Chapter 197: Forlorn Elves

A group of 50 fully armed elven warriors had managed to enter the town was something that was surely alarming for him. 

It worried him that these Arcadian people were too trusting towards the elves. The same thing happened to him the first time he came to Erantell. This kind of thinking was definitely something he needed to change.

Seeming to understand Tristan's train of thought, Uriel reminded him that the Forlorn elves were the Allies of Vanyar.

They were one of the four wood elves kingdoms who resided on the south of the Evergreen Forest, situated nearest to the Chaotic Plans. 

These elves had many relations within the Caerleon and Erantell towns. In fact, the late mayor of Caerleon was a member of the Forlorn elves as well. 

Despite this information, an uneasy feeling settled at the base of Tristan's stomach the moment he laid eyes on the wrinkly elder elf standing before him. 

Trying his best not to make his true feelings known, Tristan invited him into the town hall as a gesture of hospitality. To this, however, the elder elf simply shot him a look of disapproval before shaking his head to refuse the request. 

The old, wrinkly elf did not even bother to climb down from his horse before engaging in conversation with him. This was a clear show of disrespect.

He looked down on Tristan from on top of his stallion, gripping his reins tight as if he was counting down the moments before he could finally leave. 

"You are the new lord of Caerleon?" His voice was dripping with contempt, and there was a cold glint in his eye. 

Instantly, Tristan could feel the condescending tone that was present within the elder's voice like needles pricking his neck. A tone that he had heard so many times before. 

He had undergone conversations like this many times. It happened so often, in fact, that he had learned how to deal with it calmly instead of the frustration and annoyance that came so instinctually to him. 

He took a deep breath and decided to address him the way any good mayor would; by keeping up a facade of fake politeness and respect. 

"Yes I am, elder," Tristan replied coolly, a pleasant smile spread across his face.

The elder simply stared at him blankly, looking him from head to toe, when suddenly he broke into a grin. Seeing the elder's expression made Tristan's skin crawl, as there was nothing good natured about the smile that was on his face. 

"I guess the rumors were true. You are not a real elf." Something of a sneer had dominated the elder's expression. 

Tristan felt a little more irritated than before upon hearing those words.The old elf really had some nerve talking to him like that. 

And yet, the man continued, still talking down on Tristan as though he were chastising a child. 

"The king really shouldn't put an elf like you in such a position, especially without consulting us!"

Tristan cleared his throat, keeping his composure. Actually, this time, he somewhat agreed with the elder. But It's not like he wanted this position in the first place.

"Elder….  You can take that issue to the king. I have no say on this matter… Now please tell me, what news did you bring about the Vanyar princess?" 

The elder didn't answer. Instead, he looked over his shoulder towards the group of elves who were trailing him a bit farther back. They rolled a cart in front of Tristan and the elder before opening it, uncovering the cloth that was concealing its contents.

The smile on Tristan's face instantly dissolved. There was a body inside the cart. A large, hulking figure was lying unconscious, limbs folded uncomfortably in the tight confines of the cart. It was Chieng, the space knight.

He quickly dashed beside the cart and checked on him. The space knight he ordered to look for Serene had only turned up now, and he was barely breathing. Deep stab wounds riddled his entire body, but fortunately, he was still alive.

No more playing around. Tristan ditched all the pleasantries he had presented before, and turned to the elder again, now with a serious tone.

"What happened to him! Who did this?!" He demanded, hand clenched into a fist. 

Instead of answering, the elf simply handed him a tightly bound scroll.

"This is a message from our Forlorn prince, Janus."

Tristan was a little too impatient and frustrated to read it at the moment. What he really wished was to knock some sense into those wrinkly elves and force the information out of them instead. But he had to restrain himself, for the town's sake and for his wife's. 

So instead, Tristan simply snatched the scroll out of the elder's hand and gave it to Uriel to read it.

Tristan has a bad feeling about this. He took a deep breath and tried to analyze the situation one more time.

He had been feeling rather uneasy about this group of elves from the beginning, so he had been analyzing the elves every move since they first started conversing.

He used his Katra to check the way they were breathing and every little movement that they made. He then realized that the 50 elves were on high alert, as if they were expecting a fight.

Tristan stared back at Uriel, only to see that his complexion had turned pale after reading the contents of the scroll.

"Tell me, Uriel! What is it?!"

"Here it says that princess Serene was a guest of the Forlorn kingdom and she won't be returned for an indefinite amount of time."

The news surely comes as a shock. What was that supposed to mean? She was given a task to investigate the mines, and for her to suddenly disappear and become a guest if another kingdom was certainly unusual!

Tristan once again stared at the elder, demanding a clear answer. It was at this time that Uriel had to stop him.

"Tristan, they… They also requested a claim on an abandoned mine… This..." Uriel's voice dropped to a low whisper. "This is that one mine, with the orc breeding lair."

The second message, although shocking, actually cleared a lot of the confusion in his mind. 

Tristan stared at the elder, a malicious grin on his face. He had finally found the culprit to all of Caerleon town's problems. 

It appears that it was the Forlorn elves who were behind all of this all along.

With the backing of the elves, it's no wonder that the adventurers were so daring, and this also explained the mystery behind Connor's sudden death. 

Tristan also bet that these elves were also behind the previous mayor's death. 

The gears in Tristan's brain started to turn, and all the information presented to him led him towards one question. 

Why? Why are they revealing this to him, why did the 50 elven warriors come here? What do they want?

Finally, realizing the elder's smirking looming on top of the horse, he found his answer. The reason that they came here today was to provoke him. 

To see what kind of mayor he was, whether or not he would make trouble and interfere in whatever it was they were planning.

Uriel also understood this as he looked towards Tristan to see what his decision would be.

"Lord mayor! I need your answer right away! Will you accept the prince's request?!"

A request? More like an order. Tristan's current position was already dominated by that bastard king telling him what to do, so of course he would not let this go.

This was definitely an act of aggression. Which would only mean one thing - fight.

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Written by Avans, Published exclusively by W.e.b.n.o.v.e.l,