Chapter 166: Princess

"Let’s go, please lead the way."

Just like last time, the roasted lamb chops and cheese fondue here were incredibly delicious.

While Ethan was enjoying his post-meal dessert, the dining room doors were pushed open.

Mirelle walked in, looking incredibly smug, Leon trailed behind her, looking utterly crestfallen.

Their expressions said it all. ’Looks like Leon lost.’

"Victory and defeat are common in battle, you don’t need to take it to heart, Mr. Leon."

"I won."

"Yeah, I know... What?" Ethan looked at Leon in surprise, not understanding why he had that expression.

Leon coughed awkwardly. "I... neither of us fought with our full strength."

"Why?"

"Because she is your guest, after all."

In the past, they were free and unconstrained, able to spar without any reservations, but this time, with every swing of his sword, Leon thought of Ethan, he couldn’t bring himself to ruthlessly strike Ethan’s companion, and Mirelle seemed to share the same sentiment.

"What does winning or losing matter? What’s important is enjoying good food." Mirelle seemed completely indifferent to the outcome, she sat down at the table, picked up her knife and fork, cut a piece of steak, and popped it into her mouth.

"Although that guy is asking for a beating, for the sake of all the delicious food you’ve made me, I’ll spare his life, giving up delicious food over some boring win or loss just isn’t worth it."

"So you purposely went easy on him?"

"Just held back a tiny little bit."

"My opponent wasn’t fighting seriously, so there was no point in me going all out."

"Alright, alright, I understand." Leon gnashed his teeth in frustration, just about to retort.

Ethan smiled and stood up. "Alright, stop arguing, you won’t reach a conclusion even if you keep fighting, besides, Mr. Leon already won."

"Sigh... Alright, thank you for understanding."

"You’re welcome, has anything major happened in the kingdom recently?"

"Marquis Karloitz is preparing an expedition team to enter the Great Forest."

It seemed Marquis Karloitz had ultimately decided to explore the Great Forest, Leon let out an apologetic sigh, but he couldn’t be blamed for this.

"Truly won’t shed a tear until he sees the coffin."

"You can say that again."

These two usually disagreed on everything, but they were quite in sync at crucial moments.

Ethan smiled and shook his head. "The expedition team shouldn’t be departing that soon, right?"

Entering the Great Forest was no easy feat, first, to cross the Karnabal Plains, they would need an ample amount of Elven Silk, Ethan had Wind Bananas, allowing him to cross the plains with ease, but others would have to wrap themselves tightly in Elven Silk.

Not only that, after crossing the Karnabal Plains, they had to traverse the cursed lands before reaching the Great Forest, now that the area was occupied by Walter, Ethan’s people could come and go freely, but anyone else who wanted to pass through would have to risk their lives.

Furthermore, the Great Forest itself teemed with magical beasts far more dangerous than those in the outside world.

"And they don’t even know the way, meow~"

"That’s exactly why Marquis Karloitz came to me, asking me to guide him."

"Does he want you to guide him, or does he want you to hand over your map of the route?"

"He claims he wants me to guide him, but in reality, he just wants me to hand over the map."

"So what do you plan to do?"

Leon smiled disdainfully. "I refused, of course."

Leon had always maintained neutrality, even leaning slightly toward the royal family, Marquis Karloitz, on the other hand, was someone he needed to keep at a distance.

"Will you get in trouble for rejecting him like that, meow?" After all, Marquis Karloitz’s power within the Elven Kingdom was nothing to scoff at, moreover, it was highly likely he was already colluding with the forces of Chaos, if Leon offended him over this, wouldn’t he be implicated?

"I’m not afraid of him, I have a clear conscience."

"That’s good, if it weren’t for Marquis Karloitz this time, I really would have liked to travel with you." Leon worried that Marquis Karloitz would take advantage of his absence to cause trouble in his territory, so he couldn’t leave.

Ethan understood his difficulties. "It’s fine, you don’t need to worry about us."

He knew that Mirelle was incredibly powerful, and he himself was no pushover, they shouldn’t run into any danger along the way.

Leon also knew their strength, so he didn’t say anything more. "Then please get some good rest today."

Early the next morning, taking along the meat, goat’s milk, and Elven Yogurt Leon had gifted them, Ethan’s group set off on their journey.

Ethan had traveled this road with Leon before, but this time, with only the three of them, it felt particularly quiet.

"How much longer do we have to walk?" Hearing the inquiry from Mirelle, who was lying on the flatbed cart, Ethan checked their direction based on his past experience.

Just as he was looking at the map, Pearl spoke up. "We still have to go to the Seed Vault, meow~"

"Right, if we have time, we can also visit Marquis Ambric’s territory, we might be able to find Lady Witch there."

If they had to visit multiple places, it might take them about a month to reach the Black Mountain Range.

Hearing Ethan’s words, Mirelle pouted in dissatisfaction. "Won’t that be super boring?"

"It’s a journey, there are bound to be unexpected events, meow, don’t overthink it, meow~"

"Let’s hope so."

"Look, isn’t something unexpected happening right now, meow?" Pearl pointed forward, Ethan and Mirelle followed her gaze and saw a cloud of dust kicking up in the distance.

"Is that... a carriage?"

"Looks like someone is being chased." It was a lavishly decorated carriage, clearly belonging to a prominent household, the carriage was barreling toward them in a panic, seemingly fleeing from something terrifying.

"Prepare for battle." Ethan ordered in a low voice.

"No need for you to step in." With a flick of her slender wrist, silver spider silk erupted from Mirelle’s fingertips, forming an impenetrable net right in front of the carriage.

Accompanied by a delicate cry, the carriage skidded to a halt just inches before the net.

Following that, a pack of ferocious-looking monsters charged out from the dust cloud and slammed headfirst into Mirelle’s trap.

Amidst a series of sickening bone-crushing sounds, the monsters were sliced to pieces by the spider silk before they could even get close to the carriage.

Seeing this, the driver hurriedly jumped down and opened the carriage door, a petite elven girl stepped out timidly, she looked quite young, her delicate face filled with panic and unease.

"Th-thank you for saving me." The girl lowered her head and whispered.

"You’re welcome, my name is Ethan, this is Mirelle, and Pearl."

"I-I am..." The girl took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, but her voice still carried a slight tremble.

"I am... Irena Vire."

"Vire? Could it be..." Ethan’s heart skipped a beat, vaguely guessing her identity.

"Yes, I am... King Regracio Vire’s daughter." The girl looked up at Ethan pitifully.