Eventually, they reached the Elven village perched atop the connecting gargantuan acacia trees. The houses were built so high up that most of their roofs breached through the tree's crowns itself!
"Welcome back to our village, sir Keo. Please make yourselves at home in our municipal hall. Lady Farren just has a few matters to deal with before she can meet with you."
The male Elf led him back to the largest tree in the village where a grand and ornate building was carved inside the very bark itself. He walked up the perfectly braided and twisted roots of the tree that served as the stairs, leading him up to the main Municipal Hall.
Once inside, he saw a resplendent hall filled with embellished wooden desks made out of thousand-year-old barks, chairs and sofas made out of a single slab of wood, and tall statues of stalwart images of mighty Elves. It was quite an ethereal sight, which was illuminated by natural sunlight coming from carefully placed windows along the tree's bark.
The male elf guided him to what seemed to be a reception desk in the center of the hall.
"This is our guest Keo. Make sure he gets the best room and accommodation," he said to the receptionist.
Before she could even reply, Michael asked, "Wait, a room? Why would I need that?"
"Truth be told, sir Keo, Lady Farren is engaged in multiple important matters at the moment. You'll need to wait for a bit before she can see you."
"How long?"
"A single candle's worth."
That wasn't bad. That was about thirty minutes, which was bearable. This also gave him the chance to immerse himself in Elven culture and perhaps find out what made the whimsical Draconian so interested in them.
The receptionist gave him a large acorn, which was supposed to be the key for his room.
She then led him to a corner of the hall where he saw multiple thick vines cascading from the top.
According to her, with a single tug of these vines, he would get launched up into the upper floors of the Municipal Tree House and lead him directly to his room.
He declined, revealing that he could simply fly there.
"Ah! If so, then you can simply fly directly to your room from the outside!"
He was just about to follow the receptionist, when something caught his attention from the corner of his eyes.
He moved back into the room of Elevator Vines and looked up.
And for a brief moment, he saw what seemed to be a child hugging one of the vines at the very top of the tree, looking down at him with curiosity.
He looked up at the child, noticing something weird with her. He was far away from them, but for a brief moment, he felt a sense of deja vu as he looked up at them.
"AH! We lost her! Dammit, Lady Farren is going to kill us!"
"I can't keep up with her. And she's supposed to be fragile because of her—"
"SHHH!"
His attention was immediately drawn to the group of exasperated Elves as they bursted through the door, barely hanging onto their breaths.
They only stopped to notice his existence. Then, they lowered their voices before they quietly began their search for the missing child.
Was that her, he wondered.
He didn't know why she was hiding or why they were searching for her, but they don't seem to be doing a very good job. They split up and searched through the first floor, neglecting to notice that she was actually hiding at the top.
It seemed they thought she was too fragile to be doing those sorts of acrobatics.
"Sir Keo?" the receptionist asked, wondering why he wasn't following her.
"I'll just go up through these vines after all. It's more convenient."
He looked back up the vines, noticing the girl's absence. He hoped to talk with the little girl and take her back to Lady Farren. That way, he could gain her appreciation and hopefully increase his chances in his missions.
But not only that, he also felt a strange familiarity as he remembered the girl's visage. He was sure he hadn't seen her before, but something about her presence was familiar.
Taking one of the vines into his hands, he wrapped it tightly around his wrists before giving it a firm tug.
Immediately, a powerful force yanked the vines upwards, taking him with it.
He rocketed up the gargantuan tree's bark before his momentum suddenly changed from a vertical force, to a horizontal one.
He felt like he was in a reverse water slide.
Eventually, the vines slowed down into a crawl as it delivered him into a hallway filled with rooms on both sides.
His room was the very first one on the hallway to the left.
But instead of going there, he went towards the opposite room on the right.
After all, this was where the girl was hiding. He saw the light mana emanating from her body. She was leaning on the door, trying to hear what he was doing.
He knocked, startling the little girl.
"Hello?"
The girl was silent.
"I heard those guys looking after you…"
After a few seconds, she replied. "Don't tell them. Farren will scold me. I didn't do my exercises…"
As it turned out, she was just a delinquent student.
"Well, it's not good to renege on your studies. It's important for kids."
"...you're just a kid too."
He was silent for a second, realizing that she was right. "Ahem… I'm still right."
"But it's so boring! You wouldn't understand. They just make me do all those exercises even though I don't need them!" she exploded. "Maybe I'll get out… if you give me a gift."
His eyebrows raised. "A gift?"
"Yeah… you're a human, right? I heard that human kids aren't just given bows as their birthday gift. They're given real toys! I want a toy!"
Michael was flabbergasted. He thought she was in trouble, but in reality, she was just a bratty kid!
It made him hesitate whether he should help her or not.
"And why should I do that?"
"Because… because I'm going to die…"