The villagers wore beaming smiles as they crowded around the two, welcoming them into the village.
Lian stayed close to Iyue’s side, observing the villagers with a sharp gaze.
The elf Iyue called “Uncle Ya Ke” appeared to be the foreman of the workers hauling timber.
Judging by his appearance, which resembled an elderly human, he was at least 800 or 900 years old.
“Gris, go and call your mother!” Ya Ke shouted.
At his command, a young worker ran into the village. He seemed to be Ya Ke’s son.
A moment later, he returned with a woman in tow.
“Oh my… it really is Ilya…”
“Mother, I told you I wasn’t lying…!” Gris panted.
The woman’s shock seemed even deeper than that of her husband and son.
Iyue looked at her face and offered a nostalgic smile. “Aunt Holly.”
She took a step forward, but Holly instinctively took a step back.
The movement was subtle, yet the reaction caused Iyue to freeze for a moment.
“…It has been a long time.”
Iyue stopped in her tracks, maintaining a polite distance from the woman.
“Mother…!” Gris hissed.
“Hey, this woman…!” Ya Ke muttered under his breath.
The father and son kept shooting looks at the woman, finally jolting her back to her senses.
She hesitated for a second before quickly adjusting her expression to match the welcoming masks worn by her husband and son.
“Ilya… it is so good to see you back safe. I am truly happy to see you again.”
Her tone sounded slightly more sincere than the others.
However, the same underlying hypocrisy couldn’t escape the keen eyes of the two from the Brave’s Party.
“Ilya.” Lian glanced at Iyue.
Iyue simply gave a small, subtle nod before continuing her exchange with the woman.
“I am also glad to see you again. Is your health holding up well?”
“Well… of course! I am glowing with health…! Oh ho ho…”
This time, the woman took the initiative to approach Iyue.
She opened her arms slightly as if intending to offer a hug, but Iyue merely smiled and extended her right hand.
The woman awkwardly let her arms drop and shook Iyue’s hand instead.
She then turned her attention to Lian and offered an invitation.
“This girl is your friend? Looking at you two, you must have traveled a very long way.”
“Since it’s been so long, come sit at my house. We should have a proper chat—”
“That won’t be necessary. I only came back to take a look at my home… I’ll be leaving shortly.”
Iyue gently waved her hand to decline the “generous” offer. “I will come by to pay my respects properly when I have the chance later.”
After offering a general greeting to the assembled villagers, she led her horse past the woman.
“Wait, wait, wait! Don’t be in such a hurry, Ilya!”
Seeing her about to leave, Ya Ke and his son looked as if disaster was about to strike. They rushed to block her path.
“You haven’t been back in so many years. You should at least say hello to the Village Chief!”
“He would be so happy to know you’ve returned!”
“But I have urgent business—”
“Since you had enough time to come back, surely a small delay won’t hurt?” Ya Ke said with a wide smile.
“We’ll go to the Village Chief’s house right now! Son, you’re fast, go and notify him ahead of us!”
Before Iyue could respond, Ya Ke had already set his son in motion.
The young man vanished in a flash, even using a small amount of Wind Magic to accelerate his pace.
“Lian.” Iyue looked at her companion.
“Why not go? It’s not like we’re in that much of a rush.” Lian nodded back.
‘Don’t you want to see what these folks are really up to?’ Lian’s expression seemed to say.
“Fine. I suppose I really should greet the Village Chief.”
“That’s wonderful! This way, this way!”
As soon as Iyue agreed, several villagers who had been looking tense suddenly relaxed and broke into relieved smiles.
They practically competed with one another to lead the way for Iyue and Lian.
The group proceeded slowly along the village’s main road.
The path was exceptionally well-maintained and paved with neatly laid stone slabs.
The houses lining the road were no longer the ones Iyue and Lian remembered—structures built into the trees or using the trees themselves as the main frame.
Instead, they were rows of low, orderly houses built of stone and brick.
“Uh… why does this feel so familiar?” Lian muttered as she walked, puzzled by the streetscape.
“The villages on the outskirts of Seles City and the Northland towns we passed are mostly in this style,” Iyue noted.
“It’s not just Yilansiya. While I was wandering these past few years, many towns in other countries have adopted this style as well.”
“The treehouses are all gone… these buildings definitely look like the ones in the Northland.”
Iyue’s observation reminded Lian of something.
While the color palette still favored the traditional white and green of the Fairy Race, the architecture told a different story.
The neat rectangular outlines, the clear functional divisions, and the visible metal hardware on the doors and windows all screamed human influence.
It was the distinct design philosophy of the Industrial Revolution: an emphasis on utility, efficiency, and stability.
Like Lian, Iyue’s gaze swept across both sides of the road.
She couldn’t see a single treehouse built according to the millennia-old traditions of the Elves, nor any of the vine bridges that used to hang between the canopy.
Even the ancient holy wood sculptures that used to sit on the grass—where she had touched them as a child to offer prayers to the Nature Spirits—had vanished.
She also noticed the changes in the villagers. Her eyes drifted from their familiar yet strange faces to their clothing.
The style of their clothes still retained the loose, layered look common to the Fairy Race.
The collars and hems were still embroidered with the leaf veins and branch patterns she knew so well.
However, the texture of the fabric was entirely different.
The colors were diverse—not just the greens, golds, and whites favored by Elves, but also dark browns, indigos, and deep reds popular in the Northland.
“The village… and everyone… they’ve changed so much,” Iyue sighed.
Ya Ke, walking beside her, spoke up with a bright expression.
“Indeed! I used to say your family was betraying ancestral tradition by building a ground house like the humans…”
“But after living in one myself, I realized how comfortable they are. They’re sturdy, warm, and you don’t have to worry about bugs!”
“I see… I am glad to see everyone is living better than before.”
Iyue could hear that he was genuinely appreciative of the improved quality of life.
She noticed various tools tied to the metal buckle of his leather belt.
His boots and leggings were stained with wood shavings, ash, and mud — clear signs of long-term manual labor.
“This is human technology, isn’t it?” Lian asked the elf walking next to her.
She immediately realized her mistake.
In her memory, the Fairy Race was extremely xenophobic.
When she had first come to this village looking for Iyue, the villagers wouldn’t even let her enter.
They had been so resistant to even speaking to her that she had been forced to wander the forest alone, wasting a great deal of time.