We had to climb ropes made of vines to get up into that tree house.
With how high up it was, it really burned my arms and legs by the end of it.
I had been doing some training, but this was just too much…It was like climbing up several dozen stories and using a ladder that was even more straining.
What surprised me more was how easily Haley had done it.
I had thought that she would have struggled the most out of the three of us, but she wasn't even out of breath by the end of it. It seemed like I really needed to rethink my evaluation of her in my mind.
Once we arrived, the elders were surprised to see that it was just the three of us.
The one who had been in the middle and had spoken before looked at me to ask, "It's just the three of you? You're not afraid that we'll do something?"
I looked right back at this elder without any fear in my eyes.
Now that we were closer together, I was able to see her appearance more clearly.
She was a green haired elf just like the one who had led us here, but her hair was lighter than the one that had led us. But that didn't mean that she was any less beautiful than her.
If one looked at the two of them closely, they might even think that the two of them were sisters.
She had beautiful green eyes and fair white skin, but her figure…was more developed than the green haired elf who led us here. It was clear which one of them had lived longer just based on that.
After being in a bit of daze and getting pinched in the side, I cleared my throat and said, "Why would I be afraid? We were invited here as guests of the elven race, so is there a reason for me to not trust you? Or are you saying that I should be worried?"
Hearing this, the elves all couldn't help revealing surprised looks before suddenly revealing wide smiles.
The green haired elder gave a laugh that was like an oriole singing before saying, "Human, you are an interesting one. Most humans would be wary of us, but you act like you're one of us." After a pause, she added, "It's almost like you're one of the elves."
This was a deliberate sentence that she had added on at the end.
I didn't mind it and just looked right at the elders who were scrutinizing me without a word.
Seeing this, all of them gave a satisfied nod.
Finally, the green haired elder said, "Alright, human, let's get to the main point. What is it that you want to discuss with us?"
I turned to look at the green haired elf on the side, but they turned away when I did this. It was as if they were avoiding my gaze.
It didn't take much to guess what had happened.
They had most likely forgotten to report what I had said…but I couldn't blame them since there was something that was far more shocking that had happened.
It wasn't every day when the guarantee of a famous high elf was used.
So they must have forgotten to report it in the haste of everything else.
I looked back at the green haired elder and repeated everything that I had said to the green haired elf back at the pond.
As they heard this, the elders couldn't help knitting their brows.
By the end of my story, I just waited to see the reaction of the elders. However, just based on how their expressions had changed while I was telling the story, it didn't seem like it would be good.
After a long silence, the green haired elder took the lead and said, "Unfortunately, we cannot give you an answer right now. We need to discuss this amongst ourselves first since this involves an internal matter. We'll give you an answer another day."
Hearing this, Haley couldn't help revealing an anxious look.
After all, it was her store that needed the wood to be built, so the stalling of these elders would delay that.
This was her dream store that she had wanted for the longest time, so it was painful for her to have it delayed like this.
She was about to say something, but I raised my hand to stop her.
She looked at me with a worried look, but she still held herself back in the end.
I carefully looked at the elders who glanced a bit to the side, as if they were trying to avoid my gaze.
I finally asked in a slow and deliberate voice, "Is there something wrong with the forest?"
When they heard this, all of the elves in the room couldn't help jolting. That included the green haired elf who had brought us here in the first place.
All of them couldn't help looking at me with amazed looks, as if they were trying to figure out how I had known this.
Seeing them act this way, I couldn't help revealing a bitter smile.
Sometimes, the elves could be a bit too forward that they couldn't hide their emotions. This was the same as in the game it seemed…but this did make it easier.
I had already guessed that there had to be something wrong with the forest for the elves to chase away our people. After all, the elves might love nature, but they also recognized that humans needed help from nature to survive.
They allowed humans to chop down wood, not just because it would be hard for them to fight the humans, but also because it helped the forest. They knew that no tree could grow forever, so they needed to cut down trees to let the new saplings bloom.
And we had clearly not chopped more than what should have been allowed, so there had to be a reason why they would stop us.
But what was that reason?