Night.

East of the barren swamp.

The Elven Kingdom is not located in a plain, but a landscape of hills and valleys that are constantly rolling and changing.

It's just that the dense forest created by the elves, countless tall trees, especially the continuous tree wall cast around the foot of the hill, covers most of the terrain of the elven kingdom.

According to rumors, the hill where the elven kingdom is located is just an island close to the mainland, and the elves have forcibly planted trees, disintegrated the mountain, filled the soil and sand into the sea, and connected the continent and the island, and the barren swamp was once a reef between the elven kingdom and the continent.

For such legends, Flender did not hesitate to choose to take them as a joke, like the drunks in the tavern.

In the camp, a bonfire burned, illuminating Flender's face sitting in front of the campfire, and his shadow swaying in the breeze.

With a pen in hand, in his travel notebook, Flender began to consider the words and tone of his travels today, choosing the subject matter and words for his new poems.

However, Flender did not forget his night duty, glanced at the tent of his companions, swept his eyes over the area near the tent, and after making sure that no wild beasts were approaching, he rubbed his hands together and opened his travel notebook.

After turning a dozen pages, his movements stopped, and on this page, a story he had heard in the coastal city before, a story from the side of the Deep Sea Empire—

The Undead Wasteland is the center of the original strait.

Flesh and corpses filled the strait and forged a plain.

The barren swamp at the foot of the hill is nothing more than a plain alluvial from a river that originally headed south into the sea when the Elven Kingdom was heavily transforming the terrain.

After the Elven Kingdom completed the terraping, the direction of the river was changed, so that the river meandered within the Elven Kingdom, leaving all the water in the kingdom.

This story is that Flender did not take the story of the elves filling the strait as a pure story like everyone else, but considered whether it would be true history.

He could not confirm this history, but he was sure that the elves cut off all the rivers that flowed from the mountains in the kingdom.

As prosperous as the Elven Kingdom is, the surrounding area is as barren as it is.

The Elven Kingdom and the Dwarven Kingdom to the east of it were in conflict with each other for decades.

As a bard, Flender is no stranger to this history and stories.

Whew-

The chilly wind in his ears made Flender shrink his neck as he flipped to the pages of his travel record for the summer dates of three years ago.

He also went to the Dwarven Kingdom once.

If the kingdom of elves and goblins can be called the "kingdom of the forest", then the kingdom of the dwarves, the country where countless dwarves, gnomes, and goblins live, the kingdom that sits between the mountains, should be called-

Kingdom of the Mountains.

To be honest, Flender didn't feel that his experience in the dwarven kingdom was not pleasant.

The main body of the dwarven kingdom, those who love ores, especially hard ores, have great physical strength, and will find ways to make their weapons harder and stronger, and use them as glory.

Flender was deeply suspicious that the legend that dwarves were descendants of some kind of earth dragon that had been passed down in his kingdom, in the realm of men, might be based on this.

Flender didn't know why, his kindred, why humans always associated something with dragons, but it didn't matter, he just knew that dwarves and dragons had nothing to do with them.

However, compared to the dwarves who disdain him when they saw that he had no beard, it was the gnomes and goblins who made a deeper impression on him.

Although the dwarves have brute strength and are very fond of ores, they are not using earth elemental energy, but life power, although it is a bit strange to call enchantment spells runic spells, but they are indeed very unique-

The "runes" engraved on the dwarven weapons can give the weapon great power, but no living creature other than the dwarves who carved the runes cannot awaken those runes.

A magical and unique spell-like system.

While in the human kingdom, he was always deceived by the vivid stories told by adventurers, true or false.

Among them, it is said that the dwarves have a powerful earth elemental power and can summon the earth-earthing elemental colossus.

It's all nonsense.

Looking at the stick figure of an unnamed dwarven drinking friend he had drawn in his travel notebook, Flender smiled.

Not only dwarves, but even goblins don't know earth elemental spells at all, this group of metal-obsessed dwarves are not physically strong, but they like to think crankily, and then put what they think into practice, often making a lot of mess.

And as for where this group of goblins, who are contemptuously called goblins by many races, come from, he doesn't know.

Are they all natives of the elven kingdom like elves and elves, or are they survivors of the unknown cataclysm that destroyed empires and kingdoms and then joined the dwarven kingdom?

Flender pondered, and after the pen in his hand was dipped in paint water, he added a note "There is a chance to check the origin of the goblins" under the travel notes of the Dwarven Kingdom.

As for the gnomes, when he went to the dwarf kingdom, he didn't see them.

It doesn't matter, there will always be a chance next time, and when you return from this trip to the Elven Kingdom, let's take a look.

The corners of his mouth were slightly upturned, and Flender, who was still in a happy mood, closed his notebook and carefully wrapped it in a waterproof and cut-resistant snakeskin cloth.

However, at this moment, he suddenly heard a ..... Screaming?

It's like the screams of some kind of creature, but, in the midst of the screeching, with a slightly high-pitched feeling, it doesn't look like a scream, but it seems a little excited?

Flender stood up a little puzzled, and looked in the direction from which the voice came, wondering whether to wake up his companion or not.

However, soon he did not need to dwell on this question, because of the cry, the tents of his companions soon moved, and one by one they woke up:

"Flender? What's the situation!? ”

"Attack? Someone was attacked? ”

"Would you like to go over and have a look?"

"Who was attacked? What are you still standing for, hurry up and save people....."

"Sleepy? Show me clearly, everyone is here, no one runs out, no one is attacked, be careful is the bait. ”

Young adults who have traveled for a long or short period of time have heard the sound of conversation one after another.