Chapter 252: 252

Chapter 252 Problem of Perspective

the air in the elf forest was indeed fresh and comfortable to breathe .

if the air in the human world could be compared to a brook with a vague scent of fish, the air in the elf forest would be the clear and sweet water from a spring .

standing next to the lake, roland watched the white-tailed fish swimming casually in the water .

it was really a pleasant environment, but roland was not in a mood to appreciate it .

next to him was schuck and margret .

margret was upset, as ans had bluntly unveiled a fact that she had been intentionally ignoring: though powerful, dragons were not the dominators of the world .

as a result, she felt that the world seemed to be collapsing, because she had been so proud of her identity for decades .

looking at the fish for a while, roland asked, “what do you think of ans?”

“a lunatic, but also a politician,” schuck said gloomily . “to carry out his political aspirations, he asks for outsiders’ help to kill his teacher and his compatriots . he’s a self-contradictory person to me, but it’s not my place to criticize him . after all, he’s an elf, and i’m a human . ”

roland nodded . “we’re just outsiders . besides, it’s hard to say what’s right and what’s wrong in politics . most of the time, it’s just a matter of perspective . ”

heaving a soft sigh, schuck asked, “do you want to take this quest or not?”

“of course i do . ” remembering the little body in the bucket, roland said, “whatever ans’s purpose is, it’s a fact that nature’s wrath slaughtered the villages and the town . i don’t want to think now . i only want to choose the side of humanity and avenge them . ”

the forest was even quieter than before, leaves rustling in the wind .

looking at margret gently, schuck said, “i’m definitely on the side of humanity too, but i think that we need to consider the opinions of other species now and then and try to reach a balance . after all, agree to disagree is the mainstream . ”

roland glanced between schuck and margret and realized something . he nodded slightly .

even best friends would inevitably have subtly different opinions on the same matter .

after another length of silence, roland asked, “where’s betta? i haven’t seen him in a while . ”

“he’s out, probably looking for wild fruits, ingredients, or seasonings . ” remembering how his cousin ran out enthusiastically, schuck smiled . “he’s liked making his own food since childhood . he’s certainly going to explore the elf forest . ”

roland smiled too .

after all, betta was only slightly over eighteen and not as sophisticated as they were . he could easily be caught by grief, but he could get rid of it easily too .

as schuck expected, betta returned to the stone house from the depths of the forest two hours later with a lot of fallen leaves as well as spiky little fruits .

schuck patted off the dirt and grass and asked his cousin, “what have you found?”

“a lot . ” betta took out his findings from his system backpack . “look at these fat spiders . this grass is spicy and can be used as pepper . this grass can be used as spices . this is a horned rabbit . i don’t know how it tastes . ”

looking at the things that betta took out, everybody was lost for words . did he personally try all the grasses he picked?

looking at the fat white spiders, margret subconsciously swallowed .

roasted locusts were already delicious enough; roasted spiders would definitely be more palatable .

for most humans, the elf forest was dangerous . apart from the large predators in the outskirts, there were also patrolling elves who could hunt trespassers regardless of their identity or race .

but for betta, this was a treasury full of ingredients and spices that he had never seen before . if possible, he would be willing to stay a couple of years here .

then, betta made barbecue on the roof .

delicious food was indeed one of the best solutions to depression . when everybody chit-chatted over fruit wine and strange barbecue, they felt a lot better . of course, it did not mean that they completely forgot what they saw . they simply buried it in their hearts .

in the following days, they rested in the stone house . at first, they feared that the patrolling elves would spot them and cause unnecessary trouble .

but during these days, they encountered no elves in the forest except ans .

also, betta pressed further into the forest every day when he looked for ingredients, but he did not run into any patrolling elves either .

that became a question for everybody on the team .

five days passed in the blink of an eye . ans was finally here . he was rather solemn, his hair slightly messy . “tomorrow night, my teacher and the leadership of nature’s wrath will have a bonfire at a certain place . they will discuss the plan for nature’s wrath in the next two decades . ”

the elves had a long life, so all their plans were made according to decade .

a massive map was unfolded on the table, and ans began to observe the stone house .

the magic power in the stone house was gone, but with his extraordinary magic talent, he realized that the stone house was a magic product .

mud to stone?

even he did not have such a high precision . this human being was capable of doing that?

ans glanced between the priest and roland before he eventually focused on roland .

most priests would not waste their skill slots on spells that could not be practical in battle . only the mages, who were not restricted by skill slots, would learn this special spell .

was this human adept at magic control?

but that was not obvious .

roland was looking at the map when he noticed ans’s gaze . he raised his head, but ans had moved his eyes away .

roland was slightly puzzled .

the party from nature’s wrath would meet not far away from here . according to the scale of the map, it was only twenty kilometers away .

after studying the map, betta nodded and said, “got it . we will go at least six hours in advance to set up an ambush . ”

“i hope that you can succeed . ” ans glanced at them and said solemnly, “it’s our only shot . i’m told that the golden sons can be resurrected in temples of life . i’ve set up a simplified temple for the life goddess outside of the location . i hope that it can be of some use . ”

roland was quite surprised to hear that .

betta asked, “don’t the elves worship the goddess of forests?”

“the goddess of forests does not reject other believers or force us to worship her . on the other hand, i’m actually a believer of the life goddess . ” ans smiled . “that’s why i know of the golden sons . ”

that explained why ans requested the players to help him accomplish the quest .

ans slightly bent and said sincerely, “thank you for your trouble in advance . i need to go back to prepare now . ”

everybody nodded .

after ans left, roland’s team began to make preparations .

they examined their weapons . the priest and the warlock checked if the spells in their slots were suitable for the upcoming battle .

the warlock, on his part, summoned a maggot .

the maggot showed up with an unusual stink .

everybody couldn’t help but cover their nose .

hawk shouted, “get it back! get it back now! do you want to stink us to death?”

the warlock shrugged but had no choice except to recall the maggot . he said pitifully, “i fear that the magic waves would alarm the elves if i summon it right before the ambush . ”

“then you should’ve at least waited until we’re out of the house,” link said in disgust . “besides, why did you choose a maggot as your magic pet? that’s gross . ”

the warlock said matter-of-factly, “the maggot is strong . strength is the only thing that matters . can you feed on prettiness?”

after he said that, everybody looked at schuck and the dragon girl next to her .

“fine . it’s true that you can feed on prettiness . ” the warlock was bummed and walked away .

hawk took a long breath and said, “since everybody is ready, i’d like to speak about our plan .

“i, link, dorfer, and solomon will be the vanguard . ” hawk pointed to the east of the mark on the map and continued, “according to the map, there’s a hill here . it’s a perfect spot for an ambush . ”

dorfer was a hunter and solomon was a warlock . both of them could attack remotely, and the whole party would be within their range of attack from that hill .

“rommel, betta, suel, and rommel will be the supporters responsible for the buff spells . suel, remember that your duty is not to fight but to protect roland from the elven archers . betta and rommel are both complex classes . you can look for opportunities of attack on your own when it starts . ”

eventually, hawk looked at schuck .

“because of the dragon princess’s intense dragon aura, you will be perceived by the elves if you’re too close to the party . so, schuck, please stand by with the dragon princess at the periphery . three minutes before we strike, we will give you a signal . you and the dragon princess are the strongest fighters on our side . we need you to deal with the druid who can turn into a dragon . ”

schuck nodded . “not a problem . ”

“this is the first time we’ve ever fought elves . i don’t really have a detailed plan . everybody will have to improvise after the battle begins . ”

everybody chuckled in excitement .