Chapter 621: Extortion
Of course, Lin Li did not intend to criticize their attitude. However, he definitely wouldn’t fall for their tricks, either. Hence, he did not welcome the elven elder before his tent, and even remained still after the latter entered.
Chief Elder Randy was still waiting for Lin Li to question him. Yet, to his surprise, Lin Li remained silent for a long time. Chief Elder Randy had never been treated that way before. However, the thought of the purpose behind his visit made him suppress his displeasure and put on a smile. “Mage Felic, have you got used to staying here in the past few days?”
Damn it, don’t they have anything fresh to say to me? Those two elves who came yesterday said the same thing. As their eight elder, you should have a higher standard than them, Lin Li thought. Although he was polite to the two previous elves, he treated the eighth elder with a harsher attitude. He coldly said, “Thanks to your subordinates, I’ve been well in the last few days.”
Chief Elder Randy obviously knew what had been happening in the campground for the past few days. However, back then, he had had no idea how important Lin Li was. He definitely could not bring himself to apologize; the best he could do was to feign ignorance and push all the blame to his subordinates for acting presumptuously.
Lin Li did not harp on the matter, and remained cold and aloof instead. When he spoke, he made sure that his sentences were all seamless, not giving the elder a chance to speak at all. Besides, he could also tell that Princess Elune could very likely be the one of the highest status amongst them because when the three elves spoke to him separately, they all tried to make her the topic of discussion.
Lin Li knew that unlike human princesses, Princess Elune was indispensable to them, and that she held a great significance because it was said that she was the only successor of the elven queen. Besides, she was the one and only princess. Hence, if she were to die there, the eighth elder would definitely be held responsible.
Since Lin Li did not know her at all, he felt that there would be no need to care about her well-being. He did not take pity on her, either. That was just how he was like. If the ones who got poisoned were people he knew, he would definitely try to rescue them, even if they were ordinary villagers. However, not only did Lin Li have no relation to the elven princess, he also disliked the elder in front of him. How could he possibly offer him help?
Chief Elder Randy still refused to swallow his pride for the rest of the conversation, and instead tried to use the conversation to broach the topic of his main agenda. He was planning to get Lin Li to ask about Princess Elune, after which he would tell Lin Li that Princess Elune had been poisoned and that she needed an antidote. He was just trying to make it seem like he was giving Lin Li a chance to get closer to the elves because he felt that all humans in Anril definitely wanted to get in their good books.
Actually, Borg and Cheyenne would definitely react agitatedly and enthusiastically to Chief Elder Randy’s words. After all, they both valued the so-called friendship with the elves. Obtaining the said friendship would make it easier for their trip this time, and they would also gain greater benefits in the future.
However, their friendship was of no use to Lin Li at all. Whenever the elder asked him some questions and tried to broach the main topic, Lin Li would reply coldly and change the subject.
Chief Elder Randy had encountered all kinds of discussions and negotiations with sharp-tongued people in the Emerald Council before, but he seemed to be helpless now that he was faced with the human mage Lin Li.
Before he knew it, time passed slowly, but there seemed to be no progress in getting to the main issue proper. Chief Elder Randy was getting more and more anxious about the oblivious Lin Li, whom he wished he could bury there and then.
Thinking about Princess Elune’s condition, Chief Elder Randy decided that he couldn’t wait any longer. Hence, he made his tone even mellower, and even sounded a little polite and respectful. “Mage Felic, yesterday, the sacred beast of our elven race returned to the camp poisoned, and after we brought it back, we observed it and realized that the toxins in it gradually dissipated. I heard that you have fed it something. Has it perhaps been an antidote to detoxify the toxin?”
Lin Li did not avoid the question, and instead nodded calmly before coldly saying, “That’s right. I happened to see the poisoned Moonsaber Panther when I was trying to put my potion to test. Hence, I decided to use it on the Moonsaber Panther that was poisoned with viper’s poison when I saw it.”
“Viper’s poison!” Chief Elder Randy’s heart wrenched up—he finally heard the name of the poison. Although he had never seen nor experienced the effects of the poison before, he did hear some legendary tales about it. It was said that when the High Elves had just begun ruling Anril, the remaining magical beasts on the mainland, which were poisonous snakes, released a terrible poison which brought great damage to the High Elves.
Is it really that poison, or is this human mage just spouting nonsense? Chief Elder Randy wondered. However, after giving it some thought, he realized that the type of poison didn’t matter. Since his Natural Rejuvenation technique did not work at all, it should be a rare poison. Yet, Lin Li could provide an antidote for it. Hence, it did not matter if it were the viper’s or not, because the most important thing to do now was to convince Lin Li to help.
Frankly speaking, Chief Elder Randy was old in his years, and he could be considered to have experienced plenty of things… except begging someone for help. But so what if he had not done it before? After thinking about the gravity of the matter, Chief Elder Randy decided that his only choice was to swallow his pride.
“Mage Felic, so you actually have an antidote for the most difficult poison to deal with, the viper’s poison. Seems like you have extraordinary knowledge and accomplishments in magic,” said Chief Elder Randy, who had an unnatural expression on his face even though he was giving Lin Li a compliment. Well, he had gotten used to receiving compliments, and had rarely ever given them.
No one had ever had the honor to be complimented by the eighth elder of the elves, yet Lin Li was unfazed, and instead stared at Chief Elder Randy without saying a single word.
Despite appearing awkward as he did not get an answer, Chief Elder Randy decided that he had to continue because there was no turning back now. “The Moonsaber Panther is my race’s sacred beast and Princess Elune’s ride. If you didn’t rescue it, I’m afraid its life would have ended here. I’m very grateful for that.”
Lin Li waved his hands, and said, “I just needed something to experiment on and test the antidote for the Viper’s poison, and simply happened to run into it.”
“However, the Moonsaber Panther didn’t go out alone this time. It went together with Princess Elune and several other elves. Due to the fact that the magical beasts that they encountered were too powerful, Moonsaber Panther got poisoned together with the rest. Hence, I’d like to invite you to help give them an antidote…” Chief Elder Randy finally revealed his agenda awkwardly after feeling conflicted for a long time.
“Oh!” Lin Li said, appearing extremely enlightened. He seemed to be trying to say: “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”. However, just as a tinge of happiness appeared on Chief Elder Randy’s face, Lin Li shook his head again, and said, “I truly sympathize with Princess Elune and the other elves who got poisoned, but you should know that so far, I’ve only treated a beast. I have no experience in treating an elf. Besides, if anything were to go awry, I wouldn’t be able to bear the consequences.”
Lin Li’s words made the joy on Elder Randy’s face just now disappear without a trace. He had now turned as red as a tomato, secretly regretting his decision. He regretted despising the humans and belittling their power after the latter arrived. Although it was obviously an adventurer team composed of three parties, Elder Randy had actually thought that it would be enough to know the intelligence on the Dark Blade. Had he known earlier that Lin Li had the ability to remove the viper’s poison, he wouldn’t have mistreated him at all.
Actually, if it weren’t for the poisoned elves and Princess Elune, the prideful and haughty elves would not have bothered to take Lin Li seriously even if they knew that Lin Li had the ability to detoxify the viper’s poison. Their arrogance could never be changed. After all, even Chief Elder Randy did not know the Dark Blade well at all.
However, despite feeling regretful, he still had to try his best to persuade Lin Li. Chief Elder Randy now had no choice but to persevere and continue to convince Lin Li. “Mage Felic, you’re being too modest. The toxins in Moonsaber Panther have been eliminated in a short period of time. I believe it should work on us elves too.”
“No, no, Moonsaber Panther may be a sacred beast, but it is still a magical beast. That’s different from elves. My abilities are limited and there really isn’t anything I can do.” Lin Li waved at Chief Elder Randy while appearing to be put in a spot.
Chief Elder Randy was incredibly exasperated. Having lived to such an old age, he had never once begged anyone for help before, yet Lin Li had the cheek to turn him down time and time again by saying that he was not skilled enough to perform the treatment. Although Chief Elder Randy did not have a mastery in pharmacy, he was not clueless about it. He could tell from the fact that Lin Li had an antidote for the viper’s poison that Lin Li was definitely experienced in pharmaceutics, and that he might even be a Master.
After all, Chief Elder Randy was the eighth elder of the Emerald Council. Seeing that it was no longer possible to persuade Lin Li because of the previous incident, he resolutely changed his approach, and said, “Mage Felic, Princess Elune and other poisoned elves are of great significance to us. If you can remove the poison in their bodies, you will surely get our friendship. In the tripartite cooperation with the other adventurers, the Tower of Dusk doesn’t seem to be the dominant party. I believe you cannot deny this, but if you have the full support of us elves, the situation will be very different.”
Chief Elder Randy then paused for a while and glanced at Lin Li in hopes of seeing a tinge of him changing his mind.
However, to Chief Elder Randy’s disappointment, Lin Li did not seem to care about the offer at all, and instead stared at him coldly.
It seems that the conditions are still not attractive enough, he thought. Chief Elder Randy gritted his teeth subtly, and said, “We elves have explored the Haiga Mountain Range for thousands of years, and have sacrificed plenty of ours to come up with the Haiga Mountain Range’s map. I can share it with you too. Moreover, since you’re so accomplished, you must know how famous the herbs of our Emerald Forest are in Anril. If you’re interested, we can sell the herbs to you at the lowest price.”
“No, I know where my limits are. How can the elves and magical beasts be the same? That can’t work. I can’t take the risk. If I don’t manage to treat them, won’t I be a great sinner?” Lin Li continued to shake his head continuously despite the elven elder offering great conditions.
Seeing that Lin Li seemed to be slowly giving in, Chief Elder Randy frantically said, “Mage Felic, as long as you’ve tried your best, we won’t blame you even if… you don’t manage to rescue them.”
“Ah, how can that do? They’re lives.” Lin Li sighed and looked at himself. He suddenly pulled his Robe of the Void and muttered as if he were talking to himself, “It seems that this robe on me hasn’t been washed for a long time, and I don’t know if it will be too late to dry it by today… By the way, Elder Randy, I seem to have heard that there are many star robes in the Elven Kingdom. Could you lend me two of them?”
Hearing this, Elder Randy almost vomited blood. The elves did own some star-scarred robes from the High Elves, but they did not have many. They only had a total of three. This damned human is really greedy. He asked for two in one go!
Those robes were not only a scarcity among the elves, they had also been precious to the High Elves in the Dark Age. Only the royal High Elves had been eligible to wear them. The materials used were precious and rare, but that was not the reason for their high value. Instead, the value lay in the six perfectly arranged mageweaths that would guarantee that the person wearing it would not be harmed by any magic below level-15.