“Where’s the promised goods? Why haven’t we seen a single thing?”
Winnie Kanasha asked with a dark expression.
“Goods? You still have the nerve to ask? The assassination mission failed, exposing many of our people. It didn’t succeed, and yet you have the audacity to demand payment?”
The other side snapped back angrily.
“Why not?”
Winnie Kanasha snorted coldly.
“Even if it failed, you still owe us at least a tenth of what was agreed upon!”
“Give it to you? Fine. Do the mission with us one more time. Regardless of success or failure, all the goods will be handed over to you!”
The elven girl looked tempted but ultimately bit her lip and refused.
“No! Impossible. The elves will not get involved anymore!”
“Then what was with your large-scale incursion into the Okam Empire before? You’re not seriously trying to do business, are you?!”
“So what if we were? Last time was just an accident. We never planned to sever ties with the Empire so soon. This time you’re taking action, but it’s nothing to do with us.”
Winnie Kanasha shouted loudly, attracting a crowd of onlookers.
But she wasn’t afraid—nothing could be more humiliating than that night, under the gaze of the bright moon, being mercilessly violated by that demon while completely naked.
The man confronting Winnie Kanasha was clad in shining armor, helmetless.
The broad plate armor made him look imposing and towering.
Yet compared to this aggressive brute questioning her, Winnie Kanasha remained completely unfazed.
“Nothing to do with you? You’re already involved and still have the guts to say it’s none of your business…”
“Last time, we lost more than ten of our best fighters. You gave her so many chances, and you still didn’t kill that bitch!”
“Fine, worthless! If you won’t participate, then forget it. This time, it’ll just be the Storm Revolutionary Army and the Glorious Restoration Church working together!”
Called worthless, Winnie Kanasha’s face flushed red and blue with anger, her eyes wide and furious—she nearly drew the magic bow from her back to confront the man.
Seeing this, one female elf stepped forward and pulled her back.
“Enough, enough, Winnie. Let’s go.”
“Hmph!”
Winnie Kanasha snorted coldly, glared at the big man one last time, then turned and left.
The armored brute continued to curse under his breath, muttering insults like “Elves are trash, retreating like scared turtles after one failure, no warriors among you…”
***
Back inside the elves’ wooden house, it was already packed with elves.
Upon seeing Winnie enter, an elder elf approached.
“How’s it going, Winnie?”
“They refused… but Karo Mama, I’m sorry, I…” Winnie Kanasha bit her lip hard, tears welling in her eyes.
“It’s alright, child. It’s okay.”
The elf known as Karo Mama embraced her, gently patting her back to comfort her.
The other elves in the room, both male and female, looked on and offered words of encouragement.
“That’s right, Winnie. It’s not your fault. Don’t blame yourself!”
“It’s those untrustworthy humans! They promised to give us a tenth of the goods even if they failed, but now they’re going back on their word!”
“Exactly, humans can’t be trusted!”
“Winnie, it’s not your fault. Let’s leave this place. The longer we stay with them, the more I feel like we’ll be sold out.”
“Yeah, I feel the same. Last night, a few soldiers approached me with bad intentions, but luckily I got away.”
“I heard humans like to capture us elves and sell us as slaves…”
For a moment, the elves in the room all started talking over one another, expressing their desire to leave.
Karo Mama motioned for silence with a gentle gesture.
But Winnie Kanasha said, “But they have the Water of the Sacred Tree we need. If the Tree of Life doesn’t get watered, it’ll wither for sure…”
“It’s alright, child. The Tree of Life can still hold on for a few more years. We will find a way.”
Karo Mama stroked Winnie gently, speaking softly to soothe her.
Compared to the other elves present, Karo Mama understood better what Winnie had endured.
The elves’ previous large-scale arrival in Monsell was due to some elves doing business there who had heard news about the Water of the Sacred Tree, which they passed back to the Elf Realm.
The Water of the Sacred Tree is rumored to be an elven treasure capable of reviving the Tree of Life.
But it only works for the Tree of Life and elves; to other races, it’s nothing but useless junk.
It is said to have been bestowed by the ancient Elf King God but was later lost within the elven tribe.
This time’s information indicated that the Water of the Sacred Tree was in the hands of the Glorious Restoration Church.
It’s hard to imagine how such a newly established church could possess such a treasure.
According to elven news, the Glorious Restoration Church was just recently founded, so theoretically they shouldn’t have the foundation to produce something like this…
But the fact remained. If the reports were true, the goods were in the enemy’s hands.
What’s more, their demands were strange.
The Glorious Restoration Church had quickly formed an alliance with the Storm Revolutionary Army and even wanted to use the Water of the Sacred Tree to drag the elves into their war efforts.
Their ideals seemed aligned, though Winnie didn’t know the details.
But regarding their initial cooperation goal, both were crystal clear—it was to assassinate the Empire Princess.
Without an heir, when Emperor Rubas died, the empire would crumble.
Originally, elves shouldn’t have been involved in this; a single misstep could cost them dearly.
But the matter was simply too important. The Elf Queen ordered them to search for the Water of the Sacred Tree, and Winnie Kanasha was one of the chosen.
They quickly established contact with the Glorious Restoration Church and planned the last assassination attempt together.
In that last deal, if the assassination of Willis Egbert succeeded, the Water of the Sacred Tree would have been part of the goods.
Aside from that, the cargo consisted mostly of secondary items like gold, silver, jewels, minerals, fabrics, and spices.
Compared to the Water of the Sacred Tree, these were less significant.
However, during this time, Winnie Kanasha’s movements were leaked by someone, and before she was prepared, she was defiled by Willis—that demon.
At the same time, she obtained critical intel—Willis was heading to the Royal Academy of the Okam Empire to take up a position.
With the plan accelerating, the bold assassination was attempted but failed.
What no one knew was that Winnie was the Elf Queen’s daughter, her identity still unannounced.
The elves had no princess at the time, and many pressured the Queen to produce an heir.
Only a few knew the truth—the Elf Queen had eaten a Fruit of Life from the Tree of Life and given birth to a Little Princess.
To protect Winnie, this was kept secret.
Now the Tree of Life was increasingly withering; soon it would perish entirely, which is why they were desperate for the Water of the Sacred Tree to save it.
But with the failed assassination, the deal was effectively dead.
Winnie had been robbed of her purity for no reason and was still the assassination target—that much Karo Mama already knew.
So she understood the heavy burden Winnie carried and comforted her with such tenderness.
As for why they refused to cooperate with the other side again, the reason was complex yet simple.
“Karo Mama, why do you insist we can’t work with them anymore!?”
Winnie Kanasha asked.
“This time, there are so many of us, and Willis is about to leave the Imperial Capital. Isn’t that the perfect chance to kill her?”
Winnie had actually wanted to agree to the big man’s proposal earlier, but Karo Mama kept urging her not to—
Frustrated, Winnie naturally didn’t have a good tone and ended up arguing with the big man.
But deep down, she still wanted to kill that demon.
Winnie simply didn’t understand why Karo Mama wanted to give up this opportunity.
“That demon, that scum! Even if it wasn’t for the Water of the Sacred Tree, killing her would be justice for the people… why shouldn’t we join in?”
“It was my suggestion…” At that moment, an elf wearing a starry robe stepped forward and spoke softly to Winnie Kanasha.
“Yesterday, during my usual prayers, the Elf King God sent down an Oracle. We must not participate in this assassination, or a great disaster will befall us.”