After I lay in the hammock I made I ended up sleeping without realizing it, at least I slept until I was thrown out of the hammock and hit my head on the floor.

"Wake up, we don't have time for lazybones during a crisis." (Aredhel)

"You fucking High Priestess, does it hurt to be a little kinder to the person who was fighting a short time ago to defend your village?" (I)

"It costs me a lot, I already had to go to great lengths not to stab you in your sleep, so be grateful." (Aredhel)

Sigh

"I'm not going to waste my time talking to someone who doesn't understand communication, but what can you expect from someone so childish?" (I)

"I knew I should have taken my chance to stab you first." (Aredhel)

"You talk a lot to someone who doesn't even dare try." (I)

"You damn Vampire..." (Aredhel)

"Now let's stop here, I'm too tired to deal with childish fights, so spare me that." (Luthien)

"..." (I/Aredhel)

As if it wasn't enough to be woken up so aggressively, I still have to exchange words with this damned High Priestess with aggression issues.

But before a fight starts, the Elf Queen appears sitting in the hammock with a tired face and yawning.

"I told you to call him, not fight him." (Luthien)

"I'm sorry ma'am, but I can't bear to look at that bastard's face." (Aredhel)

Sigh

"Never mind, since I'm here we'll settle this soon." (Luthien)

The Elf Queen who appears out of nowhere and looks exhausted waves her hand making two wooden chairs form from plants growing from the ground, so Aredhel and I sit down while the Elf Queen remains seated in my hammock.

"First of all I would like to thank you for helping us this year, Zenos." (Luthien)

"I must also apologize as the worst monsters seem to have gone to the side where your troops were defending, plus most of the Lower Catastrophe Grade monsters also attacked the place where you were." (Luthien)

"Wait, wait, wait there!" (I)

"What do you mean the worst enemies came to us?" (I)

"Your side of the village was attacked by the vast majority of plant-type monsters, these are the worst as this forest is full of poisons and illusions, plant-type monsters also follow the same path as the environment they are in." (Luthien)

"Furthermore, you faced twice as many monsters as our troops' side, and many more monsters of the Lower Catastrophe Grade." (Luthien)

"Why did this happen?" (I)

"Maybe it's nature trying to kill you..." (Aredhel)

"Stop being childish Aredhel, you're not a child anymore, so stop acting like one." (Luthien)

"I apologize my lady." (Aredhel)

"Answering your question, Zenos." (Luthien)

"Maybe it's just your luck that was bad this time, you have to understand that luck can't favor everyone." (Luthien)

"Lucky..." (I)

Tears

"(I knew this damn luck would get me killed one day.)" (I)Tears

"(One day I will find a way to increase this luck, even if it means threatening the God or Goddess of Luck for that.)" (I)

"Come on, no need to cry, regardless of what happened, you did very well." (Luthien)

"I really appreciate your help, besides, Sakura helped rescue hundreds of Elves who were on the verge of death during battles, thank you very much." (Luthien)

"Don't thank me, talk to Sakura if you want to show your gratitude." (I)

"I already talked to her, now I'm talking to you, thank you." (Luthien)

"You helped me before, besides taking this child in adult body beside me, all the Elves have treated us very well, so it was also our wish to protect this beautiful place." (I)

"Who are you calling a child in an adult's body? You Vampire..." (Aredhel)

Sigh

"Come on you two, stop it." (Luthien)

"Could you stop teasing her, Zenos?" (Luthien)

"I apologize, this is stronger than me." (I)

"I'll try my best not to speak any more offense to this High Priestess..." (I)

Before I can continue talking, vines come out of the chair I'm sitting on and wrap around my mouth.

"As I was saying before, thank you for what you did while I was busy, the Monster Wave is over or at least that's what I'd like to say." (Luthien)

"But unfortunately it's not over yet." (Luthien)

I use my claws to rip through the vines so I can speak.

"What do you mean it's not over yet?" (I)

"The Annual Monster Surge is over, so first-generation monsters should stop spawning at the same rate and amount they have spawned." (Luthien)

"But the monsters that came out of the two Dungeons at the ends of the Illusory Forest are coming here soon." (Luthien)

"Actually, they're already on their way, should arrive in a little over a week." (Luthien)

"Why are they coming here?" (I)

"This happens every year, the energy flow from the entire Illusory Forest comes to the World Tree, these first-generation monsters are following this energy flow instinctively what brings them here." (Luthien)

"How are your numbers?" (I)

"I'm not sure, but the ones that will arrive are only half of the total number of monsters that left the Dungeons." (Luthien)

"That's because a lot of monsters can disperse halfway through the long way here for different reasons." (Luthien)

"More still will be a large number, plus they will have Lesser Catastrophe Grade monsters among them." (Luthien)

"You said that only the dungeon boss was at that level in these dungeons, so there must be only two, right?" (I)

"There are 32 Lesser Catastrophe Grade monsters that are on their way leading this wave of monsters." (Luthien)

"..." (I)

"These monsters that emerge from the Monster Wave have a very strong instinct, but they don't have any intelligence." (Luthien)

"I think there's a fourth or maybe fifth generation Lesser Catastrophe Grade monster leading these dungeon monsters, plus gathered the other monsters on the way from the forest to here." (Luthien)

"If this monster has intelligence, then why is it doing this?" (I)

"This monster is a Wood Elemental, he is of a variant race." (Luthien)

"This monster has been a thorn in this village for centuries, this monster has the ability to absorb energy from living beings, our village is the only settlement in this forest which makes us a prime target for this monster." (Aredhel)"This monster must be using these first-generation monsters to weaken us, so it will have the opportunity to attack and feast on the people of the village." (Luthien)

"With your strength, it should be easy to deal with this monster, so why don't you take care of him and everyone else?" (I)

"I cannot act personally unless I have no choice, my position comes with many restrictions, even more so on this continent." (Luthien)

"That's why I want to ask for your help in dealing with these monsters if possible." (Luthien)

"..." (I)

I would really like to leave, she said there are more than 30 Lower Catastrophe Grade monsters, I don't want to face that kind of danger for no reason, I also don't want to put my companions and family in danger.

"This time you're asking too much of me." (I)

"I know, so I'm thinking of paying you." (Luthien)

"I'm not such a greedy person to be driven by something like money." (I)

"Actually, from what I've observed of you so far, I know you're looking for something or more precisely someone." (Luthien)

"Your information is wrong, I'm not looking for anyone..." (I)

"You've been looking for a Magic Engineer, am I right?" (Luthien)

"..." (I)

"How do you know that?" (I)

"It wasn't hard to find out as his followers asked about some talented Magic Engineer in various cities." (Aredhel)

"I know where you can find one, plus one with great talent and just as crazy as you." (Luthien)

"Who are you calling crazy?" (I)

"I can help you find him, but this will be payment for your help, what do you think?" (Luthien)

"(That's a good proposal, but I'm still more inclined to decline, I don't want to put others in danger.)" (I)

"I heard everything, we accepted." (Vanessa)

"No, we don't." (I)

"Father, we easily finished with twenty of these monsters, this fight against the 32 will count with the help of the Elves too." (Vanessa)

"We should never underestimate an enemy Vanessa, even if she is a stupid monster." (I)

"You may not know it, but many Dungeon people are ready to evolve, so you should accept that, these monster waves are helping us too." (Vanessa)

"Besides, we'll have time to prepare ourselves against this wave of monsters, so why not accept it?" (Vanessa)

"..." (I)

"I can guarantee that others will also want to participate in this battle." (Vanessa)

"(There really are a lot of muscle heads in my group so I guess they didn't mind, plus I have time to do better preparation now that I know what I'm going to face.)" (I)

Sigh

"Alright, you've won, I'll take it if this High Priestess says "please" to me." (I)

"I will not do that." (Aredhel)

The Elf Queen just looks at her with a smile and Aredhel breaks into a sweat.

"That would be very degrading to me, my lady..." (Aredhel)

"Aredhel..." (Luthien)

"..." (Aredhel)

Aredhel turns to me with anger burning in her eyes as she speaks, her words laden with murderous intent.

"Please help us... Zenos..." (Aredhel)

"Since you asked so politely I accept, ha hahahaha..." (I)

As I was laughing vines grow from the chair where Aredhel is sitting to arrest her who tried to attack me.