The giant trees are towering, lush, and the fog does not disperse all day long, which is the mainlander's understanding of the misty forest. This 100-mile stretch between the Morro River and the Grand Canyon is always full of mystery and danger.

The Misty Forest, the Sunset Mountain, and the end of the Long Sea are the three mysterious places on the legendary continent, and among them, the Misty Forest will be more talked about because it is located in the center of the continent.

The fluorescence of the blue sun and the brilliance of the red sun can't penetrate the lush trees in the misty forest, and the misty forest, which is shrouded in dense fog all year round, always presents a dark and gloomy place.

After the end of the First Continental War, after equal consultation with the eventual victorious powers, the Misty Forest was preserved as a reservation for the elven race, and the countries on the continent were not allowed to forcibly occupy the land of the Misty Forest, only the elves and their friends were allowed to settle here. In addition, according to some do-gooders on the mainland, there were people who once saw the figure of a giant dragon in the sky above the forest.

However, although there are many good deeds, there are very few adventurers who have successfully entered the forest and successfully walked out, and those who can freely enter and exit the misty forest are nothing more than veteran hunters, and they certainly do not have the leisure to tell others about the dangers in the forest. Others, they may be friends with the elves, and some hermits also live in seclusion in the forest after receiving the elves' approval.

About two hundred years ago, a new profession appeared on this continent, they are a shameful professional organization with no bottom line and no lower limit, and they take pleasure in currying favor with the monarchs and nobles of various countries every day, relying on sophisticated organization and extraordinary skills, entering the misty forest in batches, capturing lone elves, and selling these elves captively to the nobles of the big cities of various countries, mainly female elves.

The city of Kyoto in San Jose was the largest trading market for elven slaves, including their San Jose emperor, "Pervert Benin", who was the most notorious female elf "lover" at the time.

Such an unkind act of human beings angered the leader of the elves. It is rumored that one night, at the behest of the Elven King, a certain Elf single-handedly broke into the castle of the human king and coerced the human king to promise not to buy and sell elven slaves again. However, rumors are just rumors, and no one can confirm the truth of the rumors.

Fortunately, since then, the officials of various countries have indeed stopped openly supporting the slave catchers, and the trade of elven slaves has also moved from the ground to the underground. However, since then, the Misty Forest has become more terrifying, and more and more slave hunters, after entering the Misty Forest, have never returned.

Along the way, listening to the legend of the Misty Forest told by their guide, Kster and Ferda trembled as they listened in the carriage. Feda almost pulled Kester and turned back to Carman. But fortunately, the guide is quite sincere:

"Those words actually have the meaning of scaring outsiders, otherwise, this small forest is not all outsiders, is it, Lord Kester. ”

"So, what is the actual situation in the Misty Forest?"

The guide continued to explain: "Actually, it's not that scary, the Misty Forest is just a reservation for elves, Lord Koster, you can think that this is another independent kingdom on the mainland, but the kingdom is full of elves. The elves also have to live, and every year, they trade with the caravans that enter here, and I, in the past, have followed different caravans into the forest many times. ”

"So, what are we this time around?" asked Kester continued.

The guide explained unhurriedly, "We are flying the banner of the Principality of Kaman, so naturally we are diplomatic envoys, in addition to the caravan, the diplomatic envoy is another identity that is openly allowed to enter the territory of the Misty Forest Elves. After all, the elven kingdom is still friendly enough to foreign envoys. ”

"I see!" said to Kerst and Feda.

Feida suddenly interjected: "Uncle Guide, have you seen what the elven territory looks like?"

The guide's face turned red, "Don't hide this young lady, I used to follow the caravan, and the caravan was in the Acropolis outside the main elf city to trade with the elves who went out, although I have entered the depths of the misty forest, but I have not been allowed to enter the interior of the main elf city, at most I have only stayed in the Acropolis." ”

Well, it looks like he's a braggart guy too, Kerst thought silently.

Koster and Ferda sit in a carriage, and the guide is helping them catch the car. Twenty Kaman guards from Kaman, armed with spears, stood guard in front of and behind the carriage. The group stepped unhurriedly on the thick fallen leaves in the forest, and no one continued to speak, only the crunching sound of the fallen leaves was heard.

The guide was an idle man, he was silent for a while, and then suddenly opened the conversation again: "Lord Chester, Miss Feida, in fact, I heard that this misty forest was not inhabited by elves before. ”

"Oh, what's that?" said the guide, and Feida became interested.

"Actually, I heard that there were not so many trees in the Misty Forest before, and legend has it that there are not many trees growing in the barren hills, and there are creatures of another race who live in these barren hills, and they are used to digging holes in the ground, digging out all kinds of concentrates, and then making weapons. The strangest thing was that they were all short, not less than Miss Feida's waist, probably that tall. The guide gestured as he spoke.

"I know what race you're talking about, dwarves, aren't you!" replied Kerst excitedly.

The guide nodded, "Lord Koster, you're really knowledgeable. Feida fluttered her big sparkling eyes and tilted her head to look at Kester, meaning how do you know?

It turns out that in the history of the continent, dwarves used to be a race with a history as long as elves, however, the reproduction ability of this race is not strong, and there have always been only a few ethnic groups. They love mining, smelting, forging metal weapons. Unlike human blacksmiths, dwarven forgers pursue the ultimate in blacksmithing, and in the end, they are even able to incorporate the power of magic into their weapons.

Naturally, this skill of the dwarven forge attracted the attention of the nobles of the Magic Empire, and as a result, a large number of dwarves were captured in the arsenal of the Magic Empire and became enslaved forges. Under the pressure of the nobles and rulers of the Magic Empire, they forge those magical weapons for the Magic Empire day after day.

At the end of the First Continental War, seeing that there was no hope of victory in the war, the last nobles of the Magic Empire did several crazy things, one of which was to create the "Grand Canyon Big Bang", and the other is the famous "Dwarven Lament".

"Lamentation, what is Lamentation?" Feida couldn't help but ask curiously when she heard this.

"Although there were few dwarves back then, there were still some ethnic groups, and after the war, the dwarf race seemed to have disappeared from this continent. The guide guessed, he added.

"Do you mean?" said Feida, covering her mouth in horror.

"Well, that's right," continues Kester, "the last archon (note 1), in order to prevent the rebel coalition from gaining dwarven skills, slaughtered and cursed the entire dwarven race before it was about to be breached, the capital of the Magic Empire, the original site of Kyoto Castle. Since then, the dwarf race has been wiped out of the continent. This incident has been called the 'lament of the dwarves' by historians. So much so that today, we can only learn about the dwarves from a few words in historical materials and from the legends and ballads passed down by word of mouth. ”

"I didn't think you were so knowledgeable Lord Koster, you all know this ancient legend. The guide patted the horse's ass, and Kester said modestly, "I read it when I was studying in San Jose, and the materials in the big library are still very complete. ”

"So, Koster, did the dwarves live in this territory before?" asked Feda.

"Well, it should be. "After the dwarves were exterminated, their forging skills disappeared with them. Later, this piece of land was given to the elves, the partners of the rebel coalition that year. ”

"Lord Koster, you're right, these elves have transformed this barren hill into a lush forest in just a few decades, and it has been until now. The guide picked up Koster's words.

The group just chatted and moved forward, a team of more than 20 people, dragging and pulling dozens of grams in the dense forest, but fortunately, the sunlight was not strong, only casting a little spot of light between the leaves. Felda was still so absorbed in the dwarven story that the guide and Koster had just told her, not caring at all about the fact that she would soon see many of her own people.

In fact, all the way, in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Feida wore a small hood and covered his two pointed little ears, and the guide did not notice it all the way. Feida gave Koster a look of smugness.

It's a pity that this dark magic on my body is too annoying, as long as I want to exert force, I will sting all over my body, and I can't use my martial arts when I have an empty body. Otherwise, there are so many big trees around here, and with Feida's character, they would have jumped on the trees a long time ago.

Fortunately, there is also the company and meticulous care of Caster all the way, every time I see Caster's honest face, Feida always can't help but want to laugh, "This wood".

The group trudged through the jungle, and no one noticed that among the dense foliage above their heads, two pairs of yellow eyes were watching them carefully.

"Captain, who are they, do you want to alert the city. ”

"Don't move for the time being, on their carriage, do you see the golden jasmine flag hanging on it, it's the flag of the Duchy of Kaman, it's a diplomatic convoy. ”

"Captain, the diplomatic convoy, is it the kind of outsider who can enter the city, I am so old, I haven't spoken to outsiders yet! I want to go back and tell my sisters!"

"Xiaohan, don't worry, you are a perimeter guard, who let you run around, keep an eye on them. You know, Xiao Han, a slave catcher can do anything!"

"Ah, Captain, you're saying they might be a slave catcher?"

"What do you think!" the captain slapped Xiao Han's head, "I let you learn, you must be on guard when you are on duty, who allowed you to run around!"

"Oh. The clever man named Xiaohan pursed his mouth aggrievedly.

"Go", the elf captain who led the team, greeted his partners, and in a few vertical leaps, he overtook the convoy and disappeared into the woods.

Note 1: Archon, leader of the Magic Empire.