The captain of the Eternal Guard's expression was uncertain, but considering he was in human territory with Laine and others present, he nodded: "Alright, let's go take a look."

The entire communication between the Wood Elf and the Dwarf was relayed by Estelle and Laine, making the process quite laborious.

This epitomizes the relationship between dwarves and elves; these two races erupted in fierce wars thousands of years ago. Later, when elves withdrew from the Old World, both sides reconciled and agreed to let bygones be bygones. Because of this, the elves' Phoenix King Crown remained forever in the Dwarves' collection room (the elves had to make a new one), and thus, the dwarves erased their hatred towards the elves from the Book of Hatred.

Despite this, the relationship between dwarves and elves remains quite cold. These two powers never establish diplomatic relations, nor do they trade directly. Elves wanting to obtain dwarf-crafted products and dwarves wanting elven magical creations must both use humans as intermediaries.

Delong Feinson, despite having a poor attitude, had already produced about ten fine steel longswords and twenty rune breastplates in the Blacksmith Workshop. Though the quantity far from satisfied the Wood Elves' needs, the Wood Elves couldn't care about this at the moment. They left a bag of gold coins and hurriedly took the items, ready to leave: "Well then, Lord Laine, we must depart first."

"So urgent?" Laine could tell that the Wood Elves never intended to let external forces intervene in the interior matters of the forest, so he turned to ask Estelle, who had stayed behind and hadn't left with the Wood Elves.

Estelle wore a green cloak over a deerskin coat, listening to Laine's words with a wry smile: "Indeed, it's urgent. In this season, we cannot awaken the tree spirits and Ancient Tree Guards. We can only rely on ourselves."

"But even at this difficult time, they are unwilling for you, as a Half-Elf, to return and help?" Laine jested sarcastically.

"That's how it is, alas, otherwise I wouldn't leave the forest to look for opportunities." Estelle sighed. Half-Elves always strive to integrate into Wood Elf society, yet Wood Elves always treat him as an outsider, a liaison with the outside world, only thinking of him when necessary, never truly considering him as one of their own.

"Then stay, we're old friends, and with the winter upon us, keeping a room for you in the castle is no problem." Laine suggested.

"Stay? Would you be willing to offer me a position among your followers?" Unexpectedly, Estelle countered.

"..." Laine frowned at this; the Half-Elf was eyeing the knight position he held.

Baron Gene oversees five Ranger Knights and two Kingdom Knights, with Ranger Knights Lops from Nord, Olivier from Marinburg, Hex from Le Anglong, and Angerong, who was chatting with the Dwarf Craftsmen nearby. The Kingdom Knight position hadn't been granted yet, and it was clear the Half-Elf was eyeing the knight position he held.

"I'm inviting you to celebrate the Winter Festival with me, not inviting you to become my subordinate, Estelle. You need more engagement to impress me." Laine firmly refused, though Estelle sensed he hadn't completely shut him down.

"I have a friend, also a Half-Elf, a ranger at the Peak of Elite Tier. Can I bring him to celebrate?" Estelle contemplated before continuing.

"Of course, my place welcomes Half-Elves with various skills and strengths to settle here." Laine's eyes lit up; that was viable.

The Knight Kingdom has the Old World's strongest Knight Corps but is severely lacking in ranged forces. The only ranged infantry are Peasant Archers, so having a skilled Half-Elf ranger like Estelle join is certainly the best.

The Peasant Archers indeed possess short bows and arrows, but they lack both adequate strength and precision. In short, a peasant only needs to pull the bow back and know to aim in the enemy's direction; the knights then consider them qualified archers.

Only Bastogne Duchy has a unique troop type called Longbowmen, whose bows are crafted from yew wood requiring 2-4 years of effort. A Longbowman must train from a young age, dedicating their entire life to training. Duke Bastogne grants Longbowmen considerably better treatment than ordinary peasants, but also requires them to train at the castle weekly and register their residence and name.

Thus, training Longbowmen is not achieved overnight, and Laine set his sights on the crossbows crafted by dwarves.

"Mr. Delong, can you make crossbows, the kind dwarves use? The type that shoots by pulling the trigger?" Laine pursued the matter.

"Of course, what can the Feinson family not make?" The dwarf proudly stroked his white beard: "Does Lord Laine need me to make dwarf crossbows? These crossbows are simple; I guarantee, unless one is foolish, training for two to three months can lead to skilled usage of these crossbows, with decent lethality, albeit slightly less range compared to bows."