Volume 15 Chapter 1.6: Chapter 1 Part 6

One week after leaving Erkunt, Shin and Schnee finally reached the elf village of Lanapacea . Thanks to their high stats, they managed to shorten one month's worth of travel via horse carriage to only seven days . They could run through forests and crags, without the limitations a horse carriage would have, which also helped shorten the travel time .

The fact that Schnee had visited the village before also helped . If Shin was alone, he would have had to proceed while comparing the map and the environment, which would have been definitely troublesome . There was no navigation technology after all .

"We're finally here, but it doesn't look like we're quite welcome...everyone's glaring . "

"That's strange . The last time I came, there wasn't such exaggerated security . "

According to Schnee, the clearly defined line between forest and fields was the outer edges of Lanapace .

Similar to the "Gardens" Pixies created, a magical barrier prevented monsters from entering . Though it looked unprotected, lacking any castle walls or the like, the entrances into the village were actually limited .

To be overconfident in such barriers, however, would be foolish . In the outer edges, where monsters could appear, soldiers with relatively high fighting prowess were always stationed .

Many of such troops were currently stationed near the entrance to the village, as gate guards . From another perspective, the normally invisible entrance was thus made visible .

"Elf, human . This is the entrance to our domain . If you have come upon this place by chance, retrace your steps and be on your way . "

One of the elves, with equipment superior to the others, shouted in Shin and Schnee's direction .

Elves were a very long lived species and always looked young . The male elf who spoke to Shin and Schnee looked around 40-50 years old, in human terms .

He had probably lived a fairly long life . His gaze was sharp, as if he could see right through Shin and Schnee . Even if the atmosphere was tense, he did not give off the impression that he would attack them .

—-Anaheit Luderia Magic Archer Level 233

[Analyze] revealed the elf's identity . His level was the highest among the elves . His job was magic archer, the archer version of the magic swordsman, so to speak . The job's skills allowed the user to exterminate multiple targets at the same time: it was one of the most popular jobs in the game era .

"We have come to Lanapacea for a reason . We have no hostile intentions . "

"You wish to enter, I see . Do you have any proof of identity?"

Shin took out his adventurer's card, which he was told would work as proof of identity . He was also told that not all countries accepted it . In that case, he would ask Tiera to come meet them .

"Oh, an adventurer... . what? Rank...A?"

The elf who checked the adventurer card frowned . Shin was used to seeing people surprised by it, but the elves also showed a sense of wariness similar to hostility . They probably checked Schnee's card too, but didn't show any reaction to it, maybe because her rank was C .

"Is there something wrong with my rank?"

"...my apologies . A human with your appearance must still be very young . I was of the impression that adventurers that reached rank A were all of advanced age . "

The male elf's expression softened . His first warning had been intimidating, but he did not keep the same tone in conversation .

Shin thought of any adventurers that reached rank A despite being young, and could only come up with Wilhelm . He was a Chosen One, however . The others he could think of were all former players or support members, all clearly different from normal people .

Shin reflected that normally adventurers who reached rank A had to be of a certain age, like Bayreuth's guildmaster Barlux - though he was a Chosen One too .

"What business would a high rank adventurer have in our country? There is no adventurers guild here, so even if you gather materials you would need to bring them to a neighboring country for them to be appraised, which is quite a hassle, I'm sure you understand . "

"Our reason is another . There isn't a guild here though? I thought they were present in all countries . "

The Adventurers' Guild, an organization that transcended borders, was present in most countries and cities . As far as Shin had seen, all countries and cities of a certain size had a branch of the guild . It wasn't present in small fishing villages though, naturally .

Despite the absence of the adventurers' guild however, Anaheit seemed to be aware of the significance of being an A rank adventurer .

"Our village does not have frequent contact with the outside world after all . As a country, it is quite small as well . Because of that, we protect the populace from monsters with our own fighting forces . To be perfectly frank, very few people come from outside . "

It wasn't a famous tourist location, nor was it a spot well known for rare materials or unique monsters . The presence of the World Tree was kept a secret too .

Shin knew about it because he had heard from Tiera and Schnee . He probably wouldn't have ever visited Lanapacea if it wasn't for them .

"Our reason for coming here is to meet an elf named Tiera . We have been informed that she is staying in the elf village called Lanapacea . "

It didn't look like they would be let in without stating their purpose outright, so Shin mentioned Tiera's name .

"Lady Tiera?"

"Lady?"

The elf's response was slightly unexpected .

For Anaheit, Tiera was apparently someone that had to be addressed with "Lady" . The male elf looked intently at Shin . Some of the elves behind him armed their bows with arrows .

"The atmosphere's turning sour . "

Shin looked at the elves as he spoke to Anaheit . He very much doubted that Anaheit hadn't noticed the movements of the elves behind him .

"The village is in a bit of a tense situation at the moment . If someone as powerful as you enters, we fear that the situation might take a turn for the worse, you see . "

Anaheit spoke clearly . While not as much as the other elves, he didn't seem to be very welcoming towards Shin either .

Shin and Schnee had not yet been targeted, so they were still quiet, but if the bows turned towards them, they would respond appropriately . Judging by the situation, Tiera's circumstances were much worse than what she wrote in the message .

"We have no intention of causing any trouble, so could you let us in?"

"My apologies, but we need some time . As I said before, your presence could instigate trouble . If you were a normal human, we wouldn't react like this though . "

Shin asked to be let in, but Anaheit maintained his stance of refusal . Neither was going to budge, and it wasn't "yet" time to force his way in, so Shin decided to retreat for the moment .

"I guess it can't be helped . I am sure that even if we persisted we would just give you more work to do, so we'll be back at another time . "

"Apologies for the trouble . As you have an elf with you I am sure you already know, but do not think of sneaking in . If you do, we will be forced to work even harder at our jobs . "

"Haha, who would do something so reckless?"

Both men smiled, but the topic of conversation wasn't amusing at all . Shin, incidentally, did not say that sneaking inside would be impossible .