Abil hesitated to ask, seeing that the Seras she knew looked much younger than herself.

  “Do you know my master, Venti?."

  Mizin laughed at the question. She had known and worked with Seras and Venti during the draconic war. Anyone from that era knew that Venti and Seras were so close that people had mistaken them for lovers. Seras had taken a seat beside Abil, crossing her leg and relaxing on the couch opposite Mizin.

  “Yes, but it has been about four hundred years since I saw him. We do exchange letters, though I received one yesterday.”

  She sounded like a child chatting with her friend over a letter.

  This casual demeanor of Seras shocked Ephini even more. Seras continued,

  “We had a fight, and he left back then. I did not want to admit it, but I was in the wrong, though.”

  “Grandma!”

  Seras turned to Ephini,

  “Yes, my little one.”.

  This made Ephini bow her head in embarrassment; only her mother had ever called her that.

  “Did you avenge Mom?”

  A genial smile appeared on Seras' face.

  “Even if I wanted to, I can’t because of my position.”.

  She was disappointed, but she knew clearly the law of the world.

  People of the destruction class and above could not meddle in the affairs of the world except during war. This was even more strict for demigod and divine-ranked beings. Looking around the room at the faces, she asked again, since this question had been on her mind for forty years.

  “Then do you know who killed her?”.

  Seras turned, shaking her head; she always gave strange answers since she had the ability to see into the future, which was ever-changing.

  “You will find out soon.”

  Now Abil opened up as a string of thought resounded in her mind.

  “That bastard.”

  Mizin had also caught on to what Abil thought. The only person clueless on the topic in the room was Ephini.

  Harzil was the culprit of all the misfortune that had happened to the Elven dynasty, including Elin’s ascension to the throne. But without proof, there was nothing they could do; either way, it was more or less like chasing the wind.

  “Don’t give too much thought; time will come for revenge. As for the child, your master, you will find out where he is soon.”

  They had a lively chat with Seras, later returning to her room on the second floor of the library. Since Ephini was now chief, she would have to manage it herself from then on, though she created a magic spell in the first place to help in these kinds of times. Gilly for the next few days moved around the town a lot, feeling better after talking to Mizin, who was her mother’s old friend. Her memories had not recovered, so she had to rely on the information she had and what she remembered.

  Four days passed, and the council members were decided. Abil had returned to her domain in the demon continent in preparation for the upcoming demon's game, which was always followed by the Demon Lord’s council. Gilly, Valmor, Mizin, and Ephini made their way through the forest. Zin had shared his opinion on coming, but his master made a deal with him using a duel to decide, and he lost to her, making him look weak.

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  ....

  Reaching the top of a slope, they followed the river upstream before reaching a tree outpost. This was the entrance to Bue province. Reaching the city, they met Graham, a forest elf with dark green hair. He had a swordsman with him as a bodyguard. They journeyed together to the next province. They spoke of old times as Graham was very old, knowing Mizin and Valmor for a very long time, catching up on old times.

  A similar outpost was located at the entrance to Nue province. They were greeted by an elder Ponu, who was one of the oldest elves in Elador; it is said that only Seras could guess his age. He was accompanied by his children; they were twins: Elu, a man with a bulky build, and Umi, a woman with a crescent moon on her head. They were both water elves. Nue was known for its supply of fish since it had a water elf clan as a majority.

  Not every elf had the tradition of eating only green food; this tradition was mostly followed by the forest and mountain elves.

  They all made their way towards the next province, which was where the teleportation array was. Unlike Bue and Nue, Sen had more diversity in terms of Elven tribes, but the majority were still mountain elves who had brown hair. They were led up to a mountain village, which was at the top of Barren Mountains, a mountain in the Giants Fold mountain range. They were welcomed by the chief of the village, Goru. They were all part of a faction that was led by Ilyn and Snow, who opposed the queen.

  The factions included the Snow province, Ia province, Bue and Nue province, Sen province, Fu province, Venti province, Evergreen province, and Elnor. The leader of this group had a history relating to the first Elven King, so they did not support the queen, who had caused a divide in the dynasty.

  But even if they chatted like old friends, there was an odd one in the group, which everyone cast curious glances at. Wearing a cloak and a fox mask, her aura was concealed so no one knew what was behind the disguise. They did not ask since they trusted the battle goddess, so they kept on chatting.

  They were led into a cave that had stone pillars supporting the ceiling and a marble base on the floor. There was an elevated pedestal at the center of the cave about five meters in diameter. Various inscriptions were carved onto the pedestal with clear liquid filling the carvings and inscriptions. The party walked up to the platform, and all the leaders raised their hands.

  A voice rang in Gilly’s head.

  + “Unique skill language beautification is now active.

  She had been observing the marking on the floor. She was amazed as she could now read the various symbols and text. But what was written to her made no sense to her.

  "We will now proceed”.

  Graham said, and a ray of light shot up from the marble, leaving a blinding light and a sweet fragrance. When it all calmed down, the marble stand was now empty, and no one could be seen.

  ....

  At the shore where the salamander had been slain stood seven ships made of wood and other materials. Out of them stood one with a dragon’s head carving at the figurehead of the ship adorned in gold color and other precious stones; this was the Dragon’s carriage. Fleet of Wonders, as it was called, was led by Kasim, who was the highest-ranking sea captain in the Kingdom of Rathul Naval fleet.

  Kasim stood on the beach with men going in and out of it, bringing materials majorly for construction. Festa stood beside him with Roger standing behind him.

  “Festa, when will they arrive? Even though we delayed, we still got here first.”.

  Kasim was worried, fearing Mizin's return with little progress, or if the cargo was lost at sea to one of the great sea kings. This was a normal occurrence for a ship to sink since venturing into deep waters is dangerous, and in some kingdoms, it is banned to venture that deep.

  To lighten up the mood, Festa posed an intriguing question.

  “Have you ever been to the northern or southern continent?”

  Normally to them in this part of the world, it meant either the demon continent Noir or Estam, but for a sailor like him, it meant the great unknown or the great beyond. Kasim shivered hearing this question.

  “If you know what is there, you would not ask.”

  Roger was playing with a lizard he found, and he paid no mind to their discussion.

  “I lost three ships just trying to map out the southern sea. I got a beating when I came back, so I can’t try it again."

  Mizin was stern and did not like unnecessary risk, and when Kasim had taken one, it made her pissed. Roger got up and pointed to the sea. A large vessel bigger than the dragon’s carriage was approaching.

  Kasim smiled seeing a familiar face on board; it was Scarlet, his first mate. She jumped up from the ship and landed in front of Kasim, causing a dust cloud and wind to blow. Kasim was unmoved, but Festa was frightened.

  “Scarlet Frost, reporting to captain."

  She saluted, then waved at Festa.

  “Great, now we can work.”.

  She was a great asset to his team. Descending from a family of workers who specialized in ports and sea vessel building. Her talent is even being recognized by the Crafting Guild of Loatim.