Vol 4. Chapter 80: Guarding?
The gates of the City of the Golden Tree opened before him, revealing everything within.
Night had already fully fallen, yet the city remained dazzling and resplendent, even though there were barely any streetlamps to speak of.
Under the night sky, the roof of every house in the city shone with a golden glow, brilliant and radiant, turning the entire place as bright as day.
At every fork in the roads stood a floating blue crystal statue. Each crystal gave off a translucent gleam, and inside, some strange energy seemed to flow in abundance.
The roofs of the city’s buildings were all made from a certain kind of wood, one that contained extraordinarily dense and powerful mana. On the surface, it looked as if someone had coated it with luminous paint.
Come to think of it, wasn’t the city gate made of the same material too?
Vinny looked thoughtfully toward the gigantic Sacred Tree standing at the heart of the city, and it felt as though he had understood where that lumber came from.
“The Sacred Tree sheds leaves and branches from time to time. Those fallen branches of golden wood are what we use as timber to build this city,” Vera explained slowly. “Every house you see here, every shrine, every priestess hall, and even parts of the gates and walls, were all made from golden wood shed by the Sacred Tree.”
Vinny could not help looking over the dense spread of buildings, packed together like stars, and the city walls large enough to enclose even that sky-piercing Sacred Tree with room to spare.
The amount of golden wood the elves must have used to build this city was probably beyond imagination. And if they truly used only wood that had fallen naturally, then the time spent constructing it had to be measured in millennia.
And those crystal statues too. How many years’ worth of energy crystal had it taken to carve and polish them?
Special magic patterns had been engraved into them as well. They clearly did more than provide light. The refined and intricate design of those patterns made that obvious at a glance. Judging by the workmanship, each one might well be a one-of-a-kind piece that could never be replicated exactly.
It was not just elven population size and birthrate that made them bad at war. Even their buildings were bad at war.
If a place like this were ever destroyed, how many years would it take to rebuild?
When elves built, they either did not build at all, or they poured their hearts into it and added every beautiful thing they could imagine.
They clearly had no concept of not putting all their eggs in one basket. It felt a little jinx-like to say it, but if the City of the Golden Tree ever suffered some catastrophic disaster, it would be a devastating blow to all of elven civilization. Nearly every craft, every piece of knowledge, every scrap of recorded civilization the elves had preserved since the beginning of their written history seemed to be concentrated here.
“And these crystal statues are...?” Vinny asked, wonder written all over his face as he looked at this foreign city, one no amount of imagination could have conjured even in a dream.
Without speaking, Vera swept a finger across the crystal.
In an instant, a complete bird’s-eye view of the city appeared inside it. A red dot marked their current position, while outside the city countless small yellow dots were scattered everywhere.
“The red dot marks where we are right now,” Vera explained to Vinny. “And the yellow dots are the positions of all living creatures outside the city.”
“??”
Well, damn. The elves actually invented a life-sign radar.
“You’re saying this crystal can display every living creature in the surrounding area?” Vinny could not help asking.
If you have technology like this, why aren’t you using it for scouting??
He kept that part to himself. By now, he more or less understood that the elves’ way of thinking simply did not lead them to do many things humans would consider obvious.
Whenever humans made a breakthrough in magic, the first thing they did was apply it to the military. Civilization could only continue if survival was guaranteed first. But the elves thought differently. When they advanced in magical research, they used it for art and aesthetics instead—for architecture, fine arts, and the like. It rarely even occurred to them to put such things onto a battlefield.
“That’s right. These statues are carved from a precious gemstone called Brilliant Eye Stone. Because of its unique nature, we applied our own magical techniques to it so that it would gain reconnaissance and mapping functions.” Vera explained it lightly, as though such technology were not worth mentioning at all.
“Come with me, Mr. Vinny.” Vera continued leading the way, while Vinny looked exactly like some country bumpkin stumbling into an advanced metropolis for the first time, discovering something new with every glance.
“Tch. What a spectacle,” Caesha muttered under her breath when she saw his reaction. To keep Vera from scolding her, she deliberately made sure only she herself could hear it.
Even though it was already quite late, there were still many blonde, blue-eyed beauties walking about in the streets.
Golden Elves.
There were elves of other groups living in this city-state too, but the Golden Elves were the most noticeable.
When they saw Vinny, they reacted with the same shock as everyone else had.
Other kinds of elves needed to look at his ears before they could tell what race he belonged to. Golden Elves knew he was human the moment they laid eyes on him.
Among elves, Golden Elves and Moon Elves had the keenest five senses, and the scent of elven identity was distinct enough that they could tell elf from human by aura alone.
And beyond that, most elves were vegetarian. The breath that left them carried a clean fragrance. Human diets, meanwhile, were dominated by meat and stronger foods, so human breath carried a murkier scent.
One sniff was all it took.
Still, they recovered their composure quickly. After glancing at Vera leading Vinny through the city, they watched for a moment, then went on their way and returned to their homes.
Compared to the reactions of other elf groups when they saw a human, Golden Elves were far calmer.
“Mr. Vinny, it’s late already. I’ll arrange for you to stay in the guest hall tonight. Tomorrow, you can go meet the elders.”
“Like that? Is that really alright?” Vinny thought for a moment.
“Why do you say that?” Vera blinked.
“Don’t misunderstand.” Vinny tipped his chin up slightly. “I just mean, if I go too late, won’t the elders be left waiting too long? That wouldn’t be very good, would it?”
“Left waiting too long? You’ve already arrived in the City of the Golden Tree, so why would the elders be impatient? It’s already late. I’m more concerned that if you went to meet them now, they may already have retired for the night.” Vera looked genuinely confused.
“Oh, I see. Right, that makes sense.” After mulling it over for a moment, Vinny abruptly asked, “Then what about your queen?”
“Our queen?”
“Yeah. Is she coming to see me?” Vinny asked, his expression a little strange.
“Mr. Vinny, I’m afraid our queen cannot come to see you.” Vera shook her head. “Because of certain matters, it is inconvenient for Her Majesty to appear in public for the time being.”
“Oh. I see.” Vinny fell silent and watched Vera for quite a while.
“Mr. Vinny, is there still something you wish to ask?”
“Nothing much. I was just thinking... is it possible your queen has actually already met me?” Vinny narrowed his eyes at Vera.
“...What did you say??” Vera froze after hearing that.
[Virtue +100.]
[Current Virtue: 8789.]
Vinny’s expression shifted uncertainly as he watched the change in Virtue.
“What are you even talking about, human?” Caesha puffed out her cheeks. “Why would our queen personally come to see you? You were merely invited by one of our elders, and now you’re already dreaming about meeting Her Majesty?? Esteemed guest, please don’t think too highly of yourself.”
“Mr. Vinny, why did you suddenly ask that?” Vera still seemed unable to understand.
“Nothing. Just asking.” Vinny shook his head.
By then, Vera had already led him to the front of a great hall.
The building was interesting. It looked like a massive tree grown straight out of a seed.
“I’m staying here tonight?”
“Yes. Take out your golden leaf.”
Vinny took out his golden leaf, and the two of them entered the hall-like structure shaped like a giant tree.
Once inside, Vinny looked around curiously and found that the inn really did resemble the inside of a tree. The walls were all wooden, ringed over and over with old, natural tree grain.
“My apologies, but this place is an inn prepared for honored guests from afar.” Hearing someone enter, the Golden Elf girl behind the front desk looked up and started to explain. But the moment she saw the golden leaf in Vinny’s hand, she paused, then glanced at Vera beside him and immediately understood the situation.
“My apologies, honored guest from afar. May I have your name?”
“My name is Vinny.”
“Very well, Mr. Vinny. Please take this and go up to the third floor. The room at the far right end of the third floor will be yours tonight.” The Golden Elf girl carved something onto a leaf, then handed it to Vinny.
“Alright. Thank you.” Vinny looked at the leaf she handed him. A line of tiny golden writing had been inscribed across it in something that seemed to be elven script. He could not tell what it said at all.
When it came to the oldest language of all, nothing surpassed the language of the elves.
The language of the Ancient Empire had evolved into Camellan and Imperial. Its pronunciation and writing had changed enormously over time, and no one used the Ancient Empire’s language anymore.
Only elven speech had never changed.
“Then, Mr. Vinny, you should go rest for now,” Vera said. “Tomorrow morning, just wait for me in the main hall.”
“Alright. Thanks for your trouble these past few days, Miss Vera.”
“It’s nothing. You are the elders’ honored guest. Naturally, I could not neglect you.” With that, Vera gave him a bow and left with Caesha.
Both of them had places of their own in the City of the Golden Tree, so naturally they would not be staying here.
Vinny reached the room at the far right of the third floor and looked at the number on the door. It seemed strikingly similar to the one written on the leaf in his hand. He found himself wondering whether this thing worked like a hotel keycard from his past life.
He brushed the leaf against the number plate.
Sure enough, the oak door before him opened with a creak.
Could this leaf be a golden leaf too?
Startled, Vinny examined the leaf the clerk had given him, turning it over and over. In the end, he found that it really was nothing more than an ordinary leaf one could find anywhere. It contained no mana at all. The true source of power was the line of golden writing on it.
Just by writing a string of characters, they could give it the magic to unlock a door.
The elves’ magical craftsmanship really was astonishing.
They just were not using it in the right places. They poured it all into spectacles and art.
Still, this little idea was pretty clever.
It was only a leaf. Once the magic characters had been written onto it and it had been used a few times, it would rot away. A disposable item.
Vinny touched the magic patterns on the wall, which gave off a dim glow in the dark, and at once the crystal lamp in the room lit up, filling the room with soft light.
That touch-sensitive magic pattern was far more advanced than the hotels on the human side.
The room had a bathroom, a bed in the main room, and a balcony. The layout was practically that of a five-star hotel from his previous life.
Vinny stepped out onto the balcony to get some air. Then he suddenly noticed several figures moving toward the building through the night.
“Hm?”
When they got closer, he realized it was a squad of elf soldiers wearing crystal armor. They took up orderly positions guarding the main entrance and the gate leading to the rear courtyard.
Vinny frowned.
What was this supposed to mean?
Was he being watched?
Then again, even if that was the case, it could easily be explained away. After all, they could always say it was for the safety of their “honored guest,” and that they had specially pulled city-defense troops over for that purpose.
Standing on the balcony, Vinny sank into thought.
He was growing more and more curious about what exactly the elves were trying to do.
And the Golden Elf elders should already know Milian’s current condition, yet they had shown no urgency at all.
Why?
Vinny had the distinct sense that some enormous conspiracy was brewing beneath the surface.
Tomorrow, he would have his answers.
He climbed back down from the balcony, returned to his room, and took off his clothes to get ready for a bath.
Over the past several days, he had not had anywhere to properly wash himself. The fact that this five-star elven hotel even had a shower had honestly surprised him. The showerhead looked as if it had been made out of lotus root, and it gave off a clean fragrance. Even the water that sprayed from it carried a faint sweetness, as though it were natural spring water to begin with.
The elves really had done a good job with these facilities.
After washing up, Vinny flopped onto the bed without the slightest concern and prepared to sleep.
Because he knew this much:
If the elves had truly wanted to make a move on him, they would have done it the moment he entered the elf lands.
Why go to the trouble of bringing him all the way to the City of the Golden Tree first?
After everything he had gone through, Vinny’s nerves had grown far stronger than before. It did not take long for him to fall asleep on the fragrant bed of aromatic wood.
He slept straight through until morning.
Yawning, Vinny walked out onto the balcony and saw that the elf guards still had not left.