Revealing Its Tracks

Led by Ms. Edith, the Sixteenth Team expedition team left Ellington Castle the following morning. They planned to travel upstream along the Da Nei River, where there was a spectacular waterfall in the middle of the Malaga Jungle. Standing on the high cliff beside the waterfall, one could see a rainbow spanning across it...

The team has been camping along the Da Nei River recently, as many students from the Elf Academy travel upstream along the Da Nei River.

This route is simple, safe, and offers plenty of food.

Inside the tent, Edith changed into loose pajamas and sat on the carpet, looking at the Magic Crystal in her hand.

She's been looking preoccupied these past few days...

Phyllis knew that the Magic Crystal was given to Edith by the Half-Elf named Roy before he left. Edith decided to befriend Roy mainly because Princess Ophelia knew Roy, and as an admirer of Princess Ophelia, Edith was naturally willing to spend some effort to get to know Roy.

But now, judging from her appearance, she just stares blankly at the Magic Crystal every day.

Phyllis's best friend, couldn't help but feel a little regretful. If she had known it would turn out this way, she would never have let her get in touch with that Half-Elf.

Phyllis poured a cup of tea, placed it on a tray, and put it at Edith's feet.

Edith's lake-blue eyes finally left the Magic Crystal, and she looked clearly at her friend, suddenly saying something to Phyllis out of the blue:

"Phyllis, I suspect Roy might be related to our grandmother by blood!"

Phyllis was startled.

She sat down opposite Edith, covered her lips with one hand, leaned forward to Edith's ear, and whispered:

"... You mean Countess Amelia has a human lover, and they even had Half-Elf child together?"

Edith nodded and said, "Yes, my grandmother did travel around the entire Elf Continent for a period of time. She was a very traditional Silver Moon Elf who originally looked down on human ladies. But after returning from that trip, her attitude towards Half-Elf and Half-Elf changed significantly. So we guess that she must have met humans or Half-Elf during her travels, which is why she changed so much."

"... Then what makes you think Roy and Countess Amelia are related by blood?" Phyllis, somewhat puzzled.

Edith took out the Magic Crystal from her hand and said to her best friend, "Look... this is the Magic Crystal he gave me."

This is an exquisitely crafted and antique-looking Magic Crystal. You can tell it's very valuable just by looking at the intricate runes and magic Magic Crystal on it.

"I know that..."

Phyllis said softly.

These past few days, she'd often seen Edith staring blankly at the Magic Crystal Magic Crystal, and she knew that Roy had given it to Edith before he left.

"It contains four Elven Song by Sword Poet. The Silver Moon Elf inside the Magic Crystal who sings the Elven Song happens to be my grandmother..." Edith said.

"Are you saying that the Silver Moon Elf is what your grandmother looked like when she was young?" her best friend Phyllis asked in a low voice.

Edith nodded, pursing her pale red lips.

Phyllis blinked and said, "It shouldn't be that he found it in the castle, then discovered that the Magic Crystal might be Countess Amelia's keepsake, so he returned it to you before leaving?"

Edith tapped her forehead hard and said, "What you're saying doesn't seem impossible... But every year countless explorers come to this castle searching for treasure. Where do you think he found this Magic Crystal?"

But as she continued, she hesitated.

Phyllis, his best friend, suggested, "Perhaps when you return to the Elf Academy, you can ask him about it."

"Yes! That's right, if you don't understand something, just ask someone."

After Edith finished speaking, she put the Magic Crystal into her pouch.

On that smiling face, her blue eyes suddenly narrowed into crescent moons...

Two Silver Moon Elf students emerged disheveled from a bush...

Despite wearing leather armor, traversing through the thorny thickets still left him covered in sharp thorns.

"We should have used our longswords to carve a path; it would have been better than forcing our way through like this!" a slender Silver Moon Elf complained to her companion.

"I didn't expect there to be vines everywhere in the bushes. This jungle is really difficult to walk through!" the slightly shorter Silver Moon Elf chimed in.

The two rested under a large tree, drinking water and flipping through a map. The tall, slender Silver Moon Elf said confidently, "We should be around here right now, we'll be there soon..."

The two young Silver Moon Elf, who were resting under the tree, were completely unaware that... a Human Adventurer Group was hiding in the grass just fifty meters away.

"Boss, we've spotted two young Silver Moon Elf ahead..."

The ranger who had been lying in the grass retreated and reported to the warrior Chieftain behind him.

"Check around for any of their companions!" the warrior Chieftain immediately responded. "If not... capture them. We're very close to Castleton City, so be careful. If you have the chance, act; if not, abandon the plan decisively. Don't drag it out..."

The wandering swordsman immediately replied, "Understood, sir!"

An Adventure Group quickly dispersed in the dense jungle, forming a large net as they slowly approached the tree.

The two elves had rested enough, and just as one of the elf students was about to stand up, a large net suddenly fell from above his head.

He didn't react at first and was suddenly trapped inside the net.

Another young elf, who was sitting on the ground, spotted the large net in time, nimbly rolled forward, and escaped its reach.

Just as he darted out, a figure rushed out from the bushes beside him, the shield in his hand almost leaving a blur as it slammed into the young elf. Before he could even scream, the shield-wielding warrior reached out a large hand and covered his mouth.

The young elf was completely unable to resist and was pinned down by the shield warrior.

The young elf trapped in the net tried to struggle, but a warrior approached from behind and knocked her unconscious with a single punch...

The Adventure Group who appeared from all sides tied the two young elves up tightly and gagged them with strips of cloth.

"I never expected to catch Silver Moon Elf here..." one of the Adventure Group said excitedly.

The shield warrior dragged the young Silver Moon Elf, who was pinning him down, to the warrior Chieftain like a dead dog.

The warrior Chieftain crouched down, his face contorted by scars, and his smile was unnaturally distorted. He reached out and fastened the young elf's undone button, then pinched the elf's chin to examine his teeth closely.

"You'd better behave so you won't suffer. Don't even think about running away. If I find out, I'll break one of your legs. So... you only have two chances!"

The warrior Chieftain said calmly.

The Silver Moon Elf nodded, trembling, and was then dragged away by two of his henchmen...

When the young Silver Moon Elf reappeared before the warrior Chieftain, his cheek was swollen from being slapped, and there were several shoe prints on his body.

The warrior Chieftain asked his men, "Did you get any answers?"

The ranger immediately stepped forward and said, "These Silver Moon Elf are from Castleton City and are currently doing outdoor practical activities. Many young elves have come to this jungle this time."

"The good news we received is that there are other young Silver Moon Elf nearby, and in large numbers. They have almost no experience in wilderness survival and are extremely scattered, almost always appearing in small groups."

"But there's also bad news: a large number of the Elf Academy teachers are accompanying this outdoor practical activity class, and the teachers and students are not together."

"We'll be in big trouble if we run into these college professors!"

Upon hearing this, the warrior Chieftain's eyes lit up, and perhaps due to excessive excitement, the scar on his face turned bright red.

He stroked his chin and chuckled, "Great! This is a rare opportunity... After we finish this job, we'll immediately get back to the ship and head straight north."

The crew members around them were also very excited.

"Yes, sir!"

Roy was still wearing tattered linen clothes, he had woven a hat out of branches and wore it on his head, and he was carrying a large bag of luggage on his back. At this moment, he looked almost no different from a refugee.

He scratched the itchy spot on his arm, spat out the fruit pit from his mouth, then nudged Klayr, who was fast asleep in the tree, and said, trying to control his excited voice, "Klayr, look ahead... my leather armor is here..."

Klayr was groggily woken up by Roy and nearly fell headfirst from the tree branch, but luckily he was wearing a safety rope.

Klayr rubbed her eyes and looked in the direction Roy pointed towards the clearing overgrown with weeds. There she saw a giant lizard, over four meters long, crawling very slowly through the grass. Its skin was almost the same color as the grass.

Roy straddled a horizontal branch of a large tree and looked down, just in time to see the path it was crawling along.

Klayr blinked hard, then covered her mouth with her hand, saying somewhat incoherently:

"What is that? A monitor lizard... My God, this guy is a monitor lizard. Look at its light green skin, it can change color, it can be any color. It has venom in its mouth, if we get bitten, we'll be in big trouble."

"Is its name the Malaga Jungle Monitor?" Roy asked curiously.

Klayr shook her head and said in a low voice, "To be precise, it should be a Petrification Giant Lizard. Its skin is as hard as rock."

"If it bites you, will your body slowly turn to stone?" Roy asked.

"No, that won't happen..."

Before Klayr could finish speaking, she saw Roy slide down the tree trunk. He quickly lowered his voice and asked again:

"Roy... Roy, what are you doing?"

Roy slid down to the tree, then grinned at Klayr up in the tree and whispered to Klayr, "I'm going to make a trap. Tonight I'm going to have a taste of roasted lizard tail..."