For Quel'Thalas

Stretching out his body, running freely through the forest with his eyes closed, breathing in the scent of grass and trees.

This had always been Kael'thas's dream in his previous life. He had never expected it to come true one day.

Unlike his body in his previous life, which had been dulled by all kinds of junk food and an irregular schedule, his High Elf body in this life was frail but possessed unparalleled agility.

His ears could pick up the sound of leaves falling thirty meters away, and his eyes could easily track animals in motion.

"Audilon, over there."

"Yes, Your Highness!!"

The elf warrior's figure suddenly became a blur as he charged at a fleeing rabbit, sword in hand.

The next moment:

"Ding..."

"You completed the Hunting quest and gained 4,000 experience points!"

The quest notification rang out. Kael'thas watched Audilon pick up the rabbit's corpse. It seemed their midday hunt could come to an end.

When he had first been assigned to this place, Kael'thas had thought there wouldn't be much experience to earn, but the system was accommodating, just as he had expected. It even counted hunting as a quest.

"Your Highness, there are so many of us. Isn't this a little too little?"

He had just been about to suggest heading back when Audilon suddenly spoke up, having noticed that Kael'thas wanted to return.

"Ding..."

"You received the quest A Little More!"

"Quest requirement: hunt five more animals."

He froze, then was overjoyed...

Kael'thas gave Audilon a hearty pat on the shoulder in satisfaction. For the first time, he felt this long-winded fellow could be useful too.

"You're more thoughtful than I am. All right, let's hunt some more!"

"Y-Your Highness... all right, leave it to me!!"

Audilon was overwhelmed by Kael'thas's gesture and quickly thumped his chest in assurance.

The two continued sweeping through the forest. Come to think of it, it was thanks to Audilon being there. Otherwise, with Kael'thas's current skills, he really wouldn't have known what to use to hunt.

Twenty minutes later, they returned to the lakeside.

Everyone else seemed to have finished their tasks and was sitting together chatting.

"Ah, Your Highness!"

The sharp-eyed Liadrin was the first to spot Kael'thas. She hurried over with several priests to clean the game.

"So many..."

A priest frowned and spoke softly, and Kael'thas overheard her.

"Is it a lot?"

he asked curiously.

"Yes, we already had more than ten rabbits."

Liadrin answered.

Kael'thas looked toward the lakeside. There really were a lot, and a few had even been cleaned already. It seemed this forest belonged to the rabbits. He looked at the resting rangers and reassessed their strength.

They had caught about the same number of rabbits, but had been faster than him and Audilon, an intermediate warrior. These rangers didn't seem to have reached the intermediate level, but their strength probably wasn't bad.

It looked like there wasn't anyone particularly weak in his squad.

"Your Highness, please sit over here!"

At that moment, Solarian also came over and invited Kael'thas to sit where she had been sitting.

It was the tallest boulder by the lake. Its surface was very clean, as though it had been washed not long ago. But that wasn't the problem. The problem was that Solarian, who had just been sitting up there alone, stood out to anyone watching, towering half a body above everyone else.

Is she trying to make me show the difference in our status?

Kael'thas looked awkwardly at Solarian and, sure enough, saw disdain for her other teammates in her eyes. This wasn't good.

He was just about to say something when Audilon suddenly ran up beside him.

"Your Highness, please!"

His eyes sparkled, but he deliberately kept a solemn face as he made a gesture to guide Kael'thas to the spot Solarian had mentioned.

Where's your integrity?

Kael'thas really wanted to retort, but after looking at Audilon's serious expression, he held it back.

"I'll help prepare the food..."

With an awkward smile, Kael'thas declined their invitation.

"Ding..."

"You received the quest Cooking Assistant!"

"Quest requirement: help the priests prepare lunch."

That triggered a quest?

Kael'thas was speechless. Even that worked? It seemed he wasn't far from level 21.

Kael'thas had lived alone in his previous life, so he was quite a good cook. Unfortunately, the current situation gave him no chance to show off his skills. All they did was clean and prepare the carcasses, then roast them over a fire. There was no way to demonstrate his cooking.

Of course, he was skilled at cleaning rabbits, which surprised the others.

Something amusing happened during the roasting. Solarian and Liadrin competed to roast meat for Kael'thas, only for Audilon to beat them to it!

After everyone had eaten their fill, Kael'thas let them rest for a little over ten minutes before hurrying off to inspect their work area.

The whole afternoon slowly passed as they explored, and the squad members gained an understanding of the area and its terrain. The area they were responsible for was mountainous woodland, but the terrain wasn't particularly treacherous, and it wasn't very large, only about the size of ten soccer fields. Even so, Kael'thas had the rangers set traps and alarms at different locations.

As expected, they found no trace of Trolls during that time.

At dusk, the squad finally finished everything, caught a few rabbits on the way, and returned to the lake somewhat tired.

After dinner, Kael'thas, Solarian and the others began discussing how to divide their work in the future. They didn't settle on a final plan until the moon had risen to a forty-five-degree angle in the sky.

By then, the nighttime cries of insects could be heard from the forest. Bright moonlight reflected the swaying shapes of the leaves on the lake. A breeze swept across the tranquil surface, sending out gentle ripples and scattering moisture over every elf in the squad on the shore.

What a beautiful night...

Kael'thas let out a breath. Stroking Xiao Ao's curled-up body and listening to the elves' quiet conversation, he looked up at the sky.

In that clear, pristine night sky, every shining star could be seen distinctly.

A pristine starry sky like none I've ever seen...

He smiled softly, suddenly grateful to fate for bringing him to this world.

"Mm?"

Xiao Ao looked at him in confusion.

"Xiao Ao... oh, right, let me play you a song."

After seven years, Kael'thas was confident enough that his music wouldn't spoil the beauty of the night sky.

He reached inside his clothes and took out the ordinary leaf for the first time since leaving Silvermoon City.

He gently placed it against his lips, felt its veins and firmness, and began to play.

A clear, lilting melody rang out...

Like the music of heaven, the tune revealed its true beauty and gentleness in the silent forest. Listening closely, it seemed that the moon, the lake, the cries of insects and birds, and even the stars filling the sky all became tranquil and crystal clear in that moment...

The elves gradually stopped talking and listened intently with their eyes half closed.

"...Ah... ah~ah..."

But not all the elves remained silent. One proud elf began humming softly.

It was Solarian. Since Kael'thas wouldn't sit there, she was now sitting alone on the lofty boulder, her head raised as she hummed along with the melody...

She didn't know the lyrics, so she sang along using only a simple vocalization. Her clear, gentle voice, full of youthful femininity, was beautiful. Like a lovely butterfly bearing her wish, it followed Kael'thas's melody, lingering close, on and on...

Beneath the night sky, the beautiful elf in her mage's robes sat high atop the boulder, singing a beautiful song.

At that moment, it was as though the elves present could see the bearing of the queen they had followed in ancient times, when they were still children of the stars...

A concert by the young prince and his follower, a girl with the bearing of a queen...

Countless centuries later, many bards would use this scene as the opening to their telling of the Sun King's history. In tones full of mischievous humor, they would ask the children: "Do you know what happened next that night?"

Every child would shake their head.

Then the bards would laugh and tell them the rest of the story, the story of a warrior who was very loyal, but also foolish:

Beneath the bright moonlight, amid the softly hummed song, the fragrant aroma of the rabbit roasted for dinner seemed to linger in the air by the beautiful lake.

The High Elves' bodies, weary from a day's work, found relief in the song,

Every one of them closed their eyes, their thoughts returning to the families they had left behind. They recalled their childhoods, working together with their companions to kill lynxes in Eversong Woods, sitting on murloc corpses at Sunsail Anchorage and talking freely of their dreams as they faced the sea and the setting sun...

They remembered the excitement of going into battle, and the lessons from the Arcane Golems and their elders were vivid in their minds...

This was Quel'Thalas, their home, the kingdom of magic known as eternal...

And they... were elves who lived beneath the sun and would forever follow the Sun King... graceful High Elves...

"For Quel'Thalas!!"

Suddenly, an earthshaking roar rang out.

The song stopped.

All the elf squad members looked in astonishment at the one who had shouted. The warrior named Audilon Firewing seemed to have been affected most deeply by the song. He had now risen to his feet, his face flushed, and, unable to contain the excitement in his heart, shouted again:

"Elves, stand up and shout with me! For Quel'Thalas!!"

Everyone was taken aback. Exchanging glances, they looked at Kael'thas, then stood up one after another. Following Audilon's lead, they clenched their fists and roared:

"For Quel'Thalas!!"

"For Quel'Thalas!!!"

"For His Highness Kael'thas!!!!" (How did that one get in there?)

The tranquility of the night was utterly destroyed in an instant by their foolish shouting.

Their passionate cries even reached the distant mountain forests, and replies came back one after another.

He couldn't make them out, but they probably meant much the same thing.

They... weren't curses, were they...

A minute later, the shouting came to a smooth, orderly end. Everyone lowered their hands and looked at Kael'thas questioningly.

"..."

Kael'thas took a small waterskin from Solarian, had a drink, then waved helplessly, signaling for them to do as they pleased.

"Thank you, Your Highness!!"

"Brothers... get him!!"

"Get him!!"

The squad members were overjoyed. Several male elves, including the mage, swarmed the dumbstruck Audilon like starving ghosts reborn. Clenching their fists, they each hit him with all their might!

The poor warrior hadn't even opened his mouth to defend himself before he was caught in a group beating.

"Bastard!! That's for interrupting my memories!!"

"Damn it, my throat hurts so much!!"

"That's for fooling around!!"

"I just got a message from my brother. He asked if I was in heat... boo-hoo..."

Hey, hey, you, the mage who spoke last, is your brother in the mountains nearby too? Then were they really cursing us just now?

Kael'thas was about to retort when a glance to the side showed him that Liadrin had also rushed in and was aiming specifically for Audilon's face:

"Let me hit him too!!"

Strange, where did her resentment come from...

Kael'thas handed the water back to Solarian, stretched lazily, and decided not to think about it.

I'd better sleep first...

And so the night ended in a certain warrior's suffering.

Afterward, many squad members would smile wryly with mixed feelings whenever they recalled the incident...