"Where are you headed?" asked Bishop Kuboert. "If you set off now, the entire Haisas might hunt you down. But with the protection of the holy Pate, it would be different. If possible, I am willing to offer you such assistance."
Having said that, he pointed to a horse parked opposite the inn: "I have a fine horse, it won’t delay your progress."
Lynch kept watching this Priest of Pate, his eyes always darting to the Angel Soka sitting behind Zilvra while he spoke. The Mage thought for a moment and understood; not only Dark Elves but also the priests of Light God Pate needed angels to perform religious activities. Although their methods were different, their ultimate aims were essentially the same.
"No, thank you for your kind offer." Lynch rode his horse over to stand between Soka and the Priest: "I feel we are still not of the same path."
Having spoken, he took one last long look at the inn, nudged his horse gently with his legs, and departed in a cloud of dust. Zilvra, who had just learned to ride, followed swiftly with her agile reflexes.
Kuboert watched in the direction the two horses disappeared, guessing Lynch’s path. After a short while, he also mounted his horse and left, heading toward the Elf Kingdom via another route.
They were fortunate to have left the dangerous area before the lord’s army of Haisas arrived, allowing them to proceed slowly and give the horses time to rest and recover. Walking along the small path in Haisas, the sides had been cultivated into farmland. The harvest season had mostly passed, and the second season’s crops had just been planted into the soil. So now, looking around, the fields appeared quite sparse.
The area Lynch lived in was relatively prosperous, nourished by river water, and the land was more fertile than in other areas. Crisscrossed fields and densely packed orchards were dotted with fences, barns, and farmhouses. Numerous man-made canals flowed along the terrain, traversing the green plain, entering the river, and rolling forward. Fruit trees lined the road, and low bushes were scattered between them. If passersby were thirsty, they could pluck the berries along the roadside to wet their parched throats with the fresh juice. However, if one were to recklessly enter the orchards, the massive watchdogs would unceremoniously pounce.
Haisas was not large in size, and disaster had struck it year after year. Yet the resilient people of Haisas transformed the once cursed land into the fertile landscape it is today. They diligently excavated canals, allowing the clean water to wash away the dreadful gray silt left in the soil; they planted trees to draw the filth from underground to the surface, letting it evaporate under the sun and dissipate forever. After countless generations, Haisas finally restored its original vitality and became full of life again.
Approaching noon, the three stopped and tied their horses to the side of the road to rest. Lynch and the others had already changed direction several times along the way, letting fields and bushes obscure their tracks. They were now far from the initial path, and there shouldn’t be any army able to catch up with them.
Lynch sat under a tree, spreading a thick rug underneath him. He was sorting through the dry food his mother had prepared for him, organizing them according to their shelf life. Zilvra sat beside him, carefully wiping her thin sword.
"That weapon no longer has magic; it’s just an ordinary sword now," Lynch said to Zilvra. "And its style clearly marks it as something from the Dark Elves, and since we are heading to the Elf Kingdom, you should probably hide it." This update ıs available on novel-fire.net
Zilvra paused her work and looked at Lynch: "Why should I accommodate the Elves?"
"Because you are no longer a Dark Elf, and those Drow things shouldn’t affect your future life. If you are to pay the price for the enmity between Dark Elves and Elves, it wouldn’t be fair to you."
"There’s no such thing as fairness in this world," Zilvra said. "Lynch, sometimes I wonder, what exactly am I? My father is an Angel, but my mother is a Dark Elf. I have always yearned for life on the surface but received training in the dark world. What am I really?"