Chương 103: The Golden Tree

"Golden Tree?"

Frillie was wrapped in a blanket, her eyes still heavy with sleep.

Philen was helping her tie her hair, her technique was skillful.

Xia En's eye twitched, trying to ignore the obviously misplaced "care" relationship.

"Hmm, I heard from Kraft that this is a legend of your Elven race, a history passed down orally? I'd like to know the details."

Frillie didn't take it seriously, mumbling, "It's just a bedtime story that Grandma uses to lull the kids to sleep, nothing to say about it."

"Whether it's a bedtime story or not is hard to say—" Kraft retorted from the side.

"What good is history if there's no trace of it?"

Upon hearing Frillian's words, Kraft's eyes darkened.

This is true.

The history of elves has long been lost to time.

"Even so, I still believe that it is indeed history, or rather, I hope it is history."

"Elves are the longest-living race, yet we have no history left to this day. Don't you find that sad?"

As she spoke, Kraft began to sing a ballad to the flickering campfire in the fireplace: "Beautiful golden tree, that is our warm nest, singing and dancing bring us joy, books and magic brighten our eyes—my dear, gentle homeland, above that golden tree, dragons rest, and birds sing—great golden tree, together we bask in the warm holy light, until boundless paleness buries us—" The ballad, with its mournful melody, echoed through the cottage.

For a moment, no one spoke.

Even Frilian, who had been nonchalant just moments before, looked at Kraft and fell into deep thought.

Distant history is merely a bedtime story for those who come after. But without history, how will those who come after view themselves in the present moment?

After finishing the song, Kraft's expression held a hint of sadness.

"Time buries many things, both people and objects. Those who truly existed in history are, in the eyes of posterity, nothing more than 'fairytale' figures."

As he spoke, he looked at Xia En.

"I'm glad you can call me by name when we meet."

"In this world, I'm afraid no one remembers who I am anymore. Before long, I'll become the 'bedtime story' that Frillie talks about. Hahaha, I might not even have the chance to become a 'bedtime story'."

"So, at that moment, I even thought that dying together with you would be a perfect ending."

Xia En, who was originally immersed in grief, was suddenly speechless.

"Don't say such terrible things, I don't want to die."

"Besides, it's not a good thing for a long-lived guy like you to have such a tragic ideal of dying on the battlefield every day."

Kraft grinned at Shane's teasing.

Shutark, standing to the side, nodded silently.

"I can understand Kraft's thoughts. I've felt the same way from my master before. Perhaps for an aging warrior, this is indeed a 'happy ending'."

An aging warrior?

Kraft choked and started coughing.

"Mr. Shutark, please don't support Mr. Aize's idea!" Philon frowned.

Having been raised by monks, she cherishes life and does not agree with such pessimistic ideas.

"Lady Frilian, in the ballad, the last kingdom buried by 'Pale,' does 'Pale' refer to 'Ice and Snow'?"

"" Frillie stroked her chin and thought for a moment.

"In the language of the elves, such descriptive terms do frequently appear. For example, 'light' refers to 'the sun,' and 'pale' refers to 'snow,' which makes sense."

Shutark's eyes lit up.

"Doesn't that mean the last kingdom of the elves is buried under the snow? We're right here in the snowy mountains, could there be elven ruins here?"

It has to be said that Shutark's guess instantly attracted everyone's attention.

Philon glanced at him and gave a resounding response.

"Fool."

The others shook their heads and dispersed, each going about their own business.

Shutark was left completely bewildered.

"Feed————" As Xia En left, he patted the child on the shoulder and kindly explained, "If it were just a snow-capped mountain, the northern plateau would be full of them. Obviously, it's not that simple. The blizzard that could bury a country would be at least a million times stronger than what we have now."

"Hmm—it has to be at least at the level of the thousand-year-old frozen snow in the far north of the continent, near the Demon King's Castle."

"Besides, the kingdom of elves is probably tens of thousands of years old. What a coincidence that we happened to run into it."

After that, the blizzards in the mountains continued intermittently.

Several people were trapped in the hut with very little to do.

When Philon and Frilian were awake, they would read magic books together. The two of them spent several days practicing a magical spell—a spell that could make fallen hair grow back.

This is what Frilian found in Count Granat's study.

At the time, the Countess was a little reluctant to give it to her.

Philon loved the magic. She always felt that Frilian's hair was too sparse, and it would break her heart every time she combed it and a few strands would fall out. Now she finally had a way to solve the problem.

When Shane first saw the magic take effect, his eyes lit up.

He concentrated intently, trying to identify the relevant magical terms from the spellbook, but unfortunately, he even managed to make himself cross-eyed and still failed.

I am very upset about this.

Shutark, on the other hand, had the most fulfilling life among them.

Given that he was the only one suffering from hypothermia during the blizzard, Kraft devised a strict rehabilitation plan for him, including daily training from morning till night, such as push-ups, squats, and crunches—which made Shane's legs go weak just watching it.

Whenever Shutalk was about to give up from exhaustion, Kraft would conveniently remove his shirt, revealing his well-developed, perfectly muscular physique. This gesture would make Shutalk's eyes light up; a body honed through countless trials was irresistibly attractive to any warrior.

However, this method of motivation made Philon and Frilian, who were standing nearby, click their tongues in disapproval.

Occasionally, when the weather clears up, a few people will go out of the house and take a walk nearby.

In the forest after a snowfall, you might occasionally find footprints left by small animals. A few people will follow the footprints to find these animals and see who they are. The person who guesses correctly will be praised with "Wow, that's amazing!"

It's a kind of boring fun, I guess.

Before we knew it, more than two months had passed.

They have already used up nearly half of the supplies they brought.

"We need to go out and find some food. If this continues, we might not make it to next spring."

Upon hearing Shane's words, Shutark fiddled with the map Kraft had given him, pointed to a spot in the mountains, and suggested, "There's a dammed lake here, why don't we go fishing?"

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