Chapter 908 — New Winds in the Mosswood
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 5
Sunlight filtered through the high canopy, forming bright beams amid the crisscrossing branches and leaves, and scattered dappled patches of light across the forest path blanketed in fallen leaves. Some nameless small creature suddenly burst from the undergrowth, setting off a string of faint rustling sounds.
A male gray elf—short as a child, with close-cropped gray hair—emerged from the nearby bushes. He wore the brown short tunic common among the inhabitants of the Mosswood, a sack sewn from thick cloth slung over his shoulder, and herb-gathering tools hanging at his waist. The sunlight spilling through the forest fell into his gray eyes, lending them a pale shimmer.
With a soft rustle, several other gray elves stepped out from behind the nearby bushes or from the path. They gathered together and began to check the day's harvest.
One gray elf companion came up beside the short-haired male and spoke as though casually: "Rupert, I'm moving into the city to live tomorrow."
The short-haired gray elf's eyes widened in surprise. "Why?"
"Haven't you heard? The clan chief is calling on the young and strong—those who long for a new life—to gather in the great cities," his companion explained. "We've got a mountain of orders for alchemical raw materials from the Cecil Empire. The scholars have set up large herb fields and distillation-aging plants around the cities. Work in the city's far more respectable than picking berries and honey in the forest."
"...I heard about it, but I'm not going. I've lived in the woods most of my life. I'm not used to the noisy, bustling air of the city."
"Knew you'd say that," another companion said, walking over from the side and clapping the short-haired gray elf on the shoulder. "We'll miss you—when we've got free time, we'll come visit."
"You're all going too..."
"We're all planning to try our luck—the clan chief's always been wise, and we've decided to heed her call. What if everyone ends up living a better life?"
One by one the companions left, until only the short-haired gray elf remained standing at the crossroads at the edge of the dense forest. He stood there blankly for a while, then went over to the side of the path. This nimble gray elf climbed onto a great boulder, and from that high place he gazed into the distance with a somewhat hesitant look—
Beyond the dense forest, on the open ground at the forest's edge, a lovely city stood quietly beside the "Undine River." It was "Windsong," the royal city the gray elves were so proud of.
The industrious gray elves had taken root in this Mosswood for a thousand years, and this ancient city had taken root here alongside them for a thousand years as well. And the reforms carried out over the past two centuries by the wise Baizhi family had lent new brilliance to the city of Xuanque—gray elves long accustomed to a quiet, uncontentious life in the Mosswood suddenly discovered their own talent for commerce, and the booming trade in herbs and rough alchemical processing swiftly made Windsong the most important commercial hub in the northern part of the Aogulei Tribal Kingdom.
More and more gray elves broke with the habits handed down through generations, leaving the forest for the city and, by way of the trade routes, traveling the whole western continent. They changed many other races' view of the gray elves as a short, fragile people, and they brought unimaginable wealth to the Mosswood. Today Windsong was more prosperous than at any moment in its history. In the newly built districts lived merchants and representatives from every race, and the gray elf clan chief, Lady Wenna Baizhi, presided at the heart of that city—just like her wise father, leading this land to grow richer and stronger with each passing day.