"Hahahaha!"

The joyful laughter rang through the air as Willow ran around the quiet village, much to the amusement of the onlooking elven adults.

The happiness, down in the village contrasted with the tense setting higher up, in a room overlooking the guild hall, the guildmaster Tiel sat down reluctantly to talk with Lenore and Sevante, with Lenore fiercely staring at Tiel.

Ahem.

"It's my pleasure to welcome a high elf to Snowsberry village as the guildmaster of this hall here.I hope your stay here is peaceful and quiet." Tiel forces through a smile.

Sevante smiled as he returned the greetings. "Indeed, I hope our stay is quiet as well. Hopefully it should be a few days at most, before we're ready to move to the next station."

Tiel smiled halfheartedly, thinking this was not what they were really thinking, or they wouldn't feel a need to make a rest stop specifically at this village.

Lenore snorted, seemingly verifying Leon's thoughts.

"You are the A class adventurer Tiel correct?" she stated bluntly, earning her a sigh.

"Yes, that would be me. I thought everyone had forgotten me by now. " He said dryly, earning himself a grin from Lenore.

"Not quite. The elder of Oaksreach hasn't forgotten you."

He frowned. "The old goat hasn't died yet? How stubborn." He sighed. "So, what's the issue then. The fact that you mentioned the elder means that a problem's brewing."

Sevante nodded, politely coughing as he chose to move on from the elder. "There is someone chasing the child down."

Tiel frowned as he thought about it. "Probably one of the other families, maybe even one of the royal family members. A high elf young in age is a malleable tool that many would have in their hands. And if not theirs; in nobody's hands. The Pando network perhaps? The Redwoods have been a longtime enemy of the Oaksreach family."

As Tiel pondered, Lenore grunted. "Doesn't matter. Enemy approaches."

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"You shouldn't have brought them." he reproached.

Shrug. "Only way to get you to act, no?" The serious expression finally giving way to a thin smile on Lenore's face.

Tiel rubbed his face as he thought of all the trouble that was following this group.

Nonetheless, he looked outside, and saw the smiling child. Little Willow, joyfully playing with children, Leon amongst them. Playing adventurer, dreaming of a hopeful future. Aspiring to be heroes, to explore the unknown.

How could he let anything happen to them?

"Fine. It's not like I have a choice by now. How close would you say they are?"

"A day or two." Said Lenore frankly, as Sevante cringed at that. "They are close, probably a day or two, yes."

To this, Tiel grabbed a bottle of wine, gave it a pop, and swigged.

Yay. Eventful days.

----------------------------------------

And eventful days would follow, with the number of monsters suddenly increasing.

The monsters began coming out in droves, besieging the town. Luckily, nothing strong was attacking the town, at worst d ranks were amongst the monsters, but the problem still remained.

The mastermind had yet to show themselves.

----------------------------------------

A distance away from the town were a group of elves, dressed in simple leather armor, nothing excessively unique, and were it not for the airs they put off, they could perhaps be mistaken for random mercenaries.

Which was exactly what they need. Should they fail, it would serve as a perfect cover up, with no way to trace them back to the ones behind the machinations.

A scout came back.

"Report" came the voice from the one in charge. The elf had a dull orange hair, and looked to be in his late 600s, maybe 700s. Even so, as an elf, he still held a youthful aura compared to the elderly of other races.

"Snowsberry village is still holding strong against the incursion of monsters."

"And their rations?"

"They looked to be well stocked. Probably another month's worth of food."

The man squinted as he stared thoughtfully. "And how are the defenders faring?"

"They seem to be doing fine for now, though some seem to be fatigued."

"Mm. It may be well stocked, but the real problem they'll face is mental fortitude. Given a few weeks, I suspect that their mental strength will falter. And then we will strike."

"Well sir if I may, why don't we attack right now? Are the knights sent to protect the child that strong?"

Another elf, with green hair responds. "Yes they're strong, around B rank each. The real problem here is that they've managed to get to snowsberry village. The village is home to a retired A-rank adventurer."

The older elf leader interrupted. "Retired or not, Tiel is not to be underestimated. An A rank adventurer in his prime, he's still in good shape and will be quite an obstacle. There's a reason they chose to pass through this town."

The green haired elf nodded. "Yup. Thankfully we prepared for possible interruptions." Patting the artifact, he grinned. "As long as this artifact is being run, we can continue to generate and control these monsters in droves. Even if they have a few months of food, we have a few months of monsters here."

The older elf nodded. "Indeed. Either their morale breaks, or their desperation breaks out.

And we'll either get the high elf for ourselves, or..."

The man's eyes turn grave.

"See to it no one does"