“You guys have gotten quite a bit bigger since I left,” I said after meeting up with the elven caravan.
Of course, I didn’t mean that any of the elves had grown up or anything like that. Everyone who joined the caravan had been recognized as an adult before being allowed to do so, and even if they had been children, they wouldn’t grow all that much after only a decade or two.
“Seeing your surprise is all the reward I need for our hard work!” the elven minstrel Huratio beamed with pride. Of course, he was the same as when I last saw him as well.
“Come on Hue, you know you didn’t do...okay, not that much. Lord Acer, this was all a result of Airena’s hard work!” Naturally, the painter Rebees was quick to put Huratio in his place.
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Seeing their usual exchange brought a smile to my face. When I’d said they were bigger than before, I was talking about the size of the caravan itself. When I had last parted ways with them, there had only been eight members. Now, they easily exceeded twenty.
There were more wagons than before, and even more elves than those could carry, meaning some had to ride horses alongside them. That was perfect for me. I still hadn’t conquered my motion sickness, so I’d happily borrow one of the horses. Unlike before, I was now perfectly capable of riding a horse on my own.
The growth of the caravan had likely come about due to all sorts of reasons, both good and bad. One positive reason would no doubt be the work of the caravan piquing the interest of elves in forests they visited, drawing them to the outside world. Well, many elves might consider that a negative, but it was a change for the better from my perspective. Instead of those curious elves having to throw themselves out to the human world alone, they could live alongside the caravan. In a way, you could call the caravan something like a traveling elven forest.
A negative cause would definitely be the decline in the world’s political climate. As things were now, it was too dangerous to travel around the world without a fairly large party. That hadn’t affected me much, but I was an exception. Most elves weren’t all that used to fighting. By gathering in a larger group like this, they could avoid a lot of the danger the world might throw at them. On top of that, Airena and the other adventurers could teach the elves how to protect themselves.
To me, it looked like the caravan’s growth had been driven by necessity. I had no doubt that with it came no small measure of hardship. That went without saying for Airena, but even Huratio and Rebees must have had their hands quite full. That was why Rebees couldn’t entirely deny the hard work Huratio had put in.
“Yeah, I’m quite surprised. You two are amazing. Oh, it’s nice to see you again too, Julcha and Piune. You guys must have been working hard.”
One by one, I greeted those I remembered from the old caravan by name. It seemed Piune had decided to stay with the caravan after all. I wondered if she’d also taken up dancing like I suggested?
“I’m so glad to see you back safely, Lord Acer!” Piune greeted me back with a bright voice, but I couldn’t tell for sure what she was doing with the caravan for now. But with the way Julcha winked at me from where she couldn’t see, maybe she had made it as a dancer after all. I had to admit I was a little...okay, extremely excited to see her perform.
The caravan was now traveling around Zieden, holding discussions with the elders of each of the elven settlements. The topic of conversation was to ask for their help in a way that wouldn’t put too much of a burden on them or their communities.
The elves living in the forests wanted nothing but stability for themselves. The caravan and I, however, were asking for a little more. We wanted to bring stability to the entirety of the center of the continent. If we didn’t bridge the gulf between us as soon as possible, it would only be a matter of time before it tripped us up.
So the goal of our talks was to unite the intentions of the elves. Zieden was a rather large country, so it would take a considerable amount of time to visit every settlement within it.
But there was no real need for us to hurry. Rather, right now Zieden was the one panicking in the pursuit of peace, so the elves held all the leverage at the negotiating table. If left to panic for too long, Zieden might lose control and go on a rampage, but I was sure Airena knew exactly how much rope she could give them.
So for now, I decided to enjoy traveling together with the caravan for a while. This was one of the places I could really relax and find peace of mind.
“What was it like in the East, Lord Acer?”
“Hello, Lord Acer. My name is Rajend, from the Kuki Forest. It is a great honor to meet you in person.”
That said, between answering the questions of everyone I knew and being introduced to whoever I didn’t, it would be a while before I could actually relax.