Shut up, brave man! I don't want to atone for my sins to you!

The hero seemed to have guessed what the witch was thinking.

So he took two steps forward and came to Lacie's side, cooperating with her to act like a good partner who would advance and retreat together.

But what Charles didn't expect was that as soon as he approached Lacie, Lacie suddenly came towards him and put her arm around his arm.

Through the thin clothes, he felt the softness and warmth of the girl's body.

Then he quickly stiffened and tried to pull his arm out of Rachel's arms.

But before Charles could take any action, Lacele threatened him in a small voice that only the two of them could hear:

"I suggest you be obedient and act with me, otherwise if Fuwenna suspects us, the consequences will be disastrous."

Her tone was serious and formal, and it sounded like the truth.

But in fact she was laughing wildly in her heart.

After she put her arm around Charles's arm, his whole body became as stiff as wood. Not only that, his brain seemed to be overloaded. He didn't know where to look with his eyes, and he didn't know where to put his hands. After she pulled Charles forward two steps, she found that Charles couldn't walk properly and even started to turn the wrong way.

Hehehe, she thought, this is the innocent little virgin who has never held hands with a girl.

so fun!

So the evil-minded witch dragged the innocent hero who had difficulty walking, and under the guidance of the archon lady who was difficult to distinguish between the real and fake, they began their tour of Lentiheim.

……

Of course, Rachel had never intended to actually visit Lentiheim.

So before she had walked far, she began to test the Archon who was leading the way for them:

"Sister Fuwenna, I heard from the outside world that you elves are all born from the same mother... I think it's the Elf Mother Tree. That group of bards said that you elves were all bred from the Elf Mother Tree. Is this true?"

She asked while observing Fuwenna's expression.

Fuwenna seemed to find it a little funny when she heard this, so she replied in a teasing tone:

"Although we elves are somewhat different from humans, we are not fruits from trees. How can we be born from a tree?"

At this point, she glanced at Charles's arm in Rachel's arms and added meaningfully:

"The birth of elves is actually the same as that of you humans... Oh, of course, witches can no longer be considered humans in the strict sense, but there shouldn't be a big difference. Anyway, the way you two give birth to the next generation is how we elves give birth to the next generation."

Lacele was already an experienced driver, and when she saw Fuvenna wobbling in the stroller to show off to her, she felt nothing and even wanted to laugh.

But in order to deceive Fuwenna, she had to pretend to be overwhelmed with shyness and act stupid:

"What nonsense is Sister Fuwenna talking about... I don't understand..."

Then, she took the opportunity to change the subject:

"So what those bards said was really false? So you elves weren't born from a mother tree?"

Fuwenna stopped teasing Lacier and smiled and nodded:

"That's right. Probably because we elves almost never communicate with the outside world, there are always all kinds of strange legends about us circulating in the outside world."

"for example?"

"For example, the most famous and widely circulated saying..." Fuwenna winked at Laciel playfully, "We elves have an elegant and beautiful, powerful and charming queen."

After saying that, she shrugged slightly:

"But what those bards in the outside world don't know is that we elves don't have a so-called queen."

Upon hearing this, Lacier smiled, tilted her head, and said:

"I don't think so, Sister Fuwenna. I think I know why they think you elves have a queen."

"Hmm?" Fuwenna couldn't help but wonder, "Why?"

"Because perhaps there are a few lucky people who have entered Lentiheim, and then they saw you - you are the governor of Lentiheim, in a sense, you can probably be regarded as the queen of Lentiheim, right?"

Fuwenna was a little surprised, but soon, she nodded thoughtfully:

"That makes sense. Maybe a human accidentally entered Lentiheim and mistook me for the queen. Other legends about us elves may have been spread through similar misunderstandings, right?"

But Lacie smiled but said nothing.

She wondered if it was really just a misunderstanding?

Although the Elf Queen was a misunderstanding, this misunderstanding did have a prototype, but what about the so-called Elf Mother Tree? Could it be that it has no prototype and is just groundless?

This is impossible.

Because she and Ciel had both witnessed the prototype of the misunderstanding of the Elf Mother Tree -

The breeding room where all the elves of Lentiheim were born, which the Archon Lady had shown them.

Now they were not far from the breeding room. As long as they walked a little further and raised their heads, they could see...

"Eh?"

Lacey was stunned.

She let go of Charles' arm, stopped, and stood there, staring blankly at the place where the huge breeding room used to stand.

Missed.

The breeding room that looked like a giant beast sleeping in the thick fog and covered with dense vines disappeared out of thin air.

Instead, there are a few scattered buildings and a slightly low circle of walls around the buildings.

"...Where is this place?" she murmured, her voice hazy, like a dream talk.

Fuvenna didn't notice anything unusual about Rachel. She just introduced Rachel and Charles like a responsible tour guide:

"This is our nursery. After a newborn is born, it will be sent here to receive unified training and education."

"…What about the breeding room?"

"Breeding room?" Fuwenna was a little confused. "What breeding room?"

Her expression was natural, without any disguise at all, as if...

It was as if the breeding room had never existed in Lentiheim.

[To be continued]

-

10. Next Generation

Lacele unconsciously hugged Charles' arm tightly.

What is going on here?

The huge breeding room that originally stood here disappeared out of thin air, and in its place was a facility that Fuwenna called a nursery.

But...it was only less than half a day since they last set foot in the breeding room.

In this short half day, before the thick fog dissipated, the city-state seemed to have undergone many unknown changes, such as Fuwenna's memories of them, the disappearance of the breeding room and the appearance of the nursery.

But why?

Why did this change happen inexplicably?

Rachel firmly believed that there must be a reason behind this.

Changes themselves do not exist in isolation, and the same is true for the anomalies in the city of Lentiheim, whether it is the mad matron, the thick fog, or Fuwenna's disordered memory and the disappeared breeding room.

She even had a strange feeling -

She vaguely felt that all the anomalies were beads connected on the same line, either directly or indirectly, and they were all extended from the same main cause. As long as she could find a way to find that main cause, the truth would come to light.

And the problem arises:

What is the main reason that caused all the abnormalities?

Lacey couldn't find any clue for the time being.

But there is no need to rush.

If you act too hastily, you might end up exposing yourself.

She couldn't be sure whether the Archon in front of her was the real Fuwenna or some "thing" covered in Fuwenna's leather suit.

So naturally, "Fuwenna" didn't believe her, and she couldn't be so foolish as to believe "Fuwenna".

All I can do is take it one step at a time.

she thinks.

But she suddenly had a brilliant idea:

Otherwise, just call Lao Deng over.

Only a fool would fight alone. It is dangerous and thankless. If you can get more people, you should do it. It would be best if Lao Deng could move half of the White Tower over here. All the fear comes from insufficient firepower. As long as you have the firepower to wipe out the entire Lentiheim, what do those anomalies matter?

Humph, I will make sure they never come back!

Just as Lacie was fantasizing about this, Charles' voice suddenly rang out:

"We heard from the bards outside that elves are born in a facility called a breeding room... Now it seems that this is probably a strange misunderstanding, just like the legend of the Elf Queen."

He covered up the lie for Lacille.

Laceel looked at Charles with some surprise.

Charles was almost a head taller than her, and since she was holding Charles' arm, she could only see his profile when she raised her head.

Surprisingly, the hero's profile looked quite reliable.

His expression was calm, and his dark eyes were deep and far-reaching. Perhaps it was because of the faint stubble on his lips, but now Charles was no longer as immature as before, and looked much more mature.

Changes in appearance cannot prove a person's maturity, but changes in words and deeds can.

The old Charles probably wouldn't have said something like this... It seems that the death of a loved one is indeed the best nourishment to mature a man.

After Lacier sighed like this, she quickly put on a sincere expression to match Ciel:

"That's right. I really thought there was a breeding room here, but I didn't expect it to be fake just like the legend of the Elf Queen... Those bards are so abominable!"

The two of them work very well together and their acting skills are both good.

Although most of the acting was contributed by Lacelle, and Charles only needed to pretend to be expressionless and assist Lacelle from time to time, but no matter what, the two of them seemed to have successfully deceived Fuvenna.

Fuwenna did not doubt their statements and even nodded in agreement:

"According to what you said, those bards outside are really abominable and full of lies. They even portrayed us elves like this..."

She said, shaking her head:

"But there's nothing we can do about it. Who makes us in Lentiheim rarely communicate with the outside world?"

Lacey's eyes lit up when she heard that.

She thought to herself, okay, okay, this is a topic you brought up yourself!

The witch quickly put on a curious look and asked:

"Speaking of which, Sister Fuwenna, why are you elves unwilling to communicate with the outside world? Is there any reason that is inconvenient to disclose?"

But what she didn't expect was that after hearing this question, Fuwenna's expression became confused.

After a brief silence, the lady consul shook her head and said blankly:

"This...I don't know either."

"?"

Lacier noticed something was obviously wrong, so she narrowed her eyes and asked:

"You don't know? But how could that be? You are the governor of Lentiheim. Others may not know why, but you should know!"

"..."

Fuwenna fell into a long silence.

A strange expression covered her face, like fog. She lowered her head in confusion and muttered to herself: