Entering the Elven Forest turned out to be a far simpler task than I’d imagined. There weren’t any barriers or armed men ready to take us into custody. Neither were there any security checks on any of us. And from what I could sense, there wasn’t anyone spying on our every movement.

The moment we passed through the Warp Gate, our group was greeted by a vast open forest. The verdant bushes and heavy-blooming trees were our first hosts. Walking away from the magical portal, I was once again brought to awe by the pure, organic sights that blessed my eyes.

The air here was the freshest I’ve ever smelt. The temperature was at the perfect mix of heat and coolness, and its humidity was neither too overbearing nor too stale.

It was quite likely… The most utopian climate on the planet.

And to top it all off… A party of fifteen beautiful girls were already waiting for our arrival.

All fifteen of the girls wore breathy, green ranger uniforms, wildly contrasting their bright, golden hair. Although they weren’t nearly as attractive as Irina, Lilith or Ysabelle, the party of women were all objectively beautiful. Their exceedingly pale complexion highlighted their small, peach-like faces and thin, grassy lips.

However, those ladies weren’t the pale Vampires I was familiar with. Rather, they were the species that we Vampires had evolved from.

“Elves…”

The ladies’ long ears twitched at my sudden remark, though they quickly restrained themselves and walked over calmly. Oddly enough, even though they seemed to be rangers, none of them possessed a single weapon or firearm. They weren’t even armed with wands or bows, making it clear that they had no intention of harming us.

“Welcome, you must be the Hero who eliminated Eyghon, Jin Valter.” The youngest-looking Elf took centre-stage and gave me a firm bow. “My name is Riniya, the messenger of the Forest that has been tasked to escort you.”

“Hello, Riniya.”

I accepted the woman’s bow with my own head nod, all while I attempted to measure the girl up. She seemed pretty young, but like Vampires, Elves had eternal youth. She could be over a thousand years old for all I know, and I would be completely clueless.

“And these lovely ladies must be Mistress Irina Everwinter, Mistress Lilith Moonreaver and Mistress Ysabelle Blackburn!”

“You have a good eye.”

The trio didn’t bother with such formalities and scrunched their faces together.

Typically speaking, Elves and Vampires typically didn’t bear any animosity towards each other in modern times. Dracula Bloodborne, the first Vampire and the Progenitor of our entire race, was once an Elf after all. While there may have been tensions in the past, time had healed that wound many times over.

Even if we weren’t directly related, Vampires had far more in common with Elves than we do with any other races.

We were beings closest to magic, while Elves were beings that were closest to nature. We both have fair complexions and otherworldly appearances, drawing ire from the other races. And most importantly… We were minority races that possessed overwhelming strengths.

Strengths that could make us match the Overlords of the world.

Humans.

“We may be a reclusive race, but that doesn’t mean we are completely ignorant,” Riniya answered with a warm smile. “As protectors of the World Tree, we can’t be oblivious to threats that might harm us or the continent. And for us to remain reclusive, we need to do our research.”

The young Elf smiled knowingly as she glanced over at the four of us in unison. “Especially the four of you. We elves have been keeping an eye on you for the longest time.”

“So you’re saying that we’re a threat?”

“N-No, of course not!”

Riniya, who was trying to act all mature and mysterious, now had a facade broken down by Lilith’s simple question. Flustered, she bit her tongue while flailing her arms like a child caught in a prank.

“W-we’re just in awe of the Hero’s amazing deeds and his love stories… The fallen genius who was revived by the kiss of his younger sister! The tale of the man winning his lover from the nasty hands of her protective older brother. And finally, the Hero who leaps into a Demon Lord’s jaws to rescue his fiancee! They’re all stories practically unheard of in the modern era!”

“… I’m sorry, what?”

I had to stop for a moment to process the words that the Elf had just said.

Wait a minute… Were my stories already that widespread? Even the Elves, who were renowned for keeping to themselves, have heard of my exploits. Not only that, they even knew about my relationships with Irina, Lilith and Ysabelle.

The Eyghon story, I could understand. But my past with the three girls shouldn’t be that widespread yet, shouldn’t it?

“I-I’m sorry to startle you, but… Perhaps, could I get a photo?”

Out of nowhere, the young Elf brought out a high-end digital camera and pointed its lens at me. It was quite a surreal experience, seeing an elf with such modern technology, so much so that I froze on the spot.

“No,” Irina coldly answered with a scoff. “Brother isn’t someone you can take a photo of.”

“That’s fine! I would like to take a picture of all of you as well!” Riniya’s face slowly turned red as she turned her eyes between all three of my lovers.

“The Winter Princess, the Moon Goddess, and the Flaming Amazonian! You are all celebrities that my friends would love to see! If I could just get one picture…”

“Alright, alright!” Before the female Elf could drool from her opened mouth, one of her colleagues reined her in. “We’re on a mission, remember! Don’t let your emotions get to your head.”

“A-Ah! Right! I apologise, Hero! I was just caught up in the moment. Please forgive me!”

Heeding her friend’s advice, the Elf immediately bowed her head in remorse and tried desperately to make amends. It was an unfamiliar position, one of power and prestige. And yet, I could make this poor Elf tremble in fear just by existing.

“No, just keep it in moderation.” I waved her off nonchalantly. “Also, stop calling me Hero. It’s off-putting. Jin is enough.”

“Y-Yes! With pleasure!”

Beaming from ear to ear, the Elf leapt to her feet with a refreshed expression. But once again, the same look of reverence crept up her eyes, making it unbearable to stare straight at her.

Seriously… Are all Elves this weird?

Still, I wasn’t in the mood to continue talking to her, and thus, I simply stood next to my lovers and allowed the Elves to lead the way.

The Elven Forest was massive, far larger than any of the places I’d visited. And due to their policy of preserving the land, no modern transport system was allowed to tarnish the ancient jungle. They were even stringent on how many Warp Gates were allowed to be built on the continent. Only four Warp Gates connected the Elven Forest to the outside world and were located on the continent’s fringes. This meant that if we wished to traverse deeper into the sacred land, we needed a new means of transport.

“What’s that?”

I pointed at the levitating wooden whale-like structure that remained mid-air without any propulsion. No blades of a helicopter, no engine to generate thrust, not even some fire like a hot-air balloon. It looked like a mythical creature that shouldn’t exist on our planet!

But contrary to my shock, the elves were completely blasé about the structure.

“Ah, this is our only way of travelling long distances in the Forest. We call it a flying boat. Have you seen one before?”

“How does it fly?”

“Using magic, of course!” Riniya declared proudly.

“Magic? How come I can’t sense any magic power from that thing?”

I wasn’t one to brag, but my senses were exceedingly keen when it came to magic. If the flying boat uses any spatial or elemental spell, I should be able to sense it even if it were tens of kilometres away. Yet, even though we’re practically next to it, I couldn’t detect an ounce of magic being emitted from the odd structure.

“We don’t use magic as you Vampires do,” Riniya explained everything as a matter of factly. “Us Elves are the messengers of the World Tree, and so, we specialise in Nature and Spirit Magic. It’s a different system of magic, just like how Holy Magic is different to normal Magic. So it makes sense that you can’t sense the Spirits within the flying boat.”

“Nature and Spirit Magic? Spirits?”

What on earth was this Elf talking about?

Did magic have different categories? Weren’t they all unified under the same system? Why would Spirit Magic be different from regular magic?

Even as we stepped foot on the mysterious flying boat, I couldn’t feel an iota of magic. Perhaps it was due to how secretive they were; there weren’t many books on Elven magic from the texts I’d studied.

Seems like, after reuniting with Rosalyn, I will have one or two more reasons to stay in the Elven Forest.

Speaking of which…

“Riniya.”

“Yes! What do you need, Hero Jin?!”

While I was taken aback by her extreme fervour, I quickly balanced myself and got back on topic.

“… Where are we going?”

“Normally, we would take you to the Elven Sanctuary and register you as guests. But we have special orders to deliver you straight to Mistress Rosalyn.”

“Oh, thanks.”

Wow, that was convenient. Compared to the other three girls, it seemed like I was going to get to meet Rosalyn real quick. For some reason, I could even feel the flying boat accelerating as if it wished to get me to my destination as soon as possible.

Everything was proceeding so smoothly that it felt anti-climactic.

Yet… There was a sense of unease amongst the entire party.

“Something’s wrong.”

“Hmmm?”

I turned my head and saw Lilith’s blonde head staring down at the Elven Forest as it flew by us.

“For them to provide us with such a smooth sailing entry… It’s unlike the Elves.” Lilith murmured underneath her breath. It was meant to be her thinking out loud, but everyone nearby could clearly hear her thoughts.

“You’re right… The Elves are never this welcoming. Even to people they admire.” Capella reflected Lilith’s thoughts. “They’d even skipped the security clearance at the Elven Sanctuary. No matter how much they trust us, this is a little too much.”

“Are you just overthinking this? We did come here with permission.”

Ysabelle challenged their doubts, mainly because the Blackburn House arranged this whole affair. However, even she couldn’t hide the unease that was hidden in the recesses of her mind.

“Why don’t we ask them to head to the Elven Sanctuary first? That way, we can…”

Just before Capella could complete her sentence, the silver-haired Asterias wobbled. Her knees fell to the floor, and her hands were sprawled on the ground. Soon after, the other members of the entourage dropped like flies as they collapsed completely with foam in their mouths.

“W-What…”

I wasn’t able to utter a single word before my vision blurred. It felt like the world was spinning rapidly beneath my feet, and my eyes could not keep a straight line of sight.

Capella wasn’t the only victim on the floor. Irina, Lilith and Ysabelle, my lovers, had long lost consciousness and were sleeping with their eyes tightly shut. Not only that, the fifteen female elves, who were meant to be my escorts, had collapsed quietly as well.

In the end, only I was left standing.

No, I couldn’t call what I did standing. My consciousness slipped between dizziness and darkness while my knees refused to touch the ground. Like I was holding a squat, I resisted falling down and attempted to use magic to figure out what was going on with my body.

But before I could do any of that…

“Jin… Don’t resist…”

A sweet, flowery voice entered my mind just before it slipped out of my control. My head was staring at the floor, so I couldn’t see my assailant’s face. No, was that woman even my assailant? Her tender voice, her distinct fragrance… I knew them.

I knew her.

She was most definitely…

“You will be safe… We will be… together… forever…”

And with those words resonating in my mind, I slipped into complete darkness.

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