Colt panted heavily as he looked ahead with conflict flickering in his eyes. The anger in face quickly faded as he directed his gaze towards the child who was sobbing on the floor.

When he looked back up at the trio, the signs of anger on his expression were no longer as pronounced, replaced by a deep bitterness as he felt a strong sense of helplessness towards the situation.

He took several deep breaths and loosened his fist, understanding that rushing up here would do no good. He was boiling over with rage, but he was already painfully aware that this would only serve to aggravate the issue.

"Let's hurry over to the next room." Colt shot a quick glance to the expedition as he spat out his words, hastily taking off in a brisk pace as he spoke.

Many questions appeared in their heads, but now was clearly not the time to ask. The elves follow behind silently, matching his pace as they marched forward.

Colt led the group on a path that detoured behind the four elves, the designated path for crossing the field range when there were elves using it. After all, it was naturally unwise to cut from behind the targets and moving through between the archers and the targets was clearly not an option.

However, Colt immediately felt some regret towards his decision when three figures approached them from the front and blocked of their group, causing him to click his tongue uncontrollably.

He felt irritation rise from the depths of his heart, but his regret quickly faded as he knew that this was already probably the best result as things would have been much worse had he taken either of other two paths.

The trio had their bows with them as well, and knowing them, he did not doubt for a single second that they would have drawn their bows on them, as it wouldn't be the first time they did something like that.

"Woahhh! There's so many new faces here! Is there a party or something!? Hmm...? You... I remember you, you're one of the elves from the southern tribes? Kalt...or was it Kult?"

The elf standing in the center of the trio began to speak as his eyes wandered across the group, but he lost interest almost immediately and focused a frigid gaze on Colt instead as his lips curled up into a thin smile.

Contrary to the viciousness displayed in his words, his appearance was extremely clean and proper. He had neat silver hair that trailed smoothly to his broad shoulders. He was also about half a head taller than Alz which was slightly above the average height of their race.

His face was still showed had signs of youth, albeit less apparent than Alz's, and appeared to be in his early twenties. His attire was also well groomed and gave off a knightly impression as opposed to the impression of a hunter found in most elves.

The two elves that stood by his sight were slightly shorter than him, but they had bulky figures filled with muscle that could match Polon back in the village, although, these two elves were clearly already fully grown and at their prime as opposed to Polon who was still early in his growing years.

His voice sounded crisp and clear but was laden with feigned enthusiasm, obviously mocking the group. There was also clear arrogance and maliciousness that fitted so well into his voice that it was scary how natural it was.

The elves in the group felt their blood running cold as they looked at the elf before them, some even lowering their bodies subconsciously as their instincts warned them of the hostility emanating from the elf before them.

Colt gritted his teeth tightly and met with his gaze. However, the anger and resentment in his gaze immediately disappeared like a speck of snow under the blazing hot sun, replaced by a look of fear and unease as he inadvertently lowered his eyes in the next moment.

A cold glint flashed in the elf's eyes while his lips curled up further in response to Colt's reaction as he continued to stare down on him with his condescending gaze.

"Young Chieftain, I believe his name was Colt." one of the elves standing by his side spoke up after the 'young chieftain' spoke, correcting him on Colt's name

"Hahahahaha, all the southern elves are the same, why do you even bother remembering their names? You're gonna be doing 20 push-ups after this as punishment!" the 'young chieftain' held his hand to the stomach and began to laugh loudly before turning to his companion and speaking.

"Hey, you. That thing over there is from your tribe, right? Go throw it out of this city and throw yourself out with it before or you'll end up regretting it." he then pressed his index finger directly onto Colt's forehead and stared directly into his eyes before speaking, ending off with a playful yet cruel smile.

"And you, the ones standing behind this piece of trash. My name is Cruz Custos, you'd do well to burn this into your tiny heads before we meet again. I'm in a good mood today so I'll let you guys off for now, be grateful."

The elf turned to the expedition and introduced himself haughtily before walking towards the entryway at the side of the field with an arrogant laugh that echoed in the field while his two companions followed behind.

Half a minute later, his obnoxious laughter finally cleared after he exited the field, leaving a dreadful silence that filled the air. The elves in the expedition began to exchange glances, clearly lost by the sudden development, but they all had one thing in common, flames of rage burning in their eyes.

Even the most mild-tempered of them was angered by Cruz's words that demeaned and insulted all the elves in the southern area. Many of them even had thoughts of walking up and rearranging his face for him, but they had too many reservations to act now.

After all, anyone could tell that they held positions of importance in the city from Colt's reactions and it was unwise to stir trouble on the first day they arrived without even knowing the extent of trouble they would be getting into.

According to the covenant, they would be staying here for at least the next 30 years and it didn't look like a good idea to ruin all of their futures due to a moment of rashness right after entering the city.

The group then turned their eyes to their guide, Colt, who had remained silent ever since Cruz approached the group. He currently hung his head low with his fists clenched tightly as his body shook uncontrollably from the emotions he felt.

"Standing up for a fellow tribe member, a friend's daughter? What a joke! I can't even look at him in the eyes."

A murky darkness swam in his eyes as he roared at himself in his mind towards his pathetic display from before, feeling ashamed and disappointed at himself for the cowardice he had shown.

He had opened his mouth several times during the earlier ordeal, but no words came out. He couldn't even stand up for himself then, not to mention standing up for someone else. He began to wallow in his thoughts while his sense of the reality began to dim.

However, just as he was about to lose himself in self-derision, he felt a gentle touch on his hand, bringing him back to his senses. He instinctively looked up but saw no one. He slowly moved his gaze downwards and finally caught sight of the small figure who was trying to cheer him up.

This figure was the girl who had been kneeling on the floor earlier after being bullied by the trio. Her eyes were a beautiful meadow green eyes and her soft silver hair was tied up in ponytail behind her.

Her facial features were mostly rounded but were not yet distinct, shrouded behind a veil which time had yet to remove. The youth of her features was comparable to Alz, but she was actually two years younger than him at the tender age of 15.

"Uncle C-Colt, I-I'm okay-y so ch-cheer up, I-I'm really f-fine." she tried to speak while desperately holding back her tears, her voice breaking several times as she gently patted the back of his hand while holding it with her other hand.

She was looking at him with a smile on her face, but her eyes still red with and tears were slowly streaking down her cheeks, giving away the strong front she was putting up.

"Haha, I'm really pathetic, to think I would need to be consoled by Maya."

He looked down at the young girl before him with a gentle, doting gaze as he lifted his hand and patted her gently on the head as he began to speak.

"Sorry Maya... sorry for being so useless." he apologised to the young girl with a pained expression as he looked at the two halves of a bow she held to her chest with her elbows, the last memento her friend had left her before his eternal departure.

Maya frantically shook her head sideways, a strong gaze filling in her tear-stricken face as she spoke, "You didn't do anything wrong, they are the bad guys. P-Papa used s-say so t-too. I w-will... "

Her voice began to break again as she recalled her deceased father, causing her tears drip faster. She took several breaths to regain herself and continued in a resolute voice, "I will become strong, so they can't ever bully us again!"

Her moist emerald eyes shined with a blinding brilliance as she spoke of the promise she had made in her heart. Colt felt as though something hard stabbed deeply into his heart, bringing him back to his senses.

Light began to fill his eyes again, dispelling the murky darkness. He still had things to do, duties to perform. There was no time for him to waste grieving, when even a young girl like Maya had the strength to move forward.

Suddenly he revealed a look of shock as though finally remembering something. He stiffly turned his neck around, only to see many pairs of eyes focused on them, causing his face to redden slightly.

"S-Sorry for the spectacle, I'll bring you over to the captain now." he hastily apologised with an awkward smile and quickly began to walk briskly towards the door on the opposite end of the entrance they took.

Maya's face also reddened like a tomato as she belatedly recalled the presence of the onlookers, running after Colt who sped off.

The elves from the Calla tribe felt their emotions for earlier die down at the warm scene that played out before them, but they were all putting on much more serious expressions than before as they now knew for a fact that their stay would not go as smoothly as they had hoped for.