"Am I the only human being here?" Liam smiled in amusement. It was impossible to miss the weird gazes that fell on him and the numerous eyes locked on to him chalked full of disdain. The hatred in the air was palpable.
"It seems that my time here won't be that easy." He continued walking whilst ignoring the stares as much as he could. In a couple of places, some elves almost rushed forward towards him, only stopping at the account of the female elf next to him.
"Sir, please come this way." She laughed awkwardly and pointed to a tall tree at the center of the crowded space. Unlike the other trees, this one had a lot of decorations and was clearly more special.
Liam wondered what this was when suddenly the world around him darkened once again. Huh? But this time he did not lose his consciousness, rather this was something he was already familiar with, the feeling of teleportation.
The next second when he was able to see again, he was standing in front of a giant marble palace. It was a grandiose building with gold and silver extravagantly plastered on it and yet the overall look was very pristine and elegant.
"Is this the royal palace?" Liam asked, eyeing the several elves littered around them. Of course, these ones also did not disappoint and exhibited the same prejudiced gazes.
"Yes, Sir. Please come this way." The woman smiled politely and continued to escort Liam into the palace gates, where they were promptly joined by a group of guards who now began walking along with them.
Each of their levels was around Level 135 and they exuded strong pressure on Liam, not in the least bothered to hide their hostility.
Soon the group arrived in front of a big hall and only then the guards stepped away. Liam looked up to see a huge dining table with a few elves sitting around the table.
Just from looking at them, one could tell that these guys were special as they had donned royal eye-catching robes and looked even more elegant and beautiful when compared to the other elves.
"Your majesty." The elf near Liam immediately bowed and he as well followed her in doing the same.
"Hmmm… you may stand." A lean and tall elf stood up from the table to walk over to Liam. "Welcome to the elven lands. I have heard a lot about you."
Liam stopped bowing and stood straight to face the person addressing him. This had to be the King but the words he was saying didn't quite match well with the sharpness of his eyes.
While the former was polite, the latter clearly had an intent to kill.
Liam's senses were all tingling in high alert. He could tell that he was in an extremely dangerous situation at the moment. He needed to do something fast.
"Please, your majesty. I did not do much. I saw injustice happening in front of me and I couldn't simply watch it. I only did the best I could. I wish I had done more."
Liam explained keeping a very earnest face like a chivalrous knight in shining armor. He might as well be the epitome of goodness and justice.
The King looked at him sternly for a moment before walking back to the dining table, "Tell me everything in detail." The tension in the room as well slightly eased up.
Liam bowed once again and started recounting everything vaguely. He mentioned coming across them in the human kingdom and how he had ended up escorting them all the way back to the elven lands because he was worried for their safety.
However, he did leave out certain parts. He left out the details about the strength that allowed him to bring them all across the vast dangerous territory.
Instead of talking about that, he talked about the barbarians in detail. Their special power and how he and the other elves had to use special tricks to escape from them and run into the wilderness.
The King and the other elves listened to everything patiently and their expressions changed every now and then. Particularly when he talked about the barbarians, the mood in the room visibly changed.
"Barbarians!" The elven King shouted after Liam finished speaking and punched the table in front of him angrily. "They dared to touch nobility now?" His face was full of anger. His gaze seethed in fury.
The atmosphere of the entire hall shifted as everyone else as well turned extremely serious.
Liam personally thought that it was weird for the King to care about nobility in a situation like this but he could see how conceited these elves were.
He did not plan on interfering in their business. Every race had its own hierarchy and it had nothing to do with him.
The elves then started discussing this issue and it looked like recently this had grown into a huge problem. This continued on for a while when suddenly the King realized that Liam was still standing among them.
"Hmmm… You should be tired after traveling for so long. Make sure to enjoy our city's hospitality and rest well. We can meet again some other time."
"Ah~" Liam could see that he was being dismissed from the hall and probably he would never get to see the King again, so he did not waste any time and came straight to the point.
"Your majesty, please forgive me for not mentioning this earlier but I am also here for another reason." Liam gulped. He had no idea if this would work but this was all he had.
"Grandmaster Acalan sent me here, your majesty. He instructed me to meet with an old friend of his. I am not sure who this friend might be." He awkwardly explained.
He really had no idea who the guy wanted him to meet but if another human being was here and made friends, he vaguely guessed that the King might know about it.
Liam expectantly looked at the King's face which went from cold and angry to a confused look. He clearly had no idea whom Liam was talking about.
Perhaps this was a bad idea after all. Just as Liam was about to bow again and salvage the situation, suddenly someone else in the room spoke up.
"Come again? Who did you say sent you here?" A thick and burly elf stood up.
Liam was instantly shocked. This elf was different. Unlike the other thin and skinny ones, he was big and muscular. More importantly, he was fierce. The pressure coming from the elf felt as if Liam was being crushed by something imperceivable.
This elf was a monster. His head was full of white hair but his body oozed power and vitality. For a second, Liam's body trembled without his permission. The person in front of him was… strong.
NO! The elf in front of him should be the strongest person he had ever run into.
He couldn't sense him at all a few minutes ago but now that he revealed his presence himself, all Liam could see was him.
"Grandmaster Acalan." Liam's voice came out as a whisper under the effect of the pressure he was in. He could barely breathe let alone talk.
To make matters worse, the elf was also not making it easy for him. He continued exerting pressure on him, making Liam kneel and buckle on the floor.
He coughed hoarsely, his vision turning white, and clutched his chest in pain. His entire body was about to burst open and become a meat paste. Blood leaked out of his eyes.
Liam's mind froze. His body froze. He couldn't think or move or breathe.
And right at the moment when he felt as if he was about to die, the elf's loud laughter rang out, "That would be me, brat. I am that old asshole's friend."
