Chapter 50 The Art of Language: Ancia Becomes Famous in the Battle of the Misty Moon Forest...
Ansia: "..."
For a moment, she didn't know whether she should ask the princess or the king first.
Vivian: "Emerald eyes are a symbol of the Elf King's bloodline, I thought you knew that."
Just then, Airland arrived, looking somewhat tired.
Ancia asked with a cold laugh, "Oh, isn't this our Elf King?"
Arlan felt uncomfortable under her sarcastic tone and decided to retaliate, "People have mouths to communicate—"
His drawn-out tone was equally sarcastic. He had once persuaded Erlan to stick the boomerang in his head. Ancia gritted her teeth, "You never told me you were the Elf King. I'm not happy about being kept in the dark by my friend."
Ellan: "I can't exactly take out the Moon Crown and show it to everyone I meet, saying, 'Do you know I'm the Elf King?' Like Verion, who always wears the Crown Prince's robes? This identity isn't anything special to you. Our friendship has transcended the limitations of race and status."
Ancia was amused by him. "Okay, I forgive you."
She wanted to ask about the princess, but a group of indifferent elves came to the treehouse. Their eyes were filled with indignation as they looked at Erlan, and the leader made no attempt to hide his disgust and hatred for Erlan.
"Aierlan, the worsening withering of the Tree of Life is proof that you are unworthy to be king!"
Vivian stepped forward. "Insolence! Minos, step back!"
Ancia couldn't understand the full conversation, but she sensed that the group was after Erlan. Their words mentioned the Tree of Life and Erlan's name, as if they were blaming him.
"You said you wanted to find a way to heal the Tree of Life. So much time has passed, have you found it? No, you spend all your time with humans, doing absolutely nothing. I heard this human is your chosen queen? Does your queen know that you are a king exiled by your race?"
Minos looked at Ancia with ill intent, the malice in his eyes so obvious that Ancia frowned uncomfortably.
Ellan had been listening calmly to his venting, but when Minos mentioned Ancia, his face turned cold, and he stretched out his arm to block Ancia, saying, "Don't involve an innocent girl like her."
Anxiya looked at the arm blocking her way, bent down and crawled under it, rolled up her sleeves, and focused her energy.
Erlan: "?"
Ancia: "A bunch of idiots, brainless, you should all be stuffed into the ground to be fertilizer for the Tree of Life (Ancient Elven language)..."
She wasn't very proficient in other ancient Elvish languages, but she learned all the swear words from Beatrice. Standing on the steps, she looked down at Minos and unleashed her fury, giving Minos and his men a thorough dressing-down.
Vivian: "You have good taste."
Erlan: "Cough cough cough..."
Vivian: "Minos looks like he's about to cry, should we stop him?"
Airland: "I dare not."
The simple elves who live in the Misty Moon Forest year-round admire the art of poetry, and the most vicious word in their vocabulary is "useless." How can they compare to humans with their rich theoretical knowledge?
Minos: "I'll spare you for today! But if the Tree of Life's disease worsens, you'll have to step down!"
He resolutely finished uttering his harsh words and left with the group of stunned elves.
Ancia breathed a sigh of relief, feeling unsatisfied. This was nothing; their tolerance was far too weak. If they understood Common Tongue, she could show them the friendly greetings they received from players of their own game when they were game designers—that would probably make Minos hang himself on the spot.
Her track record of being scolded is well-documented.
The group of elves in front ran away, but there was one left over. Ancia turned to look at Ellan.
The anger still lingered in her eyes as she looked at him, which made Erlan stand even taller.
Ancia: "Are you just going to let them bully you like this?"
Erlan smiled nonchalantly. "They're not wrong. I'm a derelict king for not finding a way to save the Tree of Life. If the Tree of Life withers completely, all elves will be unable to return to the mother tree when they die, and no new elves will be born. They are all very anxious."
But Ancia saw loneliness and sadness in his eyes; his beautiful eyes were like dusty jade, having lost their luster.
"What about Beatrice's Azure Whisper Communication Array? Is it useless?" Ancia asked.
Airland shook his head. "Vivian is also a formation scholar. I had her try many times, but it didn't work."
Ancia said earnestly, "But Beatrice's memory pearl says she tried twenty times, so why don't we try a few more times?"
Seeing the worry in her eyes, Erlan didn't mention that they had tried hundreds of times, but simply agreed, "Okay, we'll try again."
From this day forward, Ancia will become famous in the Mist Moon Forest.
As the Tree of Life's disease worsened, Erlan spent almost all his time by its side, trying out various methods he had collected in Gracia. He spent less and less time at Ancia's treehouse each day, and his eyes showed increasing fatigue.
The elf cubs didn't sense the anxiety of the adult elves. They continued to leap and sing in the forest as usual, and they became even more curious about Ancia, often running over to find her.
Ancia tried to communicate with them in the ancient Elven language, but they always shook their heads. However, a week later, they actually learned the common language.
The elf cubs exclaimed, "Finally, we can understand..."
Ancia was somewhat puzzled, "Is there a problem with the Ancient Elven language?"
Elf cub: "Of course, your ancient Elvish grammar is chaotic and incoherent, making it difficult to understand."
Ancia's cheeks flushed instantly, and she said awkwardly, "Then why didn't Erlan remind me of this?"
Elf cub: "I don't know, maybe the king's preferences are a bit unusual."
"Fortunately, we learn languages relatively quickly; it's an elf's talent, so you don't need to feel inferior."
They comforted her, saying, "Although your everyday sentences have problems, your swearing sentences are particularly fluent."
Ancia choked for a moment, "...Thank you."
Erlan and Vivian always kept the situation of the Tree of Life a secret from her, only reporting good news and never bad, and they came and went in a hurry. Ancia had no choice but to take the opportunity to find out information from the elf cubs.
Do you know the extent of the disease affecting the Tree of Life?
The elf cubs sighed, "It's very serious. The branches are so withered that they look like they'll crumble at the slightest touch. The Tree of Life is the heart of the entire Misty Moon Forest. Now that the Tree of Life is sick, all the plants have stopped growing, and summer is delayed."
“I overheard Elder Vivian and the King’s conversation last time. They said that if the Tree of Life still doesn’t improve, they’ll have to use that method.”
What is that method?
“I didn’t know. Before I could even hear it, Wang picked me up and punished me by making me sing ‘Ode to the Mother Tree’ a hundred times so that Elder Vivian could check it.”
“You’re really unlucky. You’ve been listening to the mother tree sing this song every day while you’re still inside the fruit, for decades.”
"It's alright. Elder Vivian is very kind. I was lazy and omitted a large part in the middle, but she pretended not to notice."
"What? I got hit on the head by Wang last time for omitting two lines of lyrics."
Ancia looked in the direction of the Tree of Life. "When Ellan comes, I'll ask him if I can go and take a look at the Tree of Life."
Elf cub: "Human, you should not enter the area of the Tree of Life."
They didn't say it was forbidden, they said it was impossible to get in.
Ancia: "Why? Because it's a forbidden area?"
The elf cubs chimed in, saying, "Only elves and those whom elves love with their lives can enter the barrier of the Tree of Life. None of the kings in history had a partner; their inherited memories contained only the will to protect the Misty Moon Forest. The current king may like you, but he won't love you to the point of risking his life."
"You can think of the Elf King as a tree. How much affection can a tree have?"
"Moreover, you are a human of another race. Elves cannot fall in love with humans who have short lifespans. Our lifespan exceeds a thousand years, and our instincts will lead us to seek out races with similar lifespans as mates."
"Human mages can only live for a maximum of five hundred years. Your lifespan is truly... sigh..."
Ansia found it amusing, "You're all so young, how come you talk so maturely?"
"Elves reach adulthood at a hundred years old and live for over a thousand years. I'm already eighty years old. When we're close to adulthood, we'll be about the same height as adult elves."
I am fifty-three years old.
I am sixty-nine years old.
Ancia asked in a trembling voice, "...Then how old is Ellan?"
"The king left the Misty Moon Forest after he came of age; he is 103 years old this year."
Thankfully, I don't feel guilty.
Ancia finally relaxed. She took out the strawberry milk that she had kept in her system inventory since the Harvest Festival. "If there are any special changes in the Tree of Life, can you tell me? Anyway, I can't enter the Tree of Life's area and won't do anything to it. I just want to learn more about the Tree of Life. As a reward, please have some of this milk."
The elf cubs tried a sip and immediately agreed with shining eyes.
Thanks to Lulu for her hard work, thanks to the system backpack that keeps food still, and thanks to the Misty Moon Forest where no berries grow. It's true that no cub can escape the charm of berry milk.
Arlan approached, his face clearly weary. Upon seeing him, the elf cubs scattered like birds, disappearing even faster than birds taking flight in the forest.
"What are you talking about with them?"
Ancia scoffed, "Why is your Ancient Elvish language so incoherent and hard to understand? You've taught me so well, Ellan."
Arlan sat down on the steps beside her. "So you can understand Beatrice's magic notes now, can't you? As for the spoken ancient Elvish language... I'm used to it, as long as I can understand it."
He leaned closer to Ancia, his handsome features still evident even with the faint bruises under his eyes. "Are you going to communicate with other Elven Kings in Ancient Elven language?"
Ancia punched Erlan in the chest, but Erlan caught her fist.
Airland: "Ouch."
Ancia was stunned, and quickly touched the area she had just been pounding. "Really? I didn't even hit it hard. I forgot you have a high pain threshold, right..."
Seeing her anxious for him, Erlan laughed smugly, "Just kidding."
Ancia's face darkened. "Aierlan!"
Airland sat up straight. "How long until your teleportation crystal can be used again?"
Anciya: "Seven more days, what's wrong, do you want to kick me out?"
Airan shook his head. "How could that be? It's just that Misty Moon Forest is currently busy healing the Tree of Life and doesn't have time to show you around. I'm afraid you'll get too bored here. Come to Misty Moon Forest next summer, and I'll show you around the forest then."
Anciya: "It's okay, it's the same no matter where I study magic arrays. But I should go back now, otherwise my mentor will worry. I'll leave as soon as the teleportation crystal is working again."
As planned, when the teleportation crystal in the system inventory changed from gray to usable, Ancia did not activate it immediately.
Neither Vivian nor Ellan showed up today. Ancia gazed in the direction of the Tree of Life, her unease growing inexplicably, from the time the sun was still out until the moon rose.
The elf cub leaped from the forest, crying anxiously, "Ancia! A branch of the Tree of Life has broken! The king must..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
