Just as the other emperors were about to take their leave from Eastern Moon Aotian, Yumigawa Senki’s party drifted back into the Proud Moon Palace like moonlight sliding across jade floors.
Aside from Eastern Moon Aotian, it was the first time the others had met anyone from the Mizumi Clan. Senki’s beauty cut like a frost-edged blade, her bearing calm as a lake at dawn. They stepped forward in a tide, greeting her and reporting the battle against the Dark Demon along with the losses, like rain counting fallen leaves.
The palace officials watched, brows raised like cranes on a roof. Those lofty emperors bowed with spring-calm courtesy; the Mizumi Clan’s name was wind enough to bend tall bamboo.
“You’ve worked hard.” She sighed, dusk settling in her tone. “The casualties are higher than we expected.” She lifted several space rings, starlight winking off them. “Your reward. If it’s not enough, say so.”
“Thank you, Miss—no, Lady Yumigawa.” They accepted with care, as if receiving hot coals, then poured mana in. The rings opened like lanterns in a dark room.
“…This!” Their voices hitched like bowstrings. Inside lay five stalks of Supreme Divine Spirit Medicine, several kinds of supreme divine-grade materials, and heaps of Purplegold Coins shining like piled sunsets. A single share outvalued the Dark Demon sub-branch’s hoard across centuries, and every one of them had a share.
They had fretted over the cost of cleaning the storm’s aftermath. Now, all worries blew away like smoke from a brazier.
The supreme-grade elixirs and materials were sights they had never seen since birth, stars beyond price. Even the sheer Purplegold Coins alone could settle the whole mess, sand by sand.
The Mizumi Clan truly was terrifying in its generosity, paying by the measure of the supreme divine. What force in the world could match even a sliver of that? The thought struck like thunder over wide plains.
By contrast, the Dark Demon sub-branch’s centuries of scraping felt bitter as stale tea. Eastern Moon Aotian and the other emperors understood sharply: the Mizumi Clan’s wealth rivaled the world’s sum, ocean to ocean. After all, most precious resources pooled on the Central Continent, like rivers finding one sea.
“What’s wrong? Do you think it’s not enough?” Senki asked, voice soft as falling snow. In truth, she felt she was being stingy. The battle with Molor had burned through too many Supreme Divine Spirit Medicines; beyond what they still needed, only this remained.
“No, no! It’s more than enough! It far exceeds our expectations!” Their relief burst like sunlight through clouds. “We’re deeply grateful for Lady Yumigawa’s generosity!”
“Good.” Her gaze steadied like a lantern. “Please settle the innocent civilians who were dragged into this, and those who survived.”
“No problem! We’ll clean up the battlefield properly!” Eastern Moon Aotian vowed, palms firm as stone.
He glanced up, curiosity shining like a star. “What will you do next, Miss Yumigawa? Do you want to rest?”
“Thanks.” She let the tension go, as if setting down a heavy pack. “We’ll rest today and leave tomorrow.”
Better to arrive in the Elven Realm after a night’s breath, not in a hurried storm.
“Understood! I’ll have the baths drawn and a feast prepared!” Eastern Moon Aotian’s voice rang like a bell.
“Alright.” Senki inclined her head, serene as a willow in wind.
She then led Yumigawa Nozomi and Elyar back to their room, footsteps soft as moths.
The remaining emperors watched Eastern Moon Aotian with envy, a green shade like spring moss. They envied that Senki and her companions could stay in the Proud Moon Palace.
Eastern Moon Aotian basked in it like a cat in sun, even while his words stayed modest, a screen of bamboo phrases.
Night fell. After a steaming bath and a warm meal, Yumigawa Senki, Yumigawa Nozomi, and Elyar discussed tomorrow’s trip to the Elven Realm, voices low as tea over coals.
“So, what’s the Elven Realm like?” Nozomi’s eyes shone like fireflies. “Is it really like in those novels—hidden forests and streets crafted like art?”
“Pfft!” Elyar laughed, a bell over flowing water. “Thou shouldst not trust daydreams, Littlesky. We of the Elven Kind are one of the four major races. We did not fall into forest seclusion. Though the second point is close.”
“Elyar’s right.” Senki flipped through a book, pages whispering like leaves. “Elf User is one of the two mainstream professions in the world. The Elven Kind might be living the best among the four major races. If I remember right, you founded an empire on the Southern Spirit Continent?”
“Exactly.” Elyar’s voice carried pride like gold thread. “Most contracts—broad and deep—are with common elves and low-tier elemental elves, and they belong to the Elven Kind. Elf Users largely seek us out. For convenience, seven to eight centuries ago we established a small country on the Southern Spirit Continent.
“Across the centuries, more and more Elf Users joined our realm. It grew into the continent’s first empire—the Elven Empire!” Her smile was bright as a cresting wave.
Among the four major races, only the Elven Kind carved out a nation within human society. It was a banner worth lifting, high as a mountain ridge.
“Whoa, the Elven Kind is that amazing?” Nozomi blinked, surprise fluttering like a sparrow.
“That is the fog from those novels,” Elyar said gently, the correction smooth as silk. “They claim elves are weak, with low birth rates and scarce numbers. In truth, our population is second only to humans—worldwide.”
“That makes sense.” Nozomi nodded as a thought lit her face, quick as a spark. “If elves were few, Elf Users wouldn’t have enough partners. And Elf User wouldn’t be a mainstream path.”
Mainstream rises on numbers. Right now, Elf Users make up about a third of human professionals, a river just shy of the mage current. Mages sit at roughly thirty-five percent. The rest are everyday trades, stitching life like threads.
“It’s been so long since I’ve seen big brother.” Joy dimmed like an ember under ash. “I wish he could visit the Elven Realm with us.”
Senki’s heart tugged, a string plucked in winter air. “Sumeragi and Lingxiao should still be on the Northern Abyss Continent. It’s hard, being out in the world but not together.”
“…” Elyar only smiled, used to such tides. Whenever quiet came, their thoughts often circled back to Yumigawa Sumeragi, like geese returning to a lake.
They chatted a little longer, set tomorrow’s plan like stones, then washed up, lamps darkening one by one.
By morning, dawn peeled open like a lotus. They packed, ate breakfast fragrant as steam rising from rice. Elyar brought out a teleportation stone linked to the Elven Realm, clear as ice.
She checked that Senki and Nozomi were ready—mind, body, and blade—and then activated it. Light blossomed like a gate of petals, and they stepped through toward the Elven Realm.
