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."

Elufiel hurriedly shook her head. "No, thank you. Just point me in the right direction."

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

Two inns in Fairy Tale Town had the best business. One was known for its specially brewed ale, while the other was known because its owner 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 high-ranking mercenary, he would now have been a backbone member of one of those large mercenary groups.

Sometimes, he imagined what it would feel like to be a high-ranking mercenary. Perhaps his name would appear in adventurers' tales; he and his companions would battle evil mages, hunt high-level magical beasts, and even explore the dangerous Frost Mountains. Yet in reality, he was still the injured, retired intermediate mercenary. However, Paul had not given up on his adventuring career. He chose to open an inn in Fairy Tale Town at the entrance to the Green Forest, specializing in serving adventurers: maps, equipment, dry rations, pack beasts... He hoped to carry on his dreams 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 an aristocrat at a banquet. Business at the inn was not particularly good during Frostmoon, and this guest with a distinctive aura gave Paul the urge to strike 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 the enthusiastic resident—a teenage boy—she found the inn.

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

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

Elufiel was about to ask about maps when the corner of her eye 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 cup and looked straight toward the door. His expressionless face held a pair of calm eyes, as though the elf's arrival 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 now excessively wary of all intelligent beings who are not human."

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, and in the end, she chose to approach the human mage. Perhaps the mage could provide more information than a mere map. Besides, no one else in the entire inn could threaten her. The innkeeper had clearly once been a warrior-type profession, but was now crippled. The inn's hall held only the mage, and she sensed no dangerous presence upstairs either.

When the innkeeper Paul saw the girl approach the handsome young man, he stopped trying to greet her. Special people always had special friends, didn't they? Perhaps this was the beginning of another adventure? Right here in his inn—what an exciting start.

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

The mage thought for a while, which made 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's Elvish simply inadequate? Then she recalled the place names the women of Wind Wolf Village had told her and said in the human common tongue, "Halor Kingdom, Green Forest?" The pronunciation of those two terms closely matched the women's accent.

This time, the mage responded quickly. He spoke in the common tongue. "Yes. This is the southern border of the 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 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 trace of surprise flashed through the mage's eyes, but his usually expressionless face concealed it well. "The Kanado Continent where we are is the only continent in the world. It is vast beyond measure, surrounded by endless oceans apart from a few 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 here, no Quel'Thalas, no Maelstrom, and certainly no Silvermoon City... is that right?" A string of what seemed to be place names in Elvish slipped softly from the elf's lips. Rather than asking the mage, she seemed to be 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 merely 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 for that she had to thank the long years she had spent in Azeroth.