I was currently standing outside a certain house. The gate was locked tight, and the door to the house was the same. Even the windows were completely covered. No matter how much I knocked, the woman inside would not answer. It seemed it was true that trying to get this woman to speak to you was like trying to pull nails with your teeth. “According to the forum post about this quest, it was said that the only way to get her to come out was to….” 

I took a deep breath and slowly let it out before taking another one. I was about to do something I rarely ever do.  I had to calm my nerves and wait for the stairs. After taking a few deep breaths, I took in one final one before yelling out: “Noel the Elf doesn’t wear Undergarments! Noel the Elf doesn’t wear Undergarments! Noel the Elf doesn’t wear Undergarments!”

“You stinking brat, shut the hell up!” An elf who looked to be in her mid-twenties came marching out of the house and pushed open the gate. Her face was bright red, either with anger or embarrassment. But it did work. It seemed that forcing her hand was the only way.

I turned and held out the branch  for her to see as I said: “I need help with the scared forest.”

Noel, who was about to scold me for sure, paused as her eyes fell on the branch. Her brow twitched before turning around and going to close the gate. Of course, I could not let that happen. So I took another deep breath and once more yelled out: “Noel the Elf, doesn’t wear Undergarments!”

“Damn it! Alright, already! Come in, we can talk.” Noel seemed very annoyed. Not that I cared. I needed to complete this unique quest as soon as possible. “I can’t believe you were shouting something so indecent!”

I heard her loud and clear. So, her face was not red from anger per se but more from both anger and embarrassment. I guess if you are someone who was a shut-in and easily embarrassed, the only way to deal with a situation like this was to actually leave the house. 

Surprisingly, the house was quite clean. Very quiet and quaint. Not too much clutter. I thought I would walk into a house with stacks of books all over the place, but that did not seem to be the case for this elf.

Sadly, I did not get to see the rest of her house because as soon as the door closed, Noel turned around, crossed her arms across her chest, and stared at me. “What do you want!?”

    “I just need a way to fix the sacred forest. The entire forest now looks like this branch. Withered with almost no life left.” I explained.

    “Is it really that bad?” Noel did not seem completely convinced.

    “When was the last time you were there?” I was actually just asking out of curiosity.

“When my clan still lived there before it was invaded by an army from the kingdom to the north of the forest.” Noel motioned for me to follow her, which I did. She brought me over to a small table and had me sit. She then waved her hand, and a few flowers that appeared out of nowhere began making tea. This was the exact unique skill I was looking to get.

“The Xios kingdom’s soldiers were too late. The village was ransacked, and my people were kidnapped. The scary forest is nothing but a bad dream to me. The Harling Kingdom is a military state that allows slavery, so each of my people was enslaved. The women were probably used for much more than just labor. Xios did not even try to take back my people. They even only sent one squad of soldiers to the forest. If not for my parents hiding me under the roots of a great tree, I would have been taken as well. I was forced to watch as my people did their best to escape. While I, the lone survivor, could only watch while sobbing. So I have not been back there in over three hundred years….” Noel's shoulders were slumped, I know. Just talking about it was hard for her. To be honest, I was surprised she was even willing to speak about it.

    “I see… But at the same time. While I know it will awaken the memories of the past, you can not let your home, the place you were born, die, right?” I was trying to hopefully get her to give me a way to revitalize the forest.

“I don’t wish for it to die, but what can I do? Just going near that place makes me hide in my house. The screams of my parents. The look of horror on their faces all of it. It is etched into my mind.” Noel replied while lowering her head. While I felt bad, I also needed to strike.

    “What if I helped you? If you tell me how to revitalize the forest, I can do it for you.” I put out my offer, which made the elf raise her head. She sat there and stared at me as if trying to figure out if I was just messing with her or not. But I needed her to tell me how to fix the forest.

“You want to help me? A demon wants to help an elf?”