Hero or Villain, Both

"Let me go." I said during the meeting of the elders.

The moment that they heard this, they all narrowed their eyes to look at me.

The only reason that I had been allowed into this meeting in the first place was because I had brought the information about the elven slaves to the council of elders.

If it wasn't for this, they definitely wouldn't have let me sit in on this meeting.

But now I was actually volunteering to go to the human kingdom to take care of this matter for the elves.

When they heard this, it was only natural that they would look at me like this.

Still, I just looked right back at them and said, "I'm the one that's the most familiar with that place since I've been there before. At the same time, I'm the one that's familiar with the one that passed us this information. I'm clearly the best choice to lead the team to reclaim our brethren."

None of the elders refuted this.

It was clear by the looks on their faces that they thought that this was indeed the case.

But it wasn't that easy for them to rely on someone that they considered their junior.

Especially since they had such a high view of me.

Since showing my ability to summon Medium Grade Spirits, it was only natural that they would think highly of me. I was one of the few young high elves in history that had managed to do this.

At the same time, they had already seen the power that I had when I took care of the incident during the field trip.

With all of this, it was only natural that they would want to nurture me.

Before any of the elders could actually say anything, Chief Qilynn suddenly said, "Alright, it's not as if we can't allow you to go on our behalf."

After she said this, all of the elders looked at her in shock.

Even I couldn't help looking at her with a surprised look on my face as I didn't expect her to say something like this.

However, Chief Qilynn just looked right at me as she continued, "There are conditions that have to be met if you want to go."

I slowly nodded since I had already expected this when she said that it was possible.

It was just that it wasn't as if I could accept any conditions that she had.

Chief Qilynn revealed a faint smile as she said, "It's not as if I'm going to swallow you whole, I just have a few simple conditions for you. This will not only help you, but also make it easier for you."

I still had a doubtful look on my face after she said this, but I waited to see what these conditions were.

"First, you have to take a proper squad of punishers."

This wasn't that unexpected since the punishers were the special team that the elves sent to take care of things like this. It was only expected that a team of punishers would be deployed if someone was crazy enough to force elves to become slaves.

"Second, you will bring your team along with you."

This one caught me off guard, but I wasn't the only one that was caught off guard. The other elders that were in the room were also caught off guard when they heard what Chief Qilynn said.

It seemed that a few of them even wanted to complain, but Chief Qilynn raised her hand to stop them.

It seemed that there was some reason for her to say this, but she didn't share it with the elders.

Though I had to admit that I didn't think that she would allow Nimue, Rania, and Fae to come as well…

"Third and last, you will bring along this branch."

With a wave of her hand, there was a branch that appeared.

The moment that it appeared, all of the elders looked at Chief Qilynn with a very strange look.

I was the same as the elders since I could also tell that this…was a branch from the Tree of Life.

Something like this should be considered a relic to the elves, but she was actually taking it out and giving it to me to take along for this mission.

I really didn't know what Chief Qilynn was thinking, but it didn't seem like she was joking about this.

That was why I couldn't help turning to look at High Priest Umero.

However, it didn't seem like he was bothered by this at all.

It seemed that he even agreed with what Chief Qilynn was doing.

Based on their reactions, it was clear that the two of them were planning something.

Only what they were planning…I had no idea.

I had to carefully think about all of this, but eventually I nodded in agreement to what she was proposing since there was no other choice. It wasn't as if she would let me go if I didn't accept and I had to go since this was a plan to connect me with the Abel Kingdom.

At the same time, I had to meet the hero avatar to build that connection.

Seeing that I agreed, Chief Qilynn gave a satisfied nod before saying, "Since you've agreed, then I have no problem sending you with the punisher team."

The elders all looked at Chief Qilynn with hesitant looks after hearing this, but there was nothing that they could say to her when she looked like this. It was clear that her mind was set on this matter, even if they didn't understand what she was thinking.

As such, the elders slowly started to agree with what Chief Qilynn proposed.

Once the elders agreed, there was nothing else that needed to be said.

With this, all of us felt tired after this meeting since we had no idea what was happening.

The only ones that weren't tired were Chief Qilynn and High Priest Umero who had smiles that no one could read through on their faces.