“I can’t believe it—talking to birds!”
EI exclaimed in amazement as he watched Meira communicating with the birds before her.
“Nia, why don’t you have any animal friends?”
After his initial surprise, EI raised another question.
Nia remained silent for a while before replying calmly.
“Because I don’t know Nature Magic.”
“Really? I thought all elves knew Nature Magic.”
EI didn’t dwell on why some elves lacked Nature Magic; his attention was quickly drawn back to Meira.
“That’s amazing. If only I could do that, combined with my innocent smile, I’d probably snag some official position or something.”
EI watched as one bird after another flew out from the forest, landing on Meira’s arms, clicking his tongue in admiration.
Meira smiled gently, softly speaking to the animals in front of her, their heads rhythmically bobbing.
A scene so harmonious, EI had only seen in Snow White’s fairy tale movies.
“How does Meira control them?”
After watching for a while, EI asked again.
“That’s not ‘control.’ We’re not an evil race,” Nia corrected him. “This is just communicating with the animals, seeking their help.”
“How do they agree to help us?”
“Animal friends face all kinds of difficulties too. If you help them, they naturally want to help you.”
“That’s pretty humane.”
After communicating with her animal friends for a bit, Meira came over carrying two birds.
“Mr. EI, I’ve found two friends who can assist us. Their home is near Belong Town.”
With a wave of her hand, a white and a brown bird landed on the back of her hand.
“But you’ll need to provide food for them and their chicks. Winter is coming soon, and they’ll need time to gather enough food to feed the whole family.”
“That’s no problem.”
EI said, turning to enter the room. When he came back out, he was carrying a bag loosely filled with grains.
“Do you think this much is enough?”
“That’s quite a lot.” Nia glanced at the bag in his hand, then at the two little birds still smaller than the bag, “But rather than whether it’s enough, I’m more curious—how are they going to carry it all back?”
“Good point.”
EI frowned briefly but quickly returned to his usual self.
“Meira, why don’t you ask them if they’d like to move closer to my house?” EI suggested. “I’ll take care of their housing problems and make sure they have a good winter.”
“No problem.”
Meira agreed and resumed communicating with the birds.
After listening to her, the two birds pressed their heads together, discussed for a while, then gave their approval.
“Mr. EI, they agreed.”
“Great! I’ll go find materials right away and build them a home in the tree by the front door.”
With the help of his animal friends, EI regained his usual optimism.
Nia hadn’t interacted with many humans, but her intuition told her that EI was definitely among the most optimistic humans she’d ever met.
It was as if nothing in this world could trouble him.
Although sometimes he was annoying when he spoke, in this regard, Nia really admired him.
EI had been tinkering in the yard for an entire afternoon, and a brand-new birdhouse had appeared.
“I didn’t expect you to be so handy.”
Looking at the freshly made birdhouse—or rather, “bird mansion”—Nia couldn’t help but remark, “Maybe you have the talent of a craftsman.”
“There’s a lot I can do.”
EI proudly patted his chest in response to her compliment.
“So, have you thought about letting me join now?”
Nia gave him a look that said, “Figure that out yourself.”
“Ah, I guess you just don’t appreciate talent.”
EI shrugged and put the strange tool he had back into the box.
“EI, do you have a spatial tool?”
Nia had wanted to ask this ever since she saw him conjure things out of thin air.
The reason she wasn’t sure was because after taking something out, he never seemed to put anything back inside—it was always stored somewhere like a box.
“Uh…” EI hesitated. He studied Nia for a long moment, then lowered his voice mysteriously.
“Calling it a spatial tool isn’t wrong, but this one can only take things out; it can’t store anything.”
Nia had never heard of such a magic device before.
Only taking things out but not storing them?
What kind of setup was that?
How does it take things if it can’t store them?
Out of thin air?
Since EI was from another continent, Nia didn’t think too much about it.
“In that case, I’ll give you one.”
“Really?”
EI’s eyes lit up instantly. “Are you sure? I mean, I don’t want to be impolite…”
Though EI spoke politely, his expression clearly said: Hurry up and give it to me—I can’t wait!
“I happened to get quite a few of these recently, so I have extras.”
Nia said as she searched her body.
Then, to EI’s eager eyes, she pulled out a ring she had taken from an enemy.
“Here.”
“A ring?” EI took the ring from her hand and grinned playfully. “Does this count as a token of affection?”
“If you say any more weird things, give it back to me.”
Nia spread out her palm with a deadpan expression.
“It’s mine once it’s in my hands.”
EI quickly slipped the ring onto his left middle finger.
“But how do I use it?”
“You inject your elemental power into it, then you can control it freely,” Nia said, pausing slightly. “But the ring can’t hold much—its actual capacity is only about the size of two sacks of grain.”
“That’s fine, it’s already pretty good. The important part is that you gave it to me.”
EI clearly liked the device.
He twirled his hand in the air, his eyes lingering on the ring for quite some time.
After a while, he finally looked away.
“Nia, since you gave me something, I’ll give you something too.”
“What are you going to give me?”
Nia was curious.
EI didn’t answer.
He fumbled at his neck, and when he reached out, a white jade-colored pendant appeared in his hand.
“What’s this?”
“A protective charm,” EI said as he took the initiative to put the pendant on Nia.
“It’s said to bring good luck.”
Though she wasn’t sure if the pendant really brought good luck, this was the first time Nia had ever received a gift from someone else.
“Thank you.”
After thanking him, Nia touched the pendant hanging around her neck, feeling especially sensitive to the idea of “good luck.”
Hopefully, it really would bring her some.