Chapter 29 – Elf’s Tears

“Hey, Daniel, you green guy! Why are you here again?”

“Schneider? Why is it always you?”

The young man in a blue robe waved at Daniel from a distance with a cheerful smile: “I work for the Trade House every year around this time, just when the academy throws you all out!”

His appearance was ordinary, but his eyes were an unusually pale silver, giving him a somewhat hollow look at first glance. Even his smile carried a slight strangeness, making him quite memorable.

“Alright… this is just bad timing,” Daniel muttered to Lin Wei. “Schneider is the stingiest guy around. It’s not easy to get a good price from him!”

That day, Lin Wei and Duan Yu didn’t stay alone in their room for long before Daniel called them out to the ever-bustling Trade House in the south of the Floating Sky Capital.

The Trade House, like the inn they had just left, was directly managed by the Magic Association and handled most of the trade in the Magic World. It was a large, dome-shaped building in milky white, with sunlight streaming through the high, translucent dome, casting a radiant glow. The place was divided into several sections: the Appraisal Area, the Trading Area, and the Auction Hall. Below ground, there was also a massive crystal storage vault.

The Appraisal Area employed several alchemists to appraise the quality, grade, and value of items brought in by customers, ensuring that everything traded in the Trade House was genuine and trustworthy. The Trading Area facilitated three types of transactions: exchanging items for crystals, purchasing items with crystals, and special barter trades. Another unique method was the Auction Hall, which took in rare items when appraisers’ valuations were contested or when bartering was too difficult, gathering a batch of such items to be sold at auctions.

Daniel’s purpose for coming here was to exchange the magical trinkets he had made at the academy and the magical treasures he had collected from shops in the Imperial Capital for crystals, which he would then use to purchase the alchemical materials he needed.

—And the crystals from the treasures he brought from the Imperial Capital included a share for Lin Wei.

“Originally, I just wanted to take advantage of Daniel…” Lin Wei watched the green-robed alchemist arguing with Schneider over the appraised price, resting his chin on his hand. “But now I really need these crystals to hatch my dear son!”

“Son?”

Haitie couldn’t help but laugh.

“That’s right,” Lin Wei said with a serious expression. “I’ll hatch that adorable egg, raise it from a little hatchling, and it will undoubtedly be my son.”

“What if it’s a female?” Haitie blinked.

Lin Wei replied cheerfully, “Then she’ll be the lovely Princess Sandra—I’ve even prepared a name for her.”

The familiar name, Sandra—it was the name Lin Wei had given to the giant dragon he had summoned in his previous life using the highest-level Gate of Contracts.

Aside from a few dragons remaining on the mainland, most of the Dragon Clan lived on Dragon Island in the endless ocean and had long since lost all contact with the mainland. If it weren’t for the Gate of Contracts forcibly tearing through space, Sandra would never have come to the mainland. And if Lin Wei were to open such a Gate of Contracts again in this life, the dragon that answered the call might no longer be his familiar Sandra.

In his past life, he was alone, and in this life, he might not find a wife either, left to rely only on his summoned beasts… Lin Wei glared at Duan Yu beside him—why don’t you have a sister?

Haitie seemed very interested in the transaction between Daniel and Schneider and pulled the two of them closer.

She favored the clothing bought from the mainland and was wearing a deep red noble’s casual outfit tailored for her by the second-best tailor in the Imperial Capital, just below the royal tailor. It had exquisite lace and impeccable tailoring, with colors that highlighted her magical attributes, drawing curious glances from the mages passing through the Trade House.

“Beautiful lady, are you with Mr. Daniel?” Schneider straightened his collar, quickly shifting his demeanor to one of elegance as he greeted her with a mage’s customary gesture, earning a big eye roll from Daniel.

However, this elegance was immediately shattered—before Haitie could respond, Schneider noticed the pendant she was wearing and exclaimed in surprise, “Oh… this is incredible—is this an ‘Elf’s Tear’?”

“You know it?” Haitie looked at Schneider curiously. “The person who gave it to me did mention a similar name.”

“Indeed, it’s a precious gemstone. I’ve even heard its name in the songs of bards… Beautiful lady, do you know the story behind it?”

Haitie shook her head.

“It’s a story about an elf,” Schneider put down a deep blue stone he was holding and began recounting the tale as told by the bards. His tone shifted, slow and rhythmic, almost like a bard’s singing.

“In the depths of the forest lived a pure and beautiful elf princess—the queen’s most beloved youngest daughter.

Stars dwelled in her eyes, and sunlight scattered by her side.

If a flower received her blessing, it would bloom forever.

If a bird caught her gaze, it would circle endlessly.

Every day, she lingered in the forest, gathering the freshest dew and fragrance.”

Schneider paused here, his pale silver eyes carrying a faint smile as he looked at Haitie. “—A lady as beautiful and lovely as you.”

“And then?” It was Daniel who spoke, for some reason shedding his usual nonchalant expression.

“And then…” Schneider grinned, showing his white teeth, and continued:

“From an unknown day, the grass began to wither, and the flowers lost their brilliance.

The princess leaned down to kiss each bud, but they no longer bloomed.

Worried, she parted the soil where the flowers grew and saw the eye sockets of white skulls.”

Haitie, captivated by Schneider’s rhythmic tone, was deeply immersed in the story when she encountered this abrupt twist and let out a soft gasp.

“On this day, the God of the Undead passed over the forest.

He had never seen such a pure and beautiful creature.

That satin-like hair, with long, thin pointed ears.

I will preserve her, make her my eternal companion.

—So thought the God of the Undead.”

Lin Wei coldly observed Schneider’s eyes—now, those pale silver eyes seemed even more hollow and eerie, and even his smile couldn’t mask it.

“Schneider—what are you trying to say?” Daniel frowned.

“Just repeating a little story from the bards,” Schneider shrugged. “Of course, it’s not a happy tale. The God of the Undead took the elf princess away, seemingly turning her into a creature of death. The princess shed tears, which turned into these beautiful, teardrop-like gemstones… I only know that while these gemstones are rare, they’re not unique—suggesting the princess shed many tears.”

Haitie’s face paled slightly as she hesitantly asked Schneider, “Mr. Alchemist, are you trying to tell me something?”

“East and south, the stories have already been written and sung countless times,” Schneider didn’t answer Haitie directly but instead recited another cryptic, short poem, then winked at her. His strange expression vanished after the wink, and he returned to being the shrewd appraiser.

The appraiser lowered his head and picked up the deep blue stone again, using a sharp metal needle to scrape off a layer of powder from its surface, which he carefully sniffed. “Dear Daniel, this little stone is no ordinary thing. If I rashly appraised it, you’d mock me for being a cunning merchant—I suggest taking it to the auction. This aquamarine might earn you a tidy sum.”

But Daniel still didn’t hold back his sarcasm: “Schneider, you didn’t say that when pricing the Flowing Gold Sand last time—it seems you’ve already met your quota for the Trade House, or else you wouldn’t be so eager to avoid lowering my price.”

“Tsk, you’ve seen through me,” Schneider sighed, shaking his head as he gathered the scattered items on the appraisal table. He placed the deep blue stone into a black box, along with a palm-sized brass plaque engraved with the appraiser’s price, and handed it to Daniel. “Alright, dear friend, the item is mine, and the price is yours—take it and exchange it for a heap of crystals at the Trading Area.”

Daniel whistled cheerfully, turning to hand the box containing the aquamarine to Haitie, who seemed a bit downcast. “Here you go—the Goddess of Fate’s favorite color. Schneider’s little story isn’t worth worrying about.”

“Ah… thank you,” Haitie took the box, glancing once more at Schneider before following Daniel away.

Lin Wei and Duan Yu trailed behind them, heading toward the Trading Area to exchange for crystals.

“Are the bards’ stories based on anything?” Lin Wei tugged at Duan Yu’s sleeve.

“Some are,” Duan Yu replied. “But few stories mention the God of the Undead.”

“The God of the Undead…” Lin Wei repeated the name, recalling the “Undead Summoning” mentioned by the gray-cloaked old man when he showed the books.

Mages prided themselves on being “the closest to the gods,” with many legends about deities, but unfortunately, there were only those legends and statues. No one could describe the gods’ true forms, and there were no significant “miracles” to speak of.

He thought to himself that he’d have to ask the old man tomorrow whether Haitie’s pendant truly had an ominous origin like in the story, and what exactly was written in the book he had received…

Thinking of this, Lin Wei couldn’t help but mutter under his breath, “That damned old man!”

Earlier, Lin Wei had been so focused on his magical beast egg that he didn’t realize until he left the shop and settled into the inn, flipping through the pages of the book, that—the contents of the book, like its cover, were written in a language he couldn’t understand at all!