The banquet continued until midnight.
Sana returned from the Capital City just before it ended and was surprised at the sight of fairies dancing with people around the church.
I also told her we didn't need to worry about the people at home as the fairies would cure them.
After the banquet was over, Tris wanted to rest as she was tired from using almost all of her MP to maintain the <Fairy's Banquet> for so long.
She returned to her dorm, not my mansion, saying she needed rest. If she followed me back, she probably wouldn't be able to fully rest because of a strange desire she would feel, or so she said.
Eli also returned without me when I was occupied with the last speech I needed to deliver about how good the Goddess Teri was. Lisa and Lara accompanied her, so I wasn't worried too much about her safety.
When everything came to a close, I was about to return home. However…
"Student Arthur."
Headmistress Alesia suddenly showed up from behind the angel statue and called out to me.
"Follow me for a while. I've heard about the situation from Archbishop Sana."
What did she want?
I was curious, but her eyes looked more serious than winning the annual tournament, which was an important event for her. So I nodded.
"Please lead the way, headmistress."
What did she hear from Sana? Was it about the curse or about the Hell Encroachment? Maybe she knew something that I didn't know yet.
Many questions went over my head in a flash, but all of them were about whether the headmistress, who had lived for a long time, knew something about the information I needed.
People said not to take candy from a beautiful woman or a strange old man. However, Alesia wasn't a stranger, and the candy she had was probably the one I craved and tried to find.
"Where are we going?"
When I stopped before her and asked a question, she clapped her hands and created a teleportation magic circle before answering.
"The Elf Village."
As soon as she said that, my vision turned black for a moment before changing into a lush forest. The trees were high; some were taller than the skyscrapers on Earth.
All around me was filled with greenery, and in the distance, a large tree with a trunk's diameter larger than the Royal Academy stood tall.
"What the…"
I was surprised and amazed.
First of all, I had heard about the Elf Village before from Alesia when she asked me about Tristan's bow. And she also mentioned the world tree, so I wasn't that surprised seeing that giant tree in the distance.
However…
"Why is it still a day in this place?"
This was incomprehensible.
Unlike Earth, Sins Paradise's world was flat with four edges—a giant waterfall stretched across the horizon on the north border and an endless pitfall on the east border.
The south was probably filled with Lava used to throw inhuman creatures away in perpetual pain, while the west that Juriel guarded was still something I didn't know about, but looking at the other edge, it must be something related to wind.
So… once the day turned into a night, every part of the world would also experience it. There was no time zone at all.
"Because we are not on the main island," Alesia responded while looking at me with a natural expression.
"We are currently on a special island floating between the border of the Virtue and the Sin Kingdom, nearing the edge of the World-End Waterfall. And we created an artificial sun to keep the trees fed."
"An artificial sun, you say? Is it <Sunflash> from a Lv 5 <Holy Magic>?"
"I am surprised you know about this." The headmistress' eyes widened slightly, "Yes. It's that magic. And the elder used it every day when the sun had set, or the plant wouldn't get enough nutrients to live."
"That's ridiculous…"
Not only would using an Lv 5 skill for 12 hours be taxing to one's MP, but using it every day would make that person unable to move.
<Sunflash> was a useless skill for most people. It only imitated sunlight and created a bright light for a few seconds. There was only a 3-second cooldown for this skill, and the flash effect lasted for 5 seconds.
If the top ranker in Horizon Online was asked why this skill wasn't that useful, it was because it only worked to surprise your enemy.
And I needed to remind you that some monsters, our real enemies in Horizon Online, often didn't get affected by this skill. However, it was pretty neat to be used against a human opponent to catch him off guard or blind him because this skill only used 2 MP.
Still… Using it for 12 hours straight was just crazy. This elder must be someone who was either crazy or really dedicated.
On top of that, having the trees in constant sunlight could lead them to wilt and eventually die, no? I wasn't an expert on this, but that was what I read on the internet once.
Anyway, back to the topic… I didn't ask the most important question yet.
"Why did you take me here, headmistress?"
"To get a clue of this owner of the cursed monster from Hell. I am aware of its existence because Juriel told me, and the elder knew more about it as he had lived almost as long as Juriel. Besides…"
The headmistress looked at me and smiled wryly.
"The elder has a better <Clairvoyance> than me. Even if he doesn't know anything, he will be able to find your target as long as you have a clue."
Hearing that, I couldn't help but feel bad about it.
'I didn't tell Sana about the fact I can trace the monster back.' I thought.
I essentially could find the culprit as soon as I returned to the mansion. But maybe asking this elder about the progress of Hell's encroachment would be a good thing.
So I nodded at Alesia.
"I am grateful for it."
"No need to mention it." She said, "Let's enter the village first now. It's just up ahead, near the Yggdrasil."
Alesia walked down the dirt path with ease. I followed her closely, walking side by side while appreciating this place's beauty.
The light that passed through the hole between leaves created a strange but mesmerizing shadow dance on the ground.
After we were walking on the dirt path for a while, we came across a more refined path. It was a polished stone path with wooden fences on both sides.
On my radars, only 80 or so neutral dots could be detected. It was a bit strange, considering I had seen many Elves as mercenaries before. Did the others stay on the mainland or what?
Before I could ask, Alesia spoke first.
"Not everyone knows the existence of the Elf Village. Only those related to or have family in this place know the location. We need to keep the balance."
She looked at the giant tree in the distance and sighed, "But that will come to a stop, probably. Temporarily. Because something more important has shown up."
Balance…
Well… It was no surprise if a long-lived Elves knew something like the secret of the world, especially since Alesia was once a Cardinal. That would explain Alesia's dissatisfaction with the war and why she reached out to me.
"We've arrived in the village."
Hearing Alesia's voice, I snapped out of my thoughts and looked around. The trees around this area were slightly different. They had some trunks cut out and small holes, similar to what appeared as a window.
Some plots of land were turned into farms, complete with irrigation and some cattle near them. No elves could be seen outside, and the cows and horses were sleeping in the stable or grass patch.
It was natural. Even if it was bright outside, it was already midnight and time for people to sleep. I noticed the window was covered in black cloth to block the light, making an artificial night within the tree house.
After walking through the village, we arrived in front of the tall fence surrounding the giant tree. A small house made from wood stood between the giant roots of the tree. It looked more like a temple, with a single presence inside.
Before entering the area, Alesia stopped and looked at me.
"Student Arthur… There is something you need to remember." She said seriously with an expressionless face.
"What is it?" I asked.
"The elder is quite… old. But he's someone this village needs. So, I hope you turn a blind eye to his age and not inform the church. Not even Juriel. She doesn't know about him yet."
I see.
People in this world couldn't die as long as the church didn't send them off. A Holy Maiden was needed to send people off after they had reached their lifespan.
Elves, particularly, could live a long life. But their lifespan could still end at some point, and they would subconsciously realize it when the time arrived.
This elder seemed to be older than I thought. But that begged the question. How old was this world, actually? And how old was Juriel?
Anyway, I nodded at Alesia and brushed off the questions in my head. Old was old. I shouldn't think too much about it.
Besides, I already turned a blind eye toward a certain assassin. Adding one more wouldn't hurt this world too much as long as I existed.
"Thank you." She nodded at me and turned around, "Let's meet the elder now."
