"...Alright," said Mark as he stood up from his chair. "Give us a moment to prepare."

The armored elf nodded.

"We appreciate it," he said with a small bow of his head that seemed to cost him some pride. "But please, try not to take too long."

"We won’t."

With that said, the three elves took a step back and left the house one by one, closing the door behind them.

The door had been closed for less than a minute and the room was already full of voices.

"Master, I still think it’s not a good idea," said Ely, her voice full of concern. "That you’ve recovered some of your powers doesn’t mean you should throw yourself headfirst into the lion’s mouth."

"I agree with Ely, my lord," added Alice in a firm tone. "No matter how tempting the offer sounds, we know nothing about that queen or her true intentions."

"And besides, you’re still not fully recovered!" said Aria, standing up from her chair. "Or have you already forgotten that you were unconscious for a week, Master!"

Mark listened to his subordinates’ complaints without interrupting them, and when they finally finished expressing their views, he spoke.

"You’re right to be worried," admitted Mark, looking at each one of them. "And I understand why you don’t like the idea."

"Then—"

"But still, this is an opportunity that fell from the sky," Mark cut them off with a tone that was calm but left no room for any reply.

The three fell silent and Rose, who had been leaning against the wall listening in silence, nodded.

"The Master is right. Besides, there’s something else that you all seem to be overlooking," she said. "And it’s that apparently things in the elven kingdom are very tense."

They all looked at her.

"That’s probably because their leaders died in the fight against ’the Demon Lord’ 300 years ago," explained Rose. "Which means the elven kingdom is in a power vacuum right now."

"And how does that benefit us?" asked Ely.

"Because one man’s chaos is another man’s opportunity," responded Rose with a half-smile. "If we play our cards right, we could use that situation to our advantage."

"I agree. We should take this opportunity to try to take control once we’re there," added Yuki as she approached them.

Everyone turned to look at her immediately, since it was rare for her to give her opinion on something.

"If the elven queen needs us as much as it seems," continued Yuki in her flat tone, "that gives us a position of advantage that we shouldn’t waste."

"...Alright," conceded Ely, pressing her lips together. "I understand your points."

"I still don’t like the idea," added Aria, crossing her arms with an expression that made it clear she was giving in reluctantly. "But if the Master says we go, then we go."

"I will go where my lord goes," said Alice in a firm tone. "But if those elves try anything, I won’t hold back."

Then Aria looked at Zilu, who was standing behind Mark’s chair with the map parchment still in her hands.

"What do you think, Zilu?" asked Aria.

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

"Why are you asking me?" asked Zilu with a confused expression.

"Well, you’re coming with us too," said Aria with a shrug. "And the Master likes to know everyone’s opinions."

Zilu looked down for a moment.

"...If the Master says we’re going to go," she said, looking up again, "then I have no objections."

Seeing that everyone was now on the same page, Mark stood up.

"Then it’s decided," he said, walking to where his clean clothes were to change. "We’re going to the capital of the elves."

"Understood!" they all said in unison.

What followed were about ten minutes of quick preparations. During this time, Mark changed out of his sleeping clothes into his usual tunic and stored the reincarnate’s greatsword in his inventory. Zilu packed her clothes and some food in a backpack. And the others, who really didn’t carry more than what they were wearing, simply waited for them.

When they were finally ready, they left the house and walked to the center of the village where the three elves were waiting for them.

"We’re ready," said Mark, stopping in front of them. "How will we get to the capital? Because I seriously doubt you came walking here."

The druid, with his noticeably dark-ringed eyes, looked at Mark.

"Obviously we flew," he responded calmly.

"Can you levitate?" asked Rose with a certain mocking tone in her voice.

"Ha-ha-ha," responded the druid sarcastically, moving away from the group a bit.

Then the druid drove his staff into the ground and closed his eyes.

His body began to glow with a green light that spread through his arms, his torso, and his legs. The light grew more intense with each passing second until the shape of the elf could no longer be distinguished behind the glow.

And then his body began to change rapidly, so that just moments later, where there had once been an elf in a leaf tunic, there was now a huge hippogriff.

This was large enough that ten people could sit on its back without problems.

"Wow..." murmured Aria with her eyes very wide.

"I thought they had arrived with a teleportation spell or something like that," said Ely, looking at the hippogriff with an expression of surprise.

The pink-haired elf looked at her with an expression that was half disbelief and half condescension.

"Don’t be ridiculous," she said. "There’s practically no one left alive who knows how to cast that spell."

Ely, Rose, and Mark exchanged a brief glance but none of them said anything.

The armored elf approached the hippogriff and began to climb up its side, grabbing the feathers on its neck to propel himself upward.

"I warn you that the journey won’t be comfortable at all," he said from above as he settled between the feathers.

The hippogriff turned its enormous head toward him and spoke in a voice that, despite coming from an eagle’s beak, was still perfectly understandable.

"Shut up, you bastard," said the druid irritably. "You’re not the one who has to stay awake for another seven days straight."

"Yes, yes, yes, whatever you say," responded the armored elf, waving a hand as he finished settling in.

Mark looked at the hippogriff for a second and then began to climb.

Getting up wasn’t easy, especially with his body still weakened by the week of unconsciousness, but Ely helped him by pushing him from below until he managed to settle on the back of the creature.

And then the others climbed up one by one, until it was Zilu’s turn.

Zilu put a hand on the hippogriff’s feathers and was about to propel herself upward when a hand closed on her shoulder.

"What do you think you’re doing?" said the pink-haired elf with annoyance. "A beast-woman has no place in the elven capital."

Zilu froze. Her ears flattened against her head instantly and her eyes looked at the elf with an expression of fear.

"Let her go," said Mark angrily from above. "She’s mine and she goes where I go."

The pink-haired elf looked up at him and then looked at the armored elf, who simply shrugged as if to say "I’m not getting involved in this."

"Whatever," she said, releasing Zilu and climbing onto the hippogriff.

Zilu stood for a second with her ears still drooped until she saw Mark extend his hand to help her up.

She took his hand instantly.

Mark pulled her up and she settled at his side, gripping his tunic with one hand while her ears slowly began to lift.

"Thank you, Master..." murmured Zilu in a low voice.

"You don’t have to thank me."

When everyone finished climbing up, the hippogriff extended its enormous wings, blocking the morning light with its wingspan.

"Hold on," said the druid’s voice from the creature’s throat.

And with a single flap that sent up a cloud of dust and leaves from the ground, the hippogriff took off abruptly.

The village grew smaller beneath them as the hippogriff gained height rapidly, until it was suspended in the open sky.

The wind hit their faces and the green plains stretched out below them as far as the eye could see.

’I should have peed before we left...’, Mark thought as the cold wind hit his face.