The Hero in Exile

"Moran..."

She stretched out in bed and got up, calling his name vaguely but not seeing him.

"Aren't you back yet?"

Looking at the sky outside, it was already dusk. I had forgotten when I fell asleep and I had no idea how long I slept.

My head was still fuzzy when I just woke up, and it was a little painful, probably because I slept for too long.

Lingyu touched his head and saw a bowl of chicken soup on the table.

There is also a small magic cover on the chicken soup to keep the temperature well.

The magic shield disappeared with just a slight wave, and there was a small note under the bowl.

"Drink the chicken soup when you wake up. Not eating for too long is not good for your body. I will be back later, so don't go out to find me. Just have a good rest."

In fact, with their strength, it’s okay not to eat for a few days.

I can rely on energy to resist hunger, but I still feel warm and happy in my heart when I see this little note.

I picked up the spoon and drank it mouthful by mouthful. I have to say it tastes really good.

Squeak—

The wooden door opened and Moran walked in carrying something.

"Lingyu, you're awake. How does the chicken soup taste?"

"Not bad, but I feel even hungrier after drinking."

"That's just in time. I brought you a little cake."

Moran raised the paper box in his hand, on which was the logo of some unknown cake shop.

Lingyu took it happily, opened the box and found the small cake was very delicately made and looked appetizing.

And it’s my favorite strawberry flavor.

I also thought of how Moran had taken care of me along the way.

"Thank you, Moran."

"What kind of relationship do we have that requires me to say thank you? You are my princess."

"How can I become your princess when we haven't even gotten married yet?"

"So you want to marry me?"

Moran sat aside with a smile, watching the girl's face turn slightly red as she ate the cake in small bites.

"You... ahem, stop talking about this and tell me what you have been looking for since you were away for so long."

Lingyu changed the subject abruptly.

Moran laughed even harder, but still listened to Lingyu and told him what he had heard from the village chief.

A few decades ago, there was indeed no village here, only a forest.

Until some dwarves came here and discovered that the trees here contained magic, they offered a high price to buy the wood.

Then a group of people came here to cut wood, and the elves found out and drove them away.

The lumberjacks pooled their money together to hire adventurers to drive the elves back to the protection of the World Tree.

Because there are so many trees, some people started building houses here and settled down here and never left.

Now all the surrounding trees have been cut down, and those trees with magic are in the elves' territory.

No one dares to go there anymore, and everyone has started to make a living in other ways.

But the elves still bear grudges about what happened decades ago. They will attack passing caravans. For safety reasons, many merchants hire adventurers to escort their caravans.

But we won’t actively attack the elves, so as not to intensify the conflict and just drive them away.

The village chief now wants to make peace with the elves, but he has no chance.

"Now you should rest well and you can go early tomorrow morning."

"Well, I hope those elves can be more friendly. I can't help but want to show my power to those guys in the church."

……

"I heard that people who are not qualified to enter the Elf Forest will get lost when they enter the forest, but will come out confused after a while."

"This sounds like a barrier anyway."

"Indeed, only the World Tree can maintain such a large barrier."

The carriage drove deeper into the city, but there was no sign of getting lost.

"Is this the barrier?"

Maybe it was because of the necklace that the barrier became visible.

Moran took out the necklace.

A faint light emanated from the necklace, and the carriage entered the barrier intact.

"Is this the Elf Forest? It looks no different from the outside."

"After all, this is just a forest. What's the difference?"

The carriage was difficult to drive in the jungle, and Moran had to use magic to clear the way from time to time.

"somebody is coming."

"It should be an elf."

Moran nodded.

Just as he finished speaking, an arrow shot out from the bushes. Moran tilted his head, and the arrow pierced through the place where Moran's head had just been and embedded itself into the carriage.

"Who are you, the intruders?"