"Dangerous? What are you talking about?"
Chunhwa, who did not know anything about the matter at all, asked Reindelf.
However, his question was answered by a man named Irlan.
"So this forest, Zion is a location filled with various monsters, so there are a lot of people in the forest who have the ability to go through here. Did you not know about this forest?"
He kept saying how they were skillful fighters and such. He formulated his words well.
"No, I did not know. I came from a small town far away from here, so I do not know any information about the surrounding area.”
Everyone who listened to the random lie Chunhwa concocted seemed to be convinced.
This time, a girl named Hael spoke to me. She was rather pretty.
"Then you should come with us until we exit this forest."
"Yeah, that would be great. Come with us."
After Hael was done speaking, I was also encouraged by Grey.
This was great news for Chunhwa, as he didn't know the geography or circumstances of this place at all.
'I like this. I can listen to their stories and such. Also because I do not know the way ..... Of course, I can let Lamia set down an Image Trap.'
Walking slowly with them, Chun Hwa, no, Id asked them. (Author's Note: I will use the name “Id” from now on.)
"Hold on, where are you guys headed to?"
The answer to his question was said by Grey.
“Well, we are... we are on a religious journey, I guess you can call it that. You see here Hael, who is a priest of Irian, is set out to fulfill her duties. Since I have a good understanding in swordsmanship, I've decided to follow her to improve my skills and become a bodyguard of some sort. However, Irlan and Reindelf also decided to follow us since they were worried we that we might get into trouble.”
'Sigh~ so in short, they all decided to follow Hael...'
He was silent about the elf, Irlina though. They probably met her in this forest and did not know much about her.
“Oh by the way, we are looking for a temple as of now. We used all of our healing potions to get here.... where are you headed to, Id-nim?”
“That's great to hear. Although I have different purpose, I also am going to a temple, and if you do not mind, I would like to go with you guys.”
No one expressed dissatisfaction towards Id's comment. Then...
"So, where is the High Elf going?"
She seemed quite surprised at Id's question. High Elves can not usually be distinguished by ordinary people.
“High Elf? You are implying that Irlina is a High Elf?”
She quietly told me.
"How did you know I was a high elf? A normal person cannot recognize the difference!”
"Oh.. there is another high elf that I know. That is how I knew."
'What was I meant to say here? I had no choice but to lie.'
After Irlina listened to Id's explanation, she turned her head away. Id was not completely convinced of the idea that she believed him.
'Honestly, even I wouldn't believe what I just said. It's not possible to know the difference between High Elves and normal Elfs just by knowing one. (From Graydron's memories.)
“What kind of temple are you searching for?”
(Author's Note: I'll describe the characters to you here, Id is the youngest child at age, Hael is 19 years old and Glori is too, Ilran and the Dwarf is 40, and as for the elf, I don't think you have any use for that information right now.)
Hael asked Id as she had some sort of relationship with the temple.
“There isn't a particular temple I am looking for. I just need to find the temple's High Priest or a temple that serves the High Gods.”
There are many who would be curious to what Id has just said. Simply put, the three Gods whom Id were looking for were unknown to most temples, thus not making an effort the serve them. Of course, this information was from the memories of Graydron.
"So what are you going to do to find them?"
“Once I find the High Priest, I shall ask about the people I am trying to find. I will ask the Gods for this information, not the priest.”
She was surprised at my answer, as the same for everyone else.
“Just who in the world are you trying to find that you must ask a God for their location? Also, the Gods haven’t answered a man in person for the past century.”
'Should I explain my full story? Although I’m able to, it's long and backtracking could be a problem.'
“Haha~ please understand that it's a secret.”
Just like that, the group was conversing and telling stories as they escaped the forest and arrived at the town of Selan.
We stayed in front of the town for a bit. We had a destination set. However, Irlina had different plans.
“I'm afraid that I have to say my farewells to all of you here.”
Id asked her.
"Where are you going?"
She looked at Id and laughed at the absurd question.
"I'm going to find the head of the Golden Dragons. There is an object I must retrieve."
The rest of the party, after hearing the word dragon (Author's Note: Except Id ^^) looked at her with an astonished expression. How could say you were going to pay a visit to a dragon as if you were going on a picnic .... I guess it was also because she was an Elf .... but to Id, this was good news. This was a good opportunity for him to visit a dragon someday.
“Irlina, I may I be with you a little longer and follow you in your journey? I also have some matters to handle with the dragons.”
Reindelf was shocked after hearing Id's idea.
"Look here Id, who do you think dragons are? You can't just go visit them on a whim. This is not some sort of picnic, you know. You are putting your life on the line. Elves are somewhat of an exception, but how are you going to deal with a dragon?"
'Eu~ his voice is really loud....'
"Think about it like this Reindelf, dragons are smart, so they'll listen to me. And if they see what I’ll be giving to them, they'll be satisfied."
“Oh you little-, did you hear what I said? Dragons are creatures that live in solitude. I don't think they will lend an ear to what you have to say. If you don't listen to me now and trespass into their territory, it's over for you.”
'~His voice is so loud...'
"No matter what I do, I'm going to be fine. How about it, Irlina? Why don’t you take me along with you?"
Reindelf told Irlina.
"Elf, are you crazy too? What the hell are you going to do to once you find that dragon? No matter what kind of Elf you are, even if you are a High Elf, do you think that those prideful dragons will even let you speak?”
"I do not need to worry about that, as so do you. The dragon I am looking for has a relationship with my species, so it's okay."
After Irlina was done speaking, Reindelf became silent. She turned to Id to give an answer to his question.
"If it is okay with you, I will allow it."
Though Irlina did not fully trust Id, she was curious on how he was able to identify that she was a High Elf. Irlina wasn't in a rush to meet the dragon either and wanted to know the reasoning behind why Id wanted to meet a dragon. Thus, allowing Id to follow her.
The group concluded that they would head to a town named Kelvin, as it held a temple. However, after an hour from their departure, they were forced to a halt. The reason was because of the twenty men who appeared before them. They all appeared to be robbers because they were all holding weapons, such as a knife or an ax.
Irlan was the first to step up and call them out.
"What is the meaning of this!?"
“Do you seriously have the guts to ask that question?... We know that you guys have lots of money after selling off those gems. I want to see obedience from you guys, I do wish to draw any unnecessary blood."
'Simply put, give us the money or be killed. That's it. Then, of course, the answer is simple ... '
Here, we will need to talk about what this is about. The day before, Id traded in the gems from Graydron's cave for money. Apparently, those gems were worth so much that the jewelry store that he went to sell these gems, had to pay all of the money they had in their store to make the trade fair. They gave Id around ten billion shillings.
And the rumors started spreading around and somehow got around to the robbers as they waited on the road Id and his party were travelling on.