Chapter 551: City of High Elves (1/2)
After spending a humble night with the wood elves, Zero and Truen started making plans in the morning while they helped to hunt for food. The wood elves were overjoyed with the haul of the morning hunt. Everyone became busy with cleaning the meat and Zero let them be. In fact, he decided to pass Torran some seeds so that the elves could learn to farm for their own harvest instead of relying on the forest and risking capture.
The plan was to enter the Great City of Altear and take a look around. Zero didn't want to meet King Sharo just yet. They travelled a little too quickly from Smargdas and if King Brice knew just how quickly they'd arrived, he would probably think that Zero was very capable and would most likely try to ask for one more favour.
Truen didn't know if it would be alright to leave it to Zero to get them the passes. Zero was powerful and wiser now but his guardian still couldn't help but be concerned.
”How about I follow you using stealth magic?” the archer asked. ”You don't really know what's going to happen in Altear. It's not as if you're dealing with monsters, you're here on diplomatic issues.”
Zero nodded. ”Exactly. That's why I can do this alone. I'll be back within the day with the pass. You should stay here to scout the map a little more with your spells. My mini-map doesn't update very well with the influence of a world tree near-by. Don't go too close to the Weeping Willow, I just want to know how guarded the area would be if we had to break in.”
When Zero made up his mind, it was difficult for Truen to change it. With a reluctant sigh, Truen agreed to the plan. Bob was going to go with Zero so there shouldn't be any real issues.
Torran was busy setting up a secure water supply for the new farms when Truen and Zero sought him out to inform him about their decisions.
”In that case, I can accompany you,” he told Truen. ”I know the layout of Altear fairly well. You might want to avoid the traps set by the high elves before you get there. The Weeping Willow is something I've not seen but I heard about the powerful security around it. We might not be able to break through the final magic barrier created by Spriggan Alex but we can definitely get close enough and bypass the elven guards and archer watchtowers with my help.”
Zero thought that it was a good idea and Truen agreed. Having a local guide would save them a lot of time.
It was slightly before noon when they set off to finish their own tasks. Bob transformed into a human to accompany Zero on his stroll.
”Master, do you think we can buy two passes right off the bat if I accompany you as a human?”
Zero looked at Bob. ”Possibly but we don't know for sure. Truen would be very surprised to find out if we managed to secure both passes in one try. I want to take a look around town to see the elven women.”
The Eternal Dragon blinked. ”Women?”
Zero nodded and Bob felt slightly uneasy. There was a conflicting feeling. His master was growing up too quickly and while it was a good thing Zero was taking interest in procreation, he didn't know why Zero wanted to look at women when he had a killer body that most men would die for.