521 Encounters in the Hedgegrove 1

Their walk to the palace wasn't exactly a walk in the park. As they went through the Maze of Hedgegrove, Ren, and Elena encountered all sorts of things.

First, from rampaging topiary black bears flooding the streets, knocking over carts, and charging straight at them, which they easily defeated. Then a small gnome called for guards and claimed that they were the ones who caused them to go wild.

The Princess knocked the Gnome some sense and put on the scroll on display for the guards to view, and instead of taking them in, the guards took in the Gnome for questioning.

Apparently, the floating orbs that floated in the skies were like CCTV cameras. And the guards found out that it was the Gnome who caused all the ruckus to steal from shops while the commotion was going on.

The second encounter was with the three True Elven thugs. They have a tiger made of living jade tied up and were trying to carry it into a nearby alley. A fourth elf moved up to the party and handed them a ruby, 5 000 gil worth, and said, "You didn't see anything."

Of course, Elena being a hunter and lover of animals, pummelled the elves into submission until they surrendered the Jade Tiger to the Princess.

Elena didn't have use of the tiger, though, and urged the beast to go back to where it came from. However, the Jade Tiger followed the Princess until the latter had no choice but to bring it along and store it inside her dimensional ring for the time being.

The Jade Tiger would attract a lot of attention because of its shiny skin and its luxurious coat.

Ren wanted to have it, its coat, that is. However, he had to wait until the quest was over and the Princess was in a good mood before he would ask for that tiger.

Anyway, he only needed its coat. It was not like he was going to kill it. Ren mused to himself.

The third encounter was when the walls of the hedge maze suddenly grew outwards, enclosing the block they were in and trapping them and the other creatures who were just passing by. The walls themselves seemed to weep and wail because they wanted to leave them.

At first, Ren and the others tried everything from attacking the Hedge to using spells like fire to no avail. All broken and charred parts of the Hedge were renewed, and the wall was back anew within seconds.

Even Elena's might didn't scratched the darn wall.

Ren was beginning to feel dread as the walls were closing in. He didn't want to die in this place, and he was ready to fly over and face the consequences than face death here.

Ren and Elena nodded at each other in silent understanding. They were ready to fly off when a small Halfling child went on to talk with the wall. She said stories of fairytales, stories that mothers used to tell their kids at to make them sleep at night.

And it worked.

When they noticed that the Hedge wall stopped closing in on them, the others, mostly mothers, started to tell stories too. And the forest wall parted again after it was consoled and cheered up.

Apparently, these blocks of the maze had a living wall that didn't like to be left alone, and someone must talk to it, cheer it up, and promise to visit it again.

What a wimpy wall. Ren sighed after getting out of there. Now he saw it all. He guessed that anything could happen inside the Fey Realm.

There was even a time when Ren was turned into a mouse when he accidentally stepped into a trap. The spell only lasted for five minutes, so he wasn't worried. He even got a free ride on the Princess's shoulder.

It was a conformable ride. Ren got to admit.

In the fourth encounter, Ren almost lost [Inferno] if not for Elena's quick interference.

A very confused and pale True Elf bumped into them one time, apologizing quietly. They were gorgeous but frail-looking, and they attempted to steal a major item or big coin purse from Ren using [Sleight of Hand].

Elena caught them right-handed, and the she-elf couldn't remember why she was thieving.

"She's a victim of a pair of Archfey mages who bewitched commoners into stealing," Elena said as they looked at the elves retreating figures.

Ren and Elena didn't apprehend those elves. It wasn't their fault. And even if they killed them, this Archfey would just find another victim. If they really wanted to save those Feys, then they had to pluck out the menace at its source.

Moving on, their fifth encounter was a parade of drunk gnomes and satyrs marching through the streets, drinking and reveling in some unknown victory. The cloud of booze smell that accompanied them was enough to get anyone who passed through it drunk.

It wasn't a curse nor a status effect, so Ren couldn't repel it with [Monarch Sovereignty]. While Princess Elena never gets drunk. She had a pill, however, that would surely cure Ren. But since the drunkenness wouldn't harm anyone and would only last ten minutes at most, Elena had made fun of Ren's drunken state.

But she soon found out that a drunk Ren was more troublesome than a sober Ren. His vision blurred, and his brain seemed to be floating inside his skull as Elena's face changed to Evie's.

Without a word, Ren flew into Elena and hugged her tight.

Elena's face flushed red, and she stammered. "W-what are you doing? N-not here, you idiot. L-let me go."

She said it but made no effort to push Ren away. And instead, Ren's arms tightened around her, and he took the smell of hair and murmured.

"Evie . . . I miss you . . ."

"Evie?" Elena's face darkened quickly, and she threw Ren over with a loud lash of anger. "Who the freaking elf is Evie?"

[Your Relationship Level with Princess Elena has decreased!]