Vincent ran until he was out of breath. On his back, the elf princess was passively resting. She only tightly clutched the necklace around her neck that contained the water of life. Even though Vincent was carrying another person, he didn’t feel any strain. She was just too light!

“I can’t go back the way we came, who knows how many elves are lying in wait.” But he couldn’t go back south either, it was too far. His only option was the climb down the mountain, down the sheer wall-like cliffs onto the road. He didn’t have a choice, they elves also wouldn’t expect him to do that with only his C-rank capabilities.

When night came around, Vincent finally arrived at the edge of the cliff. He peered down over the edge and felt dizzy. They were probably more than 100 meters up from the ground. He decided not to overthink it and rest.

Now that he had some time to think, he looked at the elf princess that just sat there staring off to nowhere. He then took this chance and took out a cloak and draped it over her body. She didn’t show any reaction. He didn’t have shoes fit for her size, so he gave up on that idea. He’ll just carry her anyways.

“What’s your name?” He asked.

“…”

“Can you hear me?” He curiously waved his hand in front of her, but she didn’t show any kind of reaction.

“Hah~…” Vincent gave up and started rolling out a bedspread. He couldn’t start a fire since he didn’t have anything to use as fuel and he didn’t want to be discovered. For his meal, he took out the same bread and cured meat.

“Do you want some?” He held out the food. After a short pause, the princess took the bread. Vincent smiled softly and also started eating.

“…” She stared at him.

“I guess it’s true, all elves are vegans.” He finished his meal and then spoke up, “Get some rest, we have a lot of ground to cover tomorrow.”

Vincent then began to plan his route to the world tree. For sure, he wasn’t going to send the elf princess back to the hands of the church. This was too prime an opportunity that he couldn’t miss. He planned to take her straight to the world tree and perform the ceremony. With his help, hopefully, the princess would be grateful and help him in return. After his experience with the dark elves from earlier, he wasn’t too keen on meeting any dark elves before he helped the princess. They were more likely to put an arrow in him and trust him. He stayed up pretty much the whole night guarding the princess.

The next day, Vincent began experimenting with his magic.

“Come out.” He commanded. He felt a surge of mana form in front of him before a portion of rock protruded outwards. “This will have to do.” This was his plan to climb down the mountain.

He looked over and saw the quiet princess woke up. Even in her half-asleep state, she looked cute. She looked like a demure chick as she sat up.

“You’re awake?” Vincent asked as he handed her some water to wash up. When they had their breakfast, he then pulled out a rope. “Princess, I’m going to strap you to myself. This is so you won’t fall.” Hearing no reply, Vincent went ahead and tied her to his back. Then he approached the cliff.

“Here goes nothing…” He closed his eyes and felt the earth mana around him. His will controlled a wisp of the earth mana and directed it to the cliff face. “Come out.”

*Rumble!*

After a bit of grinding, a mound of rock stuck out. Vincent had made it large enough to be able to support at least three of him. He jumped up and down on the outcropping and stopped after he was satisfied.

“…” The princess continued to stare at him.

“We’ll continue down like this, Princess.” He then thought of something and then said, “Tell me if you need anything.”

The journey down took the majority of the morning. Vincent wasn’t tired from using magic since it wasn’t his mana that he was using. However, he was mentally exhausted. It took a lot of concentration to control the wild mana, and he also had to worry about his footing the whole time. By the time he reached the ground below, he was drenched in sweat.

“Here we go, Princess.” He untied her and let her rest too. Throughout the whole ordeal, she had remained docile and quiet. When he was breathlessly sprawled out on the ground, she looked over, but her eyes remained unfocused.

After his short break, Vincent then took the princess and entered the forest. Being in the forest was safer than on the road. Right now, he couldn’t afford to meet any monsters or humans.

The plan was to cut across the forest, going straight to the world tree instead of going north to Northgard. However, that plan entails him passing through the woods. He was familiar with the forest, but he wasn’t confident this time around. For the most part, he was traveling with a defenseless girl, and second of all, this time around, he’ll pass very close to the inner region of the forest.

“It’s not that I have much of a choice.” He resigned himself to the ordeal and continued.

The Emerald Forest was home to a wide variety of animals and monsters. For the most part, these creatures stayed away from human contact, but in recent years they’ve begun attacking humans and human settlements. This was true for the southern region of the forest, but perhaps the north wasn’t the same.

His journey through the forest was uneventful; everything near the corrupted world tree was devoid of life as if the darkness has scared away all living things. He kept his wits about, but for the most part, he concentrated on his breathing. He had more than 30 kilometers to travel. 30 kilometers might seem short, but through uneven terrain filled with monsters would equate to a full day of travel and it was already past noon.

*Crack*

Vincent heard the noise and froze in his footsteps. The sound came from just beyond his visual perception.

*Crack*

He took out his sword. Having the princess on his back made it impossible to use his bow. Whatever caused the noise wasn’t small. The cracking sound grew closer and closer from behind him. He braced himself, ready to fight a bloody battle.

“I’ve finally found you.”

“Huh?”

Yeriel walked into view. She looked injured, limping as she moved. Her armor was torn, and a bloody gash was on her exposed side. He wasn’t sure where her bow went, but she only had on her, a shortsword.

“It looks like you’re okay.” Vincent didn’t know if he should be disappointed that she survived. This meant that his plan was doomed to failure.

“Just barely…” She mumbled.

“Where are the rest?” He probed. She was the only person he heard.

“Dead,” announced Yeriel. Her expression was grim.

“I see…” His eyes flashed with cold light for a split second. A ruthless idea crawled into his thoughts.

“Why are you all the way out here?” Yeriel also grew wary. “This isn’t the way back to Northgard.”

“…”

Vincent’s refusal to answer was all it took for her to understand the situation. She stumbled back and hastily drew out her shortsword.

“Look, Vince, it doesn’t have to be this way.” She shakily tried to reason. Right now, she was in no shape to fight against him.

Vincent didn’t reply and let down the princess.

*Shhinnnggg*

He unsheathed his sword. In his palm, mana began to gather.

“Stop! Stop! Timeout!” She held up her hands in surrender.

“I can’t let you live since you know what I’m about to do.” He solidified his resolve and lunged toward her. He launched a gust of wind, throwing the already teetering woman off balance. Then his sword plunged straight at her chest.

“Damnit!” She clenched her jaw and kicked the ground, launching backward, but at the same time tearing open her wounds.

Vincent didn’t lose his rhythm; he adjusted himself and attacked once more.

“You leave me no choice.” She took out a pill and ingested the medicine.

*Boom!*

An invisible burst of power blew Vincent back three steps.

“Magic? How is it possible?” He never sensed any mana coming from Yeriel; this seemed too coincidental. Why was she hiding her abilities?

“Do you understand now?” Yeriel’s voice had taken on a cold edge.

Vincent looked at her once more and his jaw dropped. Yeriel’s features have noticeably changed. Her once brown hair had turned black. Her eyes were also more sharply angled. The most notable change though was her ears. They elongated and came to a sharp point.

“Dark elf…” His brain started throbbing. This explained why she was acting so strange. The elves had a spy placed within the convoy. Even knowing so, Yeriel wasn’t considered friendly. She had wanted him to die.

“You see?” Since her mana was unsealed, her wounds began to heal at a rapid pace. “We’re on the same side.”

“Stay away from me.” He threatened. He was like a dog barking at a wolf, what could he do against a dark elf? An adult elf was equivalent to an A-rank; he would be like putty in her hands even if she were injured.

“Why can’t we all be friends?” She smiled as she approached. Vincent threateningly waved his sword around, but his limbs were rigid and refused to obey his brain. “Put down your sword. Let’s talk it out.”

“…”

Vincent resigned himself. Who was he trying to convince? The matter has grown out of proportion. He angrily cursed to himself at his hopelessness.

“Good boy.” She sidled over to his side, taking the elf princess in her hands. “Princess, we have been waiting ever since Ithvije fell. Today, you have returned to us. With you as our beacon, we will rise once more.”

“Impossible. The church will never allow the dark elves to live peacefully.” Vincent argued. He knew how ruthless the Church of Light could be, so how could they let the dark elves live after knowing that their princess has returned to them?

“They can’t kill what they can’t find.” Yeriel’s expression darkened.

“Do you think living a life hiding in the dark is an acceptable way to live?” Vincent scoffed. He had forgotten he originally wanted to take away the dark elves, using them to protect his family from the shadows. After seeing the princess, his way of thinking had changed. He wanted to save her, free her from her fate to be used as a hostage. Most of all, he wanted to see her eyes filled with hope and life because those eyes had reminded him of his previous life.

“Then are you saying you know a way, a new way of life for our kind?” She rebutted threateningly. How can a human child that hasn’t even started growing his hairs tell her how to live?

“That’s not…” Vincent paused; he hadn’t thought it out at all.

“Please do not give us false hope. Apathy is better than the promise of false hope.” Yeriel picked up the princess, “I will let you go because of your good intentions.” She got up, ready to leave for the world tree.

“Wait!” Vincent followed her. “Let me help as much as I can.”

“What can you do? You are weak. You are slow; I can move faster on my own.”

“You still need me. You are tired. You need to rest. What’s more, with the two of us, it’ll be easier to convince the church if we happen to chance upon them.” The Church of Light most likely have received notice that their paladin has fallen by now.

“…”

It was now Yeriel’s turn to pause. Right now, she was just showing a false display of power. Her health is very fragile at the moment. During the battle on the mountain, she had been struck by the paladin and sustained internal damages.

“Why don’t we rest here for tonight?” It was already dusk. They were both tired from the fighting and the running. What’s more, Yeriel had to treat her injuries.

“Fine.” She hesitantly agreed and plopped down the princess. “Start a fire and boil some water. I want to clean my wounds.”

“Start a fire? Here?” Vincent wasn’t worried about a forest fire; he didn’t want to attract attention.

“Do you think any monster dares to face against an elf?” Yeriel laughed derisively.

“That makes sense.” Vincent took the pot from Yeriel and poured some water out from her canteen and soon had a fire going. Yeriel undressed at the side, she didn’t see him as the opposite gender as she exposed herself and started cleaning the open wounds.

Vincent saw a large welt on her ribs, it was gross and deformed. More than likely, her ribs have been broken. Yeriel wrapped up her torso, right now there wasn’t much that could be done until they reached a settlement and have it professionally treated. Vincent felt a hot flush as he sneaked a few glances in Yeriel’s direction. Even though he lived two lives, right now, he was a youth in the midst of puberty.

“Look all you want, but I don’t see how this could interest you.” She mocked her warped features. Ever since the corruption of the world tree, her skin darkened, her hair turned black, and her mana became corrupt just like the tree. The elves were inherently tied to their world tree. Whatever happened to the world tree happened to them.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” Vincent quoted a line from his past life.

“You… I bet you’re a gigolo, aren’t you?” Yeriel snapped back.

“Perhaps,” He shrugged and started preparing a meal. Since there was a fire, he might as well prepare some stew.

Soon after, a pleasant smell wafted out into the area. The smell of cured sausage with dried vegetables was so tempting at the moment; even Yeriel drooled at the thought.

“Give me a bowl.” She demanded.

“Aren’t elves vegan?” He turned to look at the princess.

“Are all humans greedy for power?” She shot back. “Now give me a bowl.”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Vincent grumbled and spooned out a bowl. When she received her bowl, she began shoveling down the food like a vacuum. Vincent watched at the wonderful display of crudeness. He felt happy inside. Who doesn’t enjoy seeing a person happily eating the food they cooked?

“You’re a pretty good cook, Vince.” She spoke up after gesturing for another bowl.

“Thanks I suppose.” Vincent felt depressed, seeing his stew disappearing before his eyes.

“Don’t look so down. I acknowledge your abilities.” She embarrassedly coughed. “I’ll allow you to travel with us.”

“…”

Who knew that all he had to do to convince her was cook a simple meal? He just threw what he had into a pot, it wasn’t anything too complicated. He gave up trying to understand dark elves and just began to cook himself another pot.

“Would you also like the same thing, Princess?” Vincent turned and asked.

“…”

She didn’t reply, as expected, but he thought he might’ve seen her head shake. For this pot, he decided not to include meat in it. When the stew was cooked, he handed her a bowl. Although she didn’t say anything, she still picked up the bowl.

Vincent smiled. “Be careful. It’s hot.” He handed her a spoon and then began spooning out his own portion.

“I also want more.” Yeriel complained from the side.

“Eating too much will give you a stomachache.” Vincent rebuked and ignored her complaints. Like so, the three of them rested for the night, preparing for the tough journey tomorrow.