The Grimace
Vareesa was speechless for a moment; she could only feel the cold, stern gaze beneath the mage's mask. Perhaps saying sorry would be the most appropriate thing to do now, but her pride wouldn't allow Vareesa to do so.
"Since the Ranger-General has allowed me to leave, I won't stay and get in the way." The mage looked at Alleria. The Regent seemed to understand human relationships better than her sister; at least there was a hint of regret in his eyes. "If you want to understand the entire Sewers, you'd better give the homeless people here a few meals. They are the ones who know the Sewers best. And don't forget, you only have less than an hour."
Alleria nodded in response without saying a word. The mage glared at Vareesa behind her, then cast a teleportation spell and left.
"Arrogant fellow," the Ranger-General said angrily.
The Regent sighed and said, "He has every reason to hate us."
Now only Alleria and her entourage remained. She assigned four Ranger to guard the entrance, while the rest of her went deeper into the Sewers with her.
The stench here is truly overwhelming, and you can hear the squeaking of rats every now and then. Dalaran's city center is bright and shiny, but beneath it lies all the city's dark side.
The visual impact was nothing short of torture for the Elf, who were always particular about their living environment.
"The people here are probably not easy to talk to, sister," Vareesa whispered, covering her mouth and nose. Alleria agreed. The Regent wanted the Ranger to scatter and search, but since they were unfamiliar with the layout, venturing too far in might lead to them getting lost or even causing an accident. Therefore, she began to seriously consider the mage's suggestion. Perhaps the vagrants who had settled here could tell her something valuable, and, to her advantage, her purse was bulging.
"Have you seen an Elf child?" Alleria found a boy curled up asleep in a corner. He wore an ill-fitting, oversized brown robe, with pudding sewn into the holes in the cuffs of his sleeves. The lower half of his face, visible beneath the hood matching his robe, was covered in grime, and he was making grumbling noises, as if blaming Alleria for disturbing his sweet dreams, or perhaps he hadn't heard what the Female Elf was saying.
"Have you seen an Elf child?" To save time, Alleria simply waved her purse in her hand, telling the homeless man that there was a reward for answering the question.
This tactic worked. The other party immediately smiled, revealing his white teeth, and extended his dirty right hand, lowering his voice to say, "One silver coin."
Without a second thought, Alleria placed a brand-new silver coin in that hand. "Speak quickly."
The man pointed deep into the Sewers, "I saw him head towards another exit of the Sewers."
"What?" Alleria was shocked. The news that there was another exit in the Sewers was like a bolt from the blue for her. It meant that Belorell might have already escaped. But the Female Elf quickly realized that Dalaran was a floating castle, and the exit of the Sewers should also be in mid-air. How could her son leave?
"Vareesa, has Belorell learned the Feather Fall?"
The silver- Female Elf shook her head without hesitation. "No, his magic tutor said he has no talent for learning magic. In other words, Belorell is actually completely ignorant about magic."
"Then he's still here." Alleria breathed a sigh of relief and ordered her Ranger, "All of you, go find him immediately. Anyone who tries to stop you will be killed without mercy. You must bring him back."
After the Ranger understood their mission, they left one after another. Alleria nodded slightly to the homeless man who had provided the clue, "Thank you for your help."
"Sister, we should go to that Sewers outlet first to find out what's going on."
"You're absolutely right, sister."
The Sewers exit wasn't too hard to find, as the airflow would guide Alleria in the right direction. However, the Female Elf felt uneasy, for some reason, as if she had overlooked some important details.
Soon, the Regent's thoughts were disrupted by what she saw; she had seriously underestimated the Sewers of Dalaran. Not only was there chaos, but more strangely, the air was thick with the smell of magic. Some mages were even conducting dangerous experiments in this dark and gloomy environment. And oddly, the Kirin Tor Council made no attempt to discipline them.
"I hope Quel'Thalas will never have a place like this again." Alleria could no longer hide her disgust, and at the same time, she was even more worried about Belorell.
"There's light," Vareesa reminded her.
"Exit? "Alleria stared ahead expectantly, a rush of fresh air washing over her. In that instant, Alleria felt as if she had shed her regal status as regent and rediscovered the agile grace of Ranger.
"Someone's there!"
Even without Vareesa's reminder, she saw it: at the Sewers exit, a human was blocking most of the light streaming in. He was bound hand and foot, his obese body bare-chested, and his mouth gagged with a rag. The poor fellow couldn't move, and he was right next to the edge of the exit; if she gave him a gentle push, even the soft snow of Crystalsong Forest wouldn't prevent him from being smashed to pieces.
Alleria's hopes were dashed once again; this guy was not the son she cherished.
"Damn it!" the Female Elf cursed.
The human was thrilled to see two stunningly Elf approaching him, and he whimpered and begged them to save him, but Alleria had no interest in helping him.
"What's going on?" She ripped off the rag and grabbed the human by the neck.
The man's face contorted, Alleria's hand made it hard for him to breathe and speak.
"Sister!" Vareesa exclaimed, grabbing Alleria's arm and slapping the Regent several times before letting go.
Finally, they could breathe again. The human coughed up saliva desperately, unable to speak for the time being.
"He seems to be a vagrant as well," Vareesa said after careful observation. "But where are his clothes?" The Ranger-General glanced at the thing that had been stuffed into the man's mouth and exclaimed in surprise, "Sister, look at that piece of cloth!"
Alleria's gaze shifted to the rag her sister had tossed on the ground, prompted by her sister's reminder. It was unmistakably covered in the human's saliva, but clearly contained something else as well. She picked it up again and saw that someone had drawn a grimace on the rag with graphite dust, as if mocking anyone who saw it.
This seemingly naive approach immediately made Alleria realize that she no longer needed the still-breathing Ren to tell her everything she wanted to know. The Regent suddenly understood many things, such as that she had just missed her own child.