After temporarily moving into the portable space, Princess Velesia had also chosen a room among the available ones. The facilities within the portable space were very well-equipped, and the living conditions were comfortable, but over the past few days, Princess Velesia had endured a very difficult time.
She had no idea what the current situation was in her tribe, nor whether the Gnome Kingdom might launch an attack ahead of schedule…
The distance from the Elven Royal Court was too far, and mana signals simply couldn’t transmit across that distance.
The message she had sent back earlier, warning them to prepare in advance, had only been achieved with the help of the Imperial Capital’s Mana Core Tower in the Violet Empire, which was far from comparable to ordinary mana communication devices.
Because of all these worries and anxieties, Princess Velesia had barely slept in the past few days.
Sometimes, when she couldn’t fall asleep in the middle of the night and felt stifled in her room, she could only leave and go to the living room or outside to relax a bit.
That day, as usual, she had spent half the night out in the fields.
When she returned to the villa and was on her way to her room, that faint, barely perceptible sound once again reached her ears.
Princess Velesia’s face flushed, and her pace quickened instantly.
In truth, after specially installing soundproofing magic arrays, the soundproofing in the villa’s rooms was normally very good, so theoretically, no noise should have been audible.
But Velesia’s situation was rather unique.
The Elven race’s long ears were not grown for nothing.
They possessed an incredibly acute perception of sound, or rather, “vibrations,” and even with the obstruction of the magic arrays, they could still pick up some subtle sounds.
Velesia was not an innocent little girl who knew nothing.
Though she was still young by Elven standards, she had nonetheless spent a considerable number of years in reality. She had long since learned all the knowledge she should and shouldn’t know.
Moreover, her identity was rather special. As a member of the Elven royal bloodline and a very rare prodigy, the Elven Elders placed great importance on continuing her bloodline. Consequently, they had been subtly instilling relevant information into her all along.
According to the Elders’ plan, once she formally assumed the position of Elven Queen, the tribe would immediately arrange a selection to find a young, outstanding male among the Elves to serve as the Prince Consort, helping her continue the bloodline.
But theory was one thing; so far, Velesia had only encountered simple oral or written introductions.
She understood the gist, but the specifics remained unclear.
Such a strange feeling…
Back in her room, she lay down on the soft bed and placed her hand over her chest. That faint, lingering flutter was hard to shake off.
It was like this every time. After hearing that sound, she became very strange.
When she had browsed through books before, she thought the descriptions in them were exaggerated—who would actually lose control and make such embarrassing sounds?
But now, without even experiencing it herself, just hearing a few faint noises had her feeling unsettled…
The knowledge recorded in the books seemed to be correct. So, did that kind of thing really… feel that good?
Velesia shook her head, somewhat annoyed with herself for having such thoughts at a time like this.
She was supposed to be worrying about her tribe’s safety. Velesia, what are you thinking about!
She patted her cheeks and took a few deep breaths, finally managing to calm herself down. According to their progress, they would be arriving at the Imperial Capital of the Roxez Empire today. There, she was sure to get specific intelligence on the Barbarian Forest.
She needed to rest properly; there might be fighting ahead.
Although Velesia’s strength was formidable, and the Elven race naturally had high Spirit attributes, not resting well for so many days had still taken a slight toll on her condition.
But knowing what to do was one thing; if falling asleep on command were possible, there wouldn’t be so many insomniacs.
…
On the other side, Lily was also tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
It had been some time since she became the successor to the Divine Child. During this period, her mindset had inevitably undergone many changes.
At the very beginning, because Lin Mo was the successor chosen by the deity, the “Divine Child” in her eyes, she habitually placed him on the same level as the “deity.”
However, to a believer, a deity always seemed distant and unreachable. Their impression of a deity could only rely on scripture or imagination.
But now, she was facing a living, breathing person.
A person who didn’t seem quite so distant… Someone she could meet every day and talk to at length.
He had his own life—a human life.
There were many beautiful girls around him, and every day they would… well, they would…
Lily didn’t continue that train of thought. Instead, she tried calling out in her mind.
“Sister… Sister Joan?”
“…”
Still no response.
This situation had persisted for a long time.
It had plunged her into deep unease.
She didn’t know exactly how Sister Joan was doing, nor when she might wake up. She was terrified—terrified that she would remain asleep forever, or even simply leave.
Ever since their chance encounter, Sister Joan had been by her side, becoming Lily’s only true friend and family member, giving her the warmth and care she could never find in the royal palace.
She could no longer imagine what life would be like without Sister Joan. She might never have the courage to continue searching for and purifying the Dark Tide, nor would she know how to interact with this Divine Child.
“Sister Joan, please come back soon…”
Lily murmured softly, slowly closing her eyes, and finally drifted off to sleep.
At dusk, the evening glow bathed the city walls, turning their original white into a golden red.
On the towering, lofty walls, many mana runes could be seen. As the Empire of Magic and Arcana, the Roxez Empire represented humanity’s highest level of spellcraft. Within this empire, the proportion of Mages among Professionals was far higher than in the other two empires, and the number of powerful Mages also led the continent.
Consequently, the Roxez Empire held an absolute lead in magic-related infrastructure.
Upon entering the city, one could immediately see many people wearing Mage Robes strolling the streets. Though they were still a minority in the crowd, compared to the Violet Empire, their numbers were noticeably higher.
The entire city was imbued with a “magical” atmosphere, and traces of simple magic arrays could be seen in many places.
Even the air itself seemed to carry a faint trace of mana…
The carriage had been stored away in the portable space by Lin Mo earlier. They walked into the city on foot, heading straight for the Adventurers’ Association.
On one hand, now that they had the portable space, they could set up camp and rest there without needing to find an inn to stay in. On the other, when it came to gathering intelligence on the Barbarian Forest, the Adventurers’ Association was undoubtedly the most suitable place.
With its large number of adventurers, the information they held was vast. Moreover, many adventurers liked to drink and brag at the Association after finishing an adventure or on their days off.
At the Adventurers’ Association, they would likely get the information they needed.
As an Imperial Capital, Seth City naturally had more than one Adventurers’ Association branch. The largest one was located not far from the city gate.
Thus, within half an hour, they arrived at the Association without any trouble.
As expected, it was now evening—the time when adventurers were returning en masse from outside to submit quests. Consequently, the Adventurers’ Association was packed to the brim with people, a veritable sea of humanity.
Especially at the quest submission counters, long, serpentine queues had formed, with many adventurers waiting impatiently.
They steered clear of the most congested area and headed for the rest zone nearby. The crowd there was relatively thinner, but at this hour, finding a seat was clearly out of the question.
That didn’t matter much, though. Lin Mo looked around, spotted an adventurer party that looked like newcomers, and slowly walked over.
Without wasting words, he took three Gold Coins out of his backpack and placed them on the table. “Excuse me, could you spare a seat?”
Before the novice adventurers could even respond, their gazes were already locked onto those three shiny Gold Coins.
For powerful adventurers, three Gold Coins were nothing, but for a rookie party just starting out, this was a huge sum.
Without any hesitation, the leader of the party nodded briskly and stood up. “Of course, no problem. Please, have a seat. We’ll be going…”
As he spoke, he cheerfully pocketed the three Gold Coins and led his companions away quickly, apparently planning to find a tavern and treat themselves to a good meal.
The table was not large, and when everyone sat down around it, it felt a bit cramped.
Fortunately, not everyone was outside. Lena, Lily, and Princess Velesia were still inside the portable space.
Lena was used to this; being around crowds made her uncomfortable anyway. As for Lily and Velesia, they were simply too conspicuous, easily attracting unnecessary attention.
While their adventurer party itself was already eye-catching enough—full of handsome men and beautiful women—without wearing badges, they just looked like a party with good looks and decent strength.
Not everyone could recognize the quality of equipment at a glance.
Except for Lily’s outfit. That set of golden armor was simply too flashy. Even without identifying its exact level, anyone could tell at a glance that it must have cost a fortune.
As for Princess Velesia, there was no need to mention it. Even in the empire’s Imperial Capital, Elves were an extremely rare sight.
Perhaps a few nobles might secretly own Elven slaves, but they would never dare to bring them out into the open. If they attracted too much attention and the news spread, the Elven race would likely come looking for trouble.
Although recently, the Elves might not have the spare energy for that…
Though Velesia was still inside the portable space, her expression was extremely anxious.
Seeing the worried look on the Elven Princess’s face through the portable space, Lin Mo didn’t waste any time. While signaling Ellie to order food, he began striking up conversations with nearby adventurers, steering the topic toward the Barbarian Forest.
As the largest forest on the entire continent, the Barbarian Forest was known to everyone.
Unsurprisingly, it was also an adventurer’s paradise. Though not as stable and convenient as secret realms like the Nasadok Dungeon, the Barbarian Forest itself was vast enough, with equally abundant resources.
The variety and number of Magical Creatures were considerable for most adventurers… though there was a shortage of high-level Magical Creatures, which meant powerful adventurers generally didn’t choose to set up camp nearby.
It was worth noting that the Barbarian Forest wasn’t very far from the Roxez Empire’s Imperial Capital. By Lin Mo’s estimation of the carriage’s speed, it was only a little over a day’s journey away.
Thus, the flow of adventurers between these two places was very high. As a result, news about the Barbarian Forest spread to the Imperial Capital in no time.
Adventurers always had a strong urge to share, especially those who were drinking. Lin Mo only needed to exchange a few words with them to get the information he wanted from their mouths.
Though this information might only be surface-level intelligence, it was enough.
After chatting with people around, Lin Mo quickly learned that, so far, the Gnome Kingdom had not yet launched a full-scale assault on the Elven Royal Court. However, from the adventurers’ descriptions, the situation inside the Barbarian Forest had already become abnormal.
Recently, many savvy adventurers had chosen to give up going there and instead moved to work in other adventure zones.
After all, a place on the verge of war had far too many uncertainties. If one were unlucky enough to encounter a marching Goblin army, it would be disastrous.
Speaking of which, according to the general feedback from adventurers, the frequency of encountering Goblins in the Barbarian Forest had decreased significantly compared to before.
This was, of course, not because the number of Goblins had decreased, but because they were gathering at an extremely rapid pace, no longer as scattered as before. Relatively speaking, the chances of running into one naturally went down.
At the same time, due to the massive concentration of Goblins, the ecosystem within the Barbarian Forest had undergone great changes. The Magical Creatures were not stupid either; they sensed something was off and began to hide. The gathering of the Goblin army had also caused significant damage to the forest’s ecology.
Now, both the Adventurers’ Association and the empire had issued notices, warning adventurers and the public to be cautious and to avoid entering the Barbarian Forest as much as possible.
Additionally, there was some news regarding the empire…
In the past few days, the Roxez Empire had urgently recalled the army stationed at the northern border. Meanwhile, the military camp on the outskirts of the Imperial Capital had been buzzing with activity. Even the guard units responsible for defending the Imperial Capital seemed to have started mobilizing.
Clearly, the Roxez Empire was not underestimating this war; they were taking it quite seriously. However, they had no intention of taking the initiative to attack, preferring a defensive strategy.
After all, a defensive battle was far easier than an encounter battle or an offensive one.
Rashly entering the Barbarian Forest would put them in the Goblins’ home turf. They wouldn’t only have to consider combat effectiveness; they would also have to deal with the complex environment and terrain. Moreover, in the forest, the formation of a human army would be limited in effectiveness.
On the other hand, letting the Elven race bear the brunt of the pressure was, of course, also one of their objectives.
As for news from the Elven Royal Court, he couldn’t glean anything from these ordinary adventurers…
In any case, he had still obtained some important information. Lin Mo immediately relayed everything to Princess Velesia.
Upon learning of these developments, she breathed a slight sigh of relief, but quickly furrowed her brows again.
From the Roxez Empire’s perspective, their primarily defensive strategy was perfectly sound—undoubtedly the smartest choice. But for the Elven Royal Court, it was an incredibly headache-inducing situation.
She wondered if the Elders had started following the instructions from the message she had sent back earlier.
As she was pondering this, Lin Mo overheard adventurers not far away starting a new discussion.
“Hey, have you heard? That Lin Mo guy seems to be coming over here…”
“Lin Mo… the one who led the small kingdom of Doria to victory in the Violet Empire’s Academy Grand Competition?”
“No matter how many times I hear it, I still find this whole thing too insane. In past years, even if the Violet Empire didn’t win, it was always one of the major kingdoms that took first place. There was never an exception. Who would have thought this time a small kingdom would take the top spot? That’s probably a first in the entire history of the continent, right?”
“You’re not wrong… Though I’m not clear on the specifics, they say the whole thing was mainly thanks to this Lin Mo. A lot of people are now calling him the number one genius on the continent. Some have even started putting him on the throne of the number one genius in the Heavenly Continent for the last hundred years!”
“Well… that does sound a bit exaggerated, but considering what he actually accomplished, it seems kind of reasonable.”
“Reasonable or not, there are always going to be people who aren’t convinced… After all, not everyone saw the Violet Empire’s Academy Grand Competition. It’s hard to say exactly what happened. Now, a lot of young geniuses from the Roxez Empire and Serea are unhappy about it. They think that while he might be talented, the way he’s being hyped up now is just too much. Some even think it’s because the Violet Empire and those other kingdoms were so pathetic that a small kingdom managed to sneak in a win.”
“Heh, that’s normal. Young people, especially top-tier geniuses, grew up surrounded by admiration. Without seeing it for themselves, who would admit someone else is better?”
“So, I heard that with Lin Mo coming over, a lot of young geniuses are already itching to size him up and see just how strong he really is.”
“Interesting. If that’s the case, things around the Imperial Capital and the Barbarian Forest are bound to get a lot livelier in the coming days.”
“Totally understandable. Forget these geniuses—even a nobody like me is curious about how strong this Lin Mo, who’s being hyped to the skies, really is, and whether he deserves all those crazy titles the Bards have made up for him.”
“Heh, if we’re counting the time, Lin Mo and those geniuses should be arriving soon. Looks like we’re in for some fun!”
“Haha, sounds good. A show to watch! Come on, let’s clink glasses and keep drinking…”
Hearing the noisy chatter around him, Lin Mo smiled faintly.
It seemed that the message Princess Velesia had sent back had indeed been taken seriously by the Elven Elders and had been circulated quite effectively.
Besides those eager geniuses wanting to prove themselves, the forces behind them, including those who wanted to seize this opportunity to meet him and build good relations, had likely started arriving as well.
With the people lured in, the next step was to provide a driving force to steer these individuals and factions toward opposing the Goblins.
Lin Mo had already roughly formulated a plan in his mind.
He and the Elven race could release a joint statement, seeking assistance while simultaneously hosting a grand gathering of geniuses.
If the Elven race had directly sought help from the major powers before, they most likely wouldn’t have gotten a response.
After all, the distance was great, the benefits were minimal, and everyone understood the Roxez Empire’s intentions. Acting rashly might offend the empire.
But now… since everyone was already here, as long as the rewards were sufficient, there was no reason they couldn’t take action.
Even if the Roxez Empire was displeased, with so many factions—many of which weren’t even within the Roxez Empire’s borders—the empire couldn’t really do anything to them.
However, to attract more participants, he needed a bait with enough weight.
Materials, treasures, or equipment and weapons?
The Elven race did have some, but were these factions really lacking in those areas?
The things that could genuinely attract them were all ancestral treasures of the Elven race, which couldn’t be handed over.
So, what could he use to attract a multitude of young talents?
A smile slowly crept across Lin Mo’s lips.
The answer was simple—use people.
More precisely, use an Elf.
Since ancient times, heroes have always had a hard time getting past the beauty trap, let alone young heroes?
At their age, full of youthful vigor, they would find it even harder to resist the allure of a top-tier beauty.
So, what would happen if the Elven race announced that, in addition to the basic rewards, the most outstanding participant in this grand gathering would be chosen as the future Prince Consort, marrying the Elven Princess?
The chance to become famous across the continent, even to be recorded in history forever, along with generous rewards and the temptation of winning a beauty’s hand—this was an absolute grand slam. No young man could resist such an allure.
At that point, the situation would be thoroughly chaotic.
Amid the chaos, the numerous factions within the Roxez Empire would also find it impossible to sit still, and most would likely choose to participate.
These factions held lofty positions in the Roxez Empire, each with significant status. Once they got involved, the Roxez Empire would essentially be forced into a reluctant participation in the war.
In this way, the pressure on the Elven Royal Court would be greatly alleviated.
Of course, the Elven race would have to pay a considerable price for this. The rewards needed to be substantial enough, and the tribe’s various resources would be severely depleted. Velesia, this future queen with boundless potential, would also have to sacrifice some of her reputation and time.
But for the Elven race, these were acceptable costs—far better than seeing their people massacred or facing extinction or complete enslavement.
Moreover, even if she acknowledged a human Prince Consort, given the vast difference in lifespan between humans and Elves, for Velesia, it would only be a brief period in her life.
Chapter 386: Beauty as Bait, an Elven Prince Consort?
17 min read