"How is the situation?"
"It is progressing well. More than 70% of the people living in the Kingdom are on our side. We can actually call it a day and throw that 30% away, but recovering them is not an easy way. You know, the Elven Race has always had a hard time reproducing."
"In exchange for the long life, you can't have many descendants. That is a fair exchange but a very disadvantageous one in times of peril."
"Indeed, that is."
Haletha and I are walking to the other side of the garden, which is the place where we can have a private talk. I know it is a Magic world, but it still boggled my mind how a place this big is located on a tree—a gigantic tree.
'I guess you can't get numb at something impressive,' I muse.
The conversation between Haletha and me ceased. She seems to notice that I am still busy looking around to satisfy my curiosity, so she gives me my time to admire the garden that I haven't explored yet.
Roughly a minute passed and we arrived at the private place in the garden. It is a small house made out of stone that is covered with vines and lichens.
I will normally think the house belongs to a witch, but there is something about this house that soothes my mind. Earth Energy—it is very strong here.
Creak.
"P-Please, come in," Haletha lets me come inside. For some reason, she is nervous.
'Ah, maybe she is concerned that I won't like the house,' I think as I move my head at Haletha. "Pardon for the intrusion."
Upon entering the house, I am greeted by a lovely living room. You wouldn't expect this kind of room to greet you after seeing how the house looked from the outside.
Sitting on the fluffy sofa in the living room, I wait as Haletha prepares us some tea. I take off my mask and store it in my Spatial Storage since I don't think it is proper to wear it while having a private talk with someone I am quite close with.
Haletha comes back with a tray filled with a tea-making set and a surprised look on her face. I quirk my eyebrow at that Haletha and she blushes as she clears her throat.
Clack.
After serving me the tea, she sits down and then stares at me awkwardly. I take a sip of the tea first before speaking.
"This is about Teanosvera."
"Ah... I see."
Haletha looks equally relieved and disappointed. It must have something to do with what she expected me to do but I am not going to pursue that matter.
"I need your help."
"What help can I provide you with, Layland?" Haletha asks, somewhat bitterly.
"Accompany me to meet Teanosvera."
"I am sorry," she shakes her head, "but I have never encountered Teanosvera nor do I think I will ever be able to meet him. I don't think—wait, accompany?"
"Yeah. I have a way to contact him."
Haletha instinctively looks at the top of my head, which is where Luxia is. She frowns lightly and ponders to herself for a few seconds.
In the meantime, I ask Luxia if Haletha can actually see her. She says Haletha can't see her, but she can feel her, which is commendable since not just anyone can feel her well-concealed presence.
"Do you want me to negotiate with Teanosvera?" Haletha asks.
"Negotiation is the beginning of a trade—this won't be a negotiation." I shake my head faintly. "I am just going to talk him to do my biddings."
"What?" Haletha blinks her eyes.
"A negotiation requires something to be exchanged. We are going to meet him because we need his help; not because we want to make a trade with him. There is nothing we can offer and he has nothing to desire."
"... In other words, you are going to convince him that he should help us?" Haletha asks weirdly.
"It is worth the try." I sigh lightly and continue, "There are still things I want to do—I hate wasting my time. This is the fastest way I can think of to get out of our current predicament ... If it succeeds, that is."
I feel the need to take another sip of the delicious tea Haletha made, so I extend my hand and interlock my finger with the handle. At that moment, someone's hand landed on my wrist.
I look up to find Haletha looking at me with a serious look. "Let's do it. I, too, want to end this as soon as possible," she says resolutely.
"Ah, let's do it." Seeing that Haletha still hasn't shown any intention to lift her hand off mine, I put my hand on top of hers, startling her in the process, and then lift it carefully. "The tea—it tastes splendid."
"O-Oh, thank you."
We don't talk much afterwards but I can say that we enjoy our tea time. I leave after finishing the tea and agreeing on the time we should go to meet Teanosvera.
It is tomorrow at six.
...
Opening my eyes, I am greeted by a familiar but I still can't get used to ceiling. Sitting up, my hand landed on something soft and plump, which I the thigh of the person that I have been sleeping together with for the past three days.
"Morning, Eliseus."
Don't get me wrong, although it sounds suggestive, we do nothing other than sleep together. Neither she nor I have any intention to do what you might expect; we sleep together because we find the room that is closest to the field the best.
"I am awake but I don't want to get up. As I expected, there is something unique about you that makes me feel comfortable."
"What is that unique something?"
"You like men."
"Wanna die?"
Eliseus chuckles but immediately clears her throat to hide it. For her, showing that side of her is more embarrassing than sleeping with me naked.
"Kuhum! I like the way you handle yourself." She sits up. "Our biggest enemy is ourselves and you have already won against yourself. You are stronger than me because of that and I like a strong person."
Seeing the small smile on Eliseus' face, I pat her head twice on impulse. Luckily, she doesn't seem to be angry even though she looks surprised.
"Well, thank you for your high view of me."
I get out of bed and wear my battle suits in the blink of an eye. I bid my farewell to Eliseus and head out to the place where I have promised to meet Haletha—the southern gate of Lysimork.
It is quite far from the palace, but nothing is far with the existence of the Teleportation Gate. Using one of them, I reach the southern gate in less than five seconds
It is still 05.45, which means there are still 15 minutes until the promised time, but Haletha is already there. She brings no one with her, per my request, so she looks like a maiden in love waiting for her lover.
'Why do I feel like the bad guy here for making her wait?' I muse. 'Well, I am indeed the bad guy, so why bother?'
Haletha immediately turns her head to me the moment I reveal my presence. She nods her head lightly and then greets me solemnly but warmly.
"Good morning, Layland."
"Good morning, Haletha."
We say nothing more and immediately storm off.
Although the light that illuminates Lysimork comes from the branches of the tree that absorbs sunlight, there is a proper day and night here. When the night comes, the light turns blue from golden and turns orange at dawn.
Right now, the "sky" is orange and it is very fascinating to look at. I can't see the scenery for long, of course, since everything turns blindingly dark the moment we got out of Lysimork.
'Luxia, are you sure you know where exactly he is?'
'I am sure.'
'Are you sure that he is expecting us?'
'If it wasn't the case, he wouldn't bother to let you see in his forest, would he?'
'I was just making sure.'
Although Luxia doesn't show it much, I can tell she is nervous, just like Haletha. Although I am also not sure what the meeting will bear us, unlike them, I am not worried in the slightest.
'Everything about him is shady, but my gut is telling me that nothing bad will happen.' Just a moment after I think about it, the tables turned.
Whoosh!
'Layland, watch out!'
Something flying is coming at us—at me in particular—targeting every vital part of our bodies. It is very apparent that it wants to kill us, but I weirdly can't sense any killing intent for it.
"What is it?"
"I don't know," Haletha answers solemnly.
Immediately taking Rexorem out, I stab it into the ground and release my Mana into the ground. The ground rises like a tide and everything instantly became visible even though it is still practically dark.
My eyes are captivated by the thing perching on the tree branch. "Oh, hello there. We've been trying to reach you."
"Hmph! What an interesting Demon."
There is a black hawk perching on the branch. It is around 18-feet tall; not quite large compared to the other Wild Beasts I have seen, but the pressure it is exuding is simply overwhelming.
This hawk is Teanosvera, the Spirit of Amizanima Forest.
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