245 Lustful Gazes (1/2)
Dales' group did not have to wait too long. 10 minutes have passed when a figure could be seen floating in the air above the wall and gazing down at them. It was General Marquis Hendrick.
After Hendrick had confirmed that it was indeed Dales, he was ready to order the soldiers to lower the rope ladders, but he immediately hesitated after sweeping his gaze across one of the envoys of the Elven Tribe, the Supreme Elder to be exact.
It was the second time he felt such a strong presence from the Wildlands that could make him feel apprehensive. Although the Supreme Elder was casually standing, Hendrick could feel that this person was even stronger than the Skysilver Tribe's beast king.
However, it was just a moment of indecisiveness before the general marquis made his decision. Such a strong person coming a representative to seek friendly relations with their kingdom should be received with care and sincerity, not to mention the wall would seem like a joke to such a strong person if they did come with ill intentions.
”Lower the rope ladders.”
”Yes, general.”
The rope ladders tossed over the wall shortly and Tom immediately started climbing excitedly. Dales also made his way forward not before giving the two envoys an embarrassed look.
”This is usually how we enter the Human Domain when we are not traveling by airships. Please don't be offended by our crude methods of entering, but the wall was built with the idea of keeping anything from the Wildlands entering in mind.”
”You don't have to worry about that.”
The Supreme Elder and Princess Faelyn looked at the rope ladder with interest, but the former had no intention of climbing, while the latter was prepared to give this new experience a go.
”Wait a moment, Princess.”
The Supreme Elder stopped the Princess from attempting to climb with her untrained limbs.
'Princess?'
The General Marquis gawked and also realized that the crude method was rather inappropriate envoys of royal descent. He had about received them personally with his ability.
After gaining insights into the concept of wind and breaking through to the one-star ranked awakener level, his following cultivation had been smooth and without bottlenecks, steadily advancing to five-stars.
His cultivation speed was not inferior to those training with the aid of Heavenly Crystal when he cultivates in the sky above the wall where the wind was strong.
Sending the group of four over the wall would just be as easy as lifting one's hand at his current level, but before he could act, he witnessed something magical with amazement.
The Supreme Elder took out some unknown seeds from his grass-woven pouch and infused them with a green glow before sprinkling them on the ground by his foot.
The Supreme Elder stepped on the new big leaf with the princess before the leaf platform lifted them up to the top.
After stepping off onto the wall, the bizarre tree shrank from the bottom up and reverted back into a seed that fell into the Supreme Elder's hand before being stored in his pouch again.
Everyone was amazed by the envoy's elven means as their gaze lingered on the pouch for a long time, but they soon had their breaths taken away by Princess Faelyn's otherworldly beauty.
”So beautiful…”
Cough*
The general coughed for them to snap out of there reverie as it was inappropriate to stare for so long.
Meanwhile, at the bottom of the wall, Tom lost his excitement in climbing. He suddenly found rope ladder climbing to be tedious. Couldn't they have taken him up too?
Dales smiled wryly and continued to the climb.
After everyone reached the top, he was prepared to greet the general marquis when the latter gave him a big bear hug.
”It's good to know that you are still alive, Old Friend!”
Creak…
Dales could feel his bones protesting as he did his best to keep a straight smile, but his left eye twitched repeatedly while calmly forcing his words out.
”General, we can save the sentiments for later. The Envoys of Elvengarde are here.”
”Ahem, right.” Hendrick quickly recovered before turning to Supreme Elder with a smile and respectfully greeted, ”I am General Hendrick, the one in charge of defending this region. We welcome your visit to the Western Frontier of our Crawford Kingdom. How may I address the both of your esteemed selves?”
”My tribesmen call me Supreme Elder, but you may call me Elder Haldir, and this is the fifth princess of Elvengarde, Princess Faelyn. We are grateful for your welcoming.” The Supreme Elder said cordially.
Despite being the strongest present, he did not act overbearingly nor humbly. Without grasping the strength of the Human Domain, he did not want to cause unnecessary friction, but neither would he behave in a way that undermines his own status.
”It's our pleasure to make your acquaintance, Elder Haldir, Princess Faelyn.” Hendrick greeted. ”Before we continue, allow us to act as proper hosts and change the scenery to a more appropriate place for our talk, shall we?”
After exchanging short pleasantries, they moved to a more reserved spot where they could be seated and served tea.
The general marquis took the initiative to do a brief introduction to their background to avoid any future complications and misunderstanding.
The Crawford Kingdom was the guardian of the Human Domain, but they do not represent the entire Human Domain. Each kingdom was separated by a long distance that made it difficult to keep contact.
Ordinary people would take weeks to months to travel between kingdoms if they had no access to steam-powered transportations.