The two elves began to argue immediately.

"Have you lost your mind?!" said the green-haired elf, his sword still in hand. "That human has death magic! And you’re telling me you let him stay in the village?!"

"That man and his group saved our lives!"

"...They did?"

"Yes! They got rid of the bastard who was slaughtering our people while you were in the capital sipping tea!"

The green-haired elf clenched his jaw tightly while looking in Mark’s direction, when two more figures appeared from the same direction he had come.

The first was an elf with pink hair pulled back in a high ponytail, wearing a tight black suit with a short bow hanging from her back. Her eyes were a pale pink that matched her hair and her expression was cold.

The second was another elf, shorter than the other two, wearing a tunic made of what appeared to be interwoven green leaves and a gnarled wooden staff in his hand. He had light brown hair pulled back behind his ears and light brown skin. He watched the scene calmly.

The two newly arrived elves simply listened to the conversation between the silver-armored elf and the village chief.

For his part, Mark simply observed them from where he was, with Rose at his side and the skeletons still standing behind them.

"Master, what happened?" asked Ely with concern as she arrived at the scene along with the others.

"We were attacked," responded Mark calmly, gesturing to the elves with his head. "But then the village chief arrived and they started arguing with each other."

"You were attacked?" repeated Ely in a noticeably annoyed tone.

"Yes, but nothing happened," said Mark, raising a hand.

"What do you mean nothing happened?!" said Ely, taking a step toward the elves. "Master, let me go—!"

"My lord, allow me to handle those—!" said Alice at the same time.

"Enough," ordered Mark firmly.

Upon hearing him, both stopped immediately.

"But Master—"

"I said enough," Mark ordered again as he watched the argument between the four elves coming to an end.

The village chief was making gestures with his hands while the other three nodded, with the silver-armored elf being the last to sheathe his sword with a serious expression on his face.

Then the village chief separated from the group and walked toward Mark.

"I sincerely apologize for the recklessness of my brethren," he said, making a bow that drew another groan from his shoulder. "They come directly from the elven capital and carry with them a certain... air of superiority."

"What are they doing here?" asked Rose, crossing her arms.

"They didn’t give me many details," admitted the old elf. "But from what I could understand, it has to do with what happened during your confrontation with the other human."

Mark frowned slightly.

"It seems they were sent to investigate, and as soon as they found out you were the ones involved in what happened, they expressed their desire to have a chat."

"A chat?!" screamed Aria, taking a step forward with indignation. "They attack my Master first and then want to talk? What kind of audacity is that?!"

"Aria," said Mark.

"But Master, that’s—!"

"We’ll talk to them," Mark cut her off.

Everyone except Rose and Yuki looked at him with disbelief.

"Are you sure about that, Master?" asked Ely with a frown.

"You shouldn’t accept so easily, my lord," said Alice, looking at the three elves with suspicion. "We don’t know what their true intentions are."

"What if it’s a trap?" added Aria.

Mark looked at them seriously.

"I want to hear what they have to say," he said in a tone that left no room for discussion. "Besides, I fully trust that none of them is a match for you all, so there should be no problem, right?"

Everyone fell silent upon hearing their master.

"Excellent," said the old elf. "I’ll inform them of your response right away."

And with that, he turned to walk back toward the three capital elves to inform them.

"Let’s go back to the house," said Mark, turning around and beginning to walk. "We’ll talk to them inside."

The group set off back to the house, with Mark in front and the others following closely behind.

On the way, Ely approached him.

"Master, why did you accept?" she asked in a low voice. "After what they did to you, you don’t have to—"

"The answer is obvious," interrupted Rose from behind.

Everyone turned to look at the vampire.

"It’s to get information," said Rose in a direct tone. "Or am I wrong, Master?"

"You’re correct," confirmed Mark without stopping. "Those three come from the elven capital."

"And what does that matter?" asked Aria, confused.

"It matters because from what I saw on the map, the elven capital is at the very southern tip of the continent," Mark explained without stopping. "And no matter how much a week has passed since the fight, the distance is ridiculously enormous to be covered in just seven days."

Mark paused.

"I want to know why they went to so much trouble to come all the way here," he said in a serious tone. "And what it is they know about what happened."

After that, no one spoke until they reached the house.

"Zilu, put the map away," said Mark as he entered.

Zilu, who was still sitting at the table where they had left the map spread out, quickly got up and began to roll the parchment.

"D-did something happen, Master?" she asked as she put the map away.

"We’ll have visitors."

Mark sat down in one of the chairs across from the table while the others positioned themselves around him in anticipation of the elves.

The group didn’t have to wait long because just a few minutes later, footsteps could be heard approaching the door and three sharp knocks.

"Come in."

And then the door opened, letting in the three elves from before.

The armored elf was the first to enter. He had a serious expression that made it clear he didn’t want to be there. The pink-haired elf entered behind him, her pink eyes quickly scanning the room and each person in it. And finally, the wooden-staff elf, calmly closing the door behind him.

The three stood at the entrance, looking at Mark and the six women surrounding him.

"Let’s get to the point... What did you want to talk about?" said Mark, looking at them with a half-smile on his face.