Chapter 133: I Believe Nobody Wants This Fruit

The elves' territory wasn't very large. The reason for that was the elves' small population and their resistance toward outsiders staying in the Elven Forest for long periods. Hence, even though most of the elven race lived together, their territory could never be regarded as a country.

Meanwhile, inside the forest where the elves lived, the most eye-catching sight would probably have to be the towering tree standing in the middle of the forest. The tree was so tall that it had already reached the clouds in the sky. Yet, despite its exaggerated height, its trunk wasn't particularly thick. At most, it was several times wider than the average tree. Because of the tree's strange proportions, most people who saw it couldn't help but worry if it would snap and fall one day.

"That's the Tree of Nature… Although its name sounds rather common, it is the only tree that produces the Seeds of Nature," Lalu introduced as she followed Alice off the bus. "However, the fruits this tree bears are somewhat peculiar. As soon as they are removed from their branches, their flesh would evaporate into thin air, leaving behind only the seeds inside."

"So, does that mean you elves still don't know what the fruit could be used for even until now?" Alice curiously asked as she turned to look at Lalu. "Did you guys try taking a bite of the fruit without removing them from their branches? So long as the fruit remains connected to a branch, the flesh shouldn't disappear, right?"

"Someone has tried it before, but the fruit is incredibly hard, and it is inedible without processing it," Lalu explained. This information wasn't available on the internet, but as someone who had lived in the Elven Forest for most of her life, she naturally knew about the matters surrounding the Tree of Nature and Seeds of Nature. "Also, the Tree of Nature is too tall, so flight magic is necessary to even reach the fruits. We also don't have any means to conduct research at such a high altitude."

"Actually, that should be doable. Modern flight contraptions are very advanced already. Many countries already possess the technology to produce flying contraptions that can reach and hover at high altitudes steadily," Alice said. When conversing with the Ymir Kingdom's dwarves previously, she had also learned some undisclosed information that wasn't considered confidential from them. "If you elves are willing to work together with other countries, I believe there should be a way to study those fruits in high altitude."

"Unfortunately, those stubborn old bastards won't agree to such a partnership," Lalu said, clicking her tongue. As a young elf who had already come into contact with human culture, she couldn't help but be rendered speechless whenever she thought about the stubbornness of the older elves. She simply couldn't understand why the older elves insisted on isolating themselves from the world. In the current era of rapid development, their elven race should be working together with their neighbors to improve themselves instead of sticking to their old ways while their neighbors left them in the dust.

Not to mention, there had never been any serious conflict between elves and humans. Even during the era where slavery existed, not many humans had bothered traveling to the distant Elven Forest to capture elves. So, logically, the relationship between elves and humans should be good. At the very least, there shouldn't be any problems if they conducted joint research together on the Tree of Nature.

There was no need to worry that the humans would use the research results to develop powerful magical technology to harm the elves. With modern human weaponry, the humans could easily erase the entire Elven Forest if they intended to harm the elven race. There'd be no need to go through the trouble of researching new magic to threaten the elves.

Hence, the older elves' wariness against humans was superfluous. In Lalu's opinion, the most likely reason the older elves were still refusing to cooperate was because of their incredibly stubborn nature. They would rather have no research results than share some of the research results in exchange for foreign help.

"Is that so…"

Alice nodded, not feeling particularly surprised to hear Lalu's words. A large part of why she managed to befriend Lalu so easily was because the loli elf was young. Moreover, Lalu had studied in the human realm for some time already, so she could adapt to new things much more easily. If she tried to befriend an elf who had spent their entire lives living in the Elven Forest, she probably wouldn't achieve success very easily.

While Alice and Lalu were talking, the other students also got off the bus one after another. Since the first batch of students that left the academy only consisted of students from Class Group C, there were only a dozen or so buses parked outside the Elven Forest right now. As for students in Class Groups A and B, they would arrive later.

"Alright, everyone gather here. We'll be entering the Elven Forest soon."

The class teacher for Class C04 was an amiable middle-aged woman named Emma. Although rumors say that she had great accomplishments in magic, she had only ever performed simple spells in class. Nobody had ever seen her use large-scale spells. Since she was Class C04's class teacher, she was naturally responsible for Class C04's students on this school trip.

After hearing Emma calling for them to gather, Alice, Lalu, and the rest of Class C04 quickly formed a line behind Class C03's students. Then, once everyone was lined up, they started walking into the Elven Forest.

This would be the first time most of Class Group C's students were visiting the Elven Forest, so the line was relatively noisy with discussions about the Elven Forest's beautiful and natural environment. For people who had spent their entire lives living in a bustling city, the Elven Forest's environment was indeed a rare sight. Moreover, unlike the Gryffin Forest's vegetation, the Elven Forest's vegetation consisted mostly of magical plants, so they looked much greener and more magnificent than the average plant.

Meanwhile, when Lalu heard the exclamations coming from the students around her, she couldn't help but sigh and muttered, "It's a pity we'll only be staying here for two days. If we stay a few more days, everyone will come to learn just how wonderful Holl City is compared to the Elven Forest. There are no bars, internet cafes, arcades, or restaurants here. Even the food here tastes incredibly bland."

"Who knows? Maybe they'll get the opportunity to experience it?" Alice said, snickering when she heard Lalu's words.

"So you really plan on making trouble, do you?" When Zauna, who walked behind Alice, heard Alice's words, she reached past Alice's shoulders and pinched Alice's cheeks. "You better not make us suffer too miserably. Otherwise, don't blame me for ratting you out."

"Don't worry, don't worry. It won't be too miserable," Alice said, her words sounding slurred because of her pinched face. "We'll just be staying in the Elven Forest for a few more days."