In the last few days, we have been preparing to leave this village and start our journey to the Dark Continent, I must say that I am reluctant to leave such a beautiful and peaceful place, but I am also looking forward to going to new places and seeing amazing landscapes.
But I must say that this trip to this village had many unexpected things happening, many events that changed me.
When I came to this village I hadn't decided where I should go, I only came here due to Sakura's request, so I'm happy to leave here with a right direction of where to go, I can also enjoy tourism in the Dark Continent and see what a place full of Demi races.
But there was something in the last two days that caught everyone off guard, the day before our departure that is, yesterday afternoon, Sophia came to talk to me with her parents, I received them and brought them to the dining room to talk after the initial greetings.
"I imagine they came to try to ask your daughter to stay in the village, am I right?" (I)
"It's nothing like that, master." (Sophia)
"They wouldn't come here for such a useless request, the decision to follow you is mine." (Sophia)
"My daughter has already spoken of her oath, so I'm sure she won't go back on her decision, but this is the path she chose for herself." (Carolina)
"The oath of a Dark Elf warrior is something worth its own life, so no one has the right to say anything against it, not even your parents, but I hope you take good care of my daughter." (Roman)
"No need to worry, for me and the others Sophia is already part of the family." (I)
"I'm glad to hear that, but we're not here to talk about our daughter." (Carolina)
"Then you can say what you want." (I)
Sophia's father has a serious expression as usual and looks like he just came along, he doesn't look like he's going to participate in the conversation.
Carolina who is Sophia's mother exchanges glances with her daughter before looking seriously at me, I have the impression that it must be something serious for one of the three village leaders to be here in person accompanied by the general since the matter seems to have nothing to do with Sophia.
"By the look of your eyes, you can tell by now, but I'm not here as Sophia's mother, I'm here as one of the three leaders of the Illusory Forest village council, to ask the leader of the Shadow City for a favor." (Carolina)
"..." (I)"Hundreds of Elves have come to the council in the last month since the news of his departure from the village along with all his followers." (Carolina)
"Most of them are younger Elves, with no family in this village or who don't feel comfortable being here anymore for different reasons." (Carolina)
"They all requested to leave the village and follow you when you left." (Carolina)
"Wait! What!?" (I)
"You may have noticed while you were here, but there are many Elves who continually interact with the people who follow you." (Carolina)
"Some of these Elves are people rescued from slavery, people who have a strong desire to go out and explore the world or in some cases Elves who have fallen in love with their followers." (Carolina)
"The master knows that asking the people of the Dungeon to stop the custom of looking for temporary mates while we are here would not stop the sexual desire of the various races of the Dungeon." (Sophia)
"It wasn't difficult for the women of the Dungeon to seduce some Elves with no experience with Demi's races." (Sophia)
"In some cases, even a strong relationship was formed and some marriages were made." (Sophia)
"Wait! Weddings!? Why don't I know any of this?" (I)
"Marriages for us Elves are made in the presence of an Elf leader and with a mutual oath of love." (Carolina)
"It's not like Human weddings that are unnecessarily extravagant, for us what's important is the desire of both parties to be together." (Carolina)
"From what I hear there are two Arachnes, five Lamias, an Oni, two Ghouls, and a Lizardman who have married so far." (Sophia)
Sigh
"I don't care about other people's relationships, if you want to come along you are welcome, but why so many Elves? I don't even know if the city that Leonardo was building has the capacity to accommodate so many people." (I)
"I've seen the city, it certainly has the capacity for that, in fact, it has the capacity to have even more people." (Sophia)"Why can't everyone see the city but for me? Even Freya has seen the city, why can't I go see it too?" (I)
"Leonardo said that the master should only see it after everyone is in town, so everything will be perfect for you to see." (Sophia)
Sigh
"I'm looking forward to seeing it." (I)
I get a little distracted from the subject when I hear that even Sophia has already gone to see the city, but then I look at Carolina again to talk to her.
"I apologize, I get distracted very easily most of the time and I have a bad habit of getting off topic without realizing it." (I)
"But I would like to know if these Elves will really be okay with coming with us, I don't know if I will ever return to this continent or the dangers I will face during my travels, I can't even promise that they will be safe." (I)
"I've said all this to my mother and to the Elves who want to follow us, but very few have given up." (Sophia)
"This is normal among younger Elves or those who don't have a village attachment, usually they will live in cities of other Races or become adventurers." (Carolina)
"Only half of each generation is content to live in the village, there are also many who choose to return after not liking what they find when leaving the village or retiring from their adventurous lives." (Carolina)
"But these Elves who want to go with you seem determined, so I prefer that they all stay together in a place with people who will treat them well instead of letting them go to places alone, besides you are someone who cares a lot about the lives of that one by your side." (Carolina)
"After saying so much, then they can come along, but they will have to follow Dungeon customs, but I imagine they must already know about that." (I)
"Yes, they do, but some of them took it as a challenge to their abilities, Gray Elves especially." (Sophia)
p
"Of course, we're not going to replicate something so perverted here, no offense." (Carolina)
"Alright, I agree with you, I also found it hard to get used to it at first." (I)
"That's because you're always being protected, many women in the Dungeon still have you in their sights, they just don't have the courage to attack." (Sophia)
I try to pretend not to hear any of this, then after a few more conversations Sophia's parents leave, then I give Sophia some instructions to organize these Elves who want to come along.
After that, I spend the rest of the day doing a few last things before heading to the World Tree temple in the late afternoon to speak one last time with the Elf Queen and the World Tree Spirit before departing tomorrow morning.