Bryan followed behind Noah closely. In fact, he was very curious about his elder brother. Mother said he was the most human-like elf among her children but he hadn't seen Noah in operation.
"Brother, mother sends us out of the forest to buy livestocks. Do we have money?"
"I have.."
Noah answered his curious younger brother's question. Noah had been sneaking outside since they arrived at the Capital city. In the three months his mother was sleeping, he was working furiously to save more travel expenses.
"I thought all the money was spent after buying the cloud horses. They are very expensive. If we could get the Greyhound packs to come with us, we wouldn't need to buy these horses."
Natalie voiced out her thoughts. The three siblings had worked under Noah with masks on after they were born. Relying on his familiarity with the Mirkwood forest, Noah entered the market as a medicinal plants seller. Rare elixirs and plants became the foundation for the elves on their way to getting some money to spend.
All the elves except the twins met with the Greyhound pack and Luminous that way.
"The cloud horses cost a lot but there is another source of income."
Bryan, Adam and Natalie's ears perked up. They only knew the trade source, not other sources.
"You forgot the prince? We got the same salary as the prince's elite guards these months. Also, our mother has pocket money."
"So generous? I want to meet him."
Adam had sparkling eyes whenever they talked about the prince. He was very interested in this unseen prince.
"Look into the mirror or Bryan and Natalie's face. He looks very similar to you three. Your looks are copied from that guy, easy to recognise."
They talked while jumping from branch to branch. It's estimated that they would need less time going out of the forest. They rested briefly at midnight and set off immediately. In two days, they entered the tuber section.
Adam made fire and actively roasted some sweet potatoes. Gloria's cooking session opened a new door for the elves. It was a pity that cassava didn't taste good when roasted.
"By the way, why did our mother run away… I mean, get away from that prince? Can't we separate normally?"
Chewing the hot sweet potato in mouthful, Adam asked Noah. They couldn't understand this kind of operation.
Didn't you say you guys get salaries and pocket money? Aren't you in a good relationship? Why run?
"Because this guy is very possessive of our mother. If we say farewell normally, we really can't get away."
Elves were somewhat naive. However, they could feel the emotions of living beings. Either malicious or good wills, the darlings of nature could feel them.
Liam and Noah were deeply aware of Evan's hidden feelings behind his easy going and polite mask.
This answer led to another question for three elves who hadn't seen the prince. Didn't our mother feel it beforehand? Why did she follow the prince if she was aware of it?
When they asked Noah with confusion, he replied casually.
"She knew…and she didn't care."
"What if she were taken advantage of or worse, in danger?"
"People with a hard backstage are fearless. Her guardian beast is Pegasus that runs faster than wind with a lucky buff. And… have you forgotten her background? Her soul is a divine soul. The biggest advantage of the divine soul is being immortal. If she is bullied, her father god king won't sit idly by."
Others won't believe the foreign gods were powerful with a few words from Gloria. However, the direct descendant elves had no reason to not believe it. Their inherited memories made them believe with reasons and facts.
"But didn't grandpa write he couldn't interfere with this world anymore?"
"Tsk… he said he couldn't interfere with this world anymore not because he really couldn't. He was just afraid that his interference would put our mother in the limelight of the native gods."
Who would still care about the native gods if their darling daughter were harmed? It's not like the king and queen of gods were weaker than the native gods. The eldest sons Liam and Noah knew better than the younger siblings.
Noah took out his money bag from the pocket. They were wearing their default uniforms. The pockets on the uniform jackets were equipped with space as big as a small warehouse. Since they wore the uniforms, they didn't have to worry about the luggages.
He counted the silver and gold coins in his bag. The amount was staggering 287 silver coins and 418 gold coins.
"Is it your salary? It's not that exaggerated, right?"
The three elves are not stupid. They lived outside under the care of Noah and worked with him in selling medicinal plants. They knew the average cost and income of most of the citizens. 1 gold coin a month was the income of an elite knight which was just enough for his whole family to eat lavishly everyday.
"No, it's mother's pocket money…given by the prince. He gave 500 gold coins in one go."
The elves marvelled at the prince's generosity. Even though they didn't like the unseen prince, they didn't dislike him now. 100 silver coins were equal to 1 gold coin. 1 silver coin could feed 4 adults for a day.
They travelled day and night, jumping on the branches and canopies of the trees. In half a month, they saw a human village.
"Phew… our speed is quite fast. It would be faster if we rode the cloud horses. Running everyday makes me bored."
They made themselves presentable before entering the village. They didn't forget their mother's teachings, that "elves were the most elegant beings".
Noah led his younger siblings to the village. The village got nearer but it was so quiet that only the sounds of birds were heard. They didn't see a single person in front of the house or on the road.
"Where are the humans?"
This was what they thought at the same time. They hadn't even heard hens clucking or dog barking in the village. Noah strided towards the nearest house.
"What the …"
The house was bare, more clean than the new house without furniture.
"Adam, check the vitality around the village!!"
"I only see small groups of vitality near the ground. It should be rats. No human vitality in sight!!!"
"Shit!!! Did the whole village die?"
They ran and searched the whole village. They didn't want to accept it but had to accept the facts. The village was indeed empty but thankfully, no corpses were found.
"Is it what humans called, ghost village?"
"Don't talk nonsense!! Let's move on."
Adam, the elf with the most delicate mind, was scared by the empty village. Noah took him out of his imagination with a knock on his head. They had to keep running…
The next day…
Another village was found empty.
Next day…
Empty.
On the fourth day, they saw a small city with humans inside. That made Adam so happy that he nearly cried. The empty villages scared him to become autistic on his first trip without his mother.
They entered the city without obstruction. The city was a bit small. It would be hard to buy livestocks here. Noah walked towards the small restaurant and occupied a table with his three siblings.
There was only a restaurant owner sitting bored at the counter. Business couldn't be said to be good. The elves were only customers in the shop.
"Owner! What do you have on the menu?"
"Just bread, bacon and potato soup.."
"Give us four servings!!!"
"Four servings of each in the kitchen!!!"
The owner shouted towards the kitchen. The elves didn't despise the lack of choice in the menu. Their diet had always been fruits and some barbecue along the way to the cursed forest. Soup was a rare dish in their diet.
Four servings arrived quite fast. Bread was a bit small, the soup was quite watery, but overall, the taste was ordinary.
"Four silver coins…"
"Wait!! What?"
"Four silver coins…"
The voice of the owner was loud and clear. A meal costs 1 silver coin per person.
"Is the flour imported? Is the pig fed with tributes before slaughter or is the potato stew in a gold pot?"
Natalie couldn't swallow the outrageous priced meal and asked in a sarcastic tone. The owner shook his head.
"Alas… I don't want to raise the price too. I am selling what we eat to cover some expenses before we leave. The prices are ridiculously high and supplies are non-existent."
"Before you leave? Are you leaving?"
From the owner's chattering, the elves saw the whole picture. The empty villages were not ghost villages. The villagers left voluntarily. Adam patted his scared little heart. He was relieved after the truth surfaced.
"It's not easy for you. To carry your belongings, you will need a few carriages, right?"
The owner was well off. Moving would be such a hassle for his family.
"If I ran away earlier, I could carry most of my belongings. But now, all I can get is a small package of valuables I can carry on my shoulders. The rest will be left to fate. Moreover, the carry on would be robbed if careless."
The owner sighed. He blamed himself for his indecisiveness. Because of his obsession with his restaurant, he missed the best time to move away. His heart aches whenever he thinks about it.
"Alas… I am heartbroken when I think of losing all my property at this age. My fate for old age is really bad. I am back to my penniless self."
The owner's grief was contagious. Even the careless Natalie wanted to help the old man. To say the owner was not old, he is. He was over 50 but he still had a strong body. However, the thoughts of leaving his lifetime work made him age faster.
"Isn't the front line over there? The demons aren't broken out of the four Empires' encirclement. Why?"
The elves met with the refugees along the way to Cursed forest. Some had dark magic tainted in their wounds. Gloria and Noah cleaned and healed them at that time. They were the real victims of the demon invasion.
However, the demons couldn't pass the tight encirclement of the humans and the empty villages along their way didn't have signs of demons, except the villages were cleaner than the meat bowl licked by dog.Why did the civilians run?
The owner understood the elves' confusion. He sighed and said in a low voice.
"Children, if we encounter demons, we lose lives. If we encounter the lackeys of nobles disguised as bandits, we lose both lives and properties."
"You mean, the refugees are not running from demons but from humans?"