Chapter 140

The crisp birdsong among the trees heralds the arrival of a new day. The early morning sunlight www.biquge.info sprinkled on the layers of lush tree canopies, casting irregular spots of light on the ground in the forest through the gaps in the branches and leaves. As the sun rises, the temperature of the ground gradually rises, and the humid environment begins to rise in patches of faint haze.

The bushes in the forest shook slightly, and there was a sound of rustling. A gray-and-white badger pokes its head out of the bushes, its pointed sniff against the ground, its sharp paws occasionally sweeping the ground, and accurately and quickly digging up earthworms and insects beneath the earth for breakfast.

The badger, which was the last to go to bed in the early morning, did not notice that among the dense foliage of the tree behind it, a pair of green eyes were watching its every movement without blinking, full of patience waiting for the moment when it let down its guard.

As the minutes ticked by, the badger was finally satisfied with his breakfast, shook off his gray fur, and turned to the bushes from which he had come, ready to burrow back into the hole and begin a full day's sleep. Just as the badger walked back to the bushes, the green-eyed owner silently burst out of the branches and leaves, streaked through the air like a black lightning bolt, and appeared behind the badger before it could react, and its sharp teeth bit the back of its neck. The badger struggled violently in its dying, but was pressed to the ground by the huge hunter and could not break free, and within a moment it lost all its strength, and its limbs twitched slightly and collapsed to the ground, completely stopping its breathing.

A pure black leopard felt the death of its prey, let go of it with satisfaction, licked its blood-stained paws, lowered its head and prepared to enjoy this hearty meal, but just bit the fur of its prey, it suddenly stopped moving, looked around suspiciously, turned around a few times anxiously, hesitated for a while, and finally lowered its head and picked up the food, quickly ran up the treetops along the trunk, crossed between the branches, and disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.

“...... Forests are not friendly to humans. It wasn't long before the sounds of conversation and footsteps were getting closer and closer from a distance.

"It's not a forest yet, Levi. Alexia, dressed as a ranger, said, "This is just an extension of the forest. ”

Bluestone Town was already near the junction of Padres and the Elven Forest, and after making the last supplies in the town, they entered the uninhabited woods in four days.

"Where's Carl?" Levi glanced back and found the mage boy parked on the edge of a broad-leaved tree more than twenty meters high, holding a pen and paper in his hand to make notes.

"Hey. Alexia shouted, "Don't be left behind. ”

"Wait a minute. Karl stretched out his hand and gestured, and after a while, he walked over, "It should be the range of the Elven Forest by now." ”

"How do you judge?" asked Alexia.

Levi looked at him curiously, too.

"The age of the tree. Carl showed the notebook, "Along the way, in addition to collecting some plant samples, I also tested the age of the trees, in the outermost woods, those trees are only a few years to a few decades old, more than a hundred years old is rare, but the silver birch just now is four hundred years old, this is the third tree I have examined more than two hundred years old." ”

"So what does that mean?" asked Levy.

"Have you lost all your imperial history lessons?" Alexia covered her eyes weakly, "What kind of mentality did His Majesty the Emperor have to let you send an envoy to the elves?Two hundred years ago, after the Civil War, the relationship between the elves and humans fell to a freezing point, and the elves no longer restrain the natural expansion of the forest, so there will be extended forests, and those trees are less than two hundred years old. ”

"I see. Levi nodded, "I made a note of it." ”

As we proceeded, the density of the trees had risen rapidly, and the spacing between the trees, which had been spacious enough to accommodate even carriages, had become very narrow, and the huge trees thirty or forty meters high were filled with dwarf shrubs that were very difficult to walk.

Alexia drew a single-edged sword to open the way, Levi shook his head at her, broke off a pole of an ash tree, walked in front, separated the branches that stood in the way, and said as he opened the way, "In the field, sticks are more efficient than swords. ”

"Are you often in the wild?" asked Alexia, following Levi.

Levi forcefully parted the two connected bushes to let Alexia and Carl pass, and said, "Yes, in fact, I was running around alone when I was very young - in fact, the eldest brother is more likely, and the other brothers, including me, are all very wild. ”

"Your Majesty doesn't care about you?" said Alexia, with some disbelief.

Levy said indifferently: "Because the old man puts all his expectations on the eldest brother, in fact, I don't envy the eldest brother, because he lives a very tired life like that." ”

Walking in the forest is not easy, in addition to the denser trees, you have to watch out for all kinds of hidden dangerous creatures, and after the sun shines through the several layers of leaves, there are only sparse spots of light on the ground, although the sun is shining outside, but the ground is quite dark.

Levi used the ash rod in his hand to bounce a small green snake towards him, this small snake is highly venomous, the venom can even kill many magical beasts of the silver rank, and it will be very insidiously disguised as a twig of a tree, and pounce on it when the prey passes by, but it is obvious that it chose the wrong object today.

Levi used a bit of fighting energy to bounce it off, knocking it to death.

Putting away the corpse of the little snake, Levi said to the two: "The taste of this snake is actually very delicious, its snake venom and the leaves of the wood salt tree will spoil into a special seasoning in boiling water, which is not only non-poisonous but also delicious. ”

"The Emerald Leaf Serpent still has this trait?" Karl quickly jotted down, "There's no mention of that in the book. ”

"Of course. Levi said proudly, "Books are also written by people, and some things have to be experienced to know firsthand." ”

It's getting dark.

Even if Levi and Alexia had extremely high physique, they had only walked more than sixty kilometers.

By a small forest stream, Lévi and Alexia cleared a clearing, found some dead branches, and Karl lit a campfire - there was something like flint, but now that there was a humanoid lighter, it didn't have to be so troublesome.

A campfire lit up in the dark forest, dispelling the darkness and dampness, and Levi skillfully built a makeshift barbecue grill out of a few branches, then set up an iron pot.

"Is it really okay to make a fire in the forest?" Alexia said with some concern.

"No problem. Karl's eyes reflected the light of fire, "As long as the fire is not too big, I should be able to control it with the fire elemental control." ”

"I don't mean that...... Never mind. Alexia let out a sigh of relief and turned to Levi, "Don't you have to pitch a tent at night?"

"No, I don't. Levi shook his head, "And it's better not to rest on the ground in the forest, for ...... reason."

Lévy swept some fallen leaves into the fire with an ash rod, and a few tiny bugs scattered in all directions.

"Bugs. Alexia's face was a little unnatural.

"I've already sprinkled insect repellent potions around the area, and so many more. Levi shrugged, "It could have been more." In addition to bugs, there are also smaller snakes that hide under fallen leaves and dirt. It's better to sleep in a tree at night. ”

Put the dry food in the pot and boil it, it will be easier to swallow.

After dinner, Carl sat by the campfire and read by the fire, while Alexia tended to her swords, and Lévi watched Alexia in a daze.

"What are you looking at me for?" Alexia looked up with a frown.

Levi was a little distracted, and it took a while to react: "It's nothing, it just feels like you're similar to someone I've seen." ”

"Huh?" Alexia tilted her head in confusion.

"Shouldn't you be complaining about my way of accosting me at this time?" Levi turned his gaze to the depths of the jungle, "I'm bored like you." ”

Carl silently put the book away.

Alexia slowly stood up, looked around the dark forest, and raised her voice, "You've been following us for a long time, so please come out." ”

There was a rustle in the forest, like the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves.

A voice came from all directions with a heavy hostility: "Get out of here, human!"

Elvish.

Lévy scratched his head, as if remembering something, and then with a look of sudden realization, he also replied in Elven language, "I am the ambassador of humanity, and I have come with the goodwill of the Empire. ”

He was wondering what to say in Elven language......

The other side seemed to be silent for a moment, and then said, "Proof of it." ”

Levi shook his head and sat back down by the campfire, leaving only one sentence: "So the elves are so rude." ”

This sentence is said in the lingua franca, but the elf hidden in the shadows should have understood, because the elf did not reply, but the hostility was more obvious.

What Lévy means is - are you qualified to check my proof?

Alexia whispered, "I didn't expect you to be so tough. ”

"Because I now represent the Empire. Levi flicked his fingers, and four silver rays of light suddenly flew out, "I can be willful personally, but when it comes to formal diplomatic involvement, I can't." ”

Puff puff puff.

With four soft sounds, four carved knives sank into the trunks of the four huge trees, and from behind or above each of the four large trees, a solemn-faced elf appeared.

Their location was precisely captured by Lévy, and there was no point in hiding it.

Carl took a closer look at each of them, the elves looked similar to humans, but they were more handsome, and their long, pointy ears were their signature symbol, and if there was anything that made Carl feel awkward, it was-

It feels like they all look the same, they all have the same facial features, they all have the same green hair and green clothes, they all have the same pointed ears, and they are all the same slender and well-proportioned.

That's not to say they really look the same, the elves themselves must be very different, but it's fairly common for different races to have face blindness, unless it's long-term contact.

Carl looked closely, but he was just forcing himself to memorize the details.