Become a vassal state?

Ellari's gaze settled on Lin Mo. Her pale blue eyes seemed to hold the stars, warm yet appraising, as she spoke with a smile.

"Visitor from another world, welcome to Aivinol."

Lin Mo smiled and stepped forward. Copying her etiquette, he placed his right hand over his chest and bowed slightly.

"Your esteemed Her Majesty the Queen, meeting you is like a spring breeze sweeping across the grasslands, like summer rain nourishing the earth. Your radiance puts even the sun in the sky to shame."

"It is an honor to meet you in person."

The smile deepened in Ellari's blue eyes, and even the entire square seemed to brighten.

Actually, being over two thousand years old wasn't necessarily a deal-breaker.

The Elder beside her stepped forward and bowed.

"Esteemed Sir Lin Mo, Princess Fendona, Her Majesty has prepared a banquet to welcome you after your long journey. Please follow me."

The banquet hall was inside an unimaginably massive tree trunk.

Its walls were the natural inner walls of the tree, and countless luminous fungi hung from the vaulted ceiling, casting soft, dreamlike light.

Lin Mo was seated on Queen Ellari's right, with Fendona beside him.

He stared thoughtfully at the row of at least seven or eight exquisite utensils before him, crafted from moonlight white jade and mithril.

These things... which one was he supposed to use first?

Ellari raised an iridescent crystal goblet, her voice rich and melodious.

"To our guest from another world, and to Lothia's great victory. Cheers."

Lin Mo hurriedly followed her example, lifting his goblet and gulping it down as though it were beer.

A sweet, refreshing liquid slipped down his throat, instantly becoming a warm current that washed through his entire body and swept away the fatigue of the past several days.

After several rounds of pleasantries and drinks, the Queen finally steered the conversation toward the matter at hand.

"Sir Lin Mo," Ellari said, her pale blue eyes fixed on him.

"Fendona tells me you come from a country called Great Xia."

"We are very curious about your world. Would you tell us about it?"

Here it comes!

The think tank had already devised a strategy. He could not reveal the truth about Blue Star, lest their wariness interfere with the larger plan.

So Lin Mo put on an earnest smile and said,

"Her Majesty the Queen, compared with the great Terra Continent, our world is rather ordinary."

His words drew curious looks from several of the Elf Elders present.

"We humans have poor physical capabilities compared with the races of the Terra Continent. We aren't naturally agile like Elves, or strong like Dwarves."

"Speaking of which, I must thank Your Majesty for your gift. It has made me less frail."

He paused, then continued.

"We rely heavily on tools when traveling long distances."

"Tools?" Ellari repeated with interest.

"Yes! Iron boxes that don't need horses to pull them. We call them cars."

"They serve much the same purpose as your carriages, only... they can go a little faster."

"The advantage is that they don't need grass, but they do use quite a bit of fuel. It's a nuisance!"

"If we need to go farther, it gets even more troublesome. We have to ride in a big thing called an airplane."

He struggled to find the words to describe it.

"It's roughly... like a dragon that can't use magic. It flies pretty high and pretty fast, but it's a little noisy."

"As for combat..." He let out a long sigh.

"We can't sense Magic Elements, let alone cast spells. We can only rely on technological creations."

"For instance, we have a weapon called a gun. You could think of it as... a crudely made miniature crossbow, except you don't have to struggle to draw the string."

"It shoots little iron pellets. As for its power... I imagine it's about on par with the arrows you shoot."

"Of course, we also have cannons. They're bigger crossbows that can shoot bigger iron pellets farther."

"Yes, that's about it."

Once he finished his "heartfelt confession," the Elf nobles present looked toward an Elf standing in a corner.

The Elf shook his head slightly, indicating that Lin Mo had not lied.

Clearly, he had cast the Truth-Detecting Art at some point.

Seeing their reactions, Lin Mo understood exactly what was happening.

I already knew you had all sorts of miraculous spells. I'm not lying to you, but nobody said I couldn't put a filter on the truth!

The Elders began whispering among themselves, making no attempt to hide it.

"Did you hear that? Their bodies are so frail that they need external objects just to get around."

"That thing called an airplane sounds like a shoddy alchemical creation, yet he dares compare it to a dragon? The ignorant truly know no fear."

"It seems this otherworldly country is much weaker than we imagined."

"Other than that Compound Bow, which is somewhat interesting, the rest... probably don't even measure up to the Holy Human Race's militia."

One Elder stroked his beard and shook his head disdainfully.

Queen Ellari continued smiling as she elegantly sipped her wine, offering no opinion and leaving her thoughts unreadable.

But the condescending sense of superiority and pity in the banquet hall was obvious to anyone.

Sitting beside Lin Mo, Fendona flushed bright red. Her green eyes were filled with shame, indignation, and apology, while her hands clenched into fists beneath the table.

The atmosphere in the banquet hall grew delicate.

"Forgive my presumption, Her Majesty the Queen."

A voice rang out, and the conversations in the hall gradually subsided.

The Elf Elder Valerius rose, first offering Queen Ellari a noble's salute before turning toward Lin Mo.

He wore a smile, his tone gentle.

"After hearing our otherworldly guest's description, I am filled with admiration."

"A civilization forsaken by the source of the world, unable to perceive magic, yet able to create such... interesting inventions through external means. That alone is a miracle."

He placed particular emphasis on "interesting."

"An iron box that needs no horses to pull it. An ingenious concept."

"It may never match the speed of a Hippogriff knight, but it demonstrates a commendable sort of ingenuity belonging to mundane beings."

Valerius chuckled and slowly shook his head.

"As for that weapon called a gun, comparing it to the arrows our Sharpshooters imbue with the power of nature is surely a naive misunderstanding of archery."

Then he changed tack.

"Sir Lin Mo, with your people's bodies so frail, I imagine they cannot even match the Holy Human Race's untrained militia?"

His words drew stifled chuckles from several Elf nobles.

Pleased by their response, Valerius cleared his throat and raised his voice.

"But! The Goddess of Nature is merciful, and we Elves are no different!"

"I have a proposal that would be nothing short of divine grace for your Great Xia!"

He spread his arms.

"I propose that our Elf Kingdom accept Great Xia as our vassal state!"

"???" Everyone stared in astonishment.

Fendona's expression changed.

The composure vanished from Lin Mo's face as well.