After being forced to step down, the once-annoying nun eloped with me.

Yang Hao, walking at the front, sighed, clutching the warmth in his hand. He spoke instinctively:

"If I could... I really wish we could live here from now on."

"That depends on whether the Elf Kingdom is willing to accept us... But I'm quite confident about that. More than that, I have a feeling the elves should be arriving soon."

Is it really that fast?

Yang Hao looked at his nun with considerable confusion, while the nun nodded seriously, indicating that this was no joke.

The elves have established a long-standing connection with the Elf Forest, so any outsider who enters the Elf Forest will attract the attention of the elves.

The difference is that humble and polite guests like Yang Hao and his companions will receive a warm welcome from the elves, while arrogant representatives like those from the Roman Empire diocese will only receive arrows from the elves.

Elves enjoy treating friends with courtesy and dealing with enemies with bows and arrows. It is said that their most powerful archers can deliver arrows to the enemy's brain from a kilometer away using their unique longbows, and such archers enjoy extremely high honor in elven society.

They are called "Masters". Since there are Masters of Archery to entertain the enemy, then naturally there should also be Masters of Diplomacy to greet friends... right?

Just as Yang Hao was thinking that no matter how fast they were, it shouldn't be that someone would come less than ten minutes after they entered the border, a cool breeze suddenly blew in front of them.

Before the Ling Clan chief could run up to Golem and prepare to be on guard, the little nun's gentle gesture dispelled his suspicions.

"Welcome, friends who have come from afar."

Even when speaking normally, he has to use his abdominal muscles to deliver a beautiful, singing voice to entertain friends from afar, both mentally and physically.

These tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed beings, whose pointed ears could not be fully expressed even with the word "perfect" once, were undoubtedly elves.

They carried ornate longbows, and the woman at the head of the group stood before Yang Hao with an attitude that was excessively humble for elves.

Under the astonished gazes of Yang Hao and Theresa, the elven woman lowered her head and knelt on the ground with the highest courtesy that elves typically only show to their king:

"Your Majesty, Regent of the Roman Empire... Our Finn earnestly requests that you stay temporarily at the Hanging Gardens. We will take care of all the supplies your army needs along the way, and we are willing to explain the purpose of this trip to you, but please believe that this is not coercion but a request. What do you say?"

It's hard to imagine that such a perfect and proud being would kneel before me and humbly beg me to go to their capital.

Yang Hao turned around, and after receiving approval and a "you decide" in Theresa's eyes, he straightened his clothes and helped the elven woman up from the ground.

"I am no longer the Regent of the Roman Empire. My identity on this journey is merely that of a refugee who hopes to seek refuge with my companions and my... wife. I will travel with you to the beautiful elven capital of Fingal for a temporary stay, but I hope you can give us some free time along the way to fulfill the promise we made to the Elven Forest."

To get along with elves, you must abide by their rules—and naturally, you cannot neglect the promises of the Elf Forest, nor can you break your own vows.

Faced with Yang Hao's sincere words, the elf who was helped up by him showed an extremely satisfied look in his eyes.

If the regent can become Fen's colleague, then the reforms in the Elven kingdom can be successfully achieved.

Chapter Six: The Kingdom of the Elves

As promised, the elves treated Yang Hao and his companions with the utmost courtesy during their journey to the Sky Garden. While adhering to elven rules, they were exceptionally humble, but in Yang Hao's opinion, they seemed overly obsequious in his presence.

Almost any request one makes—or even just the emotion expressed on their face—will receive an immediate response from the elves.

To use a rather strange analogy, these elves were like his grandmother, stuffing all the affection that didn't belong to Yang Hao into his arms.

What is going on here?

Together with Theresa and the others, they scattered nuts given by the Elf Forest on a vast plain in the Elf Forest, and then cut a vine to water them with the sweet sap that filled the vine.

Yang Hao and Theresa discussed the unusual behavior of the elves, while Joseph and Naruja, who had come over from a distance, said that the elves' target was almost certainly Yang Hao.

“Fen…I remember, in the Elven language, ‘Fen’ means knight, much like ‘king’ in the human world. In other words, the Elven king wants to meet you…right?” Theresa seemed a little uncertain as she gently scooped up a handful of nuts from the small pit, covering them with soil. She then glanced up at the elves guarding the area in the distance. “The Elven king wants to meet you? Yang Hao, tell me honestly, did you have an affair with the Elven king before? Otherwise, given the Elven way of life, why would they suddenly pay attention to a particular human?”

"I swear I've never even met the King of the Elves... If I had to pinpoint the only time we crossed paths, it would probably be when I was planning to go to the parish to discuss the border dispute with the Elven Kingdom."

"What does the Elf King want with you? And you have no authority to negotiate border issues between the two countries. That's strange..."

Yang Hao and Theresa remained silent. Just then, Naruja, who had already used Golem to dig small holes for planting nuts, thoughtfully remarked:

"Elves...are different from our Ling race, right? Our Ling race can...have children without men, it's just a very long process...but elves...for the time being, do they need men to reproduce? It's just...maybe...why is everyone looking at me like that??"

...Upon hearing Naruja's words, everyone, especially Theresa, began to see the purpose of the elves' arrival as something else entirely...

However, for the time being, no one believed that the Elf Queen was such a vulgar person. So after thinking it over, Theresa finally said, while suggesting that "perhaps the elves need Yang Hao to do something for them to be so enthusiastic," that it would be better to just listen to them in this situation.

...They embarked on their journey to the Hanging Gardens again, and after fulfilling their promise to the Elf Forest, the Elf Forest seemed to be paying more and more attention to Yang Hao and his group.

However, Yang Hao paid little attention to the flock of birds surrounding their group. He simply asked the elf who had led the way, who called herself Qinna, with some confusion, expressing his desire to know the current situation of the scholars he had sent to the Elf Forest.

“Mr. Arthur… Ah? He chose to reside permanently in the Elf Forest after you stepped down. He is now married with children and has moved from the Green Garden to the commercial district of the Hanging Gardens. He lives with his three children.”

"Already married? I see... But do elves not object to marriage with humans?"

"Yes. As long as they are willing to abide by our traditions and rules, whether they are barbarians or humans, we elves are willing to accept each other—it's just that the hard issue of lifespan still makes us more inclined to choose a partner with a similarly long lifespan."

Judging from Miss Qinna's description, elves do not seem to reject those who are willing to follow the rules, nor do they mind having relationships or even marriages with non-elf races. However, considering their long lifespans, they tend to choose partners with equally long lifespans.

Thinking about it this way, it's quite something to be happy that my scholar has actually won the favor of an elf.

Just... three children?

Yang Hao fell into deep thought.

It has probably been less than two years since he stepped down.

Three children in two years. Putting aside the extremely low probability of triplets... is the reproductive cycle of elves actually similar to that of humans, around 9 or 10 months?

Thinking about it this way, elves are actually a race capable of rapidly producing large populations, right? Why have previous intelligence reports suggested that the elven population is a problem? Is it because their method of population assessment is different?

So, only pure-blooded elves are counted in the elf population, while non-pure-blooded elves are counted separately, etc.?

Yang Hao's confusion was obvious, but Qin Na seemed to have misunderstood his confusion and hurriedly explained:

"But that's not absolute... After all, we elves do possess spells that can extend lifespan, so if we feel it's really suitable, elves will cast life-extending spells on partners with shorter lifespans to ensure they can be together for a longer time—"

"...Well? I don't think my man is struggling with this issue. So, Miss Qinna, could you please refrain from explaining further for now?"

Theresa, whose face looked somewhat gloomy, stepped forward with a dry laugh and interrupted Chinna's explanation.

To be honest, it's hard not to misunderstand Qinna's explanation. This makes Theresa somewhat worried that what Naruja had said earlier might become a reality.

Yang Hao gently held Teresa's left hand to comfort her and put her at ease, but his confusion only deepened.

After all, if elves have magic to prolong their lives, then the legendary magic of limb regeneration must be an extremely easy one, right?

"Miss Qinna, I've always been curious whether the Elf Kingdom's [Limb Regeneration] technique works on magical organs?"

He asked the question, after all, the antlers on the heads of the Ling people were not ordinary organs, but [magical organs].

To put it simply, ordinary human organs are like roadside weeds, while magical organs are like ancient trees that take hundreds of years to grow. Ordinary elves might be able to easily make weeds regrow, but when faced with an ancient tree, they would probably have to put in a lot of effort or be completely powerless.

So what kind of answer will the elf give? Will it be "extremely easy," "it will take some effort," or even "it's completely impossible"?

The former might mean that Yang Hao and his companions could easily find any job in the Elf Kingdom to help the wounded members of the Ling tribe regain their antlers and reconnect them spiritually with their people. The latter, however, might be more complicated, requiring Yang Hao to find a higher-paying job and potentially incurring the elves' favor.

As for the last one... perhaps Yang Hao could only get her help by directly offering his buttocks to the Elf Queen, if the Elf really wanted his buttocks, and if he really agreed.

Yang Hao just stared at Qinna, and after a moment of contemplation, the tall, blonde-haired, blue-eyed elf turned around and looked at the Ling tribesman sitting on a golem behind the group.

She carefully observed the antlers of the Ling clan chief, staring at their shimmering light for a long time before giving her answer:

"It's rather troublesome. However, it's not unmanageable—but let's be frank, although we can regenerate magical organs, no matter what, these [healing] regenerated magical organs are definitely not as good as the original ones that you were born with."

“I understand. Just like a prosthetic limb can’t compare to the arm you’re born with, it’s better to have one than not to have one.”

"If you can understand, that would be a huge help."

A major issue has been resolved.

The Ling tribespeople breathed a sigh of relief, and Joseph's family was happy that the wounded would be healed. Yang Hao and Theresa, however, felt even more nervous.

To be honest, the elves' overly attentive manner was definitely not without ulterior motives. If Yang Hao and Theresa initially thought the elves simply wanted to "meet once," their level of worry had now risen to the point where the elves were probably planning to lock Yang Hao up in the capital's dungeon and do whatever they wanted with him.

Although the words were a bit exaggerated, it's understandable that they had such wild thoughts—but in the end they relaxed.

After all, I've already decided to settle down in the Elf Kingdom, so if I could have a relaxed job, that would be perfect.

......

With this in mind, on May 3rd, they traversed the sparse elven villages and towns, finally arriving at the elven capital, the Hanging Gardens of Fingel.

This is a city where the clouds seem to be its foothold; simply looking up at it from below is enough to make one feel breathless under the oppressive shadow of its massive, ancient walls. Even the most demanding artists would instinctively gasp in awe when faced with this city, let alone the Ling people and humans who have never seen anything like it.

"It is a magnificent city... Although I had some understanding of it from the letter, I could only feel my own insignificance when I actually saw it in person."

Yang Hao exclaimed in admiration. The thought of temporarily residing in this magnificent city instantly dispelled the pent-up frustration he had felt due to the Roman Empire.

He looked around at the strange features surrounding the city.

The ancient, hundred-meter-tall giant trees surrounding the city act like silent guardians of this aerial city, encircling the suburbs where the elves' unique little wooden houses are surrounded by golden wheat fields.

It's only the beginning of summer, so how come the wheat is already ripe here in the elves' region?

Yang Hao's eyes widened, while Qinna, who was leading the way, proudly stated that this was the result of the harmonious coexistence between the elves and the forest.

The elves offered protection and fertility to the Elf Forest, and the Elf Forest naturally rewarded every life willing to give to it. These golden wheat are a testament to that.

They can only grow in the Elf Forest, but their products are undoubtedly of the highest quality and have the highest yield. They can ripen in all four seasons of the year and have been cultivated by elves for thousands of years. They are the perfect creations.

"If the Roman Empire knew that the elves possessed such a treasure, they'd probably immediately conscript soldiers and launch a war," Theresa muttered softly. "And this city is truly amazing... By the way, is that waterfall cascading down from the sky for real?"

The Hanging Gardens of Fingel features a waterfall cascading hundreds of meters down its massive walls, carving a lake in a distant depression and creating a winding stream that flows through suburban wheat fields to a distant river.

Is this for real? That's a city hundreds of meters high! There are no mountains or places with permanent rainfall... Where does this waterfall come from?

The purple-clad princess was genuinely astonished, while Qinna gave the little nun a meaningful look and chuckled softly:

"This is a gift from the ancient human empire of Bayern to the elves—through a portal leading to the lake atop the Sorrowful Mountains, now the northern route for the barbarians, this aerial river, imbued with the brotherly bond between the two nations, was thus established..."

We call that door the "Gate of Water," that river the "River of Friendship," and the waterfall the "River Curtain of Friendship."

They symbolize the brotherhood between the Elves and the Bayerzans, and even now, with the Bayerzans empire sinking into the earth and disappearing without a trace, the Elves remember them.

"Oh..."

"However, for modern humans, it is a long-forgotten secret. For some ancient and noble bloodlines that have a lineage but are almost extinct, it has long become a legend—but the elves say it is true. Please follow me. Although no special permission is required to enter the city, you are honored guests, and the elves will treat you with the highest courtesy."

After saying that, Qinna turned around and continued to lead the way.

However, Theresa clearly saw that she was lip-reading something.

The last, revered princess in purple—I never imagined the elves would still remember her?

This made the little nun quite emotional: she had originally thought that her homeland had completely disappeared and would no longer be remembered by anyone.

I can't believe someone still remembers...

The nun took Yang Hao's arm and then secretly made a face at the elf's back: "But you think you can make me lower my guard and give up my man like this?"