“Welcome! Welcome! Welcome!”
Looking in the direction where Claremont was pointing, Devitt saw a few elves in tattered clothes holding banners, jumping, and shouting enthusiastically.
Devitt hesitantly summoned Captain Abel and asked, “Captain Abel, are the elves there sent by the site to pick us up?”
“Hmm?” Abel’s gaze seemed to waver a little when he saw their attire.
The three of them frowned as they walked towards the welcome party.
“Raphael?” Abel finally recognized someone familiar as they walked closer.
Raphael turned and met Abel’s gaze. He grinned in surprise and said, “Abel! Are you leading the elf team this time?!”
After confirming his identity, Abel’s face was so filled with doubt when he saw Raphael’s surprised expression that he did not know what to say.
Devitt and Claremont were also silent.
Although the elves were lazy in general, they were still very conscious about their appearances. At least, Devitt and Claremont had never seen such shabby-looking and dirty-faced elves in the main Elf City.
“What’s wrong with you?” Abel finally could not resist asking.
“We’ll talk about this when we return to the site’s living quarters,” Raphael replied.
Abel nodded in understanding.
“Hello, my name is Raphael. I’m the Lead Representative of the station responsible for receiving you this time,” Raphael formally introduced himself to Devitt and Claremont.
“Hello, I am Captain Devitt, I am leading the Caradia soldiers this time.”
“Hello, I am Claremont, Devitt’s assistant.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. Prepare to lead the soldiers up the mountain with me. It’s getting late,” Raphael said.
“Alright.” Devitt agreed and gathered his team of soldiers in front of Raphael.
The group left the harbor and set off towards the nearest mountain.
The soldiers marched on behind the elves leading the way and climbed the mountain for approximately an hour.
Abel grabbed a branch as he climbed up. “Doesn’t this mountain have a walking trail? Is climbing our only option?”
“There is a trail,” Raphael replied. He seemed to be familiar with this route and was not breathless like the others.
“Then why don’t we use it?” asked Devitt as he finally found a place to lean on and catch his breath.
“The trail is in the front mountain, which is the Ent’s territory. We can’t use it,” Raphael explained.
“I’ve never heard such a thing before, a mountain walking trail can also belong to a territory?” Claremont said, panting.
“That’s the way things are on this island. Be it a walking trail, a drop of water, or a fruit, they are all clearly labeled as to which family they belong to.” Raphael sighed.
“How terrible,” Devitt could not help but say.
“Not only that, but the forces on the island will also fight against each other vying for each other’s resources.” Raphael continued, “The outpost we built at the foot of the mountain is also occupied by the Beastman Corps now.”
“I didn’t expect the situation on the island to be so bad,” Claremont said.
“Is there any hope of getting back the outpost?” Abel asked.
“Impossible. There are hundreds of beastmen entrenched on the island. We can’t defeat them.” Raphael shook his head, as he continued to move forward. “Fortunately, our living quarters built on the high mountains have not been discovered yet. We also don’t have to worry about food etc for now. The current situation is still not too bad. Once you have completed your mission, they won’t be of any concern to us anymore.”
Abel heaved a sigh and did not say anything else. Instead, he followed closely behind Raphael.
An hour later, the group finally arrived at their living quarters on the mountainside.
“I didn’t expect this place to be so big.” Devitt looked at the wooden building in front of him and sighed.
“It was designed as such to anticipate and accommodate the number of people on missions. The craftsmen in the country gained a lot of inspiration from the dwarf smiths and this building was built expeditiously.” A site elf walked up to Devitt and explained.
“Please make do here for tonight,” Raphael said contritely.
All the soldiers followed him into the building.
The hall was sparsely furnished and hence looked very empty in contrast to its vast area.
The soldiers helped the site elves carry out a refectory table from the storeroom.
“We’ll have dinner in the hall today,” the site soldier said.
“Everyone, you may go upstairs and take a look at the rooms. We will allocate them after dinner,” Devitt ordered.
The soldiers carried their bags and went upstairs.
The rooms were in quite a clean and tidy condition. Only the windowsills were wet from the rain, and the wooden planks were moldy.
A soldier sat on the bed, stretched, and said, “I think this place is not bad. Compared to camping in the wilderness, it is so much better. I don’t know why Lord Raphael felt apologetic.”
“The other forces on the island could have come down hard on them. The outpost was also taken away. Perhaps he was filled with guilt,” the soldier sitting opposite him mused and replied.
“Of course. Those who can be appointed as Site Leaders must be high-ranking officers in the army in charge of hundreds of people. To come to this small island with no prior knowledge of it…” a soldier leaning against the wall said.
It was time for dinner.
The site staff prepared a table full of sumptuous dishes.
The soldiers sitting at the table were all staring intently at the food with joy.
The site staff was also in an exuberant mood. Before the reconnaissance team’s arrival, they had to eat field rations for every meal.
The reason was that they needed water to cook, and there was insufficient fresh water on the mountain.
Although the elves required ten times lesser water than humans, they still could not afford to waste the water.
Just the preparation of this meal had used up a fifth of their water reserve.
It would not be long before they had to worry about water again.
However, all their worries faded into oblivion as they had not had such delicious food for a long time.
“To the reconnaissance team,” Raphael toasted.
“Cheers!!”
The soldiers drank up the aged wine in high spirits.
“Generals, this toast is to you. I hope to receive good news from where you are carrying out the mission,” Raphael walked to the table of Abel, Devitt, and Claremont, and raised his glass.
“Thank you, Raphael,” Abel responded first.
“We will definitely accomplish the mission and leave this island together with you,” Devitt said firmly.