"Praise the World Tree for granting..."
Sensing eyes on her, Ellie stopped her blessing and opened her eyes. Many of her people were staring at her and Annan.
Feiolia and Kailanzhuo stopped as well. The holy radiance cloaking them gradually faded as they stared at Ellie's feet and Annan's tongue.
"It's not what you think..." Annan explained, his face pale.
"What do we think?" Feiolia asked, expressionless.
After six days in Free City, they had heard plenty of rumors about Annan. For a Sorcerer, they were hardly shocking, and Annan truly was talented.
But even Elder Ellie, the delegation's unseen leader...?
"Did you touch something? Eat something?" Ellie asked curiously.
Kailanzhuo pressed her lips together, and Feiolia sent the other Elves outside.
"I just ate an acorn..."
"A Companion Acorn," Ellie said.
"What's that?"
"When planted beside an Ancient Oak Seed, it produces a patch of vegetation that increases the chance of an Ancient Oak Treant being born."
"That must be what I ate..."
"You're lucky. Very few people who eat a Companion Acorn actually sprout plants. Want me to remove them?"
"Please!"
Having plants grow on his body was amusing, but it was far too easy to misunderstand... Just look at the Expression on the High Elf Elder's and the Wind Elf Elder's faces.
Was it really the Companion Acorn?
Points of Nature Magic settled on Annan, and the plants on his hand and tongue fell away. Annan breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at the other two elders, who still seemed strange. "What's wrong with you?"
"I..." Feiolia nearly failed to maintain her icy composure.
"Tomorrow is our last day. It's time to discuss the alliance."
Kailanzhuo's words seized all of Annan's attention. "You've made a decision?"
"Only to begin preliminary talks."
On the seventh day