CHAPTER 33: SENTENCING

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I don’t know what I was expecting.

Maybe some moss-covered huts, treehouses tied together with vines, maybe even a fairy with a flute singing sad songs about war and loss. Y’know, something elf-y.

But what I saw?

It was a city carved from nature itself—and somehow more advanced than anything I’d ever seen in the human realm.

We’d finally pushed past the illusion-infested forest—still recovering from a flower that tried to seduce me, a squirrel that mugged Akane, and a mushroom that talked back after I stepped on it—and now stood at the edge of a wide cliff.

And below us... was Elira’s village.

It wasn’t just trees—it was the trees. Massive towering ones, their trunks wider than mansions, carved out with living homes spiraling upward in elegant loops. Floating orbs of soft blue light drifted lazily through the air. Bridges made of glowing vines stretched between platforms and branches. Tiny crystals lined paths below like cobblestones, lighting the way as if the stars had decided to walk among them.

Water flowed from every corner—streams running through bark, tiny waterfalls that shimmered like silver, and a wide lake at the center with a glowing dome rising from it. Inside that dome... was something humming.

Mei let out a slow whistle. "Okay... I take back every time I said elves were just sparkly forest hippies."

Ayame nodded slowly. "It’s like a garden made love to a supercomputer."

Rin, as usual, just smiled faintly like she wasn’t surprised at all. "They don’t see nature as something to tame. They harmonize with it. Elves don’t build on top of nature... they build through it."

"Are you quoting a poetry book right now?" I asked.

"No. I wrote that poetry book," she replied with a smug flick of her hair. "Sold about six copies."

"Seven," Akane muttered, cheeks pink.

I wanted to keep admiring it, I really did. But we didn’t have time to gawk—we were here for a reason. Elira’s distress message had been short, panicked, and vague. All we knew was that her village—this paradise—was in danger.

And judging from how calm things looked below... that was the worst part.

"Shouldn’t there be, I don’t know... screams? Smoke? Explosions?" I asked.

Akane’s eyes narrowed. "Maybe it’s hidden. Or maybe the threat isn’t attacking directly yet."

Mei stretched. "Or maybe we got here before things got bad. Luck’s a thing, right?"

"Not our kind of luck," I muttered. "We got attacked by a rabbit with a switchblade three hours ago."

"I miss that rabbit," Mei sighed wistfully.

With the help of Akane’s magic (and a little elf-realm air-gliding courtesy of the orb Elira left us), we made our descent toward the village. As we got closer, it became clearer just how seamlessly technology and nature blended here.

A group of elf children ran across a transparent bridge woven from hardened leaf-fiber..." giggling as a glowing blue fox scampered beside them.

An elf couple seemed to be having a conversation through some kind of floating hologram made from water droplets.

And there, at the base of the lake, were massive golden flowers—bigger than cars—opening and closing gently like they were breathing.

It was peaceful. Too peaceful.

Which made the quiet tension in my chest worse.

As we reached the edge of the village proper, we were greeted by what looked like guards. They wore silver-gold armor that shimmered like bark in moonlight. Their weapons looked... alive. Like the metal had veins. Creepy, but elegant.

"State your names and purpose," one of them said, stepping forward. His eyes were narrow, but not hostile—yet.

I stepped up, trying to look a little more important than I felt.

"We’re here for Elira. She sent us a distress call. Something about her village being in danger."

The guard’s expression tightened.

"Elira?" he repeated, his tone dipping colder. "You address the princess by name so casually?"

Princess?

Oh crap.

I opened my mouth to explain, but before I could say anything smart—or stupid—his hand shot up. Behind him, two other guards stepped forward. One tapped the butt of his weapon on the ground. It pulsed faintly.

"State your affiliations. Now. Who sent you, truly?"

"Whoa, whoa—look, we’re not enemies," I said, hands raised. "She reached out to us through an encoded flare. I swear on my—uh—recent traumatic floating-near-death experience, we’re not lying."

Akane facepalmed beside me.

The guard didn’t look convinced. "You claim the princess sent a call for help? When did this happen?"

"About... three days ago?" I glanced at Akane, who nodded. "We followed the coordinates embedded in the signal."

"Impossible," the guard said. "The princess has been within the inner sanctum for over a moon cycle. No messages were authorized. No one—certainly not outsiders—could have her personal coordinates."

That... did not sound good.

Another guard whispered something into his ear. The lead one’s brows furrowed deeper.

"I don’t know who you people are, but speaking her name so informally and claiming you came here by her request—it’s too suspicious. You’ll come with us."

He snapped his fingers. Before I could protest, glowing cuffs snapped onto my wrists and ankles like magnetic vines. The others got the same treatment, and we were surrounded before I could even blink properly.

"Wait—guys, I think this is a misunderstanding," I said, laughing nervously. "A really hilarious misunderstanding! You’ll feel super awkward when you realize we’re the good guys."

"Save it for sentencing," the guard said coldly.

Sentencing?

And just like that, we were marched through the village, cuffed like criminals.

Great. First we nearly die from falling, then we get tricked by an illusion forest, and now we’re arrested by elves with "Fashionably creepy armor."

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The dungeon door groaned open like it hadn’t been used in years. Damp air hit me in the face, thick with moss and... was that soup? Moldy soup?

One of the guards shoved me forward—not roughly, but enough to make it clear I wasn’t welcome to take in the scenery.

"Charming," I muttered, stepping into the cell. Stone walls, one flickering crystal lamp overhead, and a suspicious puddle in the corner. Five stars, would not recommend.

They locked us in without a word. The door clanked shut, and a rune flared blue across its surface—magical lock. Great.

Akane slumped onto a bench. Rin was already poking the glowing rune with one finger. Mira just stared at the ceiling like she was trying to summon patience from the stone itself.

I sighed and leaned against the wall.

"Well, team... at least no one’s trying to kill us right now."

As soon as I said that, a chunk of the ceiling fell off and landed at my feet.

"...I take it back."

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