Beretta came to greet us when we arrived at the mansion, and we told her the news.
“You’ve invited the high elf queen to visit?” Beretta repeated, a contemplative expression crossing her face.
I nodded. “I shared some of our World Tree seeds with her and requested that she help us find ways to secure the forest against intruders. Can you get everything ready for her arrival?”
“We wanna thank her for showing us around the elves’ capital!” Teto added.
“Understood. I shall prepare to receive her and for the technological exchange you have planned.”
I knew that Beretta and the other maids would do a great job getting everything ready. I felt a weight being lifted off my shoulders, but I couldn’t afford to relax too much.
“Master, may I suggest going around the forest and informing the residents of your safe return?” Beretta said.
In the two years that had passed since Teto and I had left the forest, we had returned a couple of times through our transfer gate, but we had never gone to visit the residents. So, all of them were eagerly awaiting our return.
“Oh, you have a point. We’ll go do that,” I said.
“Teto is excited to see everyone! It’s been so long!”
To us, two years was nothing, but it was more than enough for most people to change at least somewhat. And so, the day after our return, we popped by a few settlements here and there to show our faces to the residents.
“Oh! Lady Witch, you’re back! Welcome home!”
“Long time no see, Lady Witch. So many children were born during your absence! Here, come say hi.”
“Who are you, misses?”
As we toured the different settlements, people came to greet us one after the other, including children who had no idea who we were.
“Everyone looks happy and healthy. I’m glad,” I commented to Teto, who nodded excitedly.
“And there are lots of new babies too!”
You tended not to really pay attention to the small changes that build up with time if you stayed in one spot for a long while. But if you left that place and came back two years later, you’d immediately notice all of the things that changed since you were last there. This was one of the reasons I found traveling to be so interesting.
After we were done touring most of the settlements, we headed to the Great Elder’s cave.
“Oh, Lady Witch, Lady Guardian, it has been a while since I last saw you two. How are you holding up?” he asked us.
“Long time no see, Great Elder.”
“Hello, Mister Great Elder!”
“Care to tell this old dragon about your journey?”
We nodded and started telling him about what we had gotten up to during our absence: our trip through Ischea and Gald to pay our respects to Arsus, Gyunton, the days we spent on the road in our caravan, our brief life as C-rank adventurers in the Sunfield Empire, and our stay in the elves’ forest and the new friends we met.
I had told Beretta all about this during our calls, and she must’ve shared some of our adventures with the Great Elder, but he still listened intently to my story.
“Have you met the mythical beasts living in the elves’ forest?” he asked us.
I nodded. “We saw the sleipnirs and all of the critters who came to beg me for mana while we were traveling through the woods.”
“Teto hopes we’ll get to see the other mythical beasts one day!”
I mused that it would be nice if Elnea showed them to us the next time we visited, and the Great Elder nodded enthusiastically.
“So what kind of person is that new friend you two made in the elves’ forest?” he asked.
“She’s a high elf, and their queen,” I replied.
“She’s called Elnea, and she’s really nice!” Teto added.
A distant look appeared on the Great Elder’s face. “The queen of the elves, you say?” he muttered.
“Do you know her?” I asked.
“I have never met her per se, but a long time ago, before I had even created the floating island, I heard rumors of a ‘fairy queen’ living in the great forest where the last World Tree stood,” he said. “If she and that high elf you two are speaking of are one and the same, I would love to meet her.”
I promised that we would arrange an introduction.
After that, Teto and I headed back to the elves’ forest, where we coordinated with Elnea to decide on a date for her visit. I also mentioned in passing that a friend of mine wanted to meet her.
“Hm? Someone who wants to meet with me?” Elnea repeated, her voice tinged with surprise.
“Yeah. He’s very fond of mythical beasts, and he’s helped us many times in the past. He said that he’d love to meet you, so I’m passing on the message,” I explained.
“He’s a really nice grandpa, and he takes very good care of the mythical beasts!” Teto added.
A contemplative look crossed Elnea’s face.
“I see... It is to be expected that he would wish to meet with me, if only to see what kind of person his dear Chise’s new friend is,” she mused.
“If that person has indeed ‘helped’ Miss Chise, he must be some sort of authority figure in the Witch of Creation’s Forest,” Althea surmised. “I believe it would be best if you met with him, Lady Elnea.”
In the end, the pair agreed to meet with the Great Elder. There was, however, one teeny tiny little detail I hadn’t told them.
“Don’t tell the high elf queen that I am an Ancient Dragon,” the Great Elder had told me before I left. “I would like to see her reaction for myself.”
And so we had kept the Great Elder’s identity a secret. Still, I couldn’t help but be a little worried about Elnea’s reaction when she realized that we had played a prank on her.
“Very well! Then I shall meet with this person before touring your land,” Elnea declared.
With that out of the way, we finally decided on a date for her visit to the forest.
Soon, said day was upon us. Teto and I used our transfer gate to head to the elves’ kingdom, and we waited for Elnea in our guest chamber. After a while, we heard a bit of a commotion forming in the hallway, and the next minute, Elnea slammed the door open.
“Good day, Chise! As promised, we have come to visit your land!” she exclaimed, her voice filled with enthusiasm as she entered the room.
“Lady Elnea! Please refrain from acting so exuberantly,” Althea chided her.
Judging by the way she kept fidgeting, Elnea must’ve been pretty jazzed about the trip. Behind her, Althea bowed her head and apologized to me for not having been able to stop her.
“It’s fine,” I said. “It’s Miss Elnea we’re talking about; you couldn’t stop her no matter what you tried.”
“I was so enthusiastic at the idea of seeing all of your World Trees and mythical beasts that I woke up much earlier than usual!” Elnea exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
Are you a kid? I quipped inside my mind, eyeing her and feeling the exasperation starting to creep up on me.