The group of three stayed in Elusia's hut for a few more minutes, exchanging a couple more words before they left.
As soon as Aurora stepped out of the small hut, she sighed in relief. Finally, she was out of that hellish hole of a house. She really didn't want to see Elusia for at least a few days. Dealing with that woman was simply too tiring and not comfortable at all.
The three soon resumed their little journey around the village. There weren't any really interesting places to see left, so Elise just decided to slowly take Aurora and Rejoke to the final destination of their tour.
"So, what do you think of my aunt, Lady Aurora?" As they were walking, Elise suddenly asked with a small smile, communicating telepathically this time.
"What can I say? She's a troublesome woman. One does not live a life as long as hers without meeting a lot of people. Honestly, I didn't like how easily she was able to read me." Aurora spoke her honest thoughts, sugarcoating nothing.
Instead of getting offended or feeling bad at all upon hearing her words, Elise merely chuckled. It seemed that she wasn't troubled at all by Aurora's thoughts on her aunt.
"She can indeed be a handful, but she's definitely not a bad person at all. Actually, she's the grand mage of our tribe, the most powerful mage in the village." Elise revealed, however, Aurora wasn't very surprised.
"Figured. Her mana and magic were basically overflowing from her body. Though I'm curious, does it mean her magic is more powerful than your mother's?" Aurora asked in return, feeling quite curious about how the ranks of power between the elves worked.
"Not really. My mother is by far the strongest elf in the village, be it physically or magically. It is just that if my aunt and mother were on the same level, my aunt's magic would be more powerful, as her talent and affinity with magic are something not even my mother can match." Elise explained after thinking for a bit.
She wasn't exactly sure how things were. Of course, the first part about her mother being by far the strongest was true. However, the second part was a bit of a guess on her side as well. It was the conclusion she had come to after listening to some random conversations among her family.
"I see. That would actually make sense." Aurora nodded without thinking about it much. She didn't really care if Elise was guessing as well. At the very least, the elf girl's guess would probably be much better than her own guess.
After that, the two fell silent and just continued to walk. As the trip went completely smoothly this time, it didn't take long for the group to reach the final destination of their trip: the training grounds of the elven hunters.
This place was used by all the hunters of the elf village. Warriors, mages, bowmen, assassins, heck, even supporters—all of them used the same place to train and to spar with one another. The reason Aurora wanted to come here, as well as the reason Elise brought the two beasts here, was to find Elijah's party.
Elijah's party was supposed to be the best hunting squad of the elven village. The group only had some of the best the village had to offer, so naturally, they would be the group Aurora was interested in.
Although she preferred to fight alone or in small numbers, like in a pair, there was no doubt that a hunting squad already experienced in hunting in these parts would help immensely. They knew the best spots to hunt; they knew where strong monsters and beasts resided, and they probably even had some tricks when it came to hunting.
So, if she wanted to properly hunt, a good hunting party would be a must. After all, she was in an unknown territory, and she definitely wasn't planning to die because of a stupid mistake.
And so, the three moved across the training ground, grabbing quite some attention from the elves training there. Aurora ignored all the stares she was receiving and only focused on her goal.
Soon enough, they finally spotted the group of people they were specifically looking for. At the moment, Elijah was giving some simple orders and tips to about a dozen elves. Not too far away from the elven prince, Aurora spotted another familiar face. He was Elijah's squadmate, the elf with the rough voice, Örlof.
The bulky elven warrior was also giving some orders to a few other elves, but he was mostly observing, unlike Elijah.
Seemingly noticing their presence, both Elijah and Örlof turned around at the same time, their eyes falling on the very interesting group of three individuals.
"Brother!" Elise called out with a small smile, waving her head towards Elijah excitedly.
Elijah returned his sister's smile, and after telling the other elves to continue training, he, together with Örlof, walked up to the group.
"Sister, Lady Aurora, Sir Rejoke, what brings you here? I'm not saying to see you all; however, I am curious about the reason you came here." Elijah asked with a small, friendly smile.
"Lady Aurora wants to join your squad. Well, rather, she wanted to go hunting for some monsters and beasts, so I told her it would be better if they went with you and your team." Elise explained in her stead, so Aurora merely nodded in confirmation.
It wasn't like she had any other option, as Elijah, and probably no other elf here, had a skill that would allow them to communicate with her. She could only rely on Elise for conveying her words to the others.
"Lady Aurora wants to join our team during a hunt?" Elijah asked with a surprised expression; even his tone sounded astonished.
"Would that be a problem?" Elise asked in turn, sounding slightly worried as well as disappointed.
These were her own words, not something Aurora told her to say. She was worried that she was causing trouble for her brother but also disappointed because if he disagreed, it would mean she failed to live up to Lady Aurora's expectations.
Thankfully, the rejection she had already taken for granted didn't happen as Elijah quickly shook his head after hearing his sister's question.
"No, it is not a problem at all. Rather, it would be an honor to have Lady Aurora on our team." Elijah said hurriedly, afraid that Aurora might change her mind. But, after calming down, he couldn't help but ask another question that troubled him.
"However, is this arrangement truly fine with you, Lady Aurora? Even if we cleaned up the misunderstanding between both sides, I wouldn't blame you if you still held some resentment towards me and my squad for capturing you." Elijah didn't beat around the bush, directly voicing the troubles on his mind.
He would be lying if he said he wasn't troubled by what had happened before. Him and his team capturing both Aurora and Rejoke was definitely a regret plaguing his mind. Although he had explained all the reasons they had for doing so, and even if Aurora didn't seem to mind the past events much, he still felt bad for what they had done.
As different thoughts raced across Elijah's mind, Elise heard Aurora's voice inside her head. With a small smile, the elven girl nodded after hearing everything the fox said.
"I understand that what had happened was a misunderstanding. I have no reason to hold a grudge against you and your team. So yes, I have no problem, and in fact, I want to temporarily join the hunting squad." Elise finished repeating the words Aurora told her, that small smile never leaving her face.
Hearing his sister's words, Elijah understood that these were Aurora's words. These were her thoughts, her own outlook on things.
"I see. If that is the case, let me welcome you to the team." Elijah said with a carefree smile. Just those simple words of the little fox were enough to dispel all his previous worries, and his mind was now finally guilt-free.
However, it seemed as if he wasn't the only one who had certain regrets. Suddenly, Örlof fell down to one knee, his head bowed deeply and his eyes looking down at his own feet.
"I ask you with all my heart to even slightly forgive me for my earlier offense. I overlooked certain things, and my emotions clouded my rational judgment. For that, I truly apologize." Örlof spoke, his tone full of respect, sincerity, and guilt.
It was no wonder he felt like that. Just like any other elf, Örlof was extremely thankful to Lady Shinara for everything she had done for them. Yet, just because he lost control over his emotions, he almost did the exact opposite of the only thing their 'god' asked of them to do.
Thankfully, Elijah was there to stop him; otherwise, Aurora might have already been dead. But even if she was all fine and well, he still said some offensive and hurtful things, something he regretted deeply.
Purely judging from his current kneeling position, as well as his tone, it wasn't hard for Aurora to guess what was on his mind. She wasn't a master reading people at all, but she could at the very least understand something as obvious.
Örlof wasn't a bad person; she was able to tell as much even after their first encounter. He was probably just the type of person to easily lose his cool and sometimes act up on their first thoughts. So seeing him apologizing like this, Aurora couldn't help but feel a bit bad.
Still, the feeling lasted for only a second. Yes, Örlof might be dealing with a great deal of regret, but was that her problem? Absolutely not! Only he is the one responsible for losing his cool; Aurora takes no blame in what had happened. Even then, she wasn't someone so petty as to not accept a sincere apology.
"Apology accepted, Örlof. I know you meant no harm, so I forgive you. But don't try to take it lightly. Just because I forgave doesn't mean I forgot." Aurora said through Elise, giving Örlof a small warning, or rather, a reminder at the end.
Hearing her response, Örlof did nothing and remained bowed. However, despite not showing anything, internally, he was extremely grateful to Aurora for her kindness.
Considering what he said back when they had captured the two magical beasts, she had all the reasons to resent him. Heck, he even wanted to kill her, and were it not for Elijah, he would have probably been successful. But even despite all of that, Aurora was kind enough to forgive him.
That was all he asked for; actually, he didn't even expect her to forgive him fully. He merely hoped her to forgive him even the smallest bit, not to mention fully. He couldn't even care less that she wouldn't forget what happened.
Forgiving and forgetting are two different things, and while Aurora may not show it much, she certainly had a lot of pride. She could forgive, but she would never forget an offense.
Be that as it may, with all the problems resolved, Elijah took Aurora and Rejoke, mainly the fox, to meet the rest of their team.
The about twenty elves were all extremely ecstatic to hear the news. Lady Aurora hunting together with their team? There was probably no higher honor an elf could receive.
So, since the sun was still high, after bits of talking and explaining, Elijah's team, with the addition of three new members, left the territory of the elven village, walking past the protecting fog.