After dressing up, he turned to his backpack that he always carries with him, unless the situation requires to temporarily hide it somewhere.
Placing it on his back, he turned towards Mireth.
"I promise you. After I finish this matter, I'll satisfy your request."
Mireth, lying naked on the bed on her belly, smiled, "I will be waiting."
Vincent nodded and left the tree-house, going down on the spiral staircase.
Seeing him gone, her smile slowly faded.
Mireth took a deep breath and decided to sleep a bit longer.
After last night's intimate intensity, her fragile body was very exhausted.
…
As Vincent left the staircase, he slowly strolled through the road. His thoughts drifted from Mireth and the wooden stick, towards the mysterious Red Maple tree and its barrier ability.
'I wonder how this barrier actually works. Does it only conceal a territory around it in a certain radius or does it work differently?'
Vincent contemplated.
What if he had found this sacred Red Maple tree without the elven entourage? What would he see?
He became quite curious. If he asks the Elder Vaelorion, does he get the answer?
Vincent inwardly shook his head.
Probably not.
If he was in the elder Vaelorion's shoes, he would never expose information about the sacred tree and its abilities to the outsider like him.
As Vincent was submerged in his thoughts, he heard a pleasant voice nearby.
"Please, wait for a second, dear benefactor."
Vincent turned to look at this person.
It was a woman with silver-gold hair in a thin white-brown robe.
She was Mireth's mother.
But she was not alone as beside her was Mireth's father.
The woman gracefully arrived in front of Vincent and deeply bowed down while the father waited behind.
"No words will be able to express my gratitude for saving my two daughters. They are everything for me. For us."
Her next words stunned Vincent. He almost thought that his ears betrayed him.
"In such a case, I pledge everything I have that I will complete two of your requests."
"No matter what they might be."
"If you ask me to endanger my life for you, I'll do it without hesitation."
"Even if you wish for my body… that's not an impossible request."
"For elves, a life debt must always be repaid."
Still somewhat shocked, Vincent shifted his eyes at Mireth's father and became bewildered that there was no reaction to his wife's sudden declaration.
Vincent couldn't help but narrow his eyes.
'Is there something wrong in this family? Is this an odd part of elvish culture, or is this…?' he was unable to tell what it was.
Whatever it might be, Vincent wasn't interested.
"Thank you for such a reward, but I have to decline it. Your body? Sorry, but I'm not interested. A debt? Just let it go."
"I'm sorry, but I have to find the High Elder, Vaelorion, to discuss something."
Vincent's sudden rejection and departure was quite a surprise to Mireth's parents.
Her mother looked in the direction he left in silence. Meanwhile, her father arrived beside her.
"Interesting person, isn't it?" he calmly spoke.
"Do you think… can we entrust Mireth to him?" she asked.
"Did you confirm your guess?" He asked in return.
"Not fully, but… I don't think I was mistaken. When I took his hand yesterday, I felt it. Though it was very faint, there's definitely an elvish blood flowing within him."
"I believe you," he nodded and then added, "I'm surprised an elf would choose a human as a partner."
She said, "Well, since he's partially an elf, entrusting our daughter to him shouldn't be an issue. Moreover, they spent the entire night alone in the house. Do you think they…"
"You know our daughter and you felt it too, right?"
"Yes. It's very unexpected that her spiritual call arrived right at the moment she brought him here."
"She long ago anticipated it and was already searching for a partner. And since her spiritual call was yesterday… we both know what an elf will do to not miss it."
"... I know. The day of my spiritual call is still very vivid in my mind even after 332 years," she replied with slight amusement on her face, remembering what she did with her future husband on the night of her spiritual call.
"You think she's pregnant already?" she asked.
"Most likely."
"But do you think the child will be… normal? After all, he is only partially elf. If rejection occurs, Mireth's life will be endangered. And even if she survives it, her mental state will forever change."
"I know it, but I don't want to think about it. If needed, I will go to the sacred tree and sacrifice part of my spiritual nature to help our pearl overcome this crisis," she spoke, confidently, yet concerned about her daughter.
"If it comes to it… I'll also do it. After all, she is our child," he calmly added.
"Thank you, my dear, but I hope that it will not come to that."
"Yes… Let's hope. I would like to not abandon the dream of connecting with the forest's spirit. But for the sake of our daughter… everything can be discarded."
…
After leaving Mireth's parents, Vincent put on a hood to not draw any more attention from the elves and headed towards a big tree in the distance.
The Red Maple.
He assumed that the High Elder Vaelorion's house should be near it.
Vincent thought about that stick and his ancestor's mission to him.
The location his ancestor indicated must be this elven settlement.
'I don't think there's any other elvish community anywhere nearby, so it must be this place.'
'It's quite convenient that I was brought here by them instead of trying to find it myself.'
He wasn't sure that he'd ever be able to discover it by himself.
Soon, Vincent stood in front of a massive tree with red leaves.
He gazed up. It was untouched unlike other trees.
Vincent felt that his soul was partially suppressed near this tree, as if someone or something protects it.
Vincent took a deep breath and stepped further towards it despite feeling his soul shaking.
But as moved closer to the sacred tree, he was immediately stopped.
"One more step closer and I'll use force to restrain you."
It was a person with a brown mask.
Vincent was disappointed. He wanted to touch the tree and feel its ancient spirit.
Unfortunately…
"Let him. I allow it."
Suddenly, as his hopes already vanished, he heard a relatively young voice filled with wisdom.