Full-Time Psychic Martial Artist

Uh.

Lorne was speechless.

He had just awakened his inner strength to resist the invasion, and those words came out naturally.

Only when he was questioned by so many female elves did he suddenly realize that his bloodline was not that of the elves.

Oops, let's start over?

This isn't a game, so you can't use save/load techniques.

"What I mean is..." Lorne started sweating profusely. *Stop thinking, you idiot*

"What is it?" the female elf urged.

"It's an escort!" Lorne finally found his lifeline and declared righteously:

"If this is truly an invasion, then the orc scouts must have already infiltrated most of the northern forest. These scouts are most likely professionals. Only by sending out the elite of the elite can we safely escort the elderly and children to the rear."

Upon hearing this, the ladies' expressions softened instantly. They nodded in satisfaction and gave Lorne appreciative smiles.

Lorne tried his best to return the most sincere smile, his shirt back already soaked with sweat.

At this moment, a male elf expressed his concerns:

"But we only have 20 people in total, and we have to split into two groups. Isn't that too dangerous?"

"Moreover," another male elf said, "if the orcs really have invaded, Northwood Fortress couldn't possibly be unaware of it."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Lorne nodded. "Yes, normally things should develop that way. But—" he changed the subject, "no matter what, we should always assess the situation and make decisions based on the worst-case scenario. Only in this way can we avoid the worst outcome."

"That's right." The village chief, who had remained silent until now, was the first to agree.

With his approval, the other elves had no more doubts.

The village chief then asked, "So how should I divide these two routes?"

Lorne immediately gave the answer he had already thought of: "I'll go and inform the other villages, and everyone else will go to Northwood Fortress to deliver messages."

Upon hearing this, all the elves were stunned, except for the village chief who nodded slightly.

"Shouldn't we send one person to the fortress to deliver a message, and the rest go to unite with other villages?" A male elf voiced his question directly.

Lorne explained, "I can move quickly and stealthily on my own, so if I encounter an orc army, I can easily escape. I can also pick some wild fruit along the way to fill my stomach, which will save me a lot of time."

"But if it were the other way around, with one person delivering the message and the others contacting the village, we would have almost no weapons or equipment, be a large target, and have a hard time escaping if we encountered orc troops along the way."

"Even if we are extremely lucky and manage to contact other villages without encountering any orc troops, we will not be able to form an effective fighting force, and will instead waste a lot of food and supplies."

"So you have to go to Beilin Fortress to deliver the message, obtain sufficient weapons and supplies, and then come back to support us."

All the elves nodded in understanding, and no one raised any further questions or objections.

"Child, keep this safe." The village chief took a leaf from his pocket.

Although it looks like just an ordinary leaf, it is actually a magical item and also a token of the village chief. Every village chief in the Northern Forest has one of these leaves.

Lorne accepted the item with understanding and put it into his storage space. Then he said to everyone, "Let's set off now and try to travel as far as possible while it's still dark."

"May the goddess bless the elves." The village chief knelt down and led the prayer.

"May the goddess bless the elves." The other elves also knelt down and prayed.

Only Lorne knelt on one knee, symbolically giving the goddess face.

【你完成了战役事件[量敌从宽]，获得20×10经验（200/1000），[欺瞒]+1。】

fool?

Lorne frowned slightly, carefully recalling the conversation, and finally rolled his eyes speechlessly.

…………

When Lorne saw Xiye Village, the moon had already set behind the treetops.

The good news is that Xiye Village has not yet been attacked by orcs.

The bad news is that many of the lights in the houses are off, and most of the elves are asleep.

"Halt! Who goes there?" The sentry elf saw Lorne emerge from the forest from afar and immediately drew his bow and aimed.

Lorne stopped, raised his hands above his head, and took out the leaves given to him by the village chief from his storage space.

The leaves began to glow in the moonlight, growing brighter and brighter until the other person could clearly see Lorne's appearance.

"Come here," the elf said, putting down his bow and arrow, his voice becoming friendly.

Lorne jogged up to the elf and said, "Both Luoye Village and Xiaye Village have been attacked by orcs."

The elven archer looked startled and immediately pointed to a house, saying, "Go find the village chief, I'll go wake up the others."

By the time Lorne had briefly explained the situation to the village chief Sid, all the elves in the village had been awakened.

Except for the elderly and children who were completely unable to fight, everyone else was fully armed and gathered outside the village chief's house, waiting for orders.

Village Chief Sid and Lorne walked out of the house one after the other.

Sid raised the orcish heavy axe that Lorne had brought high with both hands, demonstrating it to the crowd. Then, he put one hand on Lorne's shoulder and addressed the crowd:

"This is Lorne from Luoye Village. He risked his life to bring news of the orc invasion. There are many orcs, and quite a few professionals as well. Luoye Village and Xiaye Village have already fallen."

The elves' expressions were more serious than before, but no one whispered among themselves; instead, they waited earnestly for the village chief to speak.

"Lorne suggested that we split into two groups. One group should escort the elderly and children to Northwood Fortress, while the other group should split up and inform every village of the orc invasion as soon as possible, so that those villages can evacuate the elderly and children as quickly as we can and prepare for battle."

Dewleaf Village is farther from the snow-capped mountains but closer to the North Forest Fortress than Heather Village. Since Heather Village wasn't attacked by orcs, it's highly likely that Dewleaf Village wasn't attacked either.

"What should we bring?" a female elf asked.

The other elves all pricked up their ears to listen.

The village chief looked at Lorne, indicating that he would answer the question himself.

"Livestock, food, medicine, weapons—anything that can provide the orcs with fighting power. Bring everything you can't carry to the plaza and burn it all," Lorne said resolutely.

The elves' eyes showed reluctance, but no one voiced any objection. Burning it was better than leaving it for the orcs.

"Hurry up, we'll depart at the first light of dawn. Now, dismissed!"

At the village chief's command, the gathered crowd quickly dispersed and returned to their homes in preparation for evacuation.

……

As the first rays of dawn appeared on the snow-capped peaks of the East, the spirits were already fully prepared to set off.

They carried large and small bags, led sheep and poultry, and piled up everything that they couldn't take with them, which they thought might be useful, in the square in the center of the village.

"Little Lorne, I'm leaving this place to you. May the goddess bless the elves." Village Chief Sid clasped his hands together and gently touched his chest.

"May the goddess bless the elves," Lorne returned the greeting.

The other elves all smiled and nodded at Lorne, casting kind glances their way. They were in a hurry to reach Dewleaf Village and didn't have time to bless Lorne one by one, nor did they have any extra gifts.

"Let's go!" Sid gave the order, and the team started moving.

Lorne watched their figures disappear into the forest, then quickly walked to the center of the village, inspecting the debris that was about to be burned, trying to find something he could use and storing it in his storage space.

When this pile of things starts to burn, it will produce a lot of thick smoke. On this windless morning, the smoke will rise very high, visible to the elves of Northwood Fortress and the orcs in the forest.

So Lorne will wait until Sid and the others have gone further before lighting these things.

About fifteen minutes later, Lorne began to light the pile of things. When they were all ablaze, the system prompted again.

You have completed the campaign event [Beacon Fire], gaining 20 x 10 experience points. (400/1000)