The young man's face was filled with grievance and stubbornness as he held back the tears in his eyes.
Maya pulled the young man in front of her and inspected him carefully, afraid that he was injured.
Olivia was deep in thought. It seemed that this young man was not an ordinary elf to the elves.
"Everyone, please tell us your purpose of coming." After checking once and making sure that Jensen was fine, Maya asked the group about their purpose.
"We are diplomats of the Oreste Empire. I am the youngest daughter of the emperor, Olivia!" At this point, she paused for a moment. "We came to the Elf clan because we wish to do business with you and to meet the Queen to discuss something."
Olivia had done some research on the elves. According to legends, every elf had the ability to sense the good and evil of others. Therefore, the first step to getting along with the elves and gaining their friendship was to gain their trust. It was best to show them kindness and treat them sincerely.
Maya stared at Olivia for a while, then, her gaze fell on Stanton. "Are you all Princess Olivia's convoy? But why do I remember the news saying that the princess brought about 30 servants and the Chief Knight Stanton was only a Grand Mage?"
Olivia was also stunned when she heard her doubts, then, she continued, "This is because we encountered an enemy attack at the outskirts of the great elven forest, and the casualties were quite heavy. Stanton broke through at the last minute or else I would have died in that battle."
Maya still had some hesitation on her face and did not speak for a long time. Jensen, who was standing behind her, reached out and tugged at her sleeve, indicating for her to lean in to whisper in her ears.
"I can feel that what the princess said is true. Moreover, they really don't mean to cause any harm." After saying that, he looked at Maya carefully.
Maya looked straight into Jensen's eyes. She was originally wavering, but after receiving Jensen's affirmation, she finally stopped hesitating and believed Olivia's words.
However, this Stanton Knight was really amazing. He actually broke through during a battle. One had to know that if he broke through in that state, he would die if he wasn't careful.
"Your Highness, I apologize for my rudeness just now. Please forgive me. After all, it is a critical time." After realizing that it was her own misjudgment, Maya apologized directly.
Olivia did not care much about it. Although she was very curious about the "critical time" that she mentioned, she did not ask questions that should not be asked in other people's territory. She just waved her hand to show that she did not care.
"Your Highness, please follow me first. It is already late. For the time being, rest in our base for the night. I will send you to the elf tribe tomorrow."
After that, Maya made arrangements for the guards. Other than her and Jensen, the rest of them split into three small teams and continued to patrol.
The convoy set off again and followed Maya to the other side of the forest.
Seeing that the direction they were heading in was completely opposite, Olivia was also curious and asked, "Maya, may I ask why the direction we are heading is completely opposite to the direction of the elf tribe's encampment shown on the map?"
Jensen was the first to explain excitedly to Olivia before Maya could say anything. "I know, Olivia, your map must be an old version. The elf tribe moved 200 years ago, and the current elf tribe encampment is brand new."
"Your Highness, it's just as Jensen said. The current base was built 200 years ago by the great elder himself. As for the old site, if anyone finds it, we will find them," Maya added, she also rubbed Jensen's neatly combed hair.
"Stop, Sister Maya always messes with my head like this..." Jensen complained unhappily, but was controlled by Maya and could not avoid it.
"Little brat, you're not even an adult yet. What are you doing dressing up like a peacock all day?" Maya said unapologetically.
"Jensen seems to be very important to Maya." Olivia suddenly sighed and said with some probing.
Maya and Jensen didn't seem to hear her probing and didn't seem to care at all.
"Jensen is very important to every clansman. He's everyone's child." Jensen looked at her and smiled, Maya continued, "When Jensen was young, he was seriously ill. When he was about to die, the great elder found a folk remedy from a medical book. As long as the blood in his body was replaced, there was a chance for him to recover. Therefore, everyone in the tribe donated their blood and under the great elder's supervision, they replaced Jensen's blood."
Olivia was stunned. If he was a human, with so many people's blood, just the rejection reaction alone would have killed him long ago. Could it be that the elves all had the same blood type?
What she didn't expect was that the "child of all the elves" had another meaning. After a long time, this secret would be revealed in Alan's tavern, but that is another story for another time.
After walking for an unknown period of time, the convoy followed Maya to the stronghold of the guards.
Although the forest was pitch black, the campfire in this stronghold allowed one to clearly see the surrounding environment. Rows of neat and orderly wooden houses were spread out in a fan shape in this area.
If Alan saw this, he would definitely shout that it was such a waste. One had to know that in his previous life, such wooden houses in the forest would cost no less than four digits per night and it would not even have the original flavor of this place.
Although the environment of the campsite was also very simple, it was at least much better than living directly in the forest for the last two days.
Because there were not many empty rooms, the knights could only set up tents to rest in the end.
Olivia had not taken a bath since she entered the forest. She knew it was late at night, but she still insisted on asking the little maid to prepare hot water for her bath.
The little princess had always been stubborn in certain aspects. Even though she was exhausted, she still insisted on taking a bath. In the end, before her hair was dry, she fell asleep on the little maid's lap.
The little maid was also good-natured and allowed her to do whatever she wanted. After that, she would clean up the mess for her. Her identity was a mystery. No one knew who she was or where she came from. Even Stanton only knew that her name was Cynthia.
Stanton waited in front of the princess's door until the candlelight in the room was extinguished and no more movements were heard. Only then did he leave to rest.
Sophia, who set off late, was very strong and was traveling alone. She traveled day and night and returned to her clan right when Olivia was resting in the guard station.
Since it was late at night, she did not alert anyone and waited until dawn to report.
...
After a month of adaptation, Alan gradually got used to his current life. Every day, he waited for a few guests to come and drink, and in his free time, he would brew wine or stare into space.
Ever since he talked to Dorje about the Harvest Festival, Alan had been waiting for a chance to meet and discuss it with governor Kramer.
Unfortunately, probably because the Harvest Festival was about to happen, governor Kramer never came to the tavern. Even the administrative officer never appeared.
Alan had no choice but to grab Dorje and ask him about the previous Harvest Festival.