The morning sun shone on the land again, but the lush green trees, forests, shrubs and grasses that were vibrant yesterday were now charred and withered.
The Elf Prince stood on a mound of earth created by a wizard, and he stood there all night. Elveries would come to him from time to time to tell him the latest news, but none of it was good news.
Tordron searched frantically across the charred earth for Osdina's remains. But fate seemed to be playing a cruel joke on him; he searched everywhere but found no body that resembled hers.
Elves call the forest their home and have always been averse to fire magic, so they also hate troops that use fire on the battlefield.
Clearly, the human force that seemed so vulnerable yesterday has now become their most hated force.
This weak and incompetent army has inflicted such a huge... humiliation on them! Indeed, this defeat was not very damaging to the elves, but extremely insulting.
"Two hundred and twenty people died, ninety-six were injured, and of the six mages, only one returned alive, still in a daze, clearly not recovering anytime soon." A gray-haired elf held a booklet, his voice devoid of joy or sorrow, but his face was filled with uncontrollable grief.
Tandras nodded, his brow furrowing even more.
"The number of people is not the most serious problem. The most serious problem is the identities of these people. And these people are now indistinguishable."
"If you can't tell them apart, then don't. Just send a message to each family, and the soldiers will bury them on the spot. That's settled then," Tandras said forcefully, ending the conversation as the old man was about to speak.
The old man nodded, sighed, and said nothing more.
"Have you found those human armies?"
"No, we found quite a few defeated human troops, but the core group has mysteriously vanished. It's as if they were never here; they've completely disappeared from this land. The scouts have advanced to River Valley Village, but haven't found any trace of human forces there either. But don't worry, they can't have gone far, it's just..."
"Just what?"
"But I'm worried about you. All the credit for this war might be wiped out because of this failed night raid. Things will become even more difficult in the future. You need to be mentally prepared."
Tandras nodded. "I understand. I've already written to the teacher, and I expect we'll have a solution soon."
The old man nodded, gave Tandras a deep look, and then withdrew.
“Oh, right, kill all those human prisoners…” Tandras added. The old man paused, nodded slightly, and then walked away.
Tandras remained standing in the same spot, watching the sun gradually brighten through the smoke, feeling as if it had become even more distant.
Yun Zhe jumped down from the tall tree and waved to the group of people beside it. "The elf scouts are gone. Let's hurry into the village. Ellie has arrived, so don't worry."
Serena nodded quickly, grabbed Xixi, and ran out first, following the plan. Then came Arthas, Black, Zad, and Sind, and less than thirty others.
Yes, at this moment, fewer than thirty people remained loyal to the Donic family and stayed by Serena's side.
Optimistically speaking, what remained were the best. Moreover, Serena didn't feel that this was particularly disastrous; at least, the number of people affected was greater than before she became a count.
Ellie was indeed a clever girl. Upon returning to River Valley Village, she frankly explained the current situation to the village chief. She made him understand the importance of his village at this moment—an importance the chief, frankly, didn't like. However, under Ellie's coercion and enticement, the chief reluctantly agreed to all of her demands.
In just two days, all the grain around the village was harvested, and the dozen or so empty houses were cleaned. Ellie also led the villagers to hunt down almost all the pheasants, rabbits, and deer in the surrounding woods.
Despite Ellie's thorough preparations, she hadn't expected that only a mere thirty people would arrive.
Yun Zhe was pleasantly surprised by Ellie's actions. He hadn't actually told Ellie anything; these actions were clearly Ellie's own idea, which truly surprised him.
However, Serena and the others believed that this was something Yun Zhe had arranged in advance, though Serena and Black had mixed feelings. Sending Yun Zhe here was initially intended as a disguised form of exile, but unexpectedly, this place became their final resting place.
Almost half of the thirty people who came here knew about this, so when they saw the well-prepared rooms, meals, and even hot bath water, everyone fell silent.
The statement "Sending Yunzhe here was truly visionary" is accurate, but I just can't bring myself to say it.
Of course, those few soldiers who didn't understand the intricacies of the situation and had luckily come along didn't care about any of this. They were very satisfied with their current treatment and praised Yun Zhe highly.
But the problems now facing Serena and the others won't be solved by a good meal or a pleasant dream. The question of what to do with the potential fierce retaliation from the elves and thousands of elite troops is the enormous weight pressing on everyone's hearts.
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