When the sun rises over the ancient woods in the east, the heavy snow that has been falling all night has subsided a lot in this rare good weather. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoThe golden morning light sprinkled on the snowy land, dispelling the slaughter of this cold winter.

Standing not far away from the tower, like a knight in a silver cloak, the heraldic banner of the House of Fried still fluttering at the top of the tower, silently announcing to Loren Turin, who had just arrived, that he had reached the border of the human world.

Crossing here into the Ancient Wood Forest is the territory of the elves.

Throwing off the saddle, Loren walked over with the reins—he had read in the library of Wimpal that the elves saw the disembarkation of humans as a gesture of goodwill.

For some unknown reason, the elves did not live in the tower, but instead set up a makeshift camp nearby. A fence made of tree branches surrounds several elaborate-looking tents.

"Are you really going to take the risk?"

Asriel, who was following him, tilted his head curiously: "These elves don't seem to be easy to deal with, what if they decide to kill you?"

"First of all, they are here to ask for help from the Duchy of Lothair, and I am a wizard advisor to the Duke's heir, so killing my Duchy of Lothair will be ...... Well, even if they kill my duke, they won't declare war on them, but since they're here to ask for help, they'll always be lower, right?"

"Secondly, Asriel, if you can take care of me a little, we won't have to look for these elves at all. Loren said in a very regretful tone: "But it's a pity that you ~don't~okay~." ”

“...... Dear Loren, you're getting better at telling bad jokes. ”

As he approached camp, Loren raised his arm slightly. The helpless young man sighed, and once again transformed into a black-feathered eagle and landed on his shoulder.

"Don't come any closer, stranger, tell me what you're here for. ”

A slender figure blocked Loren's path, and just behind that figure, it seemed that more people could be faintly seen.

Wrapped in a thick leather coat and cloak, the figure was much more slender than anyone Loren had ever seen, as tall as a tree branch, fiery red hair tied back in a smart ponytail at the back of his head, revealing a pair of pointed ears, and emerald eyes watching the black-haired wizard's every move warily.

In his hand was a long spear, two meters crimson at the top, a spear head that glowed with a bright silver light and shaped like a willow leaf, and a leather wrap on its back, with several shorter throwing spears tied to it.

"I am the Earl of Deepwood, heir to the Duchy of Lothair......" Loren paused: "...... One of the wizarding advisors, Loren Turin, I come with friendship!"

When the man heard the first half of the sentence, he was about to salute Loren, and when he heard it, he immediately showed a somewhat annoyed expression: "The person we want to meet is the Duke of Lothair, and I have nothing to talk about with you!"

"But if you want to enter the realm of the Deepwood, you must get the consent of the Earl of the Deepwood, and I am his wizard advisor and military governor. Loren unceremoniously snatched the title of Sir Aaron: "Only I can help you meet Lord Earl." ”

"Let him in, Leah. A much more steady voice came from the camp: "We cannot refuse a friend who has come with friendship, much less a guest. ”

The elf named "Leah" reluctantly got out of the way, and the threatening Loren bowed to the elf sincerely, and then walked in without any scruples.

A group of elves led Loren to the campfire in the middle of the camp and surrounded him, but the elf named Lea never took her eyes off him, staring at him like a thief.

As he walked into the camp, Loren never forgot to observe the "elves" - their bodies looked much more slender than ordinary humans, but their limbs were still very strong, and they only left shallow footprints in the snow when they walked.

It seems that the difference between elves and humans is not just pointy ears......

"It is a great pleasure to meet you, Your Excellency Loren Turin. The elf who had just spoken walked up to Loren and took the initiative to stretch out his right hand very kindly: "I hope it doesn't cause any uneasiness." ”

"Not at all, in fact we welcome you. With a formulaic smile, Loren shook his hand: "It's also my honor to be able to host you." ”

It was an elf who looked a little older, and although it was a little different from a human, it could see wrinkles on the sides of his forehead and cheeks, and a large scar that stretched from his forehead to his chin, making his otherwise delicate face look a little intimidating.

"You can call me Luca. As they sat down, the elf named Lukka asked, "I guess our letterhead has been delivered, right?"

"That's what I'm here for. Loren looked at Luca with a righteous expression, sincerely: "Although we have never met, please believe me, and swear in the name of the Holy Cross that I will do my best to make an alliance between the two sides!"

"I've thought about it for a long time, and I've made a lot of plans, but to tell you the truth, after I got the news of your arrival, I didn't stop for a moment, and rushed straight to this side, because your affairs really don't allow me to wait!"

The black-haired wizard's tone was so sincere that even the surrounding elves were puzzled - how could this human wizard be so concerned about elven affairs?

"Uh...... I don't know, how are you going to help us?"

"Before we talk about it, I think we have to be realistic. Loren suddenly changed the subject, revealing a very embarrassed look: "That's the Duke of Lothair, and it's likely that he has little interest in supporting the elven settlements of the Ancient Wood Forest. ”

When the words fell, Luca, who was sitting in front of Loren, also showed an embarrassed look and coughed lightly: "...... Actually, we don't need the Duke's army, as long as we can provide us with some supplies. ”

"IMHO, it's hard to do that even that. Loren sighed: "Because this is an unequal exchange for both sides." ”

The elves of the Oldwood Forest had never left for a long time, and Duke Lothair had little interest in conquering this barren land.

After all, the elves were only able to provide him with some small sculptures, amber, and ogre leather and teeth. For the sake of these things, it was really not worth it for him to conquer a race that was fierce enough to fight the ogres.

And these elves could not leave the Duchy of Lothair completely - the elves living in the ancient wood forest were not short of food, but they were seriously short of iron ore. Without iron ingots, they could not forge weapons.

Fight the ogres with wooden guns and stone weapons, and the results are obvious.

In such a situation, it is definitely impossible to get the Duke of Lothair to support the elves with more supplies for a pile of amber and figurines, after all, although the Duchy of Lothair has its own iron mines, after all, this is not a rich land, and it is not enough to support it for free.

Lukka obviously knew this, but he didn't give up: "Is there really no hope at all? We've been guarding outside the Deep Grove for so many years, and we haven't allowed any ogre colony to cross the border!"

"But that's not worth mentioning in the eyes of the Duke, forgive me for using that statement!" Loren immediately explained, "You may not know, but the Earls of Deepwoodburg in the past have always been against the Duke, and maybe you can let the ogre go across the border!"

Hearing this, the elves finally fell silent, looking at each other and not knowing what to say - what could convince a lord who was sitting on a principality?

"Didn't you say you already had a plan?" The elf named "Leah", who had been staring at Loren, said, "Why don't you just say it and still linger here for a long time?"

"Actually, I do have a good way of convincing Lord Duke to support the elven colonies of the Ancient Wood Forest. Loren smiled slightly, a subtle smug flashing in the corner of his eye.

"And it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity - not only will you be supported, but you'll even be able to form a decades-long alliance with the Duchy of Lothair!"