Pillars of Ita

The carriage shook rhythmically as it moved forward, and the wheels occasionally seemed to hit small stones on the road and bounced violently. After passing through the shock absorbing system, the light red liquid level in the teacup on the table shook slightly, which also brought Fang He back to his senses from his thoughts.

Sitting opposite him was the Elf Princess, who was dressed in military uniform, but had taken off her armor after returning from the battlefield. She was wearing a pair of light military riding boots, which set off her long ponytailed hair and pointed elf ears, making her look particularly heroic.

She wore tight trousers and tied her elven sword to her waist with a belt. One hand was placed on the cross-shaped hilt, which was decorated with exquisite carvings and an emerald. The color of the gemstone complemented her snow-white skin.

Melfina's eyes were filled with the light of the night, and there seemed to be a hint of melancholy in her silver pupils. Since entering the autumn woods, she didn't talk much and was often lost in deep thought.

There were two other people in the carriage. The one next to the princess was the master craftsman, Ailin Ironheart, who looked about middle-aged, with a serious face and his clothes were as meticulous as the elves' usual ones. His robe was spotless, with a ribbon on the chest, and green gems inlaid on the silver silk.

Sylvie sat with Fang He as an assistant. The Seven Seas Brigade did not enter the Elf Court with their original identities. Considering their reputation in Giant Tree Hill and the many seekers, Melfina arranged an identity for them as a team of foreign alchemists.

Because of some unusual circumstances, the attack on the Gus Grey Region had to be temporarily suspended. Melfina was undoubtedly the best person to report the news back to the Elven Court. The Elf Commander was one of her allies, so naturally he would not object. After a brief report, they left the Sons of Light.

The commander asked Ailin, the master of alchemy, to return with them because Her Royal Highness the Princess's status was not enough to convince them about the changes in ether, and Fang He and others were outsiders. In the field of ether, this master craftsman was undoubtedly an authority.

"Master Ailin is also my ally," Melfina introduced to Fang He, "Mr. Ed, you can tell him directly if you have anything to say."

But what surprised Fang He was that Ailin Tiexin's eyes always fell on Sylvie. The master elf craftsman looked at the noble daughter again and again. If the other party's eyes were not clear and he had no other purpose, Fang He would almost suspect that the master craftsman had impure motives.

"Master Ailin, do you think there is anything special about me?" Sylvie asked with a slight smile.

"May I ask, who is Greenhill to you?" Ailin Tiexin asked.

The ship officer was slightly startled, with a look of surprise on her face. "If Master Ailin is not asking about someone with the same name, then it should be my great-grandmother."

"That shouldn't be wrong," Ailin Ironheart shook his head. "Are you a descendant of the Rose Family?"

Sylvie was slightly startled. "Has Master Ailin ever met my great-grandmother?"

"No, I have met your great-grandfather, Mr. Luo Zhen," Arlin Ironheart replied. "Of course, he was already a famous alchemist at that time, and I was still an apprentice. I had some unwise thoughts at that time, so he scolded me."

Sylvie and Fang He looked at each other, feeling awkward. This is what happens when you talk to elves. They live too long. "I have a grudge against your ancestor." is not just empty talk.

"Don't worry," Arlin Ironheart shook his head. "Being scolded by a great alchemist is not an honor for everyone. Besides, I was just an apprentice craftsman at the time, but he noticed me."

"The reason I chose this path later was partly due to this experience. If I had insisted on going my own way and not turned back until I hit a wall, I might have achieved what I have today."

Ailin Ironheart shook his head again, and said with some emotion, "I didn't expect that I would be able to meet his great-granddaughter today. Now I realize that so much time has passed for you, but I still can't reach his level back then."

His eyes fell on Sylvie once again, and he said, "When I first met your great-grandmother, she was with Mr. Luo Zhen. She was a human lady who was as beautiful as you. Even from the perspective of us elves, you are very similar to her. You have inherited almost all of your great-grandmother's good qualities."

Ailin Tiexin looked at Fang He again. "Even in this regard, she was accompanied by a talented alchemist. And you are the same. Of course, he still has room for growth, but his potential is already excellent."

He then said to Fang Yu: "I heard about you and Her Royal Highness the Princess. Your performance in the Gray Region is quite remarkable for your age. However, your understanding of the Crystal Tower is still a little distorted. Master Luo Zhen gave me some advice, so I will return the favor by teaching you the knowledge of the White Tree Society."

Ailin Ironheart slowly elaborated:
"Although to outsiders, the White Tree Society is just a branch of the Crystal School, its true core is actually not like that. This skill is derived from the unique magic of the elves, and has something in common with your ancient alchemy. When you master it, you will not only learn knowledge related to the Ether Crystal Tower, but also an ancient theoretical foundation."

"Inside the White Tree Society, there are many craftsmen who can set up an ether crystal tower, but not many people truly understand this. From top to bottom, there are only a handful of people. As for how deep you can go, it depends on your own understanding. After all, over the years, apart from the president and vice president, I have only seen one young man who can do this."

Fang He never thought that he could still benefit from Sylvie, a great alchemist who had passed away many years ago. He couldn't help but glance at the ship officer. Sylvie just smiled at him with her eyes narrowed.

Fang He actually wanted to ask who the only young man was. Among the current generation of talented craftsmen in Giant Tree Hill, the most famous one should be Forin. He had met him once in the sea of ​​trees, and his level had indeed left a deep impression on him.

Excluding the part about ancient alchemy and combat craftsmen, Fang He felt that he was not as pure as the other party in the field of alchemy alone.

What's more, he also benefited from Miss Tata. Before the accident of Dawn Star, Miss Scarpe often jokingly called him a repairman, and Fang He himself thought so too.

However, the elves have a long lifespan and they have seen countless geniuses in their lifetime. Fang He is well aware that there are always people better than you and there are always better things beyond you. He does not think that what Ailin is talking about must be Forin. What if there is a brighter star among the stars?

The two exchanged knowledge of ether and techniques related to alchemy. Although Melfina was a princess, she rarely interrupted in areas she did not understand. Sylvie was even more familiar with the technique of hiding wisdom in silence.

Time passed unnoticed, and the elves used twelve unicorns to pull the cart. They were not real unicorns, but some kind of hybrid horses. Unicorns were extremely noble, and no one knew how these hybrids were passed down. They were not artificially cultivated by the elves, but there were tribes in the wild.

As for the others, they did not follow the convoy, but chose to board the Seven Seas Traveler to go to Fortier first. It was an elven town adjacent to the elven king Tintirion. The royal court's airport was not open to the public, so Melfina prepared two berths for them there.

One berth was for the Seven Seas Traveler, and the other was for Catherine and her ship. The female pirate changed the name of her new flagship to "Seven Seas Storm", which sounded like an imitation of the Seven Seas Traveler, making Fang He laugh and cry.

They would disembark there and then walk to Tirion to meet the Plover. The distance between the two places was only a dozen miles, so the journey was not too long.

Besides, the Seven Seas Traveler might arrive at Fortier before the convoy, and the First and Second Regiments might be waiting for them in Tirian before them.

As the sun set over the distant mountains, Ailin Ironheart stopped talking and put down the teacup in his hand. The golden afterglow cast a thin layer of light on the table. Princess Melfina was not arrogant. There were no other servants in the carriage, so she personally refilled the teacups for the two of them. Her Royal Highness looked at the master craftsman, and then at Fang He who was standing beside her.

She couldn't understand most of the conversation between the two, but Fang He answered fluently for the entire afternoon. He kept asking questions and answering them, and his ability to understand was beyond her expectations.

It seemed that no question could stump him. Although he was the learner, he acted like an equal communicator. He answered, recorded, and learned in the process, and his progress was beyond imagination.

Not only the princess, but even Ailin Tiexin seemed a little surprised and couldn't help asking, "Do you really understand?"

Fang Yu nodded seriously.

"Then let me ask you, why do you use turquoise when recording the light conversion formula?"

"I guess it's because the elves' skills come from magic species, and they have to use such a compromise in order to adapt to the magic core," Fang He replied, "I think if we use ancient alchemy, maybe this step can be omitted."

"But considering the burden of the Creation Method, I'm not sure whether this makes it more complicated or simpler."

Ailin Ironheart looked at him and was silent for a while before he asked, "Who taught you alchemy?"

Fang Yu was stunned for a moment, not understanding what was going on, but still answered: "Many people have taught me relevant knowledge, Master Ailin. My alchemy foundation comes from Master Calderin, a master craftsman of the Kapka Academy. I'm not sure if I can be considered his student, because I received basic alchemy education there with many others. Master Calderin didn't seem to think much of me and often thought I was a step behind others."

"Later, Master Aquet and Master Ander taught me a lot. Master Ander and Mr. Anloser, the owner of Holy Bow Peak, are my real teachers. Some alchemy masters among the Chosen have also taught me knowledge, such as the Construct Queen Ms. Ming, who is also one of my teachers."

"I have heard of these people. They are indeed rare geniuses in their respective fields." Ailin Ironheart was silent for a while before answering, "Let us continue—"

Fang Yu was stunned for a moment, then nodded obediently.

The sun sets, the stars begin to rise, and a silver moon has risen in the direction of the mountains of Ravenril, hanging on the treetops. The moonlight illuminates the path in the forest, and the stones reflect the silver light.

The discussion was still going on. Ailin Tiexin had stopped looking down on him and started to have some deeper discussions about Starlight and the iron rules of ancient alchemy. Before they knew it, Melfina was pouring tea for the two of them for the second time. But this time, Sylvie took the teapot from her, smiled politely, and poured a cup for Fang He.

The Elf Princess looked at Sylvie and then at Fang Heron.

In her opinion, the young man could no longer answer every question smoothly. He would occasionally stop to think and then carefully put forward his own opinions.

He and the elf master craftsman beside him seemed to ignore everything around them, as if they were the only two of them in the car, one asking questions and the other answering.

Time passes by unknowingly.

Fang He gained a lot and became more humble. He gradually realized that what the elf master said was true and that the theories of the White Tree Society were deeply connected with ancient alchemy.

In some corners, he could even see similarities between the two. The ambiguous feeling made him scratch his head, so he frowned and asked questions one after another.

When he asked a question again, Ailin Ironheart hesitated for the first time. The alchemist fell into a long period of thought, and after a long while he answered: "I don't have a very good idea about this, Ed, you have to try it yourself."

"I'm going to try it myself?"

"Yes," Ailin Ironheart nodded, "Ed, I have another question."

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Fang He came back to his senses from his thoughts and looked at the other party: "Master Ailin, please go ahead."

"Will you be my student?"

Fang He was slightly startled, but replied: "Master Ailin, you taught me this knowledge. In my heart, you are one of my teachers."

"One of your teachers?" Ailin Ironheart smiled in relief. "No, I am not your teacher. But I can teach you knowledge on behalf of that person. The great alchemist looked down on me at the time, but he must be happy to see a student like you."

Fang He was confused, but he had always been willing to learn from others. In his opinion, this elf master was imparting knowledge to him, so he was undoubtedly his teacher, and everything else was just trivial matters.

He nodded slightly.

But Princess Melphina interrupted them and said, "We still have a long time to go, but we are approaching the outskirts of Autumn Glade. You two should stop for a while. After entering Tirian, you will return to the King's Court with me. I will arrange a room for each of you there."

Fang He was stunned for a moment and looked out the car window, only to find that it had become completely dark outside, while the lights inside the car were on. He had not noticed this at all before.

He couldn't help scratching his head, he was so engrossed in the discussion that he completely forgot how much time had passed.

Ailin Ironheart smiled, satisfied with his attitude.

……

"Ms. Cecelier, Ms. Cecelier?"

The guardian of the Great Silver Library, councillor of Silverwind Harbor, and director of the Disaster Investigation Department, Kalandir, called out several times before he suddenly realized that his assistant had been gone for quite some time.

The elegant elf congressman smiled bitterly and shook his head. He could only stand up and walk to the side, pick up the newspaper of the day and put it on the desk.

The front-page headlines of the newspapers were reporting everything about the Ninimere front. The day before yesterday, the front line had achieved a breakthrough, and yesterday, it had reached the core of the disaster area.

Today, the coalition forces have achieved another important victory and are already close to the main body of the disaster tree.

Perhaps because of the concentration of troops, or perhaps because of the timely arrival of support from the First Division and Corin-Ishurian, this round of offensive always feels much smoother than any previous one.

The streets were cleared of gloom, and everyone was discussing the general offensive. However, there were always some discordant notes in the gossip, and some people pointed out that the poor command in the past was due to the interference of the Elven Court in the decision of the Linoril Council.

Of course, these news have not been verified, but the contradictions still vaguely point to the Holy Forest and the Elf Court.

Kalandir sneered when he saw these rumors. He didn't need to guess who was spreading the rumors behind the scenes.

He shook his head.

However, some tabloids brought up the disappearance of the investigation team again, and this time they also mentioned the issue of several Unicorn girls from the Temple "fleeing from the crime", implicitly putting the blame on the Holy Maiden Society.

This also involved the Seven Seas Brigade. This was the second time that Carandil saw this name. The last time was in Kerrywood's report.

The young head of the investigation department glanced at the sensational headlines:
'The cross-border thief is entering the Giant Tree Hill——

The Seven Seas Brigade is wreaking havoc on the outskirts of Sanshak.'

'One mountain lord was coerced by this, and another mountain lord disappeared.'

'The former saint who fled for fear of crime is suspected of working with the wanted criminal.'

'According to investigation, the planting time of the disaster tree is also related to the Saint's Society.'

Kalandir put down the newspapers. Naturally, he did not believe a single word of the news on them. But even if he did not believe them, there would naturally be people who would, and there were quite a few people in Silver Wind Harbor who believed in the news.

Ultimately, it was because the Silver Wind Watchers had won consecutive battles in recent times, and seemed to be ready to uproot the disaster tree Ninimere.

As the disaster branch closest to Silverwind Harbor, Ninimer is naturally a major concern for all residents of Silverwind Harbor. Whoever can deal with it will naturally be the hero of Silverwind Harbor.

No one doubts whether the winner's words are true or false.

But a trace of doubt arose in Kalandil's mind. He always felt a little uneasy. Compared with every previous offensive, Ninimer's performance this time was a little too weak.

Could it be that, as the parliament said, it was something sent by the Empire - their plan worked, but he heard from another source that the Elf Court's attack on the Guth Disaster Area had also made great progress.

Isn't this a bit too coincidental?

Kalandir never believed in coincidences. He believed that there must be inevitability in all coincidences. He put his hand on the stack of newspapers and silently estimated the assistant's itinerary.

She should have arrived near Tilfol by now.

...(End of chapter)