“I was distracted by Elnea’s letter; I didn’t even notice he was gone. Still, looks like we made it,” I said with a sigh of relief after erecting several magic barriers between the boy and the treants.
I had stopped watching over the elven kids for a minute to read the letter Elnea had sent me with her dark spirits, and the boy had chosen that moment to disappear into the forest. When I realized what had happened, I felt my blood run cold. Thankfully, the forest’s spirits kindly told me where the boy had gone, and we managed to catch up with him before he got hurt too badly.
“Teto, take care of the treants!”
“Roger!”
Teto let her mana course through her black sword and sliced through the treants’ thick trunks in one swift stroke. The force of Teto’s attack had thrown their upper halves in the air slightly, mana gushing from their wounds.
“Gotta do something about these so they don’t fall on the boy. Psychokinesis!” I chanted, using my magic to direct the upper halves of the treants towards my magic bag.
With the most imminent threat dealt with, I shifted my attention towards the boy.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Y-Yeah,” he nodded slightly, a dejected look on his face as he freed his leg from the treants’ roots and tried to get back to his feet. His legs trembled like a newborn calf’s; his brush with death had sapped all the vigor out of them.
“No need to push yourself; you can stay seated until you feel better.”
“Okay,” the boy said, obediently crouching down.
Meanwhile, Teto had picked up the knife and arrows the boy must’ve dropped.
“Here you go!” she said, handing them back to him.
“Thank you...very much.”
“We won’t lecture you for what you did,” I said. “In exchange, let your parents scold you to their heart’s content, yes?”
“Okay.” Once again, the boy simply nodded quietly. It was as if whatever evil spirit was inhabiting him before was gone.
He looked up at us, opening and closing his mouth a few times as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. Teto and I waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts.
“Um... Thank you for saving me,” he finally said.
“You’re welcome. Well then, it’s late so let’s head back to the others. Teleport!”
Thanks to the spirit tags Rorona had made for us, I could use my magic without obstruction. The next instant, the three of us landed near our caravan.
“Guys! Miss Chii is back!” one of the kids who had been anxiously waiting for us to return with their leader informed his friends when he spotted us from his spot in one of the tree houses. The other kids rushed to their leader’s side, all of them speaking at once, telling him how worried they were.
The boy looked like there was something he wanted to tell them too.
“Sorry for earlier, guys,” he said sheepishly. “I shouldn’t have tried to force you to leave the forest with me. I’m going to give up on becoming an adventurer and stay here.”
The others looked at him with sorrowful eyes.
“Isn’t it a bit early for you to give up on your dream?” I interjected as I put my caravan into our magic bag.
The next instant, I felt a fluctuation in the ambient mana and turned around; the entrance of Elnea’s spirit corridor had appeared right there.
“Miss Elnea is calling for us,” I said, turning towards the kids.
All of them started shaking in fear upon learning that the head honcho of their forest wanted to see them.
“It’s okay, guys! Miss Elnea won’t do anything mean to you!” Teto said to reassure the kids as we led them through the spirit corridor.
After a couple of seconds, we emerged inside Elnea’s palace. Other elven kids were leaving other spirit corridors, escorted by adult elves. These must’ve been all of the teenagers who wanted to leave the forest. There were around a hundred elven kids in the room, all of them looking around anxiously. After a bit, Elnea appeared, Althea in tow.
“Silence, everyone! Lady Elnea has something to say,” Althea announced to the crowd.
Instantly, the elven kids fell silent.
Elnea’s eyes, sharper than usual, scanned through the crowd.
“I assume you all know how much worry you have caused us, forming cliques and occupying important zones of our forest while claiming you were going to leave,” she started, her tone severe.
The kids all hung their heads in shame. They prepared themselves for a lengthy sermon but, surprisingly, Elnea’s next statement went in a completely different direction.
“Our kingdom limits its affairs with the outside world. This measure was put in place a long time ago to protect our kingdom from raids and attacks. But such methods are clearly not sustainable.”
She paused, her gaze fixed on the elven kids.
“Human culture has taken a hold on our youth. However, with our current system, it is impossible for them to leave the forest easily. Our kingdom’s elders have just concluded a lengthy discussion about what measures can be put in place to allow you all to venture outside the forest.”
She took in a deep breath and announced, “Our kingdom is considering expanding our trade caravan network to increase interaction with the outside world! As a result, we plan to implement an examination system to recruit more merchants and guards!”
Her announcement caused a commotion to spread among the kids once again, but Elnea wasn’t done.
“Anyone with the necessary knowledge, skills, and fighting abilities will be allowed to join our forest’s trade caravans. You shall travel to human towns and learn your chosen profession through hands-on experience! After serving your terms as caravan members, you shall be granted a permit to travel freely inside and outside our forest!”
Cries of excitement ran through the crowd.
Before, the elven kids had no way of leaving the forest other than by taking drastic measures, but Elnea would be building a new system just for them to achieve their dreams. After working as caravan members for a few years, they would be allowed to move to a human town and become adventurers, or craftsmen, or whatever their hearts desired. On top of that, most of the kids here had thought that they would have had to choose between their families and their dreams, but with the new system, they would get to come back to the forest whenever they felt like it.
“We are still finalizing the last details of this new project. As soon as we have fully committed to our plan, we shall make a proper announcement in each settlement. I hope you will await the news eagerly!”
When she was done with her announcement, portals to the spirit corridor opened behind each group, most likely to lead them back to their own villages. One by one, the kids passed through their respective portals, except for the ones who had come with us.
“Um... Did you know about that?” one of them asked us.
“We learned about it the same time you did,” I replied.
This was what Elnea had written about in the letter I had been reading when the leader of the youths disappeared. It seemed that she and the elders of the forest had spent a very long time deliberating over how to let the kids leave the forest safely. It took them a while to reach a compromise, but they had managed to come up with something.
Upon hearing my response, the kids hung their heads in shame, reflecting on their past actions.
“Um... We’re really sorry. And thank you. I’ll work hard,” the leader said.
“You’re very welcome. Don’t relax just yet, though,” I replied.
“First, you gotta pass the exam to become a caravan member!” Teto added.
The first selection would most likely be pretty brutal. Besides, the kids here probably weren’t the only ones who wished to travel outside the forest; the competition was going to be intense. Upon realizing that, the kids all nodded, grave expressions on their faces.
“Yeah. We don’t know yet what they’ll ask of us, but we’ll do our best!”
With those words, the kids disappeared into the spirit corridor with satisfied expressions on their faces. I encouraged them with a little “Go for it!”
I couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped my lips when I imagined the way their faces would drop once they realized their parents were waiting, ready to read them the riot act on the other side.
And so, the elven youths’ little rebellion came to an end.