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"Those are humans..."

"Are we really going to let them here...?"

"Will we be alright after this...?"

They expressed various feelings like doubt, hostility, fear, and curiosity. I totally understood them, of course, as their feelings were valid. My sister and I were basically the members of a race they substantially avoided, so our initial impressions of them were not that good in the first place.

Aesfen sensed their strange gaze upon us before giving them sharp glares, subtly telling them to stay quiet. She turned to us and flashed a smile.

"Your Highness Louise and Raphael, I am apologizing for the inappropriate treatment my kind have expressed toward you, even though we should be the ones who must pay respect toward our benefactors."

"It\'s fine, Miss Aesfen. We understand." My sister spoke. "We know that tree spirits could not put trust in humans yet. But we promise you to protect your kind and the World Treant as much as we can."

"We gladly appreciate your words, Your Highness Louise."

We continued walking on this sort of their main street and passed some trees and tree houses. The stares were still there after being warned by Aesfen, definitely, but it was not like we took heed of them. It was their opinion, but we would try to change their views upon us in a positive way.

We walked for a few hundreds of meters before we reached the seemingly largest man-made structure in the cool shade of the World Treant. It was constructed on the ground, probably because of its size, which was two- stories tall, but it was still as primitive as other structures here.

Apparently, it was their place for gatherings and meetings as well as their place to store important objects. When we got inside, I noticed that the entire first floor was just a hall. There was a long table in the middle, alongside a few regular ones at the sides. The only food items on the tables, though, were just fruits, greens, and root crops.

There were dozens of tree spirits gathered once they got here; a few of them were near as powerful as Aesfen. Naturally, they kept glancing at me and my sister like what anyone would do upon seeing someone or something out of place.

After a while, one of the tree spirits approached us. She appeared to be at the same age as Aesfen, physically, and I could assume that she was the younger one. She had a fair complexion and a body closely similar to Aesfen. Her hair was naturally green and Dutch-braided.

From what I could see, she was the most powerful one here, just below Aesfen in terms of stats, off by only a few dozens of levels. She did not seem to be wary of us, nor was she showing she was welcoming our arrival.

"Welcome back, Sister," she greeted after she bobbed her body once before Aesfen. "I heard from Fyr and Gron that you have arrived and brought some visitors."

She then took a glance at us a bit. She was more like scanning us from head to toe.

"It\'s been a while, but now we have returned." Aesfen said. "As you can see, I have done the deal with the humans, and they are here for a visit as promised."

"I see."

"Your Highness Louise and Raphael, this is Alandra. She is the second oldest among us and the one who takes care of the World Treant in my absence."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Aldanra. My name is Louise Raevender, the next ruler of the Queendom of Raevender, the nation established in the forest. This is my younger brother, Raphael Raevender."

"It\'s a pleasure meeting you."

"You are brave to come here, humans. I\'ll be frank here. Many of our kin harbor doubts about your intentions."

Alandra regarded us with a cool gaze, her expression revealing little. It seemed like she was openly expressing her honest feelings about this matter.

"We understand," I replied, trying to project confidence. "But we are here to forge a bond, not to harm."

"Our mission is to protect the World Treant and its home." Aesfen then stepped closer, her voice steady. "The Queendom of Raevender has always sought harmony between other races. We have seen it ourselves."

Alandra\'s eyes softened slightly. "Words are easy, but actions speak louder. Making a deal with other races is just too risky, especially with a race known for its greed. Even though we have decided to make an approach, I am still against it."

"We want to change that," my sister intoned with conviction. "We will show you our commitment to protecting the World Treant and the tree spirits."

"How can you prove that you have the capabilities to protect the World Treant?"

"Well," I stepped in. "Actually, we are the ones responsible for the disappearance of the ancient dragon. We have subjugated the legendary monster under our thumb."

"..."

Alandra seemed to weigh our words, her gaze shifting to the gathering tree spirits, who murmured among themselves. Their whispers floated through the hall like leaves on a breeze—some were still skeptical, while others seemed intrigued.

"If they wanted to, they could just make the dragon attack us and take control of the world forest. But they did not because they are not that kind of people," Aesfen remarked. "We all know that our mother\'s inability to limit power has no match for the dragon. We should be grateful for them."

"That is why we shouldn\'t trust them. If they could enslave the dragon, they could do the same thing to us."

"Alandra, if you still have doubts, let us bring this to our mother again and see if she has changed her mind."

"Very well," Alandra finally said; her tone was cautious but not unkind. "Mother definitely did not go against this, but she did not say she approved it, so we cannot say what her final decision is. Her words are absolute, and we must follow every one of her wills. If she sees them trustworthy, then I would not go against harmonizing with the humans anymore."

To gain Alandra\'s trust and that of the tree spirits, we made our way back to the base of the World Treant.