538.Chapter 536 535 Fighting monsters? We’re good at that. Come on.

Chapter 536 535.Fighting monsters? We’re good at this, come on, let’s sign a contract first!

Adele’s hatred for the Mejva family was etched in her bones, and she was sure that her fellow half-elves shared the same hatred as she did.

But that didn’t seem to be the case.

If what her childhood friend Lisa said was true, then there seemed to be a lot of people in the Valley of Darkness who had already forgotten their past hatred, perhaps because survival in this place was really hard, and the ancient hatred was meaningless in the face of harsh reality.

After all, one can’t feed on hate, except for those who truly have nothing to lose.

In any case, after the Shadow Elves had shown some “goodwill”, many of the half-elves felt that perhaps they should be given another chance.

It was stupid!

From Lisa, a childhood friend, Adele learned that there were currently 3,500 people in the Valley of Darkness, a population that had been created by the hard work of breeding over the past twenty years, only 500 more than when Adele had left,

Half-elves were obviously not as difficult to breed as true elves, but they were still at a disadvantage compared to the particularly fertile humans.

This size was also basically the limit of the population the valley could support, and as the current mistress of the valley, Lisa would have to expand beyond the valley if she wanted to expand her people, which she had already done.

“In a small woodland near the Black Flame Pass, our people have established a small village of two hundred, the very same people who first discovered the Shadow Elves who had fled here, and most of those Elves are living there as well.

They traded some supplies from us for that village and named it ‘New-Mejva’.”

In the Avalon temple in the valley, Lisa gave Adele a briefing, and she said in a sarcastic tone:

“Those elves who are not willing to fall from grace are still trying to rebuild the family, their ambition is that in the future they can banish those beasts of the earth to lighten the city, but I know that many of them are desperate.

These guys are completely relying on the prophecy of the Life Weaver Maiden to hang on, but now that the Life Weaver Maiden has been kidnapped and her life and death are unknown, there are already Shadow Elves who can’t stand it and have started to flee, and according to the reports from my scouts, that village will be completely finished in a month or two at the most.

But as I said earlier, some of those elves aren’t giving up yet.

They came running to my valley, compelling the elders to send someone to rescue their prophet in the dangerous dungeon of the goatmen, and even coming up with promises they simply couldn’t keep.

They said they were willing to put up the treasures of the Mejva family to hire us, and many of the young men were moved to do so, even a few of the elders.

I also know that those pesky elves see Mekel and I, who have always resisted them, as a thorn in their side, and they must be secretly plotting an assassination against me, just as our parents told us those stories about the vicious elves.

It was still possible to keep the foolish ones down while the Life Weaver Maiden was still around.

But now that she’s missing, it’s hard to tell if those assholes will pull something dangerous in my valley.

You’ve come at the right time, Adele.”

Lisa stepped forward and whispered to the Phantom Intelligence Officer:

“With the Elders already making peace with the Shadow Elves at the moment, there’s no way for Mekel and I to get rid of these dangerous assholes that are jumping up and down in the open.

But you guys can!
I will hire the vampires under your command to get rid of the bereaved under the night, and then, I will return to power in the name of the Mistress of the Valley of the Shadow, and at that time, I will talk to you about what the masters behind you want.

You see, Adele, it’s useless for me to even try to talk to you about this now, I came to power in the first place with the support of a few elders, and many of the young men were willing to follow me, but the old men were stubborn.

They’ve always been stubborn.
I need your help, my friend no, my bosom friend, we have experiences that are closer than friends, we were born to stand together, no matter what fate has made of you, you are my dearest handkerchief friend.”

“Lisa, you are compelling me to be the knife in your hand to get rid of your rival!”

Despite Lisa’s show of sincerity, Adele’s early years and what she had seen and heard in Murphy’s service had long since stripped her of her mind, and the mind of the valley’s mistress in front of her could not be hidden from her at all.

Adele was a little disappointed, but she didn’t choose to pretend she didn’t know but directly and bluntly picked apart the situation in front of her, she said sternly:

“I don’t know what you’ve been through all these years, but there’s no doubt that you’ve begun to give in to the part of your bloodline that belongs to the Shadow Elves, and you’re using the Shadow Elves’ best tactics against them, you’ve even tried to turn a stranger into a weapon for you to use to attack others.

If Aunt Bernice saw this, she would be very disappointed.”

“You also said you were a stranger! Adele.”

Seeing the breakdown in negotiations, Lisa simply stopped pretending.

She took a step back and chided Adele:
“It’s been more than twenty years since you left this place, do you still expect that your sudden appearance on this night will make everyone accept you as they did when you were a child?

I admit that I’m using you, but you must understand that I have good intentions for you, Adele, or else I wouldn’t have had to let you into the valley at all, much less tell you all this information that shouldn’t be known by outsiders.

I was giving you a chance to be accepted back into the clan.

You know the rules of this valley, that you can only become part of it after blood has been shed for a common goal, and I want you to become one of us again instead of appearing before me as a damned vampire master and pronouncing your master’s will.

Damn it!

I’ve never even met him!
Why should I listen to his call or even obey him?

Adele, do you think what you want me to do is what an alpha should do? I’m using you, but how are you not using a childhood relationship to coerce me?
Open your eyes and see that neither of us is young!

We’re no longer kids who pull a check mark to agree on everything. Get real! You want something, you have to give it first.

Help me take real power, Adele.

I’ll give you and your master the satisfaction you deserve.”

The question and answer left the Phantom Intelligence Officer a bit helpless as she looked at Lisa, who was holding her arms in front of her, and after a few seconds of silence, Adele said:
“You are afraid of me.”

“Huh?”

Lisa made a sound from her nostrils, she sneered and said:
“Why should I be afraid of you? I’m not as strong as a vampire like you, but this is the Valley of the Shadows, Adele, and you know how fierce our people can be in the face of an enemy.

The hot blood of the gladiators of the Eternal Rift runs through our veins, and it was your mother who taught us not to fear the powerful! We will always remember Lady Mona’s teachings, but you seem to have forgotten all that.

You chose to be a dog for the vampires.”

“You are just afraid of me!”

Adele was not affected at all as she chortled:

“You’re afraid I’ll return to the valley to take back what’s mine, Lisa! You know better than anyone that this position you’re in now belongs to me.

You are afraid to even let me have contact with the elders!

Because you know that once they see Mona’s daughter return to the valley with outside power, they may hesitate once I claim my mother’s position, but they will eventually oust you, who is underpowered, from the alpha’s throne.

It’s not that they’re cold-blooded, it’s that you’re simply not good at what you do, or you wouldn’t have been able to handle the Elders after all these years, and I’m guessing that your husband, Mekel, doesn’t support you in your hostility to the Elders, or you wouldn’t have to come begging for a ‘stranger’ like me.

Lisa!

You must be desperate to try and hire us to do your work for you, and I’m guessing that it’s not the Elders who are really hooking up with the Shadow Elves, it’s you!
It was you who tangled with them and tried to use them as you used me, yet the Shadow Elves wouldn’t fall for that either, those born in the pool of intrigue know exactly who to choose to steady the ship when they are down and out.

Do not pretend.

You are the one who really needs help right now, not me.

You better be honest with me!”

The Phantom Intelligence Officer looked at Lisa’s increasingly pale face in front of her, and knowing that she had the initiative in hand she took a step back and leaned against her mother’s sarcophagus to look at her childhood friend.

After giving the still young and impulsive Lisa a bit of a head start and giving her time to calm down, Adele spoke again:

“If you need help, then be honest and clear.

As I told you earlier, Uncle Bella and Aunt Bernice are both still around, they are serving the Governor of Transylvania with me, and Master Murphy wants to use the terrain of the Valley of Darkness to form a front line against the Black Plague here.

I will not hide from you that on my way here I made plans and instructions to the warriors of Transylvania, fierce warriors that you could not have imagined in your worst nightmares, and that your valley would not be able to protect you.

Once I give the order, they will use the most insane methods to break you down and get Governor Murphy the victory he wants.

l’m not threatening you.
Well, I am threatening you!

Lisa, mistress of the Valley of the Shadow, I didn’t come here in person to hear about the little plot you’ve been carrying on, my poor bosom friend, staying in this valley has obviously greatly limited your potential and left you as a frog in a well, unable to see the true firmament.

But my master is generous.

All he wants is this valley itself, and when you migrate out you will be given a mountain forest ten times richer than this one as your new home, and if you wish to live in a human city then you will be granted residency in the Scarlet Fortress.

No one there will discriminate against you because you are of mixed blood.

In fact, if my mother were still alive, if she had seen the current Scarlet Fortress with her own eyes, then she would have no hesitation in abandoning this valley and taking everyone across the Tainted Swamp to get there.

That’s the place my overly idealistic mother wanted to see all her life, and now, that chance to become a true chief is in your hands!

A qualified chieftain should not divide his people, but lead them to a place where they can settle down, and I have brought you everything you need to establish your authority among your people, and all you have to do is simply nod.”

Adele reached out and caressed her mother’s sarcophagus as she whispered:

“I will give you one last chance, Lisa, my childhood companion, and you had better make a sensible choice before things progress to the worst possible point. I am going to see the elders now.

I am certain that I can convince the elders who followed my mother out of the Eternal Rift, and I will produce plenty of evidence to convince them to agree to the migration, all I need now is a nod from you and the younger ones under your command.

But don’t worry.”

The vampire lady stepped forward and reached out to place a hand on the side of Lisa’s pretty cheek.

She stroked Lisa’s cheek and oddly colored hair as she had done as a child.

She looked into Lisa’s eyes with a hint of resistance and awe and brought her forehead into contact with her own between firm fingers.

She whispered:

“I will not take away your alpha throne, my poor already power-bound childhood playmate, and you will remain mistress of the Valley of the Shadow for as long as you wish. But I do not feel that this title is any more prestigious than the official Transylvanian certification of ‘Baron of the Valley’.

You are learning from the part of your bloodline that belongs to the Shadow Elves, and you are unlocking your potential in that regard.

That is good.

But learn it in place, Lisa.

Shadow elves never offer loyalty to a weak matriarch, and you have much, much more to learn if you want to be the true head of a clan.

But don’t be afraid, I will teach you.

Just like when you were a child, everything you don’t know I’m willing to teach you.

I will now go and rescue the missing life-weaver girl.

If the Shadow Elves are longing to rebuild their family, then my master will graciously give them a chance, and Transylvania will not deny the Shadow Elves membership, provided they are willing to submit to the rules of that land.”

Lisa initially wanted to retort to Adele’s forceful “persuasion”, but the more she listened, the more silent she became, unable to find a reason to confront the man in front of her.

Obviously, compared to Adele’s experience and growth in the outside world over the past thirty years, the growth of Lisa, who had been trapped in the dark valley, was too young, and she was almost crushed by Adele throughout.

Until finally, as Adele let go of her hand, Lisa said in a tired and regretful voice:

“At the time you left, I thought I could get rid of your shadow, it’s like when we played games together when we were kids, I tried so hard to be the king of the children every time, but even though you were so silent, the children of the valley were still willing to listen to your commands.

I used to think it was because of Ms. Mona’s aura, I thought you were just tainted by your good birth.

But it wasn’t until now that I realized that wasn’t the case.

You are better suited to be our alpha than Ms. Mona, Adele, a position that was probably born to be yours, and I will relinquish the alpha position if you will return.”

“No, take it Lisa, there is no need for guilt, you won it for yourself.”

Adele reached out and hugged her tired best friend, not caring about the jealousy and slight resentment hidden in Lisa’s words as she patted Lisa on the back and said:
“You need to continue to lead our people, and I will make this thing Mother left behind truly glorious, but not because of power.

I will aid you in becoming a true half-elf leader and spread your influence throughout Transylvania and even the Dark Mountains, I just want you to be on my side when I need you to be.

I will be your shadow, and the rewards I crave will not be bestowed by you.

You’re right.

We were born to stand together.”

Adele let go of Lisa and childishly gave her a little thumbs up.

Lisa, who had been saddened, burst out laughing at the sight of the gesture, and with a helpless glance at Adele, she too held out her pinky and hooked it with her, as if little girls made some sort of pact.

“You and I will work together to convince the elders to take the old and infirm to live in Transylvania so they can have the peaceful life they’ve always wanted, while you and the young ones who are eager to build a career stay in the valley.

Face the Black Plague head on with us!”

Adele said:

“You don’t need the support of the older people to be strong, you can share in the power I bring, it will be your first gift to the Governor of Transylvania, and I’m sure that you will willingly offer your loyalty to my master after seeing the might of the warriors with your own eyes.”

“Is that really just your master? Adele.”

Lisa whispered:
“Why do I get the feeling you have mixed feelings about him, are you still alone?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, not that I don’t want to tell you.”

Adele sighed as she turned back to look at her mother’s sarcophagus, remembering again the damned compulsion of Mrs. Water that night, the night she had talked to Mrs. Water as she was talking to Lisa now.

One woman festering in front of the other.

Thus after several seconds of silence, she said:

“I, in fact, don’t know the answer.”
—
“Lisa’s working with the Shadow Elves? Damn it!”

In the player’s camp, Ranger Captain Merkel, who had just beaten Little Reed’s name at archery, was standing in front of Lady Berenice with a hammer guard on his back, and he didn’t despise Lady Berenice just because she’d become an undead.

Instead, he maintained his childhood respect telling his undead mother-in-law all about his wife’s current predicament.

This respect and honesty came partly from his current relationship with Mrs. Bernice, and partly from “childhood shadows”, as Mrs. Bernice herself had trained him as a child and had whipped him many times.

This is the “tradition” of the Valley of Shadows, every half-elf in this valley is actually as contradictory as Adele, they resist everything of the Shadow Elves, but after they are truly independent they need to take some things from the Shadow Elf system to form their own traditions.

For example, the Shadow Elves often use whips to “infuse wisdom” into their apprentices.

“My daughter was never raised to be wise, she would only be played by the Shadow Elves, how did she turn into a scum who would sell out her people for power? Ah, this is probably all my fault, if I could have been there for her when she was growing up”

Lady Berenice blamed herself.

But the coldness of the undead made even her self-blame as some sort of sinful declaration, and she was clearly not happy with her daughter’s situation today, which worried Mekel a bit.

He tried to explain for his wife, but before he could say anything, he saw Mrs. Berenice rise with a flourish.

“Take me back, I’m going to teach her a lesson!”

The Knight of the Underworld chided:
“I must bring her back on track before she foolishly angers Adele, and a half-elf of the Valley of the Shadow can never travel with a Shadow Elf! It is betraying our sacrifice.”

She strode out of the tent in a rare gesture of undead fury, but just before Lady Berenice set off, she caught sight of great blood wings unfurling in the darkness, the wings of Adele’s return, and again landing in the camp a few moments later.

Baroness Phantom let go of her hand, and Lisa, who was standing a little weak-legged in her arms from the high speed of her flight, looked up to see the Knight of the Underworld striding towards her in front of her.

“Mom?”

“Splat.”

The call was answered with a resounding slap, causing the Mistress of the Valley of Shadows to cover her face with a terrible “Mommy love me again” expression, and when she saw that Mrs. Bernice was going to hit her again, Adele reached out and took hold of her wrist.

She said:

“Lisa made a mistake, but I’ve pulled her back on the right path. Aunt Bernice, she recognized her mistake and brought us very important news.

The Lord Governor’s will will take root in the Valley of the Shadow, but there is a pre-quest we must complete first.”

“To do what?”

Bernice asked rhetorically, and Adele shrugged, addressing the Hades Knights over the tinkling of the Core Treasure Pearls sending down quests:

“First, we’re going to rescue a Shadow Elf Lifeweaver, in Goatman territory. It should be dangerous there, and as the high end of the Pathfinder Corps’ force, I ask that you command the warriors to complete the mission, and I will return to the valley to consult with the Elders about sending an emissary to Transylvania.”

“Good, I’ll leave as soon as I’m ready.”

Bernice did not refuse.

She took over the command with all the crispness a Knight of the Underworld deserves, while the players around her were all eager to get up and noisily called out to their friends in preparation for “fighting monsters and upgrading” after receiving the mission to “save the Fate Weaver”.

This scene looked at Meikle’s eyes strange, if he remembered correctly, just now his mother-in-law also emphasized that the Dark Valley can not be accompanied by Shadow Elves.

”Hey, mother-in-law!
What are you planning to do?
Ow, your daughter and son-in-law are going to get slapped if they socialize with the Shadow Elves, so it’s okay for you to go and save the Shadow Elf’s bigwigs on your own, right?

There’s no such thing as double standards! Is this what death has taught you? This death is not too serious!

“What are you looking at?”

Mrs. Bernice glared at her son-in-law and chided:

“Pack your things and set off with me, my daughter has been tricked into your hands, you have to shoulder the responsibility too!”

(End of chapter)