Chapter 528 Chapter 527. Fellowship
Only after one of the accompanying elves quietly nudged Galadriel in the waist did she come to her senses. She quickly adjusted her demeanor and exchanged a few words with the delegation led by Inanna, discussing her travel experiences and offering polite greetings. Her words were appropriate and impeccable.
When she returned to her room high up in the royal court, closed the heavy carved wooden door, leaned against the door, closed her eyes, and tried to recall the scene she had just met, she found that her impression of the mission members was completely vague.
Even the distinctive pink-haired girl, Inanna, left little impression beyond her striking hair color.
On the contrary, the image of the four swords, which she only glanced at at the beginning and then disappeared while she was talking to Inanna, was unusually clear, even carrying a certain lingering presence.
"That's really strange..."
Although the Puji culture has recently become popular in the Elf Forest, Galadriel herself doesn't have any particular feelings about it.
Even when she saw Eco with his head sticking up and a solemn expression, she had to exert some effort to maintain her composure.
She had no intention of raising a Puji herself.
But why am I so concerned about that Puji?
That Puji was carrying four swords on its back, so it was obviously not an ordinary Puji. It should be a Mushroom Clan member, just like the Number One Puji.
Was it because he was seeing the Mushroom Clan armed with swords for the first time that he was simply curious?
Galadriel shook her head slightly, temporarily categorizing this inexplicable feeling as "curiosity."
The exchange between the delegations was not something that could be accomplished overnight; it would require at least a week of consultation and adjustment. Both the Kingdom and the Elf Forest had their own demands regarding future cooperation.
The kingdom especially hopes that the elves can send a group of mages skilled in magic arrays and barrier techniques to help build that crucial new line of defense.
The elves' long lifespan and the secret knowledge accumulated over generations give them an unparalleled advantage in constructing large-scale defensive systems.
The Elf Forest's focus, however, was on the heroes. They hoped the kingdom would at least share basic information about the current heroes and allow the elves to provide assistance to the extent possible, even allowing some elves to join the heroes' ranks.
This serves two purposes: first, to assess the new hero's character; and second, to establish contact early and cultivate initial trust and bond.
The seemingly naive act of "cultivating feelings" has, surprisingly, been a fairly reliable approach in the past.
Those heroes summoned from another world, although naturally more inclined to belong to the human camp, their stance was far from being completely solidified at the beginning of their summoning.
Sincere support and investment in the early stages can often influence their final allegiance and prevent them from becoming a "weapon in the final battle" for a single faction.
In fact, the summoned heroes are rarely truly evil. If it weren't for the actions of the hero Link three hundred years ago, the elves and dwarves wouldn't have such great hostility towards the hero.
Now that the elves are powerless to stop the rise of a new generation of heroes, they naturally want to reaffirm their original stance and establish a connection with the heroes, rather than an adversary.
But the problem is... there's no news of a hero in the kingdom now.
Samuel, the priest who accompanied Sophia, always communicated directly only with the archbishop.
The matter of the hero was too complicated for him to bear; he didn't even trust any of the dukes, except for the archbishop.
The Duke of Brunus's betrayal further confirmed this view.
Therefore, after learning of the archbishop's sacrifice, the hero team, after internal discussion, decided to withdraw from the kingdom's assistance and continue training on their own.
This would certainly make resupply more difficult, but it also avoids some potential dangers.
Therefore, the kingdom is currently unaware of the specifics of the Hero Squad, only knowing their general area of activity.
Under these circumstances, even if Sophia were found, it would be difficult for the people sent by the kingdom itself to integrate into the hero's team, let alone the elves trying to place their own people.
The mission was arguing about this very point.
However, the specific negotiations were not of much concern to Inanna and Galadriel, as both sides had their own dedicated negotiators to handle the negotiations, and their involvement was unnecessary.
Even when the argument in the downstairs hall was escalating, the two could still sit in the palace courtyard, chatting and sipping tea while playing with Puji.
Inanna was somewhat surprised that the elves accepted Puji so smoothly.
Recalling the numerous conflicts between humans and Puji, and how they finally achieved coexistence only after the leader conceded, the harmonious acceptance process by the elves moved her deeply.
Galadriel, however, was more interested in the little creature named Fourteen.
For some reason, Fourteen has been preferring to be alone lately, and even avoids Inanna's embrace.
“Fourteen is very skilled with a sword,” Inanna said with genuine admiration and pride. “On the way here, it single-handedly cleared out a group of cultists who were entrenched near the Scarecrow Abyss. It’s truly remarkable.”
"Such an amazing Puji... It makes me want to hug her and see her." Galadriel said softly, as if it were just a casual remark.
Inanna's eyes lit up immediately, as if she had found a rare kindred spirit.
“Let’s go find it!” She took Galadriel’s hand and shared her experience as they walked. “Fourteen is just a little shy. It struggled a lot when I first held it. But all Puji are like that. As long as you scratch the right spot, they’ll become very well-behaved!”
“Well…except for number ten,” Inanna added with a hint of regret.
Meanwhile, Sword Saint Puji stood quietly on the edge of a terrace, its senses passing over the palace's spires and corridors, landing on the ancient giant tree in the center of the courtyard.
The Elf King Aurel was buried beneath the roots of that ancient tree.
Elwayne sighed inwardly.
If you really want to count, Aurel could be considered half a mentor to him.
Although it is said to be nearing old age, this "old age" may be longer than the life of an average human being.
In the past, Elwin sometimes wondered whether he or Aurel would reach the end first.
Unexpectedly, within just six months, the two passed away one after the other, which could be considered as if they died at the same time.
However, through some means of an entity whose nature is still unclear—whether it is good or evil—he was reborn as a Puji, and among this Mushroom Clan, there is no one called "Auriel".
Just as he was lamenting the fickleness of fate, his body suddenly trembled slightly, and a strong sense of unease welled up in his heart.
Elwayne is a sword saint; intuition is sometimes more useful than [Qi Sensing].
Sword Saint immediately tried to move away, but eight tentacles suddenly wrapped around its body.
"Number One, Number Four, what are you doing?"
The two Puji tightly entangled with the Sword Saint Puji.
"We don't know either! The bacteria master made us do this!"
"Little Fourteen, don't move around. The Master has his reasons!"
What's going on?
Sword Saint couldn't understand it for a moment, but the ominous premonition in his heart grew stronger.
He still trusts his intuition more.
Just as he was about to unleash his power to forcefully break free, a joyful voice came from not far away, which also confirmed Elwayne's unease.
"Found you! So the three of you were hiding here playing! Galadriel, come quick, I'll teach you the best way to hug Puji!"
As four hands touched his mushroom body, a sudden realization flashed through Elvein's mind—without a doubt, the Lord of Puji was evil…
(End of this chapter)
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