After some trouble, and having buried the bodies of the fallen elves, it was already late at night.
The other elves had found a relatively intact house to rest in, while Lucas sat alone outside by the campfire keeping watch.
He still had to guard two slave traders.
Someone silently approached and sat down beside Lucas, hugging her knees as they both stared blankly into the fire.
“Aren’t you going to rest?”
Lucas asked Noli, who had taken a seat next to him.
Noli shook her head.
“Alright, suit yourself…”
“Um…”
Noli finally spoke, but for some reason, her voice was hesitant, and she seemed very nervous inside.
“Hm?”
“Thanks, you saved me again…”
“For that?”
Noli nodded.
“It’s no big deal. I did it for my own reasons too.”
“Reasons? To get rid of those slave traders?”
“Not just that.”
“Hm? You really are strange…”
Noli turned her head, her red eyes fixed on the side of Lucas’s face.
“What are you looking at me for?”
“How did you know they would ambush here? And how do you know my name? We’ve never met, yet I feel like you’ve known me forever.”
“Didn’t Ivina tell you how I found out your name?”
“Do you take me for a fool?”
Noli gave a hard pinch to Lucas’s waist, her cold hand making him shiver, “That excuse sounded like it was made up on the spot. How could I possibly believe it?”
Unexpectedly, Noli was even sharper than Lucas had imagined.
At this point, should he tell her the truth? How would she react if he did?
“I… do know you.”
After much hesitation, Lucas recounted in detail the memories he had that involved many people, as well as the mission given to him by the Creator God Morovira.
Throughout his explanation, Noli stared silently at Lucas without a word.
When he finished, she showed no reaction.
Lucas stole a glance at her; suspicion was clearly written in her eyes.
Naturally, it would be hard to believe such a story.
She hadn’t made an Oath of Covenant with him like Ivina had.
“You’re quite the storyteller. In our elven tribe, your storytelling skills would be good enough to be a shaman.”
“Is that a compliment?”
Lucas smiled bitterly in response.
“Think whatever you want.”
Noli turned away from Lucas, staring back into the campfire.
Silence enveloped the surroundings, broken only by the occasional crackling of the fire.
The two sat quietly like this until Noli spoke again, breaking the stillness.
“Hey, in your memories, I died in the end…”
“Why do you ask all of a sudden?”
“How did I… die?”
“…I think you were sacrificed…”
Lucas looked at Noli and saw her now hugging her legs, trembling.
Of course, hearing that one was sacrificed would be terrifying.
Noli was skilled with a bow, but she was still a girl who looked about the same age as Relia.
“I don’t want… that to happen…”
Noli’s voice trembled, “I don’t want… to die…”
“It’s alright now. It’s over.”
Lucas reached out and gently stroked Noli’s head, “You weren’t taken, so you’re safe.”
Surprisingly, Noli didn’t resist Lucas’s gesture.
Maybe it was the comforting touch, but Noli’s emotions slowly calmed, and her body stopped trembling. Lucas wisely withdrew his hand.
“Sacrifice… why would they sacrifice me? I’m not special, right?”
Lucas carefully reviewed all the information he had interrogated from the slave traders over the past two days.
The elves were captured and managed by one person, but no one knew what they were ultimately used for. Could it be they were taken somewhere to be sacrificed?
But as Ivina said, why sacrifice? For whom? Lucas had no clues about this.
“Hey, does the elven tribe have any special traits?”
After thinking for a long time, Lucas decided to ask Noli again.
“Special traits?”
Noli seemed confused, “What kind of special traits do you mean?”
“Like their constitution or something.”
“Hm… elves naturally have the strongest affinity with nature compared to other races. Because of this, we can manipulate natural elements to some degree. Like me, I can control ice to a certain extent.”
“Anything else?”
At this, Noli said nothing but instead pulled her skirt slightly up, revealing her pale bare feet.
“This.”
Noli gently traced the green patterns on her feet, “Every elf has these unique markings on their feet. They help us better absorb the power of the earth.”
Lucas had even more question marks hovering above his head.
“Because of these markings, even if we’re injured, as long as it’s not fatal, standing on the ground lets us heal by absorbing nature’s power.
But it’s useless if we’re not in contact with the earth.”
There was such a thing? Lucas had his eyes opened today.
“Also, these markings keep our feet clean at all times. That’s why, to be closer to nature, elves usually don’t wear socks or shoes.”
That sounded like something very significant.
“What are you thinking about?”
Noli gave a disgusted look and scooted a few centimeters away from Lucas, “I’m giving you a serious explanation, what are you thinking about?”
“I’m wondering… is it because elves have strong affinity with nature that they’re being captured?”
Lucas hadn’t paid much attention to the part about not wearing shoes or keeping feet clean, but the strong nature affinity caught his focus.
Someone needed that trait for a purpose—to sacrifice elves to some entity.
“Uh, you… you think like that?”
Noli awkwardly scratched her face.
“What else could it be?”
Noli cleared her throat awkwardly and slowly moved a bit closer to Lucas again.
This was probably the most reasonable conclusion Lucas could reach so far.
Someone among the Eight Sins had turned a certain elf to do their bidding, using this to launch a large-scale elven capture operation.
If left unchecked, more elves would die, and the Eight Sins might succeed.
This was something Ivina did not want to see.
Moreover, the object of the sacrifice wasn’t Morovira, the Creator God, but some other existence.
Could it be that the sacrifice was intended for the invader the Creator God had warned about?
If they were to investigate, they had to dig deep.
“Noli…”
After some thought, Lucas looked at her, “I’ll tell Ivina about this and have her investigate thoroughly. Do you really want to join?”
“Of course. Anyone who betrays our elves must pay the price.”
Noli clenched her fist and slammed it heavily on the ground, speaking with righteous anger.