child had inherited the purest energy from the Elven Queen"s body and wasn"t something that a human like him could compare to.
In short, Daeniste was dealt a blow that made him question his life and ideals, which turned him into a salted fish2 for a while.
Not to mention that the Holy Light Elves were completely critical of humans, seeming to see humans as an eyesore. Perhaps Daeniste could have adjusted if he had been a sly person, but back then he had just been a young, thin-skinned boy. How could he ever forget, after being p.r.i.c.ked by so many needles? Now that he was seeing so many Elven Elders staring towards his direction, he grimaced, despite knowing they weren"t looking at him.
…They should have just politely declined when Knight Commander Jesse asked them to follow him in just now. Daeniste thought uneasily, perhaps this Knight Commander and Xu Jun were friends, but now that they were seen by the Elders, it would cause issues…furthermore, his own ident.i.ty was even more problematic. He was the Bright G.o.d Church"s Holy Son, an ident.i.ty that was very politically sensitive, yet he had actually sneaked into the Holy light Elves" territory…If he were to say that he only wanted to eat delicious holy light fruits, would anyone believe him?!
Daeniste tugged on Xu Jun"s sleeves. It felt as if he had returned to a time many years ago, when a teacher who had come to educate at the orphanage criticized him constantly, yet Daeniste had not dared to even let out a fart. Xu Jun then fought with the teacher, leading to the two of them being punished to stand for an entire morning. What was the difference between now and then…
In the next moment, he heard this Elder Rudy, who appeared as solemn as a teacher leading a college examination tutoring cla.s.s, walk over and ask, "Xu Jun, if you tell me that you didn"t bring me any high-grade mithril…"
Eh? What sort of development was this?
Xu Jun lightly patted the back of Daeniste"s hand, signaling for him to calm down, and politely replied3, "Look at what you"re saying, how could I have not brought it? Elder Rudy, not only did I bring your high-grade mithril, there is also Elder Kabu"s black gold rose wine right? Let us find a place to make the handover."
Eh?!
Daeniste"s face was full of confusion as he thought, what the f.u.c.k is going on?!
Then, Daeniste learned from Xu Jun a new term: daigou4.
"The Holy Light Elves don"t fully trust human merchants; however, they also can"t appoint people to run around for the sole purpose of purchasing things. Therefore, I was forced to undertake this difficult job of being a daigou." Xu Jun quietly explained. His voice was quite low, but the Elves" ears were long and sharp and a few Elves managed to hear him. These Elves became unhappy and stamped their feet to the point that the ground was almost trembling, questioned, "Forced to undertake a difficult job? This is called being forced to undertake a difficult job?!"
Xu Jun perfunctorily said, "Ah, I take back my words. I feel truly grateful, alright."
The Elven Elders snorted, appearing to have accepted Xu Jun"s correction.
Daeniste and Nar were dazed.
Xu Jun told them, "I"ve obtained a lot of goods this time around; they are of high quality too. However, not everyone is here, so how about we gather everyone first and hand out all of the packages at the same time."
The Elders replied, "No need, no need. After all, nothing is happening today. It"s just that the Moonlight Elves" emissary is arriving in a few days and we need to discuss how to receive them. It isn"t an important matter, after all the Moonlight Elves are just a group of rookies and aren"t worthy enough of our Holy Light Elves" most ceremonious treatment. Right now, your goods are the number one priority."
The Elders led Xu Jun to the royal palace"s meeting room with a reserved yet warm att.i.tude. Looking at their current appearances, some might actually believe that Xu Jun was the queen. As for Knight Commander Jesse, Daeniste, Nar, and the others had been completely forgotten; they weren"t even treated as well as Mantou–after all, because Mantou had come here to the Holy Light Elve"s place before with Xu Jun, the elder all recognized Mantou. A Spirit Beast Elder who specialized in raising magic beasts kindly stroked Mantou"s mane. "Little Moonlight Colt is growing up well."
Xu Jun quickly asked, "So when can he take on a human form?"–After all, he had promised Mantou that after he had obtained his human form, he would treat him like a younger brother and take him traveling!
The Spirit Beast Elder thought of the alpine water-lily seeds that Xu Jun had promised to give him. The smile on his face more amiable as he replied, "Within two years. Anyways, Xu Jun, did you bring the alpine water-lily seeds I asked for?"
Xu Jun expressed that the elder could rest a.s.sured of his work. "I also brought you two extra, mutated, alpine water-lily seeds. One should be of the lightning attribute while the other is of the ice attribute. It took me quite some effort to dig these up."
"Frightening!" The seeds of a lightning and ice element, plant-type magic beast! Such things required an extraordinary amount of effort! Ordinary people would find it impossible to even find them!
Furthermore–there existed mutated, alpine water-lily seeds with the lightning attribute?! Not even the most learned Spirit Beast Elder had ever heard of them!
As expected, Xu Jun could always surprise! The Elders looked towards the Spirit Beast Elder already gaining benefits, and, one after another, began to learn from him. One could see slight, sincere smiles plastered to their faces as they stretched out their demonic claws towards Mantou, attempting to show how kind and amiable they were.
Mantou sobbed, "…restraint, restraint!" You Holy Light Elves! Why are you looking at me with such disgusting gazes!
Knight Commander Jesse, Daeniste, and Nar: three pairs of eyes looked at each other speechlessly. No one knew how to explain the current situation.
No, for Daeniste and Nar, they probably only thought that this was a very dream-like picture. Xu Jun stood in the center, with the Holy Light Elves" Elders surrounding him like a myriad of stars exalting the moon. Usually, only the high-level figures of the Holy Light Elves" could enter the conference room. However, not only did Xu Jun enter, Mantou also followed in after him…could it be that Mantou could also partic.i.p.ate in the meeting?
I seem to have encountered the fake Elder"s Circle of the Holy Light Elves–Daeniste thought, expressionless.
However, for Knight Commander Jesse, this situation was way too embarra.s.sing! Elders, can"t you pay more attention to your surroundings when begging to the daigou! Didn"t you see that there are other humans here?! Can you please pay more attention to your images?!
However, what has happened, has already happened. As a Knight Commander, he wasn"t in a good position to judge to esteemed Elders" actions. Knight Commander Jesse could only dryly explain to the two humans present, "…Xu Jun, he has come to the Sacred Highland twice before and has forged an indestructible friendship with us Holy Light Elves. Therefore, the Elders are all very happy upon seeing him. It is best for you to just get used to this."
Daeniste faintly replied politely, "I remember that when we came, Sir Knight Commander, you had said that because of Xu Jun"s arrogant remarks, the friendship between him and the Holy Light Elves was over."
Jesse speechlessly thought, can"t you just forget about what I said!
Of course, there was still someone present who was even more at a loss than Jesse. Ice Lord Weize carefully looked from afar at His Majesty the Demon King"s situation–mainly looking at His Majesty the Demon King"s host–and had already determined His Majesty was hiding within Brave Xu Jun"s body in order to obtain the Brave"s body. Like this, it all made sense! It was obviously impossible for humans to delude His Majesty, yet look how much importance he had placed on the humans
Even if His Majesty the Demon King had developed affections for the Brave, it was probably just the appreciation he felt from wanting to recruit him. This Brave"s strength and willpower were indeed quite good. His Majesty indeed liked this sort of capable and principled subordinate.
Therefore, watching Xu Jun being surrounded by a large pack of the Holy Light Elves" Elders, Ice Lord Weize felt dissatisfied–your body holds the darkest and most precious soul within it, yet you are walking so close to a group of Holy Light Elves! Brave Xu Jun, how is this sort of you worthy of His Majesty Demon King Rozenke"s magnanimous love?
–The Ice Lord didn"t realize that his current mood was the same as that of a parent looking at their child"s puppy love. On one hand, he was at a loss that his family"s child was actually experiencing puppy love. On the other hand, he was at even more of a loss of why his child had no eyes and had become interested in a mischievous child. He looked on with this sort of silly parent mentality.
The Holy Light Elf Knight Commander Jesse finally made a decision. "Two…guests, I have matters I must report to Her Majesty the Queen. The two of you can head to the Golden Finch Pavilion first to rest." He called over two Holy Light Elf maidservants to bring Daeniste and Nar to the Golden Finch Pavilion–this was where emissaries of other races lived.
He needed to return to Her Majesty the Queen to report that Xu Jun has already arrived, and that he seemed to have brought a lot of goods. They couldn"t let the Elders swipe everything clean_(:зゝ∠)_
Also, he remembered that Her Majesty the Queen had once said that she was highly expectant of those herbs that Xu Jun had mentioned which could lure Silvermoon Foxes…
These days, Her Majesty the Queen had always been in a bad mood. Now that Xu Jun was here, perhaps Her Majesty the Queen could relax a bit.
Although he wouldn"t admit it publicly, Xu Jun truly was a good friend of the Holy Light Elves. The corners of Knight Commander Jesse"s mouth raised slightly, wanting to smile, but was then repressed. Why was there such a human in this world? He appeared greedy and cowardly like any other person, yet he was able to let others feel his sincerity.
He truly was a good friend.
The author has something to say:
To make things clear, the soul of the original world"s Xu Jun and this world"s Brave Xu Jun are actually the same…therefore, this world"s Brave Xu Jun"s att.i.tude towards other races, and the things he had done before, are the same as the protagonist Xu Jun. It is also because their souls are basically the same that protagonist Xu Jun would transmigrate after the tear in s.p.a.ce-time.
_(:зゝ∠)_ As for why Brave Xu Jun disappeared…that will be explained later.
Translator"s Niche:
[1] Ok, so the author makes some sort of simile here, but it"s censored for whatever reason. I just cut out the simile part. Just wanted to let you guys know. ⏎
[2] There"s an idiom of a salted fish coming back to life/turning over, which basically means a reversal of fortune, for the better. Therefore, a salted fish is basically someone at an extremely low point in their life. ⏎
[3] Xu Jun is speaking slightly more formally, using more respectful terms for the words "you," and "us." From now on, I think I"ll just use this to indicate when characters are using the more formal/polite versions of "you," "us," and words like that. ⏎
[4] A daigou is someone who purchases commodities outside a country (like China) and sells them to people within the country (like China). Here, Xu Jun calls himself a daigou cause he is that person outside of the Sacred Highlands obtaining goods for its inhabitants, the Holy Light Elves. More on wikipedia: ⏎