A breeze announcing the new arrival blew through the elven village.
The wind always felt a little different based on whichever elf or Spirit Caller sent the message. Though it wasn’t particular enough to be called a characteristic, there were some tiny quirks you could notice if you were really familiar with the Spirit Caller. And this time, the softness of the wind and the scent it carried were very familiar to me.
This was, without a doubt, the elven caravan. Airena must have sent the wind this time. Though it hadn’t even been twenty years since we parted ways as I left for the East, a nostalgic feeling brought a smile to my face.
The message sent by elves to announce themselves also served as a display of their relative power, so a poor announcement could lead to the visitor being looked down on by their hosts. To that point, Airena’s declaration was first class, prompting the elves of the village to immediately prepare for the caravan’s arrival.
One of the main reasons the elven caravan had been accepted as a representative for all elves outside the forests was because of Airena herself. She was famed as a seven-star adventurer, had the experience and nerve to negotiate with entire kingdoms, and was talented enough in the Spirit Arts to earn the recognition of elves everywhere. All of these together made her perfect for the role.
However, as much as she was an elf, she couldn’t hold the position forever. When she finally decided to step down, would someone else appear to take her place? Or perhaps, it fell to me to teach the Spirit Arts to the caravan so that a suitable successor would emerge from among them, as thanks for all Airena had done for me. At the risk of sounding a bit stuck up, I thought I was pretty good at teaching them to people.
Anyway, that could all wait until the current situation had been resolved. Depending on how everything played out, my plans for the future might very well change, so there was no use in thinking too hard on it now.
I gathered my belongings in preparation for my departure and waited for the caravan to arrive.
“I feel I have said this many times before, Lord Acer, but it has been a long time. And welcome home. I cannot express how happy I am to see you back safely.” Perhaps for the sake of the other elves around us, Airena’s greeting was rather formal, but her voice and expression couldn’t hide her genuine joy in seeing me again.
How many times had we split up and then reunited now? It was kind of funny when you thought of it like that. Many things had changed, but there was always someone here who barely changed at all, who I kept meeting again and again.
“Long time no see. And thanks, I’m glad to be back. It was a great journey. I saw all sorts of interesting things and even got a hint at what we were looking for.”
Airena smiled and nodded at my reply. Did she realize what I meant by “what we were looking for”? Did she realize I was referring to the giants, and the white lake she wanted to find? No, no matter how good she was at guessing, she would never imagine I would already have such great results. I couldn’t wait to see the look she’d give me when I told her about it. I would tell her after she gave me the letters from Win that I suspected she had for me.
But there was something else we needed to discuss first. “That can wait. I think we need to talk about what we’re going to do from here.”
First, we needed to discuss what stance the elves would take with Zieden. The elves were currently putting up a strong resistance to them, demanding that the caravan be accepted into their borders and that they not interfere with the elven forests, among a variety of other conditions.
But of course, this wasn’t a conversation to be had by Airena and myself. The elders of this village and the other forests would also need to be included. Before all of that though, I wanted to express my intentions to Airena. I had no doubt she would do everything she could to accommodate my wishes.
In the end, the elves in the forests wouldn’t care much what happened in the outside world. As long as they could continue living their lives in peace, they would remain distant from any matters outside their territory. They would likely do whatever I asked as well, but that wouldn’t necessarily be what they wanted to do.
“Airena, I find myself lamenting the current state of the center of the continent. I don’t like this sense of unease that hangs over the world, as the children and grandchildren of the people I knew, and the places I love, are constantly in fear of being trampled underfoot.”
But Airena would want to accommodate my desires of her own free will. Even if we hadn’t met in over a decade, I still trusted her.
Airena nodded. “Understood. I feel very much the same way. You have already done an excellent job of creating an opportunity for us to enact change. Let us make the most of it that we can.” Her response was every bit as reliable as I had hoped it would be.
Of course, I had no intention of leaving everything on her shoulders. Uniting the elves under a single purpose would be much quicker if I tagged along. On top of that, if the power of a high elf became necessary, I’d be there to supply it. But Airena herself would know best how and where to apply it.
Ever since returning to the center of the continent, anxiety and tension had been eating at the edges of my heart. But now, I could finally feel those negative feelings starting to clear up.