Chapter 144: Omicade (1)
Translator: Leo Editor: Frappe
"Haha, Master Tymoral contacted me through the telescope a while ago and I sent many messages to Arias already. We know who you are, so we know what benefits you the most." Justin put his hands on the table.
"So, you probably know my background too?" Angele looked at Justin.
"How much do you know about my mother?"
Justin grunted for a second.
"The information in our hand is probably outdated. I hope it’ll still be helpful to you."
He stopped for a second before continuing, "Your mother, Kiran, appeared in the forest from nowhere. Based on her looks and the way she treated your brother, we concluded that she was a Tree Elf, the elf of the wind that originated in the forest. They usually stay with an ancient tree their whole lives, but they love to reproduce with strong, handsome human males. A Tree Elf would return to the forest with their kids after they grew up. That’s all I know. It’s a mysterious race."
Angele’s expression changed and thought for a while.
"So, my mother is not a human. She took my brother away to inherit her family and I was left to my father for certain reasons."
"You’re right."
"Is it possible for you to find one of the Tree Elves for me?" Angele wondered.
"I’m afraid it’s impossible." Justin shook his head.
"Tree Elves were captured and sold as slaves due to their attractive appearances in the old times. For that reason, they only approach humans for reproduction. Also, they’re one of the races that enjoy roaming around different forests, so I think they already left this area."
Angele closed his eyes without responding to Justin’s word. It seemed that he was thinking about something.
"They’re wanderers, huh? If they already left, I’ll stop looking for them. I hate wasting time," Angele opened his eyes and said.
"The information we collected was from one of the Tree Elf Princes. He once traded resources with the alliance. Although that was the only time he communicated with us, we still acquired some valuable items. Also, the alliance wanted to find the place they lived and… well, I think you know what we were trying to do, but they moved right after the trade was finished."
"Humans are greedy. I understand." Angele needed.
"Prince Justin, when did the trade happen?"
"Five years ago," Justin responded.
"Well, that’s a long time ago." Angele knew it was impossible for him to track those Tree Elves down after five years. They must have special techniques that could erase their traces. Angele was sure that those Tree Elves had their own spell system.
"Alright, I’ll return to my carriage for now. Inform the guards if you need to talk to me." Justin stood up.
"Thanks for your help, Prince." Angele slightly bowed.
Justin and his daughter returned to a gray carriage on the side. Angele sat beside the window, crossed his legs and slowly started to meditate.
It was getting dark outside. Angele opened his eyes after several hours.
’19:54’
He took out a crystal clock from the pouch and checked the time. It was 7:54 in the evening.
Angele purchased the crystal clock when he was still in the alliance school. The quality was surprisingly high. There was not even a crack on its body.
The carriage had already stopped moving. He could hear soldiers yelling and walking outside. It seemed that they were setting up camp.
Angele opened the door and looked around. The trees and grasses were barely visible under the dim light. A campfire was lighted up in the middle and several soldiers were feeding the horses. The two Knights sat beside the flame, carefully maintaining their gears.
Angele saw teams of soldiers patrolling around the camp through the gaps between the trees.
"Had a nice dream? Master?" A mounted soldier jumped off his horse after seeing Angele.
"It’s late. We have to set up camp here. The cooks are already making meat soups. We are having crêpes and beef potato stew tonight. We also have some fruits on the supply carts. I hope you don’t mind."
Angele shook his head. "It’s great. I didn’t expect that we could have hot dishes on a trip."
He looked down and saw a brown wooden cube in the Knight’s right hand.
"What’s that?"
The Knight saw Angele staring at his hand. He smiled and showed him the wooden cube.
"It’s my hobby. I like sculpting and I usually practice it when I have spare time. I apologize if it bothered you."
Angele looked at the wood carving in the Knight’s hand and saw a familiar face.
"Isabelle?"
The Knight blushed and put the wood carving back into his pouch immediately.
"No… Well… I haven’t finished it yet."
Angele looked at the young Knight. A gentle smile was on his face.
"How long have you been serving the Prince?"
The Knight responded in a low voice, "11 years…"
"I can sense your love for the Prince’s daughter. 11 years, huh? You watched her grow up, so I believe you will take good care of her." Angele patted the Knight’s shoulder.
"You know what? I can talk to the Prince for you and I’ll convince him to let you marry Isabelle."
The Knight kept blushing. He was so surprised that he could not find the right words to say.
"What do you think? If you don’t want me to do it, I will go have my dinner now." Angele turned around.
"Please… Please, Master! My love for her is genuine!" the Knight shouted in a serious tone.
Angele chuckled. He had been depressed for days due to the death of Maggie, but this man uplifted his spirits.
The next morning, Angele visited Justin’s carriage. He had already scanned the Knight with Zero to make sure that he was telling the truth. Angele recommended that Knight to Justin and told him how much that young man loved his daughter. Surprisingly, Justin already knew the young man’s thoughts. He agreed on their marriage immediately after hearing Angele’s words and was happy.
"Knight Baudi served me well for 11 years and I knew he liked Isabelle." Justin was feeding his daughter the mushroom that was freshly made this morning with a spoon.
"For that reason, I didn’t ask Baudi to join the army. I think you already know that he’s a top-level Knight and if he can contribute to the missions, he will be awarded a small territory. I think he can become a Grand Knight one day."
Angele was drinking a bowl of mushroom soup as well. "It’s a win-win situation then? He spent most of his spare time carving the wood sculpture of your daughter. Baudi told me it was the first time he carved a wood sculpture for your daughter, but he was doing it so fast that I could not imagine how many times he has practiced during all those years."
The carriage was slowly advancing and Justin was about to say something, but he was interrupted by someone speaking in Rudin outside. The stranger was probably asking the soldier about the route to a certain city. The carriage stopped for a second and moved on.
After several minutes, Angele saw many white carriages parked along the roadside through the window. Many merchandises on the carts were behind them.
"A caravan maybe," Justin said with a low voice.
The merchants parked their carriages and waited on the roadside. They were waiting for the Prince’s carriages to pass. A merchant in a black noble suit stood on the side and took off his hat as Justin’s carriage passed by.
"Based the looks of their signs, they’re heading to Arias and Sinbuck. There are dozens of cities entering the two cities every day," Justin continued explaining.
"Dozens? I think I know how large and busy Arias is now." Angele was a bit surprised.
"Of course, It’s the best city in the whole alliance."
Angele chatted with Justin about the city for a while and returned to his carriage.
********************
Half a month later.
In the noon.
Inside a sea of trees, a humongous shell-shaped city was surrounded by tall, black brick walls. The seemingly infinite buildings and houses in the city varied in colors and sizes.
A wide gray road was connected to one of the entrances of the city.
A caravan was slowly approaching the city gate on the road. People stopped and waited on the side after seeing the insignias on the doors of the carriages.
The pedestrians bowed to the carriages as they passed by.
There were two hills on both sides of the entrance and several watchtowers were built on top of them. A heavy black iron door was hanging over the gate. It was pulled up by dozens of thick, hard ropes. The door could be dropped down anytime to prevent unauthorized travelers from passing through.
The caravan slowly entered the gate. It was moving between two smooth, black stone walls. Furthermore, there were two rows of archers patrolling on top of the walls. Inside a black carriage, someone was observing the guards here with a pair of sharp eyes.
It was a young man with long brown hair. His eyes were bright and sharp. The black robe he wore was clean and smooth. The man’s face was pale and there was a silver glint on this skin, giving the impression that he was devoid of any blood.
It was Angele, who was invited to the capital by the parliament.
Angele stuck his head out and took a glance at the archers on the walls.
"Defense is strong here…" Angele mumbled and nodded.
"There are many Knight-level archers on the walls. They haven’t reached the top-level yet, but assigning warriors like them to guard the entrance is definitely a wise decision. I wonder how strong the army is here. There are Grand Knights here for sure. I’m actually excited to see what’s behind this large iron door."