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Published at 20th of June 2022 11:44:42 AM


Chapter 230

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"The Great Emerald Forest isn't for everyone, but if you enjoy being surrounded by nature and don't mind elves in general? It's an excellent place to visit and just… relax. Just let the forest do things naturally and enjoy your time there." - Rean Ainsville, Life-Long Traveler, supposed to have visited all cities in Alcidea, circa 607 FP.

Cal spent a couple days in Naht'anavriel's home, before she left with Kyara and Kino. Martha and Vernon was staying for a while, since she was making a rare visit to her brother, so they said their goodbyes there.

 

When she returned to the city proper, the first thing Cal did was to look for her students. That had proved to be an easy thing to do, as apparently Elaina and Sidonie had introduced some of their old friends to the others. All of them could be found having a big brawl on one of the open platforms.

 

Since Idania used to be part of the defence force of the city - she had retired when the family moved to Paradise - quite naturally many of Elaina's and Sidonie's friends were children of her compatriots. As children with warrior parents, spars and brawls were a daily occurence amongst them, all done in good nature, of course.

 

Cal watched from a distant branch higher above how Willa, Ognar, and Giselle literally took on thirty or so young elves and half elves, and still trashed them completely. Elaina and Sidonie also had friendly matches with their old friends, which they defeated handily. Their years of following around Cal had shown some quick results.

 

She saw Fheeri competing with some other youngsters in throwing, and that they were quite impressed with what she could do with her bizarrely shaped throwing knives. As a culture that also favored throwing weapons, the young elves naturally appreciated her skills and quickly made friends with her.

 

Leila was sitting and chatting with two youngsters who had animal companions with them, a female elf with a dire wolf longer than she was tall, and a male elf who had a majestic bird of prey perched on his shoulder. Cal had to chuckle a bit at the way the boy slouched to a side due to the weight of his pet bird.

 

Satisfied that her students seemed to be having a good time, she hailed a passing elf and asked him for directions. Thirty minutes later, Cal was in a different section of the city, as she walked towards a platform where a large building was located.

 

Even as she approached she could smell the sweet, refreshing scent of the liquor Martha had called the "Emerald Dewdrop".

 

When Cal entered through the open doorway, she was greeted by a young elf, who was dressed in white robes. The insides of the brewery - Martha said it was one - was unlike any she had seen, as it resembled an alchemical apparatus, but made out of living trees instead.

 

"Good day, madam. Can we help you?" asked the young elf politely as he gave a slight bow to Cal. The brewery usually sold directly to shops, rather than to the clients directly, so the young elf assumed Cal might be a representative from a shop or the like.

 

"My friend gave me this letter," said Cal as she brought out the letter Martha had told her to present to the brewery. The letter was in the form of a rolled scroll, on paper that looked like the bark of a tree on the outside, and "sealed" with a knot of the same material. "She said… to tell Juleiqven that Mart'avriel said hi."

 

"Y-yes, madam, please wait here for a while," said the young elf with a stutter in his voice as he pointed at a couch-like bole of wood on the side of the room. He himself quickly went inside in a nervous rush.

 

Cal seated herself on the bole and found it surprisingly comfortable, the solid wood formed just right for her to sit and relax in. A short while after she was seated, a different young elf, a female this time, came over with a tray that had several small glasses on it.

 

"A complimentary sample of our best products, madam," said the young woman politely as she set the tray on the small table next to where Cal was seated.

 

After Cal thanked her, the young woman nodded and left, so Cal took one of the small glasses that contained liquor. The smell was slightly different, somewhat stronger, and the liquor itself was of a deeper shade of green.

 

When she drank it, the sweet, refreshing, fresh flavor she remembered seemed to be amplified severalfold, a stronger flavor to be sure, but not to the extent that it tasted too strongly.

 

Now curious, she picked up one of the other glasses. This one had a golden-brown hue, and a sweet, somewhat nostalgic smell. One taste and she quickly understood why. It had tasted very similar to the sweet tree saps they made syrup from in her home island, though likely from a different breed of trees.

 

The rest of the samples each had a different flavor profile to them. One had a slightly briny taste that melded with a pleasant bittersweetness, another that tasted floral and smelled accordingly, one was even a mixture of sweet-sour and spicy in flavor, which was strange at first, but she grew fond of it after a while.

 

Not five minutes after she tried out the samples, an old elf - probably seven, if not eight centuries old - walked out from the back, wearing the same sort of clean white robe the previous younger elves had.

 

He turned out to be the Juleiqven in question, who founded and owned the brewery. Martha used to take care of him when he was very young, and when he grew up he had always seen her as sort of a big sister.

 

Since Cal came on Martha's recommendation, he was all too happy to sell her a sizable amount of his ready stock, at a discounted price to boot. It was an offer Cal didn't reject.

 

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