Around noon the next day, the door of Leeora’s home shook. If the tree spirit could let out a sound, it would be groaning at this point, but it could only let out its dissatisfaction by causing the tree shelter to shake, drowning the annoying sound with the rustling of leaves.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

“Which insolent kid is it this time?” Leeora said as she frowned.

Leeora might be the High Elder of the Wood Clan, but she’s someone who acts like a kind neighbourhood grandmother, sometimes even sharing sweets with the children, thus many of the younger elves treat her like they would their own family.

It had its own pros and cons, and this was one of the cons.

“Don’t be afraid, child. We just have a guest,” Leeora comforted the human girl. Wanting to have an excuse to have her leave her house, the elder invited her over to her own home to help the human girl change into new bandages.

Leeora looked at the door and it opened on its own, only for her to witness someone falling forward lifelessly. She recognized the elf due to his silver hair.

“Erlos? Oh, what happened to you?” Leeora put the bandage in her hands down and went to the elf who had fallen on the floor as if having no strength to stand. The human girl stayed in her seat frozen, not knowing what to do.

Leeora kneeled on the floor. Feeling worried, she lightly patted him on the cheek. The silver-haired elf groaned. “Erlos…? Are you okay…?” She continued patting his face to get him to talk to her.

He didn’t open his eyes but said, “Elder, you are hurting my cheeks.”

The older lady stopped patting his faceand instead slapped his arm. “You rascal! You scared me.”

Erlos was one of the elves who hated humankind the most. When his master teleported him to the Kingdom of Valor, his utter disgust for them made him finish his task of investigating in only half a day. Starting from the capital of Valor, Erlos spent the entire night and morning running until he returned to the Kingdom of Agartha.

His exhaustion was not only mental and physical; his magic powers were also drained.

Erlos finally opened his eyes and smiled at Leeora. “It’s good that Elder is worried for me.”

“There is not a single moment when you don’t worry me,” she said with a frown. “Now get up.”

“May I please have an elixir?”

Leeora stared at the grinning elf. “How many times have I told you? Elixirs are precious medicines that are difficult to make, not juice you can just drink whenever you want.”

“Thanks to our cruel king, I have no energy left,” he complained as he rolled on the floor, lying on his back with his arms and legs outstretched. One could see that his entire body was covered in dust, looking travel-worn. “He just left me there without a way to come back. Such a heartless man!”

The human girl understood who he was talking about. After spending two days in this kingdom, she knew who the King was—that scary red-eyed man.

‘I am glad I’m far from him now. He is cruel and treats others badly, unlike this kind elf lady.’

“If you have the energy to curse the King then you must have plenty left to get up and not block my door,” Leeora said as she stood up.

Erlos crawled towards a chair and somehow managed to get up to sit on it. Just as he was about to whine once more, the young elf saw the green-eyed girl staring at him.

For some reason, Erlos did not find this human girl disgusting. Rather, he thought she was a rather strange and interesting creature.

He chuckled. “What are you doing here, human? Don’t look at me like that. I am normally handsome and neat, you know? This is all because of you that I am like this—ack, my back! Elder, let me borrow your bed!” Without waiting for Leeora’s response, he headed straight to her bed and lay there. “Ah, so soft…”

Leeora looked at the human girl with an apologetic smile. “Ignore him.”

The human didn’t react as she stayed quiet, but she could not help but peek at the young elf once more.

Leeora went to Erlos and offered him a bottle of elixir. “Have this, and later, eat your food.”

Seeing that precious elixir, Erlos let out a happy laugh and immediately got it from Leeora. “I knew it! I was not wrong to say you care for me the most, Elder.”

“Oh, you cunning kid. Use your sweet-talking mouth to drink the elixir and later have some of the bread I just baked,” Leeora said as she signalled him to look at the fresh food kept on the table. “Later, you can tell me what happened to you.”

“That I can tell you now, Elder”

Erlos was ready to talk but Leeora stopped him. “I am busy with this child at the moment.” She didn’t wish Erlos to say anything in front of the human girl and make her aware that they were investigating her. “Also, you are stinking and making my home smell unpleasant. You should go home and clean yourself first.”

Erlos sniffed himself after drinking the bottle of elixir. “Eugh! I am stinking like those disgusting creatures.” Without another word, he immediately disappeared from Leeora’s home.

The human girl could see him running at the speed of the wind. It should have been impossible because only supernatural beings should be capable of following Erlos’ movement and human eyesight would never catch even his shadow.

‘He is so fast,’ she thought with awe.