Chapter 377 - Meeting A High Elf

After relaxing with everyone at the top of the dungeon tree, I opened several portals to bring them back to where they from. But none of them take a step forward.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"You're not returning? I thought that you would return and rest until tomorrow so you can explore the dungeon in full strength," Albert asked.

"Well, we are being watched by elves. They seem weak and have no interest in fighting, so I'll try to get to know them first. If they are dangerous, I will leave immediately," I said.

The elves who are watching were the elves that come from outside the dungeon. The elves that can reproduce on their own, and not exist because of the dungeon.

They have been watching us for a while already, but none of them seems to have any interest in confronting us, so I left them be. But I'm still curious about their intention, and to see if they are useful or not.

Maybe if they are coward, and don't like fighting, but they have other use, I can get to have them cooperate with me. That's why I'm going to meet them first before entering the dungeon.

But still… for Elves to stay so close to a dungeon where Dungeon Elves appear in, that's actually weird. What if I mistook them with the Dungeon Elves?

Well, it won't be any problem if I leave them be until after clearing the dungeon. But I'm still curious about them.

"Depend on their answer, I might return home late today. Don't worry, I can still open a portal few more times. I'll return immediately if it's dangerous," I said.

"Well, if you say so. And it will be great if you ended up becoming the king of the elves just like what you did to the werewolves. Good luck, Roy," Albert said.

After that, everyone entered their preferred portals to leave. I said preferred because Luna and Carmen decided to go to Cassau without saying anything to me instead of returning to Arturo. Well, if they need me, they will contact me.

I will go meet the Elves and return after I finished talking with them. And tomorrow will be the day that I entered the dungeon.

I keep trying to see inside the Dungeon, but I can't see far. Only about a hundred meters. Beyond that, I can't see anything.

Maybe there are a powerful monster inside the dungeon. I hope that monster is enough for me to increase into intermediate level.

After watching everyone is on the other side of the portal, I quickly run toward the peeking Elves.

"Hi there, I come in peace!" I greeted the Elves.

The Elves who were not prepared at all, surprised seeing me so fast approaching them in no time.

There are three Elves. All of them are male. They have long ears, and all of them are good looking.

I already hate them, but Victoria isn't. She already started fantasizing about whatever I don't want to be included in.

With me, Spot, and Shelia already surrounding them, they have no way to escape. But how do they come up here? Is there a path that we can go to get down from the tree? Maybe there are.

"W-who are you!?" one elf asked.

"My name is Roy, and I came in peace. Probably."

"Ah, umm… this is a weird combination, isn't it? A giant serpent, a werewolf, a slime, and a… hairless ape?" the elf said.

"Who the hell is an ape!? I'm a human! I originally came in peace, but now I'm here to fight! Or should I just kill you!?"

Who is the ape? Why am I a hairless ape? It's obvious that I'm not even an ape!

"Don't kill us!" the elves screamed in fear.

…they are truly cowards just like Shelia said.

"Take me to your leader," I said.

The three elves afraid of me now and willingly bring me to their leader.

We followed them with Spot around my waist like usual.

There was indeed a hidden gap on the leaves that can be moved. Probably using the elves' magic. That's why I never saw it before.

The three agilely go down the tree by jumping from branches to branches. They seem to be an expert in running in the forest and trees.

But they look so cocky that they keep glancing back at me as if saying that I can't keep up with them.

Well, they are very wrong.

Shelia can run on air like me, so she's fine just falling without stepping on the branches. As for me, I used Aura so I can walk easily even if in a vertical wall. Or in this situation, trunk.

"What? If you can go faster, then do it. I don't want to waste my time with you," I said to the elves.

We go all the way down to the bottom. And I can see that there's an elf's settlement at the bottom. They made their houses on top of other trees. Not the dungeon tree.

"Alright, we're here. Now, where's your leader?" I asked.

"Follow me," one elf said.

I followed him into a huge building made of wood. This one is not on top of a tree, so it's easy to see the difference.

"Oh, you have returned. Did you enjoy playing too much outside?"

There's a female elf who seems to be the leader. She's not even looking at us as she spoke.

But since the elf with me didn't reply at all, the female elf turned and was shocked to see me.

"Ah! A human!"

"See! I'm a human and not an ape! There's a huge difference!" I said to the elf who brought me to the leader of the elves.

"W-what does a human want with us? We don't have anything to give. And please don't destroy our home," the female elf then quickly gets down on all four and kowtow. Just what the hell happened with the elf?

In any case, I don't think they are good enough to be my next summon. I'll just give up on them and find better monsters. Though if they have anything they can exchange with us, I'll at least try to cooperate with them.

"I have some questions to ask, and you will answer them all truthfully," I said as I intimidate the leader of the elves with Aura.

"I will do anything you say, just please spare our lives!"

…just what makes them so cowardly? During Spot's time before he became a contracted monster, he said that the Elves were quite strong.

I'll see if I can learn anything about them from her.

The elf I'm talking to is the only High Elf in this forest, and possibly the only one left in the world. That's why she become the leader of the elves. Her name is Elestias. I'll just call her Tia before I forget her name.

She has been alive for only five hundred years. The one who said only were Spot and Victoria, not me.

That's why she doesn't remember about the strength of the elves a thousand years ago.

She was born already a High Elf. I don't know which characteristic made her high. And even Tia herself doesn't know.

She has been here ever since she was born, and the only strong elf she knows was her father. The last warrior of the elves.

After he died, there have been no other powerful elves since then. And because they have found this place, away from powerful enemies, they don't need to grow stronger. They just need to learn elves' magic to control plants as tradition.

That must be the magic that let those elves get to the top of the tree.

"So, why do you think that the elves are safe when you actually live just next to a dungeon?" I asked curiously.

"…what? There's no dungeon here," Tia said.

"It's that giant tree! There's a dungeon inside! Don't tell me that you have never explored inside the tree? And Spot even said that the monsters inside the dungeon are Dungeon Elves!"

"…EEEEH!"

"You don't know!?"

How come they don't know about it despite living here for five hundred years!

"Wait, some elves mentioned that they met the deceased loved ones several times. Probably they unknowingly entered the dungeon. Some of them never returned after looking for them thinking that they are alive. Maybe after elves die, we will live on forever as a dungeon monster?" Tia said.

"That's not Dungeon Elves! That's Zombies! The monsters inside the dungeon are Zombies!" I said.

"Now that you mentioned it, back when I explored the dungeon, the elves couldn't even walk normally. I guess they are Zombies indeed," Spot said.

"At least we know the monsters inside the dungeon. But still, are elves this stupid!?"

Not just cowards, they are also idiots. They have been living next to a dungeon, but never know about it.

It seems like it's impossible to learn anything about the dungeon from them. Let's just ask what they can do instead.

"Now, what are you capable of? What's the greatness of your magic?"

"Well… we're capable of exploring the forest. There's nothing in the forest that can hide from us," Tia said proudly.

"…you never know about the dungeon after five hundred years, and you're telling me that you're capable of scouting inside the forest?" I asked.

"…in our defense, we can explore the forest, but not inside a tree. We will look for the entrance and make sure no other elves can enter the dungeon," Tia said.

"What about your magic?"

"We are good with plants. We can make them grow faster than normal crops," Tia said.

I think it will be good if I asked them to be farmers. But do I need them to be farmers?

Wait! There's one important thing that they might be able to do!

"What about plant type monster?" I asked.

"I don't know, but if they are plants, we should be able to make them grow faster," Tia said.

Okay, I will ask them to grow Sunny into a powerful monster. And ask them to grow some fruits, vegetables, and probably gets them to grow some other crops like cotton as well.

Now, what can I give them in exchange?