Ball of Nothing

Not many people knew the true relationship between Elf King Sharo and the Weeping Willow. However, there were many stories about the elven king and the spriggan in charge of the Weeping Willow. Some said that Spriggan Alex raised Elf King Sharo because of his father's negligence. Elf King Charo was notorious for obsessing only on improving himself. He didn't spend a lot of time with his only son but he made sure to give Sharo the strictest education in order to groom him into the 'perfect' king.

It was common knowledge that there was a treasure inside of the Great Forest of Altear. The Weeping Willow was a World Tree that offered those who worshipped it the power to see into the future. Many people used to visit it to ask for little things. Of course, the price for clairvoyance wasn't something everyone could afford. The Weeping Willow would often make demands for the strangest things. It could range from someone's eyes to their lifespan in exchange for the information. Nobody could predict what kind of price it would demand and only the desperate souls will seek its advice.

After King Charo's falling out with the other elves, the high elves turned away any visors and became hostile. Nobody was allowed to enter Altear and the Weeping Willow became something exclusive only to the high elves of Altear. Not many people minded because the World Tree often asked for prices nobody could afford. However, nobody expected the high elves to become greedy and use the tree's abilities for itself. They didn't know how these elves were paying the exorbitant rates but it was confirmed that the high elves were exploiting the World Tree's abilities somehow.

Charo waged war against many other countries to expand its influence. Some of the weaker countries gave up and surrendered against Charo's might. However, not everyone was a pushover like humans and were beasts. The dwarves put up a bloody struggle and both sides suffered heavy losses until Dwarven Hero Dorgon created the Droys.

"The last person to visit the Weeping Willow was some lich from U.N.U but nobody knows for sure what it looks like or where it is located. The stories say that the Weeping Willow is constantly crying. She cries a lot because she was forced to continuously look at the future and there were too many wars, too many deaths, too many sad and horrific things in the future that she couldn't prevent. The salty water droplets that fell from her leaves created a small pond surrounding her like a moat somewhere in Altear. As for the rest, nobody really knows. Some say that the spriggan guarding her is a handsome young man and others claim that he was just a dirty old man. The only thing that remained constant in stories was his love for beautiful young women."

Zero had to sigh at that last bit of information. The Tree of the Future really wasn't joking about her spriggan's womanising tendencies. He knew that he had to meet this troublesome spriggan and resolve their domestic conflict before he could obtain the third key to Whiskeria's portal but this sounded a lot harder to deal with than negotiating for a non-aggression pact with the elven king.

Seeing Zero's troubled expression, King Brice asked if there was anything Smargdas could do to help make his negotiations easier.

The doctor thought it over a little. There wasn't much a country like this could do. However, he knew that if he wanted to get the womanising spriggan's attention, he needed something better than whatever beauties Altear had to offer.

"Not at the moment," Zero said then he paused. "Actually, do you think the women in Smargdas are beautiful enough to seduce the spriggan into talking?"

King Brice raised a brow. "How can humans compare to elven beauty? Have you seen pure-blooded high elves? They can charm anyone with just a look."

Shoulders drooping, Zero sulked. He should have known that it wouldn't be this easy. Instead, he asked for something even more ridiculous that King Brice wondered if the doctor suffered from some form of brain damage.

"I-I'm sure there would be some of those books somewhere around Smargdas but you won't find any of those in the royal library. I'm not the expert in that kind of subject but I could get some of my courtiers to assist you with your search?"

Zero thought about it and declined the kind offer. He didn't want to sully the royal reputation that King Brice painstakingly built. Now that he thought about it, Zero didn't know if he should be asking Truen and Bob for help. He was afraid that they wouldn't teach him what he needed to know. His best bet would be to ask Lilith because she was the S.u.c.c.u.b.u.s Queen for a reason. Surely her seduction techniques and womanly appeal would be the best to learn from. It should be enough to surpass elven beauty, right?

King Brice was relieved when Zero was finally satisfied after hearing what he needed. The leader of Half Moon Village agreed to help him out one last time with the negotiations for a non-aggression pact but he wanted Smargdas to reach out to Lycantopia for an alliance.

"That's going to be a little tough," King Brice admitted. "Lycantopia is a little like U.N.U. even if King Gaon is in charge. The were beast folks are very divided and do not work well together. They have a hierarchy within their system where carnivores are superior and herbivores are the lowest in the system. King Gaon also doesn't like outsiders very much. He rules Lycantopia with an iron paw and all the refugees we receive are mostly runaways. Many of them are herbivore farmers who couldn't survive in the harsh environment or weak omnivores who deserted the army."

Zero blinked. "Lycantopia is at war?"

King Brice nodded. "Not just Lycantopia. This time, Indra Seagloo is attacking Lycantopia but the last time, it was attacking Mystic Meadows. Queen Leah is at it again. Thankfully, Smargdas is on the mainland and nowhere near the sea."

Zero tried to recall the map of Earth and nodded. Indeed, Smargdas, Rocket Mountain and Magnus Hilda are further from the sea. It was also the reason why exotic seafood was pricey.

"What's going on? Who is Queen Leah and why is she attacking those by the sea?"

King Brice made a face. "She's the queen of Indra Seagloo, the ruler of sea folks. The queen is a little eccentric and it is good if she left us alone. I don't know details but many countries suffer from her tantrums. These attacks aren't the same as Altear's war to demonstrate superiority or gather resources like U.N.U. Queen Leah attacks the countries where she found her ex-lovers as revenge."

Zero deadpanned. He was finally convinced that all royalty were somewhat mentally ill people with a mountain of troubles. It would be in his best interest to not deal with them in the future. He had enough on his plate as it was.