The next day, when the river of light shone again, several horses galloped out of the ash blossoming woods on all fours.

One of the mounts was particularly muscular, its eyes like charcoal, and thick smoke and fire evaporating from it. The tall rider on his back was turning his head to look behind him, watching the woods with fond memories fade away from his vision, growing smaller and smaller, and finally turning into a white fluff like dandelion seeds.

On the edge of the 'flying flotsam', a wreath-wearing centaur girl helped the tree to look from afar, watching a black spot in the distance slowly disappear, not knowing what was going on in her heart.

......

The journey was not over, and Barrett and the others continued to walk through this dark tide of the Hanhai grassland.

The first day of departure from the Whitemane Clan went well, with nothing happening. Except for the necessary rest, they kept speeding towards the destination of their journey, the elven sanctuary 'Lothlin'.

Gerlov, who had left earlier, returned to the group at noon, and the beasticraft who felt like a 'steppe guardian', as if he knew the route of their group in advance, waited precisely in front of them.

"The centaur I tracked is dead. During the break, Grove said to the crowd, "He has now completed the cycle of life, his soul has returned to the clan, and his body has returned to the earth, nourishing the grassland that once sustained his life." ”

"At least we managed to save a young female centaur and destroy a bandit's den by the way, so we can be considered to have done something meaningful. "And the priests in the clan allow us to attend the funerals they hold for their deceased, which is undoubtedly a sign of goodwill." When he said this, his eyes glanced at the brute, consciously or unconsciously, and so did the others.

The little mage laughed teasingly, "But if you want to further the prestige of the Whitemane Clan to the level of respect, or even higher, you will need to work harder and complete more tasks." What do you say, Barrett, are you interested in filling up the prestige of this Centaur clan?"

Although there was something special about what Krees said, Barrett understood the hidden meaning. He coughed twice in embarrassment, but did not answer.

"Truth be told, the Centaur funeral is quite chic. "Ariel the merchant tore the browned prairie vole with his hands," and the funeral was full of tribute to the dead and consolation to the living, which was impressive. ”

"That's true!" Red Crab nodded in agreement, "but what a lucky guy experienced at a funeral is much more profound than the others. ”

Lucky? Maybe. If I hadn't been the one who rescued her from the goblin, if I hadn't rescued 'her' from the goblin, everything would have been very different.

In his mind, the two of her figures faintly overlapped.

On the sixth day of entering the grassland, that is, the day after leaving the Centaur Village, Barrett and the others passed by a gathering place that was about to be relocated. According to the guide, Jean, this gathering place is called 'Little Tail', just like the village of Sweet Sugar Cane, and the wilderness people who live here are also halflings.

'Little Tail' is not only the name of the gathering place, but also the surname of these halflings. They heard that their original ancestor had a thin, gecko-like tail on his buttocks, hence the easy-to-understand nickname 'Little Tail'. And the family surnames of the halflings are basically named after these strange nicknames that have been passed down from generation to generation.

However, the descendants of the ancestor of the 'little tail' did not grow this iconic part again, making this surname that has been handed down to this day somewhat unworthy of the name.

The guide, Jean, had intended to let the people rest in this gathering place, but at this time it was in a dilapidated state, with ruins everywhere, and low weepings were incessant, as if they had just experienced the war. The tailless 'little tail' inhabitants, many of whom had wounds on their bodies, were carrying their luggage onto the donkey carts with grief on their faces, as if they were preparing to move their family elsewhere.

However, it was not the halfling who was busy relocating in the gathering place that stopped Barrett and the others, but a few long-eared elves dressed in golden-green light armor, holding an oak longbow with young leaves, and twin swords at their waists.

The elf at the head looked at the crowd with a slightly hostile look, especially the little mage who didn't touch the ground and Barrett riding the nightmare beast, and finally fell on the bearman, "Quelre Mellonamin, Saesa omentien lle!" he said to Grove with a smile.

"Nae saian luume!" replied the bearman in a pleasant tone, "orophin." ”

"What are they talking about?" Barrett asked, turning her head to the side and whispering to Krees.

"Just some ordinary greetings. The little mage replied, "The handsome elven guy translates to: 'Good day, my friend, it's nice to see you here!', and our big brown bear responds, 'Long time no see, great skill!'

The little mage raised his voice in self-doubt, "What kind of greeting is this? No, I should have mistranslated, it was a personal name—Olophon." He corrected, "The literal translation of the name is 'great skill.'" ”

The elf named 'Olophon' was attracted by the voice of the little mage, and he walked over to the crowd and asked in the standard lingua franca, "I wonder why you came to the Hanhai Meadow?"

"The purpose is different, but the place is the same. Krees replied with a smile, "We all want to go to your sacred forest. ”

Elf Olophon frowned slightly, "You are...... , a mage from the Magic Guild?"

"Yes, there are many organizations that use the double-ringed seven-pointed star pattern, but only the eldest son has the real right to inherit. The little mage took out a crescent moon emblem with intricately patterned patterns from the spatial ring and handed it to the elf in front of him, "This is the 'Kalesar' emblem, the communication you provided to the guild, which can prove my identity." ”

Olophon took the emblem in his hand and looked at it carefully, and the little mage continued, "On behalf of the Magic Association, I would like to present a letter to the Venerable Elven Queen, and by the way, discuss some small matters. ”

The elf's tone became cold, and he shoved the emblem back into Krees's hand, "Little thing, hmph, you want to build a magic tower on the Hanhai Grassland again?"

"This is just one of them. Krees withdrew the emblem into the Spatial Ring.

"This is impossible, and I advise you to stop such crazy thoughts as soon as possible. Eulopin scolded, "The Hanhai Grassland will never let you mages get involved, do you want to tear up the agreement signed by the Magic Empire?"

"Tear up the agreement, no, no, no, we mages would never do such a thing that violates the spirit of the contract. The little mage said righteously. "This is just a preliminary negotiation, just to determine the intentions of both sides. What's more, I'm just a messenger, and the specific decisions are not up to me. Of course, it won't be anyone else. ”

Although the little mage was talking about 'others', his eyes kept looking at Elf Olophon, "I think the Elf Queen has her own ideas, doesn't she?"

"The Queen won't agree!" Olophon said firmly.

"It doesn't matter, there's a proverb that says, 'The road to victory is always full of bumps,' and all we have to do is find a way to overcome it. The little mage's expression remained unchanged, "These things are not in a hurry, let's introduce them first." My name is Krees, Krees Bryan, and I'm part of the Magic Society's 'Arcane Spearhead'. ”

He held out his hand to the elf.

......