Chapter 84 : Chapter 84
Chapter 84: Lia’s Request
“An elf?”
Ryan had not expected to run into a member of the Elf Race, who were said to live in seclusion deep within the forests.
The Elf Race was considered one of the more powerful races in this world.
But their numbers were small, and they normally stayed hidden away in the forest, so ordinary people never had the chance to see them.
Still, Ryan was very familiar with elves.
After all, back on Blue Star in his previous life, he had read plenty of otherworld fantasy novels and comics, so he naturally knew about this race.
Whether male or female, elves were all known for their beautiful and handsome appearance.
Aside from that, compared to the other races, the most famous trait of the Elf Race was undoubtedly their lifespan.
An ordinary elf had a natural lifespan of one thousand years.
Of course, injuries could shorten that lifespan, while heavenly treasures and rare miracles could extend it.
He had heard that the longest-lived powerhouse of the Elf Race had reached the terrifying age of five thousand years.
Five thousand years!
That was basically a living history of the continent.
By comparison,
the Human Race lived for around one hundred years, which was about the same as people on Blue Star in his previous life.
The Beastfolk lived for around one hundred fifty years.
The other races often intermarried.
After all, the difference in their natural lifespans was not too great.
But the Elf Race had never intermarried with any other race.
The reason lay precisely in the matter of lifespan.
An ordinary elf easily lived for over a thousand years.
If they chose a partner from another race,
then after that partner died, the elf would still have hundreds or even thousands of years left to live.
To ask an elf to live alone through such a long stretch of time—no elf could bear that.
Moreover, elves were extremely loyal to their partners and would only ever choose one in their lifetime.
Even so,
because of the beauty and strength of the Elf Race,
the other races had never given up on the idea of intermarrying with them.
After growing utterly sick of it all, the Elf Race decisively chose to hide themselves within the forests and never appear before the eyes of the other races.
It was normally very difficult to see an elf.
Ryan had not expected that they would run into one just by coming out to practice their marksmanship.
Was this not unbelievably lucky?
“That’s right. I am one of the elves. In order to thank you for saving my life, please allow me to repay you. May I ask your name?”
Lia bowed as she expressed her gratitude.
“My name is Ryan. As for repayment, there’s no need for that. It was just a small matter.”
Ryan waved his hand and prepared to leave.
“Please wait. You must allow me to repay you. As a member of the Elf Race, failing to repay a benefactor would go against my beliefs.”
Lia hurriedly said.
“Uh...”
Ryan felt rather helpless.
If an elf had left her village and appeared in a human kingdom, then there was definitely some sort of trouble involved.
Ryan did not want to get dragged into trouble.
But judging from the look on this elf’s face, she did not seem likely to let him go so easily.
Ryan glanced around at the women.
Unexpectedly, there was a trace of curiosity in their eyes as well.
They too were very curious about the Elf Race.
They had only ever heard others talk about elves before. This was their first time seeing one in person.
Seeing that, Ryan finally agreed to Lia’s invitation. “Alright. But this is not a suitable place to talk. Let’s pack up first and head back into town.”
Lia nodded repeatedly. “You’re right. We should leave this place first.”
As soon as she finished speaking,
Fina stepped forward and used fire magic to burn the orcs’ corpses, preventing the smell of blood from attracting other monsters.
After that, the elf and her guards followed Ryan’s group into town.
Looking at Lia’s obvious racial features, Ryan asked, “Is it really alright for you to look like that right now? Hasn’t the Elf Race always hidden itself in the forest? Is it fine for you to expose yourself directly in front of everyone like this?”
“Please do not worry, Mr. Ryan.” Lia smiled sweetly. “I have already cast illusion magic on my face, so ordinary people only see me as a normal human.”
“Because you are my savior, Mr. Ryan, it would be very rude of me to hide my appearance from you as well.”
“And them?”
“They are guards I hired through the Adventurers’ Guild. We have already signed an extremely strict confidentiality contract, so they will not reveal my identity.”
“I see.”
Ryan nodded slightly.
Only then did Ryan realize that this was how the Elf Race managed to remain hidden.
With magic like that, even if an elf stood right in front of you, you still would not recognize them.
And if they ever needed to appear in a human town for some other reason, they could use the power of a contract to maintain secrecy.
Very soon, the group arrived at the largest restaurant in Lisbon.
Lia directly asked the staff to take them to a quiet private room.
When they reached the door of the private room,
Lia told the guards to wait outside.
She only brought one maidservant in with her.
Ryan and his group all entered the private room.
Lia and her maidservant sat opposite Ryan’s group.
“Mr. Ryan, please allow me to introduce myself. I am the second daughter of the Elf Race’s chief, Lia McIntyre. This is my maidservant, Mira, also of the Elf Race.”
“Hello, everyone. I am Mira of the Elf Race, and I serve as my lady’s maidservant. You may simply call me Mira.”
“Hello, Lia. I am Ryan of the Human Race. These are my wives, Fina, Isabella, Nika, and Nila, as well as Fina’s friend, Loxi.”
Ryan introduced everyone one by one.
“Loxi? May I ask... are you Lady Loxi, the genius magic tool creator known by the title Magic Tool Virtuoso?”
Lia asked curiously.
“Hehe, am I really that famous? Even someone from the Elf Race knows my title!”
Loxi chuckled and puffed out her chest.
“So it really is you.”
Lia let out a cry of surprise.
The name of Loxi the Magic Tool Virtuoso was truly famous.
Her reputation had spread not only throughout the kingdom, but even to the reclusive Elf Race.
Ryan watched Lia and Loxi chat with obvious enthusiasm and gave a light cough. “Ahem.”
“Oh, right, my apologies, Mr. Ryan. I was just too excited. I never thought I would meet Lady Loxi, the Magic Tool Virtuoso, here.”
Lia apologized repeatedly before finally returning to the main topic.
“Mr. Ryan, if you had not stepped in just now, then Mira and I might already have died at the hands of those orcs. I...”
Before Lia could continue, Ryan directly interrupted her.
“You already paid the Gold Coins. We do not owe each other anything now. If you still do not explain your real purpose, then we are leaving.”
Ryan did not want to keep going in circles with her.
His time was valuable too.
Rather than sit here listening to the other party flatter him, he would rather head back sooner and rest with his women.
The moment he realized that she had talked for so long without getting to the point, his patience was completely gone.
“Uh...”
Lia froze for a moment, then smiled bitterly. “Alright. Since you want to know, Mr. Ryan, then I will speak plainly.”
She had noticed the impatience on Ryan’s face.
She knew this was her only chance.
If she still did not state her purpose now, then in the next second Ryan would take his people and leave the private room.
“Mr. Ryan, the truth is... the village where I live is facing a crisis. I would like to ask you to help my village resolve it.”
“A crisis?”
“That’s right. The matter began like this...”
Lia slowly explained.
The cause of it all began a month ago.
Lia discovered that there was something wrong with the village’s barrier.
After spending a great deal of time investigating, she finally found the cause of the abnormality.
But when she reported her discovery to the chief of the Elf Race—her father—
what awaited her was not praise, but her father’s distrust.
The reason was simple: the Elf Race’s barrier had existed for hundreds of years.
In all those hundreds of years, it had never once had a problem.
So when Lia suddenly claimed that there was something wrong with the barrier,
her father’s instinctive reaction was disbelief.
For elves, time passed very slowly.
Because of that, they liked stability and disliked change.
And that made them unwilling to believe that something had gone wrong with the barrier.
Lia really had discovered an abnormality in the barrier, but because she lacked concrete proof, she had no way to convince everyone else.
So she could only find a solution on her own.
In the end, the method she thought of was to come to a human town and seek out a famous Barrier Mage to help reinforce the village’s barrier.
A Barrier Mage was a type of Mage who specialized in barrier magic.
She had first hired several guards at the Adventurers’ Guild, and her next plan had been to go visit a famous Barrier Mage.
But outside the city, they ran into orcs.
Forget going to visit a Barrier Mage—she had nearly lost her life there.
When Lia saw Ryan and the others instantly deal with those six orcs,
the thought in her heart inevitably grew active.
If Ryan could help her,
then this journey would become much safer.
“And so?”
Ryan raised an eyebrow and asked.
“So... I wanted to ask whether you, Mr. Ryan, would be willing to accept my employment and protect me for a period of time?”
Lia looked at Ryan cautiously.
“Of course, I will pay plenty of Gold Coins. I guarantee that you will be satisfied!”
“I refuse.”
Ryan shook his head and rejected her outright.
He did not lack Gold Coins, so there was no way Lia could hire him with money alone.
And besides, an abnormality in a barrier...
That did not sound like a good sign at all.
Who knew what sort of scheme or hidden trouble might be involved?
Ryan was not afraid of trouble.
But he hated being bothered by it.
He had no desire to get himself entangled in the Elf Race’s problems.
He still wanted to spend his days happily and freely with his four wives.
“Ryan...”
“Master...”
To Ryan’s surprise, all four women—including Fina—were looking at him with expectant eyes.
“Hm? You all want to accept this commission?”
“Yes, Ryan. For the past two months, we’ve been training every day, and all the quests we’ve taken have just been subjugation quests for low-rank monsters. This is a perfect chance to go out and see something new, especially the mysterious Elf Race.”
Fina leaned close to Ryan’s ear and spoke softly.
“Master, we also want to see what the Elf Race is like.”
Nika and Nila were also filled with anticipation.
“Mmm...”
Ryan lowered his head and thought.
That was true.
During this recent period, the four women had trained very seriously.
But with something like marksmanship, there was only so much improvement practice alone could bring.
Real growth still had to come on an actual battlefield.
Since they were all looking forward to it so much, Ryan found it hard to stop them.
“Alright then. For their sake, I’ll agree.”