You also need to tell her how hard moon exploration is.

Luckily, these ingredients are just outside the city, and a journey of dozens of miles isn't far.

Roland didn't want to dampen her spirit, so he changed his clothes, had the attendant bring the horse, and accompanied Lisa for a night departure.

The physique of a Transcendent far surpasses that of ordinary people, allowing them to see at night, though not clearly.

In this era, traveling at night doesn't carry the worry of running into people.

After about an hour of wild galloping, they finally reached their destination.

"The herbs we found last time were around here, let's go." Under the moonlight, Lisa's smile was like a jewel bathed in moonlight, radiant.

She was very happy.

Although earlier Roland almost touched the wrong pocket watch causing her heart to stop momentarily, thankfully he didn't take the wrong one.

Roland had a hundred reasons to refuse.

For instance, being too busy with work, having too many trivial matters, having to deal with Count Sif, entertaining important guests and being exhausted, etc.

If he didn't want to go, there were plenty of reasons.

But Roland came.

Accompaniment needs no reason, refusal does.

Lisa rarely acts on impulse, she just had a feeling and really wanted to get some fresh ingredients tonight.

When asked, it's a woman's sixth sense.

Roland understands Lisa, so he doesn't ask, he only acts.

Leaving the horse in the valley, Lisa led Roland into the valley.

As they entered the valley, Lisa's expression changed slightly.

The scenery here was completely different from what she remembered.

"Did we take a wrong path?" Roland noticed Lisa's odd demeanor and asked softly.

"I remember the spot being right here, the valley entrance exactly the same, how could it..." Lisa muttered to herself.

"Don't worry, think about it, is there any obvious marker?"

"Yes, I carved words on the tallest pine tree."

Roland secretly mocked, who says foreigners are civilized and don't randomly carve words on trees? Please come out and walk a few steps.

Since there's a marker, that's good, the two approached the tallest tree and found the carving.

"Lisa's private kitchen garden."

Seeing these small words, Roland teased with a smile: "Turns out you like it here, I'll ask Sif later to confer you as an Imperial Knight, make this your domain, no wait, it's a kitchen garden."

A quiet night, traveling dozens of miles to pick wild vegetables, truly has a touch of romanticism.

If this tree were a pine tree, it would be even better.

Suddenly, Lisa grabbed Roland's hand, her voice trembling violently, "Roland, I am so scared, this isn't a pine tree!"

"I know, it's a Golden Ginkgo, there were many during the Third Era, but they've long been extinct..."

Roland's words abruptly stopped halfway.

He too sensed something off.

The carving on the pine tree had transferred to a Golden Ginkgo, extinct for who knows how long, along with a valley full of flowers and grass still growing in the dead of winter; no matter how you think about it, it's eerie.

Lisa trembled all over, and Roland felt uneasy too.

He feigned calmness, comforting Lisa, "The world is vast, with many strange things, no need to panic. However, it truly is too late today, let's pick some random wild vegetables and leave."

A thief makes no empty return, unlike fishing; of course, they shouldn't go back empty-handed, that's too unlucky.

Under Roland's insistence, Lisa picked a few unknown wild vegetables indiscriminately, no longer daring to stay, she grabbed Roland and sped away.

Leaving the valley, the two whipped the horse furiously, never looking back as they headed back to Hansa.

The heavily guarded Governor's Mansion offered Lisa not even a hint of security, her hand kept trembling.

Roland escorted her back to her room, and seeing her state, worriedly asked, "Sister, do you want me to stay with you for a while?"

Lisa hesitated for a moment before nodding.

She's timid, and every thunderstorm night frightens her into quivering.

During such times, Roland would stay in her room, telling her random stories, and only leaving after she fell asleep.

As he grew older, Roland also realized it was improper to stay in a girl's room at night; on thunderstorm nights she'd have to muster maturity on her own.

Years later, hearing this familiar yet strange "stay," there was a fleeting gaze of a feeling as if transcending time in Lisa's eyes.

She softly said, "Alright, leave a bit early later, don't let others see."

After all, Roland was the Empress's rumored boyfriend, if a rumor of a love triangle arose, wouldn't their reputation be at stake?

The strategy she crafted for Roland was to first conquer Sif's castle.

As for her...

When had her door ever closed to Roland?

Smiling, Roland sat by Lisa's bedside, gently asking, "It's been a while since I told a story, what does sister want to hear?"

"'Oh my, the Empress is pregnant, who did it?'"

"She's not pregnant yet." Roland was somewhat speechless, is this matter never going to end?

"Then work harder, concoct a scenario to make me happy." Lisa covered half her face with the blanket, sneakily glancing at Roland.

Could such a matter truly bring happiness?

Making up stories is genuinely too difficult, so Roland simply recounted the story of this trip to Val City State.

The night battle with the Werewolf, the ambush of Robert, such combats weren't elaborated to avoid troubling his sister's heart.

Using an antiquated style, he transformed all the dangers into stories, narrating them seamlessly.

His voice was like a warm hand soothing Lisa's flustered heart.

Sleepiness overcame her, she fell asleep.

Quietly, Roland left Lisa's room, returning to his own quarters.

He began flipping through various ancient texts, in search of records about the Golden Ginkgo, yet found no useful leads.

The final records concerning Golden Ginkgo were in the late Third Era, preceding the extinction of the Elf Race.

The extinction of Golden Ginkgo was merely a beginning; soon, the thriving Ginkgo began mass extinction.

With the arrival of autumn, after hundreds of species covering the earth with Ginkgo completely vanished, the Elf Race felt the cold of winter.

Ninety-five years later, the Elf Race perished due to Divine Punishment.

Ninety-five years is but a fleeting moment relative to the long Third Era, not considered long for elves whose lifespan started at a thousand years.

It could even be regarded that the extinction of the Elf Race was synonymous with the Golden Ginkgo's extinction.

Plants withered, the Flower Sea wilted, and the Elves met their demise.

Golden Ginkgo was the first leaf autumn took from the trees, while the Elf Race was the withered great tree after all the leaves had fallen.

The resurrection of Golden Ginkgo doesn't necessarily imply the Elf Race's return.

Roland thought about Elf Sylph, doubting it's possible.

Golden Ginkgo faced natural extinction, while the Elf Race fell to the War of Divine Punishment.

Unlike the Magic Empire.

The Magic Empire managed to secure a pyrrhic victory, thus preserving the embers. The Elf Race, stripped of the Flower Sea and various protective plants, faced obliteration in a desolate land.

Elf Race's demise was indeed unfortunate.

Had there been even a patch of forest nearby, not even requiring the Flower Sea, they could have defeated the Divine Punishment Legion.

Yet their downfall wasn't entirely unjust.

Having dominated the world for so many years, living in a manner not discernibly different from the era's inception.

It's said that Ginkgo tree, Chinese sturgeon, such creatures barely evolved over billions of years are living fossils, yet the Elf Race far exceeded them in the living fossil index.

The Elf Race, a species stagnated in progress, had their extinction written in the stars.

Even if the ancient Ginkgo, Metasequoia, and Davidia trees were to all revive, with the Flower Sea blooming anew, there's no rationale for the Elf Race's return.

As an [Inheritor], Roland possessed the vast and abundant texts and knowledge of the Elf Race, yet the content he mastered was less than a thousandth of the Elf Race's peak era.

They were a race stuffed with knowledge yet devoid of wisdom.

They're not coming back.

Still, Roland harbored a lingering thought.

The Elf Race cannot return, but that doesn't imply individual elves cannot be revived.

If possible, he'd like to bring Elf Sylph out of the Dreamland to meet human Sif.

Although human Sif's strength was weak and her thoughts erratic, her progress was remarkably swift.

With time, Sif would certainly surpass the namesake Dream Elf.

Roland entered Dreamland.

He arrived at the dreamlike flowers, unable to see Elf Sylph, thus he settled into slumber.

Recently indeed exhausted, requiring a death-like deep sleep.

As dawn light crept in, he energetically stood up, intending to visit the Nameless Valley once more.

No matter what supernatural entities there may be, they ought to settle down during daylight.

As Roland prepared for an early departure and return, a piercing scream capable of banishing demons echoed from the room next door.

Roland jerked in fright, his expression instantly changed.

It's Lisa!

He dashed to the next room, staring at Lisa hiding beneath the covers, trembling uncontrollably, stunned.

The floor was scattered with several wild vegetables, those they dug up last night.

The roots of the vegetables were oozing sap.

Not green, but red.

The scent of blood enveloped the scene, the vegetables were bleeding.

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