God's family

Since Theodore is going to travel with Roger and others, even if the new copy of the Manlai Forest Elf Village is truly open to them, at least they will not be vigilantly peeped by the elves while wandering in the village, nor will they be driven away. Back to the temporary residence.

In order to find out the secrets of the metal fragments, Theodore made an exception and took them to the temple that foreigners were not allowed to set foot in. It was a pity that everyone did not find any clues except for the beauty and nature of the elf temple. Obviously, the intruder Those who are thoughtful.

The aesthetics of the elves is recognized as outstanding among all the races on the mainland. Even the Manlai forest elf tribe, which can only be regarded as a small village among the elves, is full of elves' beauty.The tree house hidden in the green shade and flowers, the clear meandering stream, the more treacherous and gorgeous plants in the flashing sunlight - Roger heard that the more beautiful things are the more poisonous, if this If the rumors are true, then the village of the elves is obviously full of poison at every step.

At the same time, he also witnessed the powerful wood spells of the elves - just put your hands on the plants and say the formula, the plants damaged by the previous battle will grow like crazy, and the scorched branches will grow like crazy. The trunk is covered by new greenery, blooming vigorously again, and even the tree houses located on the thick branches of the trees will be repaired accordingly, which shows that most houses of the elves are actually part of living trees.

Roger sat on the rocks by the stream, full of admiration and shock, he didn't notice Ocedo who was approaching behind him with light and soundless steps.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" The elf prince smiled softly and proudly, looking sideways at Roger.

Roger's body stiffened for a moment—he was actually very sorry for this Theodore, so he always felt unable to face him—"Ah, ah, yes, it's beautiful..." However, the answer was sincere.

Theodore blinked his eyes, his smile deepened a bit, he bent his knees, and sat down directly on the grass beside Roger, with an elegant and leisurely posture, "My hometown - Alicia, the capital of elves, is the most beautiful Yes, she is the most proud treasure of the elves, and she is the most proud treasure of the elves. If there is a chance, I really want to take you to see..." After a pause, Theodore stroked his chest hanging on his chest. Blonde, "Of course, this place is also very good. Compared with big cities, small villages have a different flavor."

"It's a pity that no one is lucky enough to visit Alicia, the capital of elves." Roger shrugged his shoulders. The elves are exclusive, and the king's capital must be more so. The luxury of a place of legend.

"...Indeed, my people don't like other races very much..." Theodore's smile was a little embarrassed, a little bit lost, and then he became firm again, "But I don't like the elves who stand still, I think the elves You should get in touch with the whole world, get to know the whole world, and learn from the strengths of other races in order to make continuous progress—I hope I can lead the elves to take this step.”

"What a dream." Roger encouraged calmly, not knowing whether it was perfunctory or not, "but it is difficult to change the nature of an ethnic group, you have to work hard."

"Well, I will!" Theodore nodded, with the confidence and hope unique to young people, "So, before that, I will take this step first to get to know other races and understand them. rather than relying solely on books and imagination."

"The only criterion for testing the truth in practice is that it is better to travel thousands of miles than to read thousands of books." Roger nodded, and finally had a sense of agreement with Theodore's ideals.He is a small person, and he has always been tired of the rhetoric of the superiors who ignore the facts. Although this elf prince is somewhat idealistic, at least he knows that the so-called ideal is not just talking, but needs to be done and acted. , which made Roger a little more favorable.

"This sentence is very reasonable. Is it a motto for human beings?" Theodore laughed. "There are similar words in the elves. Dreams are seedlings that need to be irrigated with actions." I haven't discussed this with my friends before the elf prince who is a maverick in thought, so I can't hold it anymore-Theodore's eyes are shining, so beautiful that people can't look away, "The first thing I want to see It is human beings, I have always been very curious about this race, you are so weak-sorry, I mean, at least you don’t have the archery and magic talents of the elves, you don’t have the craftsmanship of the dwarves, you don’t have the strength and strength of the orcs, and you don’t look like Like the Yi people and the Sea people, they can monopolize one side of the world, but they can last long on the mainland. History has recorded many conflicts and wars between races. Human beings have never succumbed to any race or been defeated by anyone, even if Temporarily falling into a trough, it will recover quickly, prosper, and even faintly suppress other races, which is like a miracle!"

Listening to Theodore's words, Roger felt particularly complicated. He felt that Theodore was probably praising human beings, but why did he hear all kinds of discomfort in his ears?

Shrugging his shoulders, Roger couldn't help feeling that the elves are indeed a proud race. They always feel that they are the most powerful, and no other race can compare. Even Theodore, who looks humble and respects others, is no exception— ——This kind of arrogance that comes from the bones can't be concealed no matter what.

"Maybe, it's because of the strong reproductive ability of human beings." Roger replied calmly. Even if the other party was beautiful and valuable, there was no malice, and he couldn't agree with the other party's thoughts.

"...Huh?" Theodore froze for a moment, a little dazed.

"Humans have a strong ability to reproduce. A couple can have seven or eight or even more than ten children. If you count the illegitimate children of the nobles, it is estimated that more than 20 children are possible." Glancing at Theodore, Roger was very excited. Seriously speaking extremely unreliable words, "And if I remember correctly, the elves don't have such a strong reproductive ability, right? Your race has a total of tens of thousands of people, and there are only a few tens of thousands of people in a small village like Manlai Forest. The resident population is only a few dozen people. In human society, they are just members of a small family. Human sea tactics are very important. I think you elves have learned this lesson just now. Hundreds of human beings died It’s nothing at all, and if the elves die hundreds of people, I don’t know how long it will take to make up for it.”

"Yes, is that so?!" Theodore's eyes widened in shock, obviously never thinking about similar questions.

Luo Jie held his forehead silently, always feeling that he was really lost when he was serious with the simple and ignorant elves.

"...I lied to you."

"……Hey?"

"Although what you said just now has some truth, but it was just to tease you." Roger's expression was calm, without the slightest sense of apology.

Theodore was silent.

"You see, if the first reason is population size and fecundity, the second reason is brains—or the ability to deceive."

"The ability to deceive...?" Looking blankly at the serious Roger in front of him, Theodore was still a little unbelievable.

"Yes, in human society, you must be careful everywhere, and beware of being deceived." Roger nodded seriously, pointing to this simple elf, "If it is other human beings, they will definitely know that I was joking just now, not serious , and you totally believed it."

"...But, it makes sense...isn't it?" Theodore frowned and asked suspiciously.

"Even if it makes sense, it's definitely a joke. Deception is like this. It makes you think it makes sense and you believe it, but in fact, others are lying to you. If what you say makes the other party feel unreasonable, it's stupidity, not deception. Right?" Roger shrugged his shoulders, "For example, I just lied to you that the human race prospered because of its high fertility, but in fact it was because I didn't want you to know the real strength of human beings, and the high fecundity of your elves is no matter what. Can’t you? So you elves will never be able to learn the advantages of humans—and so on, of course, I’m just making an analogy.”

"... Makes sense!" Theodore suddenly realized, and nodded again and again.

Roger turned his head silently, always feeling that the other party would believe what he said, and he really didn't have any sense of accomplishment...

"In short, human society is full of all kinds of lies and deceptions. To walk in human society, you can only trust yourself." Roger concluded, feeling that he is really kind. A reliable elf who is actually doomed to be cheated.

"But... didn't I go to human society to listen to human voices and learn human knowledge? I don't understand these things, so I need to listen to other people's opinions..." Theodore hesitated.

"...Until you learn to judge what is a lie and what is the truth, you can only believe in yourself, otherwise there is no way to survive." Roger pouted helplessly, "Even if you are powerful personally, if humans want to kill you , there will always be various ways, such as poisoning, such as tricking you to a remote place and then a bunch of people besieging you, or even framing you based on the principle of 'other races have different hearts' so that you will be accused by thousands of people etc., so be careful."

Startled by Roger's sensationalism, Theodore nodded quickly, "I will remember, thank you!"

"Well." Roger was slightly satisfied, "Actually, this is all off-topic. The main point is that although human beings are not strong alone, we will use all kinds of heresy to achieve our goals, frame, sow discord, undercover, and use We have a lot of tricks. Even if we have no power to restrain the chicken, if we use them properly, we will make the enemy fall into a situation beyond redemption. Of course, most of the time, human beings use this method to fight internally, such as politicians. Competing and hostile, but once the race is threatened, human beings have to temporarily put aside internal contradictions and unite externally, then the unlucky ones are other races that are only used to solving everything with strength because of their strength...the race with a relatively simple way of thinking."

Theodore did not answer, obviously horrified by the situation in human society that Roger described. It took him a long time to digest it, and nodded with lingering fear, "Although these are a bit unbelievable to me...but I will work hard to learn of."

"...As far as the nature of your elves is concerned, even if you have learned a few times, you may not be able to apply what you have learned." Roger is not worried that the elves will be infected with the treachery and cunning of humans. Traits are constant, and none of them have anything to do with him as a little guy.

Theodore smiled, "We don't want to harm anyone, we just want to protect ourselves. I believe that as long as we learn it, it will be useful one day."

"That's right." Roger didn't have the heart to continue pouring cold water on him. After seeing the elves finally face up to humans and have a certain degree of fear of this race, he was also satisfied-although he seemed to be smearing humans all the time, but It is much better to be so bad that others can be on guard than to be contemptuous.

"Thank you for your kind words, priest of mankind." After he regained his strength, Theodore regained his demeanor and elegance, "To be able to walk with you and be guided by you is indeed the favor of Alicia, the god of elves." gift."

"...Actually, among human beings, even priests can deceive people." Roger bent his lips, feeling a little helpless.

"Is that so?" Theodore was surprised, and then laughed, "But you won't lie to me, that's enough."

Roger: "..."

——Stupid, I have lied to you in many places, at least in the most basic places—I am not a real priest...