The Elf Journey In The Western Fantasy World-Chapter 21: The Hidden Key

Otherwise, if this light elf recorded this incident in his mental little black book and refused to form a bond in the future... that would be devastating.

Drow’s hands, which had been hanging by his sides, somehow ended up clasped behind his back.

His fingers nervously twisted together—just like a child caught making a mistake, awaiting a scolding.

Illiya reached up to rub his temples, feeling as though he had endured a year’s worth of shocks in a single day.

First, the dark elf disappeared.

Then he reappeared.

And just for good measure, he even apologized to him.

If Illiya were to be honest, he still had no idea why the dark elf, Drow, was apologizing.

In fact, he hadn’t even fully grasped what had just happened.

Bel waited for a while, feeling as though an entire continental epoch had passed.

Each magical moment stretched endlessly, seemingly without an end in sight.

Unable to resist, he stole another glance at the light elf.

That one glance made his heart sink.

Bel: T_T

He’s frowning! Does he hate me now?!

This is bad.

My hard-to-find companion is about to reject me!

Overcome by a wave of inexplicable sorrow, Bel instinctively activated his stealth ability—once again vanishing into thin air.

Illiya stared blankly at the now-empty space in front of him, feeling an overwhelming sense of resignation.

This continent with dark elves... should just be destroyed.

Darius, who had been watching the entire scene unfold, let out an unrestrained laugh.

However, the moment he sensed Illiya’s murderous gaze land on him, he immediately suppressed his amusement, pretending as if nothing had happened.

However, as the City Lord of Haneulseong City, Bearnard had no such tact.

Right in front of Illiya, he burst into unrestrained laughter—his voice ringing loud and clear.

"Hahaha! Are all elves this amusing? The last time I saw an elf was back when I was still part of the Royal Knights. I was so nervous back then—after all, it’s not every day you get to meet an elf. Who in this continent doesn’t want to meet an elf at least once? It’s a lifelong dream for many!"

As he spoke the last sentence, Bearnard’s face took on a genuine, hearty smile.

As a member of the praised elven race, Illiya felt somewhat embarrassed to return such a fierce glare.

It wasn’t proper elven etiquette, after all.

In the end, he could only smile politely in response.

When you don’t know what to say, just smile.

After this little interlude, the tense atmosphere in the room relaxed considerably.

One by one, the group—Drow, who had just disappeared, included—entered the reception hall and each found a seat.

Bearnard had originally planned to give the main seat to Darius, but the latter, having already sensed his intention, he quickly claimed the first chair on the left.

Since Darius was already seated, Bearnard couldn’t very well ask him to move.

Just as he was about to shift his focus elsewhere, he noticed that everyone else had already chosen their seats.

Illiya took the first chair on the right, and naturally, Drow stuck close to his companion.

Eoryun glanced around, noticing that there was only one person on the left but two people on the right.

With a sigh, he abandoned his plan of sitting on the right and instead settled into the second chair on the left—perfectly satisfying his obsessive need for symmetry.

Bearnard remained silent for a moment as he observed the seating arrangement.

Then, with a heavy heart, he made his way to the main seat.

Honestly, he hated sitting in the center.

It meant that all eyes were on him, and as a former knight who preferred a low-profile life, it was extremely uncomfortable.

Still, no matter how awkward he felt, there was business to discuss.

Bearnard reached into his spatial bracelet and retrieved a plain black box, setting it down on the table in front of him before withdrawing his hand.

The moment the conversation turned to business, his entire aura changed.

"You all know about the undiscovered ruins, don’t you?"

From the moment they arrived in Haneulseong City, it had been an open secret that an uncharted ruin was up for auction.

But... wasn’t the key to the ruins supposed to be at the auction?

And hadn’t Eoryun and his people destroyed that auction?

Then what was that on the table?

As they thought about it, everyone’s curious gazes fell on the small box on the table.

Illiya had a bold guess. "Could it be that the relic key at the auction was fake?"

Bearnard nodded and honestly explained, "Actually, the key at the auction was something I put up for sale. It was just a replica of the real key. And to make it more convincing, I combined features from other relic keys and added some unique characteristics to it."

At this point, he even sounded a bit proud. "You should know, in order to make this fake key as realistic as possible, I put in a lot of effort. I even used several high-quality magic crystals."

Between the lines, he was emphasizing just how much he had sacrificed for this key.

Illiya: "..."

Drow: "..."

Eoryun: "..."

Darius: "..."

He really had "put in a lot of effort."

Setting that aside, the fact that the real key was in the hands of the City Lord was what truly shocked them.

Darius thought for a moment and quickly pieced things together. He confidently stated, "You’re the one who spread the news that the relic key would be auctioned. Even if you weren’t the direct source, you certainly fanned the flames."

"And also, this isn’t just an ordinary relic, is it? There must be something inside that you really want."

Bearnard didn’t hide anything. "That’s right. Actually, this relic requires two keys. I already used one of them. Because I know what’s inside, I deliberately spread the news that the relic key would be auctioned in Haneulseong City."

Since he had already said this much, Bearnard knew it was time to lay everything out.