The Welcoming Party

After a difficult and long journey, encountering so many dangers and setbacks, the group finally left the Black Road known as the Death Passage, left the Dark Elf, and returned to the sunlight. Although enjoying the sunlight and breeze again is a very happy thing for humans, the current situation is a scene that has nothing to do with "happiness".

"Uh, well, sir..."

Upon seeing the fully armed cavalry and their gleaming spears, the fat merchant's initial good mood of seeing the light of day vanished instantly.

"Excuse me, what brings you here...?"

"..."

The other side remained silent, their expressions serious and the atmosphere tense. Most of them, including the commander leading the entire caravan, ignored the merchant's forced smile; their eyes were fixed on the rear center of the caravan. There, a magnificent, noble carriage stood in the middle, and on its roof sat a stunningly beautiful elf. She gazed curiously at the knights below, seemingly not an ordinary elven prisoner... But none of this mattered, for around the carriage stood a full circle of about thirty fully armed Dark Elf warriors, as if protecting the important figures within.

It's not particularly strange for Dark Elf to venture onto the surface; Dark Elf do so occasionally. But to see such a large-scale appearance (thirty people is a very large number considering the Dark Elf's birth rate and their proficiency in large-scale operations) on the surface, and to be so unlike the escapees we've seen before, what's going on? Elves and humans don't get along, but aren't they mortal enemies of Dark Elf?

Elves, Dark Elf, humans.

The appearance of this strange group immediately caught the attention of the squad commander responsible for guarding the area. In fact, they had already received orders from the military headquarters that a caravan had forcibly broken through the blockade of their fraternal units from the direction of Lalia and entered the Black Road. They were ordered to remain vigilant and prevent them from crossing. The commander was half serious and half incredulous about this order. Although the fact that a caravan could break through the blockade of the regular army made him somewhat cautious, crossing the Black Road? This caravan probably couldn't do it.

However, the caravan before him did indeed resemble the description in the intelligence report, and the fat merchant looked very much like him. But where were the mage and the little girl, whom the intelligence report specifically warned of? Where were they? Thinking of this, the commander focused intently on the carriage. Clearly, if these people weren't here, they were inside the carriage.

"Uh... Your Excellency!?"

The fat merchant had no choice but to shout again, while the mercenaries seemed rather lazy. They knew that even if they really made a move, the powerful mage inside the carriage could probably lay them on the ground with a flick of his finger. Strangely enough, compared to the rows of fully armed knights outside, these mercenaries were most worried about "someone" within their own ranks.

This time, the fat merchant couldn't pretend he hadn't heard the commander's greeting, so he turned his gaze back to the fat merchant.

"A smuggling caravan? Where do you come from...? I think that's a really stupid question. A smuggling caravan, how interesting, especially since there are Dark Elf among you..."

With that, the commander made a gesture, and the knights immediately raised their lances and aimed at the caravan in front of them.

"What do you think I should do with you all?"

"That depends on whether you have the ability."

Unexpectedly, it wasn't the fat merchant who spoke, but the elven woman sitting leisurely on the roof of the carriage. She turned her head slightly, letting her long, beautiful golden hair, as beautiful as sunlight, cascade down. Then, the elven girl, in a rather unseemly manner, reached down and knocked on the carriage door.

"We have brought you a very respectable guest."

This elf isn't a slave?

Seeing the elf's leisurely demeanor, so different from the slave elves he had seen before, the commander frowned slightly.

However, he didn't dwell on it any longer, because at that moment, the carriage door slowly opened, and a young man emerged. The commander stared at the man before him, feeling he looked vaguely familiar... But when this man actually stepped out of the caravan and came directly in front of him, the commander was utterly dumbfounded. Who was this guy, daring to stand alone before hundreds of elite knights? What did he want?

"Put down your weapon."

The man said wearily, raising his head to look at the commander's face, which was clad in a steel visor.

"You're one of Ximate's men... To actually assign someone like you, from the most elite cavalry regiment, to be in charge of the blockade here, it seems Father really values this battle."

Your Highness!

Just then, the commander recognized the man before him. He stared in surprise, jumped off his horse, and knelt on one knee.

"How did you get here? Weren't you sent here by His Majesty the King...?"

He seemed to finally realize his foolishness after speaking only halfway through his sentence.

That's why I'm here.

While the caravan provided protection, Li Lin and his group were people the prince couldn't afford to offend. He couldn't vent his anger at Angela; after all, he and the _Book_ were nobles, and when had they ever been treated with such contempt and humiliation? Of course, he could only swallow his pride in front of the mage. But in front of his subject, the prince could finally vent his frustration.

Therefore, the prince's answer was filled with resentment, so chilling that even the commander couldn't help but shiver.

"Enough with the idle talk. This caravan and these people are my benefactors who escorted me back home. Lay down your weapons and don't be rude!"

"This..."

The commander hesitated for a moment, then looked at the carriage behind the prince and the group of Dark Elf surrounding him.

"Your Highness, may I have a word with you in private?"

"Sure."

The prince nodded, glanced back at the carriage, and then, guided by the commander, walked towards the rear. After he arrived, the knights, though having laid down their weapons, still followed the commander's orders and surrounded the entire caravan.

After walking all the way to the rear, the commander finally breathed a sigh of relief. He first formally saluted the prince before speaking.

"Please forgive my rudeness, Your Highness. You've traveled a long way and must have suffered a lot. Um... may I ask if this caravan is truly your protector?"

"Of course."

The prince naturally knew why the commander in front of him was asking him this question.

"They are indeed my protectors."

Seeing the prince's certainty, the commander looked troubled, but in the end, he decided to stick to his duty.

"I am very sorry, Your Highness. I know this is rude, but... I hope you can cooperate with us to perform some necessary diagnoses. You have traveled a long way here, and you must be experiencing some health problems. I would like to send a few mages and priests to examine your body and see if there are any latent 'illnesses' or anything like that. I hope you can understand."

"... OK."

Upon hearing this, the prince's heart stirred, and he quickly nodded, agreeing to the commander's request.

They call it a physical examination, but everyone knows it's just an excuse. After all, this is a magical continent, and it's quite normal for mages to control one's mind and unleash curses. Especially for these noble children, there's a high possibility they could be controlled by evil mages outside. Therefore, to prevent such things from happening, there are always people specifically responsible for "diagnosing" them in these particular situations to avoid any problems.

As part of this strategy, this border blockade force was clearly very powerful. In the rear, the prince soon met a mid-level mage accompanying the army, as well as a priest of the God of Justice. They cast various spells and divine magic on the prince to confirm that he was not under the threat of a curse or the influence of mind-control spells, but in fact, they found nothing. This relieved the commander—if the prince had been controlled, things would have become extremely troublesome.

However, on the way, the prince had some thoughts. Pretending not to care, he asked the mid-level old mage who was examining him.

"Master Mage, you mages must be very powerful."

"That depends on Your Highness's definition of power."

"To give an example, could you destroy a city?"

"This..."

Upon hearing this, the old monk's expression darkened slightly. He gazed intently at the prince and asked hesitantly.

"Why do you have such an idea?"

"Oh, it's really not a big deal."

Although the prince was somewhat excited, he still managed to feign nonchalance.

"The mage who accompanied me on my journey once cast a magnificent fireball spell when we encountered danger underground, blasting away those underground monsters. I feel that with such power, destroying a city would be something I could do."

"Hehehe, you're joking, sir."

The old monk revealed a slight smile.

"Perhaps ancient grand mages could do this, but modern mages cannot. Therefore, even the most powerful mage cannot destroy a city. However, those underground monsters possess some degree of Magic Power resistance, so it seems that mage was quite a powerful figure."

"I see..."

The prince nodded helplessly, giving up his last hope of being rescued. It was obvious that the old mage wasn't very powerful, and as far as he knew, there were only a few people in Kudel's Magic Association with similar strength. Since they said they couldn't destroy the city, they were clearly no match for Li Lin. It seemed that his plan to escape from here was completely pointless.

Thinking of this, the prince couldn't help but sigh.

"But, Your Highness."

After learning that the prince was indeed unaffected (if the fear Angela instilled in him is not included), the commander finally relaxed.

"Those Dark Elf... they..."

"During my travels underground, I received some help from the Dark Elf... and they've been having some internal problems, so I plan to take this opportunity to bring them to the surface. Legend has it that Dark Elf are very skilled in combat, so having such people as subordinates should be a good thing."

"But..."

The commander's expression turned even more grim, completely unaware that the prince's expression was also quite unpleasant.

He didn't want to say it like that... but these useless fools here clearly weren't capable of rescuing him from his predicament, so he had no choice but to say it. Otherwise, if he turned against them now, His Highness dared to guarantee that he would be a charred corpse on the ground in the next instant... Elite Dark Elf warriors were a hundred times stronger than human warriors, yet in that person's hands, as many as they wanted died?

Fine, for the sake of the country, and for my own life, I'll accept it.

When the old monk asked the prince who that monk was, the prince gave an answer.

"His name Li Lin, and he's an advisory mage. That's all I know."

The title of "Advisory Dharma Master" is similar to that of a Dharma Master holding a part-time position, or somewhat like a visiting professor at a university. However, since they are not true Dharma Masters, their learning is limited, and they have no chance of entering the Dharma Master circle. In addition, being a Dharma Master is not their primary job, and they rarely have any contact with each other. Therefore, even though the title is unfamiliar to them, the old Dharma Master does not find it particularly strange.

While it's somewhat surprising that an advisor mage possesses the ability to live in the Underdark, it's not a particularly big problem.

Thus, with the prince's cooperation after abandoning his escape attempt, the caravan itself did not encounter any difficulties, even though they were typical illegal border crossers smuggling goods, and included a large group of Dark Elf known as the embodiment of evil. However, under the halo of "saving the prince," they were all ignored—or rather, disregarded.

Originally, the commander hoped to take the prince away immediately and then let the caravan fend for itself in the country. Although this decision wasn't exactly polite, it was a very safe compromise. However, His Highness didn't seem to think so. He insisted on traveling with them and solemnly stated that he had promised to reward these "kind people" who protected him. This reason was indeed quite justifiable—if it weren't for the Dark Elf among them.

The final result was that the prince was escorted by a group of elite cavalrymen and set off with the caravan to the capital of Kudel. Although the commander believed that traveling with a large group of Dark Elf was a bad thing for the country's image, the prince insisted on doing so, saying that he had important matters to discuss with the king. So, even though he was very reluctant, he could only agree to this explanation in the end.

And so the caravan set off again, accompanied by a group of fully armed knights, toward Dragon Cry City, the capital of Kudel.