Thousands of hippogryphs soared through the sky, the flap of their wings kicking up strong winds in their wake. Beneath them, horse-like beasts of burden dragged carriages laden with rations to the forest. As they neared the woods, the trees seemed to part slightly, as though making a pathway for them.
After the caravan passed by, the trees moved back into their original positions, closing the path and erecting a barrier for the Silver Moon Kingdom
The Silver Moon Kingdom had about a million elves, and practically no elves on the main continent lived outside its fold. It was as large as the largest human empire.
These treant protectors had been guarding the front lines of the Silver Moon Kingdom for thousands of years. With their forest network, they could create the most suitable environment for elves to fight in. Even if tens of thousands of troops were to invade, the labyrinth they built would cull them in droves.
In addition to the huge magic barrier that protected the elven city for thousands of years, the queen of the elves was also a demigod. Even if other demigods were to invade, they would only be able to take a single step forward before falling into danger.
The current state of affairs took millennia of effort given their birth rate challenges.
After entering the Silver Moon Kingdom’s borders, Sisna saw a bird fly through the fragrant air. Before her lay a dense network of tree branches that hoisted greenwood houses.
Palm-sized fairies flew among the flowers. Fauns looked curiously at the large contingent of elves without saying a word and rushed towards the center of the kingdom. On top of the tall trees in the distance, a group of druids who had transformed into moonkins bowed towards Sisna and then continued to inspect the magical barriers of the kingdom.
The sprites and dryads seemed to be startled. They timidly looked at the happy expressions on the elves driving the carriage.
The Silver Moon Kingdom was not only the land of the elves but also a gathering of many races that loved nature and freedom. They had also been living here in peace for many years.
The blue sky and white clouds, the clear streams and springs, the towering trees and vibrant flora, the rainbow and treehouses might make the Silver Moon Kingdom look like it came out of a fairy tale, but it was not as beautiful as it seemed. Poverty and hunger were also existent in this place and were difficult to solve.
Even some countries in the 1960s still experienced famine. For an unproductive race like the elves, it was already incredible that they hadn’t gone extinct.
Sisna took a deep breath. She felt the natural and peaceful atmosphere of the Silver Moon Kingdom quickly calm her mind. She then urged the hippogryph beneath her to fly towards the royal palace.
When she arrived at the Ancient Tree of Life, Sisna’s expression became humble. She walked up the rainbow bridge leading to the palace. Under the lead of the maids, she entered the palace and once again had an audience with the elven queen.
“I know the purpose of your arrival. You’ve done well, Sisna… You have brought enough rations for us to get through the winter.”
Carandia’s voice rang out. Despite her praise, however, there was a slight edge of helplessness to her tone.
The Forest of the Moon was located in the south of the continent. While it could avoid the worst of the winter cold, food was still difficult to find during this period, and starvation was rampant. With the dragon’s boon, this year would definitely be a comparatively better one.
The elves could not increase their population easily. And although they had many strengths as a race, they had just as many weaknesses. And so they had not been that successful in the recent wars against humans.
This time, the queen was pleasantly surprised yet anxious at the refined wheat that Sisna brought. Because elves lived long lives, even the most common elf occasionally indulged in pleasures as human nobles did. However, when there was nothing else to eat and they were starving, they would have to eat black bread like everyone else. But if they were allowed to eat the white bread baked from this refined wheat, then the next time, they might rather starve to death than go back to eating black bread.
Elves were a hard-to-please race, so the queen decided to use the refined wheat to exchange for more coarse grains from human society. It was better to use quantity to meet the needs of the races.
“This is what I should do, Your Majesty! As a member of the elves, I should give my efforts for the growth of the race!”
Sisna kneeled down on one knee and performed the ancient elven salute. She lowered her head as much as possible to not meet the gaze of the queen. Because of the queen’s immeasurable transcendent charm, even a legendary rank ranger like her would sometimes be captivated even if she had been with the queen since childhood. Her mind would fall into a trance and feel ecstasy.
The queen’s beauty had already reached the level of a curse!
“Are our people getting used to life in Dragon City?”
She had sent thousands of elven soldiers and even noble elven maidens to Dragon City. Even if she understood that this was the right thing to do politically, she still felt guilt at such ‘betrayal’ to her fellow elves.
“That…” Sisna was hesitant.
“Are they not having trouble living there?”
The queen sighed softly. The nearby trees and flowers seemed to wither with her mood.
She knew that elves were uncomfortable with life outside the forest.
“No, our people are not too resistant to living in Dragon City. The city is now neat and clean under the lead of Lord Caracolon. Although it’s not as good as Silver Moon City, the people have already adapted.”
Sisna could only say it like this, and it wasn’t really a lie.
She could not just say everything to the honorable queen. It was impossible for her to tell her that her people were now happily eating and drinking in Dragon City as compared to the Silver Moon Kingdom!
The dragon lord disliked keeping fruits as they went bad easily. Other than leaving some of them, the rest was rewarded to the elves. Although the fruits had some differences from the fruits inside the Forest of the Moon, they were indeed fruits – sweet, delicious, fresh, and juicy.
They were also able to enjoy white bread and exquisite meat, which was unlike the chaff and water in Silver Moon City.
Other than elven officers, who got to enjoy white bread from time to time, ordinary soldiers never even had the chance to taste such fluffy divine cuisine.
The elves were not a productive race, and even among humans, only great nobles were able to enjoy such food at all times. It was simply impossible for ordinary soldiers to enjoy it.
If the queen were to visit Dragon City now, she might just faint. Those handsome male elven soldiers had lifted up their sleeves and were laying bricks. A few druids had even changed into their bear forms and were moving heavy slabs of stone. The city lord was very pleased with all this and rewarded them with gourmet food that Sisna had never seen or heard before, as well as exquisite and delicate utensils.
Metal was not rare, and the pattern was barely accepted by them, but the light and smooth beauty that could not be made by an ordinary craftsman was simply a work of art to them!
Now, bricklaying was the most sought-after job in the entire Dragon City. There had even been conflicts between humans and elves, as the humans felt that the elves had stolen their bricklaying work!