Chapter 33: The Elven Kingdom

True to their promise, the elves treated Yang Hao and his companions with their gracious hospitality on their journey to the Sky Garden, providing their clothing, food, lodging, and transportation.

While adhering to the elves’ customs, they showed extreme humility, but it seemed they were overly humble in Yang Hao’s presence.

Almost any request he made, or even an emotion that flickered across his face, would receive an immediate response from the elves.

To put it in a rather odd way, these elves acted like his grandmother, stuffing all their excessive affection into his arms, even though it wasn’t meant for Yang Hao.

What was going on here?

Together with Teresa and the others, Yang Hao was scattering the nuts gifted by the Elven Forest on a vast plain within the forest. He didn’t forget to snip a vine and use the sweet liquid stored inside it to water the nuts.

Yang Hao and Teresa discussed the elves’ peculiar behavior. Joseph and Narujia, who had joined them, suggested that the elves’ attention was almost certainly focused on Yang Hao.

“Fen… I remember, in the Elven language, Fen means something similar to queen in human terms. In other words, the Elven queen wishes to meet with you, right?”

Teresa seemed somewhat uncertain. After gently covering the nuts with soil in the small pit, she looked up at the elves guarding them from a distance.

“The elven king wants to meet you? Yang Hao, tell me honestly, did you have some kind of relationship with the Elven queen before? Otherwise, given the nature of elves, how could they suddenly take such an interest in a particular human?”

“I swear I’ve never even met the elven queen. If I had to guess the only connection, it would be when I planned to discuss the border friction issue with the Elven Kingdom and the Church.”

“What does the Elven queen want with you? You don’t have any authority now to negotiate border issues between the two nations. It’s really strange.”

Yang Hao and Teresa looked at each other speechlessly. 

At this moment, Narujia, who had been helping everyone plant nuts with the help of Golem, thoughtfully added, “Elves… they are different from our Ling Tribe, right? Our tribe can give birth without men, though it’s a lengthy process. But elves… essentially, they need males for reproduction, right? Maybe… that’s why… Why are you all looking at me like that??”

With Narujia’s comment, the group, especially Teresa, began to suspect a different motive behind the elves’ eagerness to welcome them.

However, they all agreed that it was unlikely the Elven Queen would be so crass. So, after some thought, Teresa concluded that perhaps the elves needed Yang Hao for something to be this enthusiastic. She also suggested that it would be best to comply with their requests for now.

They resumed their journey towards the sky garden. After fulfilling their promise to the Elven Forest, the attention of the forest on Yang Hao and his group seemed to grow even more.

However, Yang Hao didn’t pay much attention to the birds circling around their group. He was rather puzzled and asked the elf leading them, who called herself Kenna, hoping to learn about the current situation of the scholar he had once sent to the Elven Forest.

“Mr. Arthur… Ah? Since your abdication, he has chosen to settle permanently in the Elven Forest. He’s now married with children, and has moved from the Green Courtyard to live in the commercial street of the Sky Garden with his three children.”

“He’s married already? I see. But don’t elves usually have reservations about marrying humans?”

“Yes. As long as someone is willing to abide by our traditions and rules, whether they are barbarians or humans, we elves are open to accepting them. It’s just that the significant difference in lifespan tends to make us more inclined to choose partners who also have long lifespans.”

From Kenna’s description, it seemed that the elves did not reject people willing to respect their customs and did not mind forming relationships or even marriages with other races. However, considering their lengthy lifespans, they typically preferred partners who shared this trait.

Thinking about it, his scholar managing to win the favor of an elf was indeed a matter to be happy about.

But… three children?

Yang Hao fell into deep thought.

It had been less than two years since he stepped down.

Three children within two years, setting aside the extremely rare case of triplets, did elves actually have a similar gestation period as humans, around 9 or 10 months?

Thinking this way, elves could potentially be a race capable of rapidly increasing their population.

Why then had information always suggested that the elven population was problematic? Was it because of how they defined their population?

Were only pure-blooded elves counted in their population numbers, and half-elves were categorized differently?

Yang Hao’s confusion was evident, and Kenna, apparently misunderstanding his bewilderment, hurriedly explained, 

“But it’s not absolute. After all, we elves do possess magic to extend lifespans. So, if we find a partner truly compatible, elves will cast longevity spells on their shorter-lived companions to ensure a longer time together.”

“Wait a minute? I think my man’s concern isn’t about this issue. So, Miss Kenna, could you please refrain from further explaining for the moment?”

Teresa, with a somewhat gloomy expression, chuckled as she stepped forward to interrupt Kenna’s explanation.

Frankly, Kenna’s defense was hard not to misinterpret, raising Teresa’s worry that Narujia’s earlier speculation might actually come true.

Yang Hao gently held Teresa’s left hand, offering comfort and reassurance, though his own doubts only deepened. After all, if elves had magic for prolonging life, then the legendary limb regeneration should be even easier, right?

“Miss Kenna, I’ve always been curious whether the Elven Kingdom’s limb regeneration magic works on magical organs?” he asked.

While ordinary human organs were akin to commonplace roadside weeds, magical organs were like ancient trees that take hundreds of years to grow. 

Ordinary elves might easily rejuvenate weeds, but when facing ancient trees, they would likely need to exert significant effort or might even be utterly powerless.

So what answer would the elves give? Would it be effortlessly easy, requiring some effort, or even utterly impossible?

The first possibility might mean that Yang Hao and his companions could easily find a job in the Elven Kingdom to enable the injured Ling tribespeople to regrow their antlers and re-establish their spiritual link with the tribe. 

The second scenario could be more troublesome, necessitating Yang Hao to secure a higher-paying job and possibly owing the elves a favor.

As for the last option, perhaps only by offering himself to the elven queen might Yang Hao secure their help. That was if the elves indeed desired him, and he too agreed.

Yang Hao watched Kenna intently. 

The tall, golden-haired, blue-eyed elf pondered for a while before turning to look at the Ling tribespeople following the group, sitting on Golem’s back. She carefully observed the tribe leader’s antlers, gazing at the flickering light of the antlers for a long time before giving her response. 

“It’s quite troublesome. However, it’s not unmanageable, but let me be clear, although we can regenerate magical organs, the treated regenerated ones certainly won’t match the ones a person is born with.”

“I understand. Just like a prosthetic limb can’t compare to an arm one is born with, but having it is better than not.”

“Your understanding really helps a lot.”

One major issue seemed to be resolved.

The Ling tribespeople sighed in relief, Joseph’s family was happy for the healing of the injured, while Yang Hao and Teresa felt even more anxious.

To be honest, the elves’ enthusiastic hospitality definitely hinted at an ulterior motive. Initially, Yang Hao and Teresa might have thought the elves simply desired a face-to-face meeting, but at this point, their level of internal concern had escalated to suspecting the elves might intend to lock Yang Hao in a dungeon in their capital for their own purposes.

Although this thought was somewhat exaggerated, it wasn’t surprising that they harbored such wild speculations. However, in the end, they relaxed a bit.

After all, having decided to settle in the Elven Kingdom, if they could secure an easy job, it would undoubtedly be the best outcome.

With such thoughts, on May 3rd, their group passed through the sparse Elven villages and towns and finally arrived at the Elven capital, the Sky Garden Fingel. 

It was a city that could be said to use clouds as its foundation. Just looking up from below could leave one breathless under the oppressive shadow of its majestic and ancient walls.

Even the most critical artist would unconsciously utter praises in the face of this city, let alone the Ling tribespeople and humans who had never seen such a sight.

“What a magnificent city. I had some understanding from the letters, but it’s only in seeing it firsthand that one truly feels their own insignificance in its presence.”

Yang Hao marveled, and the thought of temporarily residing in this grand city suddenly dissipated the accumulated stress from the Roman Empire. 

He looked around at the unique aspects of the city.

The ancient hundred-meter-tall trees surrounding the city, like silent guardians, encircled the suburbs.  In these suburbs, Elven houses, distinct in their design, were haloed by fields of golden wheat.

Yang Hao widened his eyes in amazement, wondering how the wheat in the elves’ fields had matured so early into the summer. 

Guiding them, Kenna proudly explained that this was the result of the elves’ harmonious coexistence with the forest.

The elves offered protection and fertility to the forest, and in return, the forest rewarded every life willing to give to it. These golden wheat fields were one such gift.

They could only grow within the Elven Forest, yet their yield was undoubtedly the highest quality and most abundant, maturing four times a year. Planted by elves since ancient times, these grains were a perfect creation.

“If the Roman Empire knew about such treasures in the elves’ possession, they would probably wage war immediately,” Teresa muttered under her breath. “And this city… it’s truly incredible. But seriously, is that waterfall falling from the sky real?”

The towering walls of the Sky Garden Fingel were adorned with waterfalls cascading from hundreds of meters above. Far below, the waters sculpted a lake and formed a winding stream that meandered through the wheat fields of the suburbs, eventually joining a larger river in the distance.

Was this for real? 

That city was hundreds of meters high, without mountains or perpetually rainy areas. Where did the water for that waterfall even come from?

The Purple Princess was genuinely astonished, and Kenna, with a knowing look in her eyes, chuckled lightly before explaining. 

“This is a gift from the ancient human empire of Bayerzost to the elves. A portal to the lake atop the northern Aitong Mountain in the barbarian lands. Through this portal, a river imbued with the brotherhood of the two nations was established in the sky. We call that portal ‘The Gate of Water,’ the river ‘The River of Friendship,’ and the waterfall ‘The Veil of Friendship River.'”

Kenna explained, her voice imbued with a sense of historical significance. “They symbolize the brotherly bond between the elves and the Bayerzost Empire. Even after the empire sank beneath the earth and lost contact, we elves have never forgotten them.”

“Oh…” came the response, filled with awe.

“However, to the humans of today, this is a long-forgotten secret. Even for some ancient and noble bloodlines that have nearly lost their heritage, this has become nothing more than a legend. But to us elves, it remains a living truth. Please follow me. While entering the city doesn’t require special permission, you are honored guests and the elves will treat you with the highest respect.”

With that, Kenna turned to continue leading the way.

Yet, Teresa clearly saw her mouthing something in silence.

‘Who would have thought the elves still remembered?’

This realization filled the young nun with a mix of emotions. She had thought her homeland was completely forgotten, erased from memory.

To discover it was still remembered by some.

Clutching Yang Hao’s arm, Teresa playfully stuck her tongue out at Kenna’s retreating figure, ‘So they think they can get me to let my guard down and hand over my man just like that? No chance!’