Looking at the map, the three of them were silent. There was too little information now, and even Qin Lun found it difficult to make an accurate judgment. The plot humans and elves they possessed seemed to be small characters, and their original memories were practically intact.

At this time, the three of them had a faint feeling that Nicole’s storyline characters might be the key to this elven caravan. If they found them, they should be able to understand the mission of this elven caravan.

“Qin Lun, what do you think?” Sterk turned around and asked.

Hearing Sterk’s question, Qin Lun did not answer immediately. Instead, he sat down on the bloodstained grass and rubbed his chin as he fell into deep thought.

However, after thinking for a while, Qin Lun’s face revealed a trace of helplessness. It was a good thing for the Broken Universe to give a hint, but it also meant that it would not be easy to understand the truth behind the hint.

Apart from being able to roughly determine that the attacker belonged to a nearby human lord, it was difficult to determine from other aspects. He was not a roundworm in the attacker’s stomach, how could he know which direction the attacker would retreat in?

More than 1,600 years ago, the Lord of Jondas Kingdom definitely remembered the magical flood that caused a large part of the country to turn into an ocean. After all, everyone could see the turbulent Weihong Sea Region in the northern part of the Kingdom.

No matter what difficulties the Jondar Elves were facing now, it would be nonsense to say that the human lords near Elbard had flagrantly broken the peace agreement between the two communities. In other words, they would at least blame the attack on the thieves on the surface, so that the attackers would not be able to enter Elbard with the looted goods and hostages in full swing.

According to this logic, it was a good choice for them to head south to the lower reaches of the Naga River and use the river to transfer spoils of war. The Naga River was the natural geographic boundary between the Kingdom of Jondas and the Kingdom of Seth-Patz. At the southern end of the Naga River, it would change from east-west to north-south until it flowed into the Weihong Sea. Along the way, there were several prosperous human cities.

For example: located in the golden plains, the second commercial port of Jondas Kingdom, Ompatar, and Nimpex of Cespec are major trading cities. Paddy from the Golden Plains, the native products of the three forests of Winter Forest, Anke, and Jondal, as well as the cotton and iron tools of the Kingdom of Xia, were all imported into the northern continent of Feilun.

Of course, the Allan River tributary south of Elbard could do the same. However, this tributary had to bypass Elbard City after all. When the time came, the Jondahl Elves would be asking questions. If they didn’t know, then it would be tantamount to stealing the bell from their ears. As long as the attackers moved southward, they would definitely not care about making a few more dozen miles. Otherwise, it would be better to go directly to Elbard.

However, this inference is only the most probable, not all possibilities.

The attackers could also split up into two groups. The looted goods were too conspicuous, so they could only go to the Naga River in the south. The truck that escorted the three captives could be sent into Elbard in the dark to secretly attack the mastermind of the elven caravan. Perhaps they would want to obtain the real situation of Jondar Forest through interrogation.

The reason why Sterk found it difficult to make a choice was because he had also thought of the possibility of the two coexisting. Even when Qin Lun thought of the last possibility, the horse hoof mark on the north side of the camp could not be ignored. Although the likelihood is slim, it cannot be ruled out that the attackers deliberately walked a distance and then dumped the prisoners or corpses on the edge of the forest to confuse their eyes and ears.

If there was a reason that Qin Lun and the others didn’t know about, then it wasn’t entirely impossible. For example: a personal grudge between a human lord and this elven caravan, or a real thief group attacking the caravan and blaming Elbard’s humans.

Thinking of this, Qin Lun no longer hesitated. With the current intelligence, there was no way he could get a very accurate answer.

“Perhaps it’s not enough for us to split into two teams!” Philip’s expression darkened when he saw Qin Lun’s expression. He and Stark were experienced adventurers. As long as they could calm down, most of their conclusions could be deduced by themselves.

“If Nicole is brought into the Naga River by the attackers, or into Elbard, we’ll have to go through a lot of trouble.” Stark couldn’t help but feel a headache when he recalled Qin Lun’s speculation about the Demon Cup Royal Court.

“If the Demon Cup Royal Court is truly in turmoil, then we need to resolve this matter as soon as possible.” Philip gritted his teeth and said, “Sterk, let’s split up into two teams. I’ll lead the team to Elbard. You go to the Naga River in the south. Even if you use up some trump cards, we need to bring Nicole back as soon as possible.”

The reason why the apostles were so difficult to deal with was not only because they were able to fight long battles by relying on their nomological bodies, but also because they possessed tremendous explosive power.

High-level skills, magic scrolls, puppets, summoning creatures. Even though there were only ten people in the fortress guild, it wasn’t a problem to destroy a small town like Elbard. However, the quest world had only just begun, and consuming trump cards in the Guide quest was not a good sign.

‘”No, Elbard is right there. He won’t run away. Let’s go to the tributary of the Naga River first. If we can’t find Nicole and the others, we can go back. We can’t use up too much energy at this stage.” Stark shook his head resolutely and made his final decision.

Based on their judgement, the hostages were most likely to be taken to Elbard, but they could not choose this side immediately. If their judgement was wrong, the three female apostles would be attacked with the Naga River, but they would not even be able to catch up, so they could only choose the Naga River to the south first.

“Let’s do this!” Philip wanted to say something else, but Stark waved his hand and interrupted him, “I’ll go to the south with you. As for the guidance mission … Qin Lun, I’ll leave it to you!”

“Let Longer go with him. Compared to us, the ability to search for the Demon Cup Royal Court requires more elven thieves.” Philip’s eyes lit up and he said calmly.

“Qin Lun, I’m sorry! We’re too short-handed. The task of finding the Demon Cup Royal Court can only be left to the two of you.” Stark turned around and said solemnly, “Of course, if you don’t want to, we won’t force it …”

“It’s a great honor to be able to undertake such an important task for the team!” Before Stark could finish speaking, Qin Lun smiled and bowed, accepting the mission. This was precisely the purpose of his previous intervention.

After spending a short amount of time together, he could tell that the apostles of the fortress guild could be considered outstanding apostles, but such outstanding apostles could only be seen in specific matters. On the other hand, in some intelligence analysis, the strategic judgment of the mission was not very good. At most, it could only be evaluated as moderate.

Qin Lun suggested that Stark and Philip work together to rescue Nicole and the others. Although he seemed to be worried about the assailant’s strength, he actually had an unknown intention.

It wasn’t important to save Nicole and the others. Of course, it was important. The fortress team, including Qin Lun, only had ten people. The loss of three female apostles was equivalent to a third less force, let alone Nicole, who was a Second Grade apostle.

However, Stark and Philip did not realize the meaning of the Demon Cup Royal Court. Qin Lun vaguely reminded the two of them to hurry to the Elf Royal Court as soon as possible to avoid missing out on the important plot. However, the two of them still did not understand the true meaning of the words.

[Demon Cup Royal Court] is a guidance mission. Although its benefits are not great, it can trigger the main storyline. The Broken Starry Sky had already warned everyone that there were many historical plots in the Fairy Court, and there was more than just one main thread.

He rushed to the Fairy Royal Court as soon as possible, not only to avoid missing out on the important plot, but also to choose the direction of the next mission.

How could someone else do something like this that was related to mission strategy? If Qin Lun made some arrangements in the Fairy Court and received a historical plot that did not conform to the reality of the guild, what would the fortress guild do?

Philip thought of something, so he asked Longer to follow Qin Lun. However, Longer wasn’t strong enough to suppress Qin Lun. Whether he followed or not didn’t really make much of a difference.

Fortunately, Qin Lun had no ill intentions. He only hoped that he would replace Stark and make a strategic choice for the team. He reminded the two of them that he was hinting that Stark would leave the task of finding the Fairy Court to him.

…

“Qin Lun, is there no problem in this direction?”

In the vast forest, two elves dressed in leather armor jumped up and down on the huge trees. They practically ignored the birds and beasts beneath their feet and rushed towards the interior of the forest.

The leader was a silver-haired elf with blue eyes and a handsome appearance. He wore a black leather armor. The tiny scales on the leather armor emitted an ancient aura of wilderness, while the nearby small beasts were silent like cicadas.

The elves following behind were equipped with two curved daggers at their waist. They had light yellow curly hair, a robust body, and ape arms. However, their appearances were much more rugged than their companions. The elves’ sharp ears were not as slender as the former’s. This was a semi-elf.

Hearing his companion’s words, the silver-haired elf’s eyes lit up. He held the tree trunk in his hand and stopped on a tall oak tree. His long silver hair fluttered in the wind as he looked at the elven thief behind him with a faint smile.

“The Jondar Forest is too big. The memories of the storyline elves we possess are few and far between. The incomplete scenes of our lives will not help us find the Demon Cup Royal Court. However, with the technology of this world, no city can do without water. We will definitely find clues along the tributaries of the Alan River.”

“Or … do you have a better suggestion?” Qin Lun looked at Longer and smiled meaningfully.

“No, no!” Long Er was embarrassed and fell silent. He looked at Qin Lun with a hint of fear in his eyes. Before the two of them set off, Philip secretly instructed him to test Qin Lun. He was deeply distressed that he had to maintain his independence and not destroy the harmony between the two of them.

“I’ve been gone for half a day. Let’s take a rest first!” Qin Lun jumped down from the ground.

“But it’s not dark yet!” Long Er frowned slightly.

“This is our first day in the forest. Leave some energy and observe the nocturnal magical beasts here. Only in the next few days will we be able to avoid more dangers.”

“Alright then!” Long Er pondered for a moment before agreeing.

Qin Lun smiled gently. He didn’t care about Longer’s probing at all. A little psychological hint from time to time was enough. Not long after, the elven thieves would subtly accept all kinds of “reasonable” arrangements.