Chapter 512 - Why Won’t You Return to the Wind Forest?
As Anna feasted on her fried rice, Sally slowly made her way toward them to eavesdrop on their conversation. She had never come into contact with elves living outside of the Wind Forest, and was very curious about their lives. At the same time, she wanted to verify what Blour had told her the night before.
An interaction between the young master of a major elven family and two ordinary elves; I wonder how this will play out. Mag was also looking at the three elves with a hint of curiosity.
He had gathered a lot of information regarding the current state of the elven race, so he was quite familiar with their internal politics. He didn’t want to rate their policies, as he couldn’t change anything anyway. From what he had gathered, the elven race had indeed become more powerful and more united than the demons.
However, many issues also arose as a result. For example, one of them was related to the questions about freedom that Sally had posed earlier in the morning. That was most likely the main issue that had been brought about by the new changes.
“That’s right. We’ve traveled many places on the Norland Continent, and we plan on going to even more places.” A genuine smile appeared on Joshua’s weathered face.
“That must be very interesting.” Joshua’s smile seemed to be quite infectious, and even Blour found himself smiling along with him.
“We encounter all types of people and events during our travels. Not all of them are pleasant, but most of them are very interesting. Furthermore, there’s a sense of freedom that you would only get from traveling. Even if we’re just wandering aimlessly, it’s still a very enjoyable endeavor,” Joshua replied.
“Freedom, eh?” A thoughtful expression appeared on Blour’s face.
Even wandering aimlessly is more enjoyable than staying in the Wind Forest? Sally was also deep in thought. She had never thought that she would hear something like that from a wandering elf, and it was quite a jarring blow to her.
“Can you tell me about the interesting places that you’ve been to? Perhaps I’ll also go on a journey in the future, but I prefer to have a set destination.” Blour looked at Joshua with a smile.
“It’s good for young people to go out there and see the world.” Joshua’s smile widened upon hearing that. He paused momentarily to gather his thoughts before telling some stories about the places that he had traveled.
He had fished in the glacial rivers of the undulating Anglo Alps in the Northwestern region of the Roth Empire; he had surfed around the dragon island; he had hunted for wild game in the Twilight Forest… Joshua told one story after another, and his coarse yet steady voice drew in the listeners, making them feel as if they were reliving those events through him.
Not just Blour and Sally, but many of the nearby customers also began to listen to his stories.
It was in the nature of all living beings to want to live within their comfort zone. As such, very few people could discard their past life and go on a journey. It was exactly because of this that everyone wanted to live vicariously through Joshua’s stories.
So their journey is not filled with incessant peril and hardships; most of it consists of beautiful scenery and wonderful experiences. Sally was going through a bout of mental upheaval. The ideals that had been drilled into her mind were slowly crumbling, and she began to accept the fact that the teachers and adults in the Wind Forest had lied to her.
Blour’s eyes glowed brighter and brighter as he listened to Joshua’s stories, and he often enquired Joshua for additional details when he heard a story that particularly caught his fancy.
A little elf! Amy sat behind the counter with Ugly Duckling in her arms, and her eyes glowed as she looked at Anna. It was the first time that an elven child had visited their restaurant, and she was very excited. However, she then looked down at herself, and a hint of hesitation appeared on her face.
She wasn’t the same as her; that little girl was a true elf, while she was only a half-elf. All other elves had golden hair, and only hers was silver. The disparity in their appearance made her a little depressed.
I wonder what she’s thinking. Poor child… Mag had also noticed that Amy was being uncharacteristically quiet. Under normal circumstances, she would definitely be making conversation with another child of her age.
Despite Mag’s best efforts to shield her from the prejudices of this world, she had still been impacted by the discrimination against half-breed beings. Mag couldn’t think of any good way to resolve this issue in the short term, so he could only start by changing the minds of the restaurant’s customers.
Joshua was a wealth of experience and a naturally gifted storyteller. Listening to him talk struck everyone with a strong bout of wanderlust, and he soon drew the attention of everyone in the restaurant.
Sally’s conflicted expression had also been replaced with one of yearning. During her journey from the Wind Forest to Chaos City, she had been constantly worried about being discovered by her brethren, thereby preventing her from enjoying her travels. Thus, Joshua’s stories showed her another facet of the world.
He truly loves freedom and is living his happiest life. Sally looked at Joshua’s beaming face, and suddenly discovered that she couldn’t remember the last time she had seen such an elated smile in the Wind Forest. It seemed that no one smiled in the Wind Forest anymore, not even those who hailed from the wealthy and powerful major families. The elven servants were crippled by the weight of slavery and oppression, while those from the major families were burdened by the weight of their insatiable greed. As such, no one was truly happy.
Yabemiya only brought out Anna’s blueberry ice cream after she had finished the entire portion of Yangzhou fried rice. Anna held the ice cream carefully in her hands, and her little face was alight with elation. She looked at the two bluish violet balls of ice cream, and hesitated momentarily before taking her first lick.
A sweet and sour flavor melted on the tip of her tongue before spreading through her mouth. An expression of amazement appeared on Anna’s face. She had never tasted food like this before. Even though it looked like a snowball, it was completely different from the snowballs created by molding the snow that fell from the sky.
“It’s delicious!” Anna was overjoyed. Her attention was entirely focused on the ice cream, and the smile on her little face gradually became even wider and more vibrant.
What an adorable little girl. It must be very difficult taking care of her during your travels though, right? Blour thought to himself as he looked at Anna.
Even though it was the first time he had met Joshua and Amy, the two of them left him with a very good impression. Their stories also vindicated his words, and he turned to gauge Sally’s reaction.
Sally’s expression was rather conflicted. She could sense that Blour had turned to look at her, and she hesitated momentarily before asking, “Why won’t you return to the Wind Forest? There, you can receive protection and avoid the perils and hardships of traveling.”
“But braving the unknown is the most interesting element of a journey, is it not?” Joshua glanced at Sally before placing two gold coins onto the table. He then held onto Anna’s little hand, and said, “Let’s go. You can eat your ice cream as we walk.”