The forest was warm and moist as we traveled through the vegetation walking towards the group of 5 dark elfs which were also unknowingly moving towards us...to my front stood calar humming a happy tune excited about the prospect of meeting her people once again after the horrible incident in which she got kidnapped by those other 3 transported individuals,to my left was hobusaku who was keeping her eyes sharp her hand placed on top of her weapon ready to draw if necessary,she was still iffy about the confrontation with the dark elfs trying to convince me more than once into letting her escort calar to them alone or make a slime lead her towards them which in all fairness was a good idea,but i wanted to have a good impression for the first time meeting...having someone come and deliver the message is safe but shows the amount of distrust one has if done that way...

The walk didn't take long since i knew exactly were they were through the surveillance slimes that were on the trees,after a few minutes the group 5 suddenly stopped 8 meters away from us behind a lot of trees and bushes hiding,the probably had somehow sensed or seen our approach and prepared for it waiting for us to come to them...which wouldn't happen as i took the initiative.

-Hello ? you there behind the trees ? Don't worry i am not coming with ill in mind i know why you are here you are searching for this girl right ?

My skill had activated the moment i spoke turning my tongue into an almost native dark elf,the 5 dark elf's who were hiding behind the tree's obviously heard my words and few even flinched when i mentioned a girl,but still they didn't come out and acted as if they weren't here even thought i fully knew that they were standing behind the tree's...

Feeling an awkward atmosphere building up i quickly kneel'ed down next to calar telling her to speak to them instead of me...

-Eldryn ! Akkain ! are you there ! its me calarel !

-Calarel ?

One of the female dark elfs couldn't take it anymore as she heard the girl's voice she immediately got out of her hiding place looking towards us at calarel in particular as who saw the female dark elf wailing out of delight as she ran towards her arms open.

-Cheyrth ! i missed you !

Calar said as small tear drops formed in her eyes as she jumped into the female dark elf's embrace hugging her tightly...

-You two don't move ! Or it will be the last thing you will ever do !

The rest of the dark elfs seeing this also stopped hiding as they jumped from their trees pointing their sharp spears towards me and hobusaku who growled angrily touching her dagger,but i stopped her mid draw making her confused as she looked at me...i just smiled and shook my face whispering.

-Don't...i handle this alright...just guard my back for me...

I could feel hobusakus feelings going into a turmoil as she couldn't decide who to listen to her feelings or me...the fight in herself was quickly over though as she eased her grip on the dagger looking towards the 4 dark elfs who were pointing their spears towards us with a look of clear hostility and anger flashing in between.

I kept my face calm without showing any emotion i boldly said.

-As i had stated before i came with no ill thoughts in mind the reason i came was to return this girl to you i rescued her from 3 men that i found in the forest...

The male dark elf on the left side snarled at me angrily hearing my words he told me accusingly.

-Liar ! You are obviously the person who had stolen our calarel and now that you are cornered you only want to save yourself thats why you gave her back to us thinking that we would leave you !

-...

I was speechless for a few moments as i heard what this guy had said...i could see that he didn't put a single shred of reasoning towards his accusation making up things as they come and only assuming them out spite of his anger...

The other 3 also seemed to have acknowledged this guys theory which was totally a lie preparing to use their spears at any moment.Hobusaku seeing this also didn't stand for what was about to happen..she couldn't understand what we were talking about,but she knew the intent of these people without words too.

-ENOUGH !

Suddenly the voice of the female dark elf shook the area,shouting loudly ordering her friends to stop what they were doing as she looked at the them her eyes narrowed.

-What do you mean by that cheryth ! We have to kill him so he can't hurt us another time !

Rebuked the male dark elf as he glared at me with a very angry gaze almost sending a shiver down my spine,but only almost as the female dark elf called cheryth started to close in on him with a clear wrath in her eyes as she grabbed the males spear and pulled it away from him easily as if she was stealing candy from a child...scolding him too by hitting him on the head.

-You idiot blinded by your own anger you are harming the people around you can't you see that he came unarmed he even ordered the warrior next to him to stop her assault your baseless accusations have no shred of reasoning to them as you didn't even ask the victim if this was true ! and even if you were right why do you think we cornered him ? It seems clear that he knew where we were the moment we stepped inside of his territory finding us and knowing very well that we were hiding how can you not see such things you over the top dip shit idiot ?

Hearing these words the others also started to slowly put their weapons down with a slight embarrassment as they did...the guy in question who had blindly accused me of such things was now just a small rabbit standing in front of a huge wolf trying to make excuses for himself while being yelled at...

-ahh but...wait maybe he is just trying to let our guard down and then follow us into our village to take another one of us !

The guy was still insisting on me being some kind of child kidnapper which i obviously wasn't,but on the other hand his reasoning also made a bit of sense as the other dark elfs looked at me and hobusaku guarded not raising their spears,but getting ready if needed to do so.

Cheryth the female dark elf hearing him say this just shook her head sighing...she looked at me for a moment as our eyes met...her brown colored eyes had a streak of black on them and i could see that she was a very determined because she didn't avoid a single moment of eye contact even once as we stared at each other,i knew what she wanted to see in me...she wanted to know if i could be trusted or not..

-huh..

In the end she grunted acknowledging,i wasn't sure if she found what she was searching for,but i could see that i had barely passed something she wanted to know.

-Answer me stranger who are you ? since not too many outlanders know our language i am expecting you to be someone who had previously exchanged with our kind...

I smiled lightly...her question was plausible,but answering it was hard without actually lying telling the truth is also out of question as she probably wouldn't believe that i came from another world.So thinking about it logically i had only one answer.

-I don't know and i never had exchanged with your kind before i only know that i had woken up in this forest days ago trying to survive with some knowledge hanging in my mind such as the knowledge of the language we currently speak..

I kept my voice clean without stuttering to prove that i was speaking the truth which it was.

Hearing my reply the female dark elf kept her gaze at me for a few seconds until she nodded her head and turned towards calarel asking a few questions such as her well being and other events that may ave happened the last few days which she described very cheerfully as she told them about how i would tell her stories or about my cooking skills she even mentioned that i had grown a tree with my magic which baffled everyone on the spot showing stares of absolute disbelieve while staring at me suspiciously...in the end calarels description and memories of the last few days with me was flowery and fun it seemed which made me happy for some reason...

-I see...very well i now know that you have truly not meant any harm to us and wanted to bring her back to us...because of that i apology for my little brother rudeness..

The dark elf guy hearing that gritted his teeth in frustration as he turned his back on me a bit angry too should i add...the others also apologized one by one i accepted it with a kind smile on which cheryth continued talking.

-But i can see that you could have just evenly lead her towards us from that i can assume that you want something from us,am i right ?

Hearing her say it like this bluntly made me smile awkwardly as i felt a bit threatened by her reasoning skills which were top notch and over all i wasn't sure how to start such a conversation and figured that being honest was the best choice right now as i started telling her why i wanted to meet them and that i wanted to establish a friendly relationship between ourselves maybe exchanging a few things with each other such as items or information which i was actually after...

Throughout this conversation we all stood in the same position with me and cheryth exchanging words with each other diplomatically while the others were standing slowly getting bored by our conversation...our exchange wasn't long as it ended after 30 minutes or so with cheryth having a contemplating expression on her face as she looked at me thinking deeply.

-hmm alright i will think about your offer and talk with the village chief about the friendly relationship,but still there is a problem such as you don't seem to have anything which could interest us ?

She said with a cunning smile on her face almost making me laugh as our conversation had evolved to a point where we could talk freely...of course her point was very valid and something i also considered and had a plan about as i raised my hand invoking my storage and searching for a specific item that i had grown recently...the caprucia fruit.

With that thought the fruit materialized in my palm seeing this everyone was surprised and also amazed by the fact that i had brought out a fruit out of nothing...everyone,but calar of course as she knew what fruit i was holding as she looked at it with glistering eyes exclaiming.

-Its the fruit you grew ! the very sweet one !

The others hearing what calar just said only raised their eyebrows looking at the rosy star fruit that i had just called out of nothing the texture was soft and the color was radiating a faint rosy light showing the divinity of the fruit itself making some of the dark elfs stare at it dazed with a wide mouth..even cheryth couldn't help but stare at it...hunger surfacing on her eyes,but quickly snapping back towards me.

-This here is a fruit that i had grown i have a lot more of these and also other kinds if you want vegetables can be cultivated too and if you want i can also exchange cooking recipes that you had never seen before

Cheryth listened to my offer in general still staring at the fruit as she asked me.

-Our village collects thousands of fruits everyday to feed the citizens we even cultivate our own so i don't see why we would need your fruits if we have our own...

Her question was once again solid and light to it,but i knew that nothing in the world would be the same as this fruit so i lightly threw it towards her,she caught it a bit frantic holding it in her hands and feeling the soft texture of the rosy star fruit in her hands the smell was also very good.

-Taste it !

I said with a large smile on my face...she looked confused momentarily looking at the fruit suspiciously,but giving in at the end as she took a small bite from it which turned into a larger one and then a second bite a third bite ending with the forth bite as she stuffed the whole fruit into her mouth swallowing it and feeling completely baffled about herself as she didn't seem to understand why she ate the fruit so fast even thought she only had 1 smile bite of it...

(Whoosh)

I had already raised my hand at the time and summoned another one of the rosy star fruit showing it to her with a mocking smile on her face as she stared at it dreamily,but quickly shaking her head as she realized her situation...clear her throat for the moment she tried to regain some of the dignity she had,but failing to do so as small juices of the fruit were covered on her lips small pieces too.

-I think...we can have a agreement here...

She said a bit embarrassed by the impression she had just shown to me i just smiled and summoned another 5 fruits giving it to her now hand to hand while telling her.

-Give this to your village elder if he wants proof and tell me your reply tomorrow morning at this very place of course...

She gulped momentarily while holding the 5 rosy star fruits in her arms looking at them hungrily...for a moment i was scared that they would eat it before getting to the village,but i was sure that cheryth was strong enough to resist the temptation of the fruits...

-Very well tomorrow morning we will come to this place...i don't think we need to tell you when we arrive right ?

I didn't say anything and just nodded my head as chreyth acknowledged my reply turning her head and showing her back to me she told everyone to start moving and get back to the village before sun fall...

We told our goodbyes and well wishes to each other before we parted calar who was standing by the side seemed very sad for some reason as she came back to me with a big frown on her face i crouched down to her level taking time to listen to her.

-goodbye mister,thank you for taking care of me and telling me stories too....i will miss you mister.

Her words hit hard for a few seconds as she hugged me tightly around the neck...the others seeing this scene also widened their eyes,but it quickly turned into a warm gaze as i returned her hug parting with her telling her with a gentle smile on my face.

-Don't worry i am sure that we will meet again and when we do then i tell another story alright ? i even bring along the slimes and foods you like how about it ?

Hearing me say these small things to her gave her some hope of reunion as she nodded her head very cheerful and excited leaving towards her real family with a quick pace looking back at me for a moment as she waved me goodbye as i returned the wave evenly with a smile on my face.

After the dark elfs were no longer visible gone to their own village me and hobusaku also started to return home,on the way hobusaku was a bit conflicted about herself as she asked me.

-lord sorron...shouldn't we let some of the slimes follow them ?

I glanced at her slighty because of the question a bit disappointed but understanding as hobusaku probably felt uncomfortable to be meeting someone like this without doing anything even at home no one really talked to calar,not because they couldn't understand her ,but because the others didn't trust her even thought she was child.

Yes,following them using the slimes was already considered by me,but the reason i didn't it was because...

-Trust has to be established by a clean path not a muddled one if i tail them with a slime and they somehow notice it then the trust i had built so far would shatter into nothingness.Being distrusting can be healthy in a lot of ways but too much of it can bring you into suffering.

Hobusaku nodded to my words not saying anything further as we walked down the path towards our home..i could feel that she was a bit down wronging herself for some reason...it made me feel bad for her so i gave her a small "reward" should i say...for being patient and understand of course...

We ended up staying the forest a bit longer then anticipated getting home with a really happy hobusaku and a slighly tired sorron.

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