Chapter 621 - Extortion (1/2)
Of course, Lin Li did not intend to criticize their att.i.tude. However, he definitely wouldn’t fall for their tricks, either. Hence, he did not welcome the elven elder before his tent, and even remained still after the latter entered.
Chief Elder Randy was still waiting for Lin Li to question him. Yet, to his surprise, Lin Li remained silent for a long time. Chief Elder Randy had never been treated that way before. However, the thought of the purpose behind his visit made him suppress his displeasure and put on a smile. “Mage Felic, have you got used to staying here in the past few days?”
d.a.m.n it, don’t they have anything fresh to say to me? Those two elves who came yesterday said the same thing. As their eight elder, you should have a higher standard than them, Lin Li thought. Although he was polite to the two previous elves, he treated the eighth elder with a harsher att.i.tude. He coldly said, “Thanks to your subordinates, I’ve been well in the last few days.”
Chief Elder Randy obviously knew what had been happening in the campground for the past few days. However, back then, he had had no idea how important Lin Li was. He definitely could not bring himself to apologize; the best he could do was to feign ignorance and push all the blame to his subordinates for acting presumptuously.
Lin Li did not harp on the matter, and remained cold and aloof instead. When he spoke, he made sure that his sentences were all seamless, not giving the elder a chance to speak at all. Besides, he could also tell that Princess Elune could very likely be the one of the highest status amongst them because when the three elves spoke to him separately, they all tried to make her the topic of discussion.
Lin Li knew that unlike human princesses, Princess Elune was indispensable to them, and that she held a great significance because it was said that she was the only successor of the elven queen. Besides, she was the one and only princess. Hence, if she were to die there, the eighth elder would definitely be held responsible.
Since Lin Li did not know her at all, he felt that there would be no need to care about her well-being. He did not take pity on her, either. That was just how he was like. If the ones who got poisoned were people he knew, he would definitely try to rescue them, even if they were ordinary villagers. However, not only did Lin Li have no relation to the elven princess, he also disliked the elder in front of him. How could he possibly offer him help?
Chief Elder Randy still refused to swallow his pride for the rest of the conversation, and instead tried to use the conversation to broach the topic of his main agenda. He was planning to get Lin Li to ask about Princess Elune, after which he would tell Lin Li that Princess Elune had been poisoned and that she needed an antidote. He was just trying to make it seem like he was giving Lin Li a chance to get closer to the elves because he felt that all humans in Anril definitely wanted to get in their good books.
Actually, Borg and Cheyenne would definitely react agitatedly and enthusiastically to Chief Elder Randy’s words. After all, they both valued the so-called friends.h.i.+p with the elves. Obtaining the said friends.h.i.+p would make it easier for their trip this time, and they would also gain greater benefits in the future.
However, their friends.h.i.+p was of no use to Lin Li at all. Whenever the elder asked him some questions and tried to broach the main topic, Lin Li would reply coldly and change the subject.
Chief Elder Randy had encountered all kinds of discussions and negotiations with sharp-tongued people in the Emerald Council before, but he seemed to be helpless now that he was faced with the human mage Lin Li.
Before he knew it, time pa.s.sed slowly, but there seemed to be no progress in getting to the main issue proper. Chief Elder Randy was getting more and more anxious about the oblivious Lin Li, whom he wished he could bury there and then.
Thinking about Princess Elune’s condition, Chief Elder Randy decided that he couldn’t wait any longer. Hence, he made his tone even mellower, and even sounded a little polite and respectful. “Mage Felic, yesterday, the sacred beast of our elven race returned to the camp poisoned, and after we brought it back, we observed it and realized that the toxins in it gradually dissipated. I heard that you have fed it something. Has it perhaps been an antidote to detoxify the toxin?”
Lin Li did not avoid the question, and instead nodded calmly before coldly saying, “That’s right. I happened to see the poisoned Moonsaber Panther when I was trying to put my potion to test. Hence, I decided to use it on the Moonsaber Panther that was poisoned with viper’s poison when I saw it.”
“Viper’s poison!” Chief Elder Randy’s heart wrenched up—he finally heard the name of the poison. Although he had never seen nor experienced the effects of the poison before, he did hear some legendary tales about it. It was said that when the High Elves had just begun ruling Anril, the remaining magical beasts on the mainland, which were poisonous snakes, released a terrible poison which brought great damage to the High Elves.
Is it really that poison, or is this human mage just spouting nonsense? Chief Elder Randy wondered. However, after giving it some thought, he realized that the type of poison didn’t matter. Since his Natural Rejuvenation technique did not work at all, it should be a rare poison. Yet, Lin Li could provide an antidote for it. Hence, it did not matter if it were the viper’s or not, because the most important thing to do now was to convince Lin Li to help.
Frankly speaking, Chief Elder Randy was old in his years, and he could be considered to have experienced plenty of things… except begging someone for help. But so what if he had not done it before? After thinking about the gravity of the matter, Chief Elder Randy decided that his only choice was to swallow his pride.
“Mage Felic, so you actually have an antidote for the most difficult poison to deal with, the viper’s poison. Seems like you have extraordinary knowledge and accomplishments in magic,” said Chief Elder Randy, who had an unnatural expression on his face even though he was giving Lin Li a compliment. Well, he had gotten used to receiving compliments, and had rarely ever given them.
No one had ever had the honor to be complimented by the eighth elder of the elves, yet Lin Li was unfazed, and instead stared at Chief Elder Randy without saying a single word.