Above The Sky
Chapter 435 - 435 405 Elves of Twin Trees Town 33

435: Chapter 405 Elves of Twin Trees Town (3/3) 435: Chapter 405 Elves of Twin Trees Town (3/3) By four or five in the afternoon the next day, Ian saw the green city walls situated behind a small river from afar as he traveled along the main road.

The summer sunlight was still strong at this moment, shining evenly across the entire Agate Stone Plains through the occasionally passing clouds.

From a bird’s-eye view, the entire plain would resemble a piece of yellow and green agate, with specks of human towns scattered on the field, interconnected by various roads.

Reflected by the surrounding foliage, the pale green river water flowed cheerily, while the caravans on the road bustled with activity and noise, even giving off a sense of congestion.

The town was now in plain sight.

In the past, Twin Trees Town served as a bridgehead fortress before Nauman City, a riverside stronghold.

After the war ended, the castle was transformed into a company hall, while the city walls, instead of being torn down, were covered with a dense weave of vines, which from afar looked just like a living wooden wall planted by the elves.

A solid stone bridge spanned the river, leading directly into the town, while the entwined archway formed by two huge trees seemed to sway their branches and leaves in the warm breeze, welcoming all newcomers and farewells.

This was Twin Trees Town.

Although the road was clogged with traffic, the city was much better, with still noisy crowds but at least no traffic jams.

The Knight’s Armor Ian wore allowed him smooth entry into the town without being questioned by the gate guards; he simply showed his emblem and was courteously directed to the Greatwood Inn in the West City District.

In an act of reciprocity, Ian gave a Small Bison Silver to the guide, making him overjoyed, and took the opportunity to ask a few questions.

“Why is it so congested?

Hey, my lord, you’ve come up from the south, right?

Recently, a lot of big things have happened in Nauman City.

The Marquis was assassinated, informants from the Dragon Worship Cult have fled, and even the elves from Canaan Moore have come all the way here, fought the Knight Order and fled in a sorry state—it’s been eventful, and dangerous too!”

“Most of these merchants and travelers smelled trouble and ran out of the city ahead of time.

It’s not just our town; every small town and city around here is bursting at the seams!”

The soldier rambled on with the rumors and news he had heard in recent days from passing travelers and adventurers, involving noble strife, cult rampages, suspicions between nations, espionage confrontations, special forces battles, and the struggle for important treasures.

The stories were enough to fill a novel of a million words, and not one bit embellished.

Accompanied by the songs of Ballad Poets coming from the nearby market, the cries of merchants hawking their wares, and the sporadic shouts of guards angrily accusing ‘thieves!’ and curses from the victims, Ian felt his Small Bison Silver was well spent.

—Canaan Moore has also gotten involved in this affair?

Suspicion towards Anfa grows ever stronger.

Ian thought this and nonchalantly flicked a drop of water onto the back of a thief’s hand, who was reaching out for his baggage—a sudden chill stiffened half of his body, but without causing any real injury, just a stumble.

“Hey, what are you doing?

You dare steal with me right here?”

The guard immediately got angry and stepped forward to kick the thief.

He then turned around, apologetically, “My lord, the inn is right here.

Of course, there are better places, but I’m not familiar with those.”

“That’s enough, go back to your work,” Ian nodded.

He had not asked the guide to show him the way in the first place, but to hear his views regarding the recent events in Nauman City.

After a moment of thought, Ian took out some dangerous-looking, dark green Alchemical Potions from his bag and hung them outside his baggage.

He also took out a prepared sign and hung it alongside.

[Alchemist’s baggage, touchers implicitly agree to assist in alchemy experiments]

Many gazes shrank back in fear, opening up a clear space around him.

At least this particular reputation came in handy.

Leading his Camel Beast through the crowd, Ian realized that this seemingly ‘primitive’ town actually possessed quite advanced technological standards.

The blacksmith shops along the riverway operated with hydropower, and the massive hammers replaced manual labor.

Next to them, the smelting furnaces showed no visible flames and instead featured cylindrical vacuum alchemy apparatuses.

Metals fed into them would come out as molten red-hot steel.

Adventurers and other guards he passed along the way were also well-equipped, carrying firelocks besides swords and longbows—while they may not pack enough punch against Magical Beasts without being alchemically modified, they still held significant value for intimidation and as a surprise attack.

He even saw two Adventurer teams with Sublimators among them, fully armed, with a Dwarf carrying a twelve-millimeter Alchemy gun on his back, with a crystal grid that hadn’t been charged yet.

One shot might not kill a Sharp Claw Tiger, but it would certainly take down a Reef-eater Otter with no problem.

The adventurer at the forefront didn’t look much different from himself, they both wore full-body armored clothing, and their movements were agile and vigorous, clearly indicating that the team’s core member must have had military experience, possibly a retired old soldier like Green Tide’s father.

Even the towering commercial center in the distance had something akin to neon signs—an enormous glass sandwich board, within which were color-changing alchemical materials, shining brightly to display today’s date, the floors on which the relevant business associations resided, as well as some key notices.

This was just a small town.

“An interesting place.”

Ian chuckled and then found the information he was looking for on this advertisement board.

“Silver Bazaar Company.”

He muttered to himself and then nodded, “Mr.

Silver Workshop does have a branch here after all, looks like I’ll be able to freeload a meal tonight.”

Mr.

Silver Workshop’s real name was Kutag Lavente, a wealthy merchant of Nauman City, specializing in the trade of building materials and grain oils.

He was a regular customer of Ian’s appraisal shop, and over the course of three to four years, they had developed quite a good friendship.

Especially after Ian helped him connect with Master Gossay and others through the Longevity Magic Plant a while back, the rich man, who looked like a poor old farmer, had repeatedly expressed his gratitude.

He even confided to Ian that if he planned to travel, he must visit him in Nauman City where he would have a generous gift waiting for him.

Ian wasn’t really interested in his generous gift, but he did need a quiet place to store his luggage and mount.

It wasn’t that other places were not good, but a familiar place was at least a bit more comfortable.

And most likely wouldn’t cost him a penny.

In fact, not only would it probably be free, he might even end up being paid for it.

“Ian?”

When Ian arrived at the Silver Bazaar Company’s branch, a building that looked like a mill whose windmill had been dismantled, a tall, slender old man with grayish-brown goatee hurried down from the second floor.

Mr.

Silver Workshop opened his arms in delight, approaching Ian ready to give him a hug, “I caught a glimpse of your armor just now; I thought it looked familiar.

When I came closer, I saw that distinctive pouch of yours—it’s really you!”

“Careful, sir, a hug with this armor isn’t pleasant—what brings you here?”

Ian, equally taken aback, took off his helmet and reached out his hand with a smile towards the old man—it wasn’t that he was unwilling to embrace his old customer, but his armored clothing made his temperature extremely low due to his Water Element Origin, which truly wasn’t good for the elderly.

“Isn’t it because of the fuss over at Nauman City?

The Viscount told me just a few days ago that he thought you were about to arrive at Twin Trees Town, so I figured why not come here for a rest…

Come on, let’s go upstairs and talk.”

After exchanging pleasantries, Ian was taken to the second floor.

And just as Ian and Mr.

Silver Workshop were ascending to the second floor, Ian caught a glimpse of a green figure darting past the front of the Silver Bazaar Company from the corner of his eye.

The smile on the boy’s face stiffened for a moment.

On Terra Continent, there were many peculiar hair colors, green was not unique to the Elves; the Iron Folk also had hair colors close to that of bronze.

If one only looked at the eye color, it would be easy to mistake one for the other.

But Ian wouldn’t make that mistake—he remembered clearly, not to mention he had Foresight View and the Silver Chip.

“Anfa?” he asked himself in surprise, “What a coincidence, what’s he doing here—oh no, did I give that dragon the wrong directions?”

“I really didn’t do it on purpose…

at least this time I wasn’t trying to lie.”

Outside Twin Trees Town.

A shadow gazed from afar at the bustling and lively town.