Parting and Arrival

"Eh? Didn't you say your leave was for a year?"

"There's been some unusual activity among the trolls near Quel'Thalas. Those cowardly old fossils issued an emergency order and recalled me."

Though they had only known each other for a short time, Duke was still grateful to Alleria. Hearing that this genuine powerful backer was suddenly leaving, he felt a faint sense of loss.

"Then I wish you a smooth journey."

Alleria froze. For a Windrunner, "a smooth journey" was undoubtedly the finest blessing. Without realizing it, Duke had warmed her irritated heart.

"All right, you've sweet-talked me again without meaning to. Then I'll tell you one little thing. If you get into trouble, go find him." With that, Alleria tossed him a small object.

Duke looked at it. It was a tiny silver ornament, engraved with a name in High Elven.

Duke grimaced. "I don't know High Elven."

"Then learn it! Although I'm a Windrunner, from a ranger family that has roamed the forests for generations, I still have to say this—High Elven magic is the greatest magic!" The pride of the High Elves was on full display at that moment. Alleria proudly thrust out her chest.

Fine, your chest is bigger, so you make the rules.

"Yes, yes, yes." Duke did not argue. After all, the true masters of magic in Azeroth were still the High Elves.

"Hey, why do you look like you're trying to send me away?"

"No, no, no, how could that be?" Duke hurriedly protested.

"Sigh—" Alleria suddenly leaped into a tree. Resting her left hand beneath her right elbow and lightly supporting her chin with her right hand, she sat on a branch and looked down at Duke. Then she abruptly changed the subject. "Actually, I envy you."

"Hm?"

"You're young, full of vitality, and utterly unafraid of authority. Unlike me. I'm clearly a ranger general, yet before those councilors, my standing is probably lower than that of a mindless magical construct. So when I saw you slap that young nobleman twice, it felt really satisfying."

Hey! So you really had been spying on me!

"I sometimes think that it would be wonderful if I had the courage to slap those bastard councilors a few times too. But I can't... I'm the eldest daughter of the Windrunner family. Not only must I set an example for my younger sisters, I also represent the Windrunner family's honor. Every single thing I do will be endlessly magnified."

Hearing Alleria's bitter confession so suddenly, Duke fell silent.

"So, that curious side of me you saw is absolutely not how I usually am. After I return this time, I'll once again be that stern ranger general who rarely smiles. Of course, it's precisely because Quel'Thalas and the Stormwind Kingdom are separated by nearly ten thousand miles, and we'll most likely never have a chance to meet again in this lifetime, that I'm telling you these things. Honestly, I should thank you. At least these past two days, you made me feel entertained and happy."

Duke suddenly smiled and asked tentatively, "Then... are we friends now?"

Alleria shook her head. "No. High Elves have no interest in being friends with humans. Or rather, we all avoid making human friends. Compared to the endless lives of High Elves, human lifespans are far too short. A human's few decades are but the time it takes us to nap. Just when we begin to invest our feelings, we so quickly face parting and death again. We can't bear it."

Duke sighed inwardly. As expected, different races have vastly different values.

Yet Duke gave a mysterious smile. "But I have a feeling that I'll see you again within five years."

"Five years? Impossible! Those horrible old men will keep ordering me around. Every time I'm stationed at the front lines, it's never for less than fifty years. And our front lines would never permit humans to approach."

"Then let's make a bet. If we meet again within five years, will you swear that you'll be my friend then?" For some reason, Duke secretly added the word female before "friend" in his heart.

"Hmph! A bet it is!" Alleria did not believe in charlatans. She crossed her arms over her chest, as though she were looking at a little fellow indulging in a daydream.

Fine, to her, Duke was just a lecherous little fellow.

Alleria left. At this moment, Duke was merely a passing human youth in her heart. She had no idea that Duke had set her up.

If Duke's calculations were correct, then the [Dark Portal] incident would erupt within five years. As a member of the Alliance, Alleria would return to the human world once more to join forces against the orc invasion...

The next morning, Duke set off again. For the following two days, he spent almost all his time in the carriage.

As his body swayed constantly with the jolting carriage, Duke realized that he had begun adapting to the world of Azeroth. At first, he would feel nauseated shortly after getting into a carriage. Now, he was already used to it.

But what moved Duke even more was what happened along the way. "Even Elwynn Forest, the most peaceful place there is, isn't something an ordinary person can cross alone!"

The carriage convoy was attacked.

Old Norton had not traveled alone with just the three apprentices. Sasha, his magic apprentice, had accompanied them as well, along with a fully armed escort squad of sixteen men. Including the coachmen and servants, there were over twenty people in total, three carriages, and nearly thirty horses.

Even such a lineup, which looked extraordinarily lavish to Duke, was still attacked.

On the second night, they were attacked by several hundred forest wolves, which old Norton drove away with a few [Wall of Fire] spells.

On the third night, however, it was gnolls. These wolf-headed, humanoid monsters, only half the height of an adult human, were far more vicious than those Duke had encountered in the game.

These cunning and brutal predators not only launched surprise attacks at night, but came in packs. They lay prone in the grass with crossbows in hand, firing sneak shots in an attempt to disrupt the convoy's defensive formation before surrounding and slaughtering them.

Protected by six shield-bearing guards, Duke saw with his own eyes a servant not far from him get shot through the neck by a crude crossbow bolt.

The dying man's mouth still struggled to open and close, blood bubbles spilling from it. Duke, who had thought he was beginning to adapt to the world of Azeroth, once again felt that suffocating discomfort.

Death—even knowing he could try countless times, he would never get used to it!

The 1% of humanity Duke had regained at Northshire Abbey certainly made him happy. But he could not help feeling that this was not an easy method. It was still peacetime now; once war came, then... Don't let your moral integrity fall apart too quickly!

Beside Duke, Daniel and Itana seemed perfectly normal. When Duke asked them about it, their answers were both the same: "In a world filled with monsters everywhere, people dying is nothing unusual."

Duke was at a loss for words.

The only fortunate thing was that, after several scares but no real danger, they finally arrived in Stormwind by the evening of the third day.