Chapter 167

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Chapter 167: Under the Pine Tree

The next day, on December 11th, finally arrived the day of the Language Orcish exchange meeting.

When Jesse woke up, it was already past 10 o’clock. Thinking about the meeting in the afternoon, he felt he should take advantage of the time before leaving to refine his speech.

He took out the draft paper he had written earlier, filled with densely packed words, like a bumpy paper covered with small bumps. He was thinking about how to help the Dalaran mages realize that the artifact Eye of Dalaran might be under threat without mentioning the three artifacts.

The orders on the three artifacts were already very clear. In this world, there are not many places humans know specifically for storing artifacts. Karazhan is one, Dalaran is one, Quel’Thalas is one, and the King’s city of Lordaeron is one. Of course, Stormwind used to be one as well, but after being plundered, it no longer counted.

Karazhan can be excluded because during the war, its outskirts were basically controlled by Orcs. Not to mention, its master was the instigator of the Dark Portal event. Mage who can make some judgment on the war situation usually assume that if there are treasures in Karazhan that could help the Orcs continue their attack on the world of Azeroth, they have already been taken out by Medivh and given to Gul’dan.

Stormwind used to store the Book of Medivh. Eventually, the Book of Medivh was stolen. After the destruction of Alterac City, people learned that the Book of Medivh was stolen by agents sent by the Perenolde family of the Alterac royal family. By the time everyone realized this issue, Teron Gorefiend was already at the gates, and it was too late. Quel’Thalas, despite being heavily hit during the Second War, even under such a terrifying attack, the main city area remained standing without any serious damage. The elves’ guardianship of their own territory, walls, and treasures gave reassurance to everyone on the continent that they need not worry about an outsider thief sneaking into Silvermoon City to steal something.

So it was almost natural for everyone to be cautious towards the situations in Dalaran and Lordaeron.

As is well known, although the capital of Lordaeron is prosperous, it doesn’t hold as many Sacred Tools related to magic as Dalaran.

By focusing on this point and arguing logically, he could surely make everyone believe that Dalaran was in danger.

Of course, he erased a few particularly aggressive or self-righteous sentences, to make everyone believe that he was genuinely concerned about the safety of Dalaran based on speculation, and not because he knew something and refused to say, trying to deliberately guide the old folks of Kirin Tor to do something.

Of course, he also reminded himself to stop the dangerous guiding immediately once the mages present noticed something wrong.

He cared about the Eye of Dalaran, but he cared more about his own life and didn’t want to reveal that he could see the future as a time traveler.

At half past three in the afternoon, Jesse arrived early at the meeting place. There weren’t many people in front of the building Duchamp had described to him. It was close to Violet Citadel, and almost all the pedestrians on the street were mages wearing purple or blue robes.

The rain from last night was intermittent and everyone was wearing large mage hats and heavy cloaks. Jesse stood out looking silly, getting wet without protection.

The main area of Dalaran was more like a gigantic school than a city.

Jesse had heard that after the New Year, this large area near Violet Citadel was off-limits to outsiders not associated with mages. The security here was stricter than many schools.

To avoid being suddenly kicked out, Jesse dressed neatly. He wore a shirt his mother had made for him, a mage robe from Wizard’s Sanctum, and new pants his mother had bought him. He blended in well with the mage assistants on the street.

He double-checked the documents and materials he had brought, making sure the most important command, his transcription tablet, were all correct, complete, and undamaged.

Of course, he also had his Wizard’s Sanctum Apprentice Badge, which represented his identity. Duchamp had reminded him many times to remember his ring for the meeting.

The meeting starts at 4 o’clock, but Duchamp didn’t confirm when it will actually begin. Jesse thinks it might go on until evening, so he took a nap this afternoon and now he feels refreshed.

Instead of waiting inside for everyone to show up, he is hiding in the central park outside this round dome building, circling around a giant pine tree for cover.

He is practicing key words from his prepared script while circling around the tree trunk, keeping an eye out for Duchamp’s arrival.

Suddenly, Jesse sees a group of elves walking briskly towards the entrance. The red-headed elf at the front is talking rapidly to their companions as they enter the door.

These must be the elves attending the Orc meeting. Jesse had considered the idea of elves joining the meeting, but he never expected this many to show up.

Earlier, someone mentioned that the elf prince Kael’thas Sunstrider has a very negative attitude towards Orcs. He agrees with the establishment of the detention center, hoping it would efficiently gather all Orc captives in one place for "processing" to prevent future troubles.

The appearance of this group of elves suggests that there are individuals in Quel’Thalas who disagree with Kael’thas. After all, if all the Orcs were to be dealt with, there would be no need to learn the Orcish language.

After a few leading elves enter the building, a group of elves dressed more simply and modestly stay outside by the door. Judging by their scattered positions, they are likely guards providing security for the earlier group of elves.

Some elf guards positioned themselves here, and Jesse recognizes a familiar face among them inside.

It’s Kaffir Brightwing.

Jesse saw Kaffir and Kaffir noticed him too. He smiled at Jesse and walked over.

"Jesse Seso, are you here for the Orc meeting too? I think you are quite open-minded, like someone who would learn the language of wild animals."

"I’m not learning Language Orcish to be open-minded," Jesse said. "What about you, are you interested in Language Orcish too?"

"I’m interested, but I haven’t learned it yet," Kaffir lifted his belt made of blue Mageweave Cloth with gold threads and said, "I’m just here to be a security guard for Sunreaver."

"Sunreaver?"

"Aethas Sunreaver," Kaffir said. "Haven’t you heard of him? He is the ambassador of Quel’Thalas in Dalaran, very interested in learning Language Orcish and supports exploring the culture behind Orcs and the Dark Portal, known as ‘Zanglanor’."

"I never knew your elves had such curious officials. I remember Prince Kael’thas didn’t like Orcs," said Jesse.

Kaffir explained, "Aethas has a relative in Reliquary, and Reliquary doesn’t care about outsiders or insiders. As long as they have powerful artifacts or relics, they are interested. After digging this land for centuries, when they were running out of things to research and write about, suddenly a group of beings from another world arrived, speaking strange languages, wielding unique weapons, using rare magic. Do you think they would miss this opportunity? Those researchers supported by the Sun King will not mind upsetting an unpredictable prince." After saying this, he widened his eyes, pretended to cover his mouth, and said, "Oops, I spoke the truth accidentally."

Jesse laughed and asked, "Do you Farstriders also have to do guard duty?"

"We didn’t have to originally," Kaffir said. "But thanks to you and the brave dragonkin, Jesse, the black dragons have been rare these days. With no new orders from General Sylvanas yet, and the guards from the Dalaran embassy busy defending the prince, us Sunreaver guards have to step in as the forest protectors with nothing much to do."

"The black dragons haven’t appeared these days? Why?" Jesse asked.

Kaffir explained, "It’s been a few days, the last sighting was on the 7th day, when someone saw a black dragon flying over Stonebrad. The towns nearby, whether Lordaeron or Dalaran, have enough mages and archers defending. With such tight security, I reckon those black dragons don’t want to risk attacking after facing resistance a few times."

Feeling his throat dry, Jesse couldn’t help but swallow his saliva.

Maybe it was the upcoming meeting making him nervous, or sensing something amiss.

If the defenses around the towns are solid, does it mean that Dalaran’s defense is at its weakest?

He turned to look at the magnificent Violet Citadel, towering so unrealistically tall, especially the barely visible floating structure at the very top shrouded by clouds, it was truly a magical wonder. Perhaps those living at the very top never imagined that such a place could face invasion?

"Being a guard isn’t so bad," Jesse said. "At least in the safety of Dalaran, one can relax a bit, without having to be on constant alert like in those remote forests… always fearing Orc traps or enemy ambushes."

"Safety is boring," Kaffir wiped the raindrops from his forehead with his fingers and said, "Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come all the way here to pass the time with you. I would rather fight you and that dwarf again. The next few hours of standing punishment seem extremely painful to think about, especially knowing that some members of our team don’t have to be here, which makes it even worse."

"Who?"

"Who else could it be, of course it’s our Miss Vereesa," Kaffir chuckled.

"Why isn’t she here, does she have another task?" Jesse asked.

Kaffir squinted and asked, "Are you serious?"

"What’s wrong?"

"Are you suggesting that Silvermoon City Ranger-General’s own sister come to protect this Sunreaver?"

"Yeah, it does seem a bit off," Jesse awkwardly laughed as Duchamp was walking towards them from a distance.

"My time is up, I have to go in now. Good luck finding other ways to have fun here."

"Aldielshala." Kaffir sighed and casually spoke in Elvish while leaning against a damp tree trunk.

Jesse glanced back at him, understanding the words. Aldielshala, have a smooth journey.