Time passed quickly.
As the magical beast and magic plant competition drew toward its end.
Aili brought an exceptionally tall elf to the guest reception hall outside the Atlantis Sea.
This reception hall was a special passage the Merfolk Tribe had provided for Kroya. Only through it could visitors enter the Atlantis Sea.
It served as Reef Island's gateway.
The entire building was constructed from various kinds of stone, long since weathered and worn mottled by the years. Yet in the sunlight, the reddish-brown, gray-white, and navy-blue stones shone with a riot of colors, like an antique oil painting.
It certainly was beautiful.
But it was nothing like the luxurious elegance Aili had imagined. She did not quite understand why Kroya had used stones so common along the coast as building materials, though she found the result pleasing to the eye.
After studying the reception hall, Aili turned and called loudly to the elf beside her:
"Hurry up and go inside. Aren't you the one who's supposed to sign the contract this time?"
"Aili..."
The tall elf looked at the unusual reception hall before him and hesitated slightly. "You could just bring it to me. I haven't left Evergather Island in a hundred years!"
He looked ill at ease, his handsome features scrunched together as he cautiously surveyed his surroundings, as though afraid some magical beast might suddenly leap out.
He had none of an elf's usual relaxed composure. Instead, he resembled a nervous cat in an unfamiliar place.
"..."
Seeing him like this irritated Aili. With all this hemming and hawing, could he even call himself an elf?
So she simply grabbed him and dragged him inside.
As she dragged him along, she said, "Melox, you're like this because you never leave Evergather Island. Next year, you'll have to