Fairy Tale Town

"Perhaps you could go to Fairy Tale Town nearby. They provide adventurers with terrain maps." A man called out loudly, "Need a guide? For just two copper coins, I can get you safely to town."

Seeing there was no business to be had, the man lost interest and merely pointed in a general direction. Elufiel did not mind his perfunctory gesture. As long as the direction was right, any mount could solve her travel problem.

Fairy Tale Town had two particularly successful inns. One was famous for its special ale, while the other owed its reputation to its owner, who had once been a mercenary. Before his right leg was injured, Paul had already been an intermediate mercenary. If he had not been wounded while advancing to senior mercenary, he would now have been a backbone member of one of those large mercenary companies.

Sometimes, he imagined what it would be like to be a senior mercenary. Perhaps his name would appear in adventurers' tales, fighting evil mages alongside his companions, hunting high-level magical beasts, even exploring the dangerous Frost Mountains. Yet in reality, he was still that injured, retired intermediate mercenary. But Paul had not abandoned his life of adventure. He chose to open an inn in Fairy Tale Town at the entrance to the Green Forest, serving adventurers with maps, equipment, rations, pack animals... He hoped to carry on his dream through other adventurers.

Paul watched the handsome man sitting alone in a corner of his inn, drinking ale. His movements were unhurried, like those of a nobleman at a banquet. Business was not particularly good during Frostmoon, and this guest with his unusual air made Paul feel like striking up a conversation.

Just as he was about to say something, another figure appeared at the door.

After asking a town resident, Elufiel learned that Paul's inn provided maps for adventurers. Accompanied by an enthusiastic local—a teenage boy—she found the inn.

It was a strange feeling. Even before the Second Orc War, Elufiel had never been this close to humans, much less treated with such warmth. Beneath her cloak, a vague sense of foreboding rose within her.

"Oh, a guest from afar. Need a room?" the innkeeper asked cheerfully.

Elufiel was about to ask about the maps when her peripheral vision caught sight of someone she absolutely did not want to see right now—a mage.

Fairy Tale Town

The young, handsome mage set down his wooden ale mug and looked directly toward the entrance. His expressionless face held calm eyes, as though the elf's appearance had been within his expectations.

Elufiel instinctively took a step back. She almost believed this was a trap set by the mage.

"An elf," the mage said. "Perhaps we can sit down and have a proper talk. You should know that the Holy See is excessively wary of all intelligent nonhuman beings now."

Elufiel's pointed ears twitched beneath her hood. A human mage speaking imperfect Thalassian—the language of Blood Elves? And... the organization called the Holy See. Elufiel was certain she had never heard of it.

Countless thoughts flashed through her mind, but in the end, she chose to approach the human mage. Perhaps the mage could provide more information than a map. Besides, there was no one else in the inn who posed a threat to her. The innkeeper had clearly once been some sort of warrior, but was now crippled. Only the mage was in the common room, and she sensed no dangerous presence upstairs either.

Seeing the girl approach the handsome young man, Paul stopped trying to greet her. Special people always had special friends, did they not? Perhaps this was the beginning of another adventure. Right here in his inn—what an exciting start.

Elufiel sat across from the mage. "Mage, first of all, I mean no harm. I only want to know where this place is." Her Thalassian carried an ancient cadence, elegant and pleasing to the ear.

The mage considered for a while, making Elufiel somewhat uneasy.

"This is xxxx, xxx."

Elufiel blinked. She had not understood the crucial part of the mage's sentence. Was it a special place name, or was the mage simply poor at Elvish? Then she remembered the place names the women of Wind Wolf Village had told her and said in the human common tongue, "Halor Kingdom? Green Forest?" Her pronunciation of the two terms closely matched the women's accent.

This time, the mage answered quickly, speaking in the common tongue. "Yes. This is the southern border of Halor Kingdom. The forest you were in before was the Green Forest—the magical beast forest most favored by adventurers across the Eastern Plains." His common tongue sounded smoother and more elegant.

Eastern Plains. Another place name Elufiel had never heard before. Suddenly, an almost unbelievable thought arose in her mind: could she no longer be in Azeroth?

"Please tell me the name of this continent." Elufiel stared intently at the mage.

A flicker of surprise passed through the mage's eyes, though his usually expressionless face concealed it well. "The Kanado Continent where we stand is the only continent in the world. It is vast beyond measure, surrounded by endless ocean apart from scattered islands."

With every word he spoke, the elf's gaze dimmed a little more. The mage did not understand why.

"Then there is no Kalimdor, no Quel'Thalas, no Maelstrom, and no Silvermoon City... is that right?" A string of what sounded like place names flowed softly from the elf's lips in Elvish. Rather than a question for the mage, it sounded more like the elf speaking to herself.

The mage remained silent.

Elufiel took some time to accept the reality that she had changed worlds again. After living in Azeroth for so many years, she had nearly forgotten that she had not originally been an elf either. She had only been an ordinary... player. She should not be too pessimistic, should she? At the very least, as an elf, she possessed the strength to survive in this world, and she had the long years spent in Azeroth to thank for that.