บท 26: Chapter 25 Elf
After the jungle natives were driven away, various families from Nasir Town attempted to organize manpower to develop the jungle but paused due to the overwhelming difficulties encountered.
The members of the Fischer family were both surprised and delighted upon learning about the presence of mysterious creatures in the jungle.
Mysterious creatures refer to those non-civilized species possessing extraordinary powers.
While their existence differs from that of magic beasts, though magic beasts are also considered mysterious creatures, dragons, offspring of Curses, God's descendants, and other such entities also fall under the larger category of mysterious creatures.
The difference between mysterious creatures and mysterious existences lies in the fact that the former mostly have physical bodies and complete tribes, whereas the latter are often conceptual entities without physical forms.
What they have in common is that both mysterious creatures and existences can produce extraordinary materials.
According to certain heretical teachings, the so-called numerous deities of the world also fall under "mysterious existences."
Every believer of the True Gods Church would become infuriated upon hearing such claims.
"Everyone, be cautious. Even though those filthy natives have left, the dangers within the jungle have never diminished," someone cautioned.
Lucius led the way with Byrne following closely behind, both on high alert as they entered the jungle, accompanied by ten Fischer family guards.
The experienced mercenary Lucius had prepared everything the expedition team would need to survive in the wild in advance: insect repellent, food, water, tents, sources of fire, medical supplies, and, most importantly, weapons.
As humans and various foreign races developed on the Ouden Continent, the number of mysterious creatures across the continent has increasingly dwindled.
The nearby presence of a mysterious creature was indeed an extremely rare opportunity not to be missed by the Fischer family, which couldn't afford to miss the chance to harvest extraordinary materials.
With Lucius at the forefront, sword in hand to clear the way, he calmly surveyed the surroundings and inquired,
"Byrne, did you get all that?"
Byrne calmly observed his surroundings, adjusted his glasses, and using his extraordinary trait of "Profound Memory," memorized the jungle paths with exceptional memory.
His role was critical outdoors, akin to a human map, his excellent memory virtually guaranteed that the team would not get lost.
"I've got it. So far, all paths in the jungle are etched in my mind," Byrne responded.
Lucius gave a slight nod and said, "Good, that mysterious creature is said to have white fur. Everyone must be alert to any unexpected white colors that might appear in the jungle."
Despite searching the jungle for the mysterious creature until noon and finding nothing, Lucius wasn't the least bit discouraged; instead, he remained quite composed.
They found a relatively safe place to rest for an adequate amount of time, with the guards taking turns maintaining vigilance for any dangers.
While resting, Byrne couldn't help but ask a question.
"Father, do you think the Rhea from the north will attack us?" he inquired.
Lucius shook his head, answering indifferently, "I don't know. Maybe they will, maybe they won't. Do you understand the dispute between Rhea and our Cyart people?"
Byrne nodded and said, "I've read that the meaning of 'Cyart' is 'the exiled,' and both we and the Rhea were originally from central countries on the continent a hundred years ago."
"Later, both nations were expelled by the Empire and migrated collectively to the east of the continent."
Byrne paused there, as history books were filled with tales of survival of the fittest, a common fate shared amongst almost all beings, from which no one could escape.
Were the previous Cyart people as helpless as the jungle natives before the citizens of the Empire?
Lucius remained silent, clearly waiting for Byrne to continue.
"Eighty years ago, the Rhea seized the northern lands of the Cyart, after which the Cyart people continuously learned everything from the Empire, gradually forming the concept of a national state, and their national strength began to grow."
"Fifty years ago, the Cyart people, who had grown in power with the help of the Tempest Church and the Salvation Church, reclaimed the north."
"Since then, there has always been conflict and warfare between the Cyart people and the Rhea until a 'Thirty-Year Peace Agreement' was signed under the Salvation Church's leadership twelve years ago, bringing things to a standstill. There are still eighteen years left until the peace agreement comes to an end," Byrne detailed.
After pondering for a moment, Byrne shook his head and said, "War shouldn't break out prematurely. The authority of the two great True Gods Churches is strong; divine punishment is not something mortals can withstand."
His father, however, shook his head and dismissively stated, "Heh, you are as naive as ever."
A seriousness previously unseen crossed Lucius's face, his gaze seemingly drifting back to the wars from over a decade ago.
"The reason the civil war erupted in Rhea was that part of their nobility wanted to tear up the peace agreement, which inevitably represents some people's deep-seated desires. You haven't experienced real war, so you don't understand that some people are just madmen; rational thinking does not exist for them," he explained.
Madmen without rational thinking?
Byrne was astonished. Whenever he encountered something, he would always think it over repeatedly and subconsciously weigh the pros and cons, and he also felt that his father and Irene would do the same.
But there are those who simply don't care about pros and cons or rationality at all, huh, they really do exist, like the drunkards and gamblers he had seen somewhere before.
Those people would kill for the most trivial impulses and unimaginable reasons.
But would the nobles of the upper class really act like this?
Deep down, he couldn't imagine a war waged on whims, always feeling that the nobles of the upper class were more rational, wise, and clever, incapable of acting without logic.
After the lunch break ended, everyone continued searching for a while before declaring a halt to the search as night fell.
Byrne awoke groggily from his dreams, glanced at the family guard responsible for the vigilance, and hazily sensed a white figure in the nearby woods.
What's that, a mysterious creature?
He was startled and instinctively stood up to wake the people around him but then realized that it wasn't any mysterious creature at all; it was an elf.
An elf!
Although Byrne had seen illustrations and descriptions of elves in books, he had never actually seen one.
On the Ouden Continent, it's difficult to encounter members of a foreign race in the Eastern regions, be it elves, dwarves, or orcs, as they mostly reside in the west of the continent.
He got up instinctively and walked slowly, looking towards the other with extreme curiosity and fascination.
It really was an elf!
She was staring back at the approaching human, her eyes filled with wariness.
The elven girl had a slender figure, her light green hair flowing like a waterfall, her unusually bright eyes revealing wisdom and mystery, her skin a pure, pale color.
Her facial features were delicate and soft, giving an eerily transcendent and strange sense of beauty with her indifferent expression.
So beautiful.
"Byrne!"
Suddenly, a loud shout came, jolting Byrne out of his reverie. The white figure not far in front of him had vanished in an instant.
"What are you doing!"
Lucius ran over with a severe look on his face, ready to fight at a moment's notice, with the guards also very vigilant.
Byrne was dazed for a while, then shook his head and murmured, "Nothing, I just, I think I saw an elf."
"An elf?"
Lucius frowned deeply and immediately organized everyone to huddle and start searching the area. After more than two hours, they hadn't found any trace of an outsider; there simply was no such thing as an elf here.
"Did you see that white mysterious creature and mistake it for an elf?"
Lucius looked at his son, puzzled, and continued:
"Even though the large-scale slave trade was officially abolished decades ago, every other country in the west of the continent still allows the trade of foreign races in secret. The legendary elves are like walking gold, and due to the distance, the Eastern Four Kingdoms very rarely see elves."
Byrne shook his head and said:
"I'm not mistaken, absolutely not, you know my Extraordinary trait."
Lucius's frown deepened as he fell into deep thought, while Byrne recalled the scene he had just witnessed.
His "Profound Memory" Extraordinary trait made that scene he had just seen incredibly clear and real, capable of being replayed in his mind at any time.
Even if he wanted to forget, it was simply impossible. Byrne couldn't help but recall every detail of that figure in his mind meticulously.
Such a beautiful life.
That elven girl was like the most moving song of nature, the babbling brook flowing through the green mountains, full of tender breaths of life.
He suddenly felt afraid, knowing that he would never be able to forget that beautiful figure.
But would I ever have the chance to see her again?
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