Chapter 452 - Who is my father?

Zalanda pondered briefly and said, "I’ll send someone to do the promotion right away. We’ll have three showings tonight, one at Darama’s municipal square, one at the East City Suburb square, and another at the West Suburb square, all starting promptly at six in the afternoon.""Three consecutive showings are fine with me, but it’s not necessary to move from one place to another. I suggest choosing a sufficiently open space and holding all three screenings there," Gaven had a different opinion on this matter.

"Doing so simply won’t allow everyone to see it and won’t achieve the maximum advertising effect," Zalanda’s arrangement was aimed at maximizing benefits.

"I understand," Gaven nodded knowingly and said, "but you’ve only considered maximizing benefits and haven’t thought about safety. What if the memory film is sensational enough, attractive enough to draw crowds that follow it from place to place? What happens if there’s a crushing stampede when so many people flock together? That’s why I suggest not holding it at the municipal square, but at a suburban square instead. Memory films are not consumables; they can be played over and over. If need be, we could just change venues each night."

Gaven had personally witnessed the fervor of chasing stars, where crowds could easily become irrational.

Especially something like a memory film, which is a cross-era novelty, would cause a super sensation even on Earth.

Not to mention in a world like Felen, where entertainment is severely lacking, causing a sensation and pursuit is inevitable. One viewing would certainly not be satisfying enough.

If it had just been shown at the municipal square, and then people heard there was another showing at East Suburb square, the crowd would definitely rush there.

In a highly populated city like Darama, such a scenario would be nothing short of a disaster.

Upon hearing Gaven’s words, Zalanda was taken aback, as she remembered the sensation caused by the recent broadcast of the memory propaganda film in Darama.

Especially during replays, many who had already watched it several times would fight their way forward, and numerous adults were running after the memory film vehicles, not just children.

A mere introduction and promotional film could cause such a sensation.

It was unimaginable what kind of sensation a complete story could cause.

With a solemn expression, Zalanda said, "I oversimplified the matter. You’re right to remind me. We not only cannot change venues randomly, but we also must ensure protection at the site to prevent disturbances. Nola, lead the Nort Guard Squad directly to East Suburb square and take special defensive positions. Maintain the order on site and get the promotion done in one fell swoop. We’ll rotate three screenings every night at the squares of the east, south, west, and north suburbs. How does that sound?" Follow current novᴇls on NovᴇlFirᴇ.ɴet

The last part was clearly seeking Gaven’s opinion.

"It couldn’t be more appropriate," Gaven had no further doubts.

It was just that Zalanda had not paid much attention before, but once she did, her capability in this area was superior to his.

"Let’s execute it," Zalanda gestured dismissively, and Nola took her leave to follow the orders.

"What useful intelligence have we gathered from Mir Forest?" Gaven naturally wouldn’t just wait for darkness to fall, but took the opportunity to exchange information.

"The elves in Mir Forest were among the first to heed the call for the massive retreat to Eternal Gathering Island, and a hundred years ago, they had already moved away from here, leaving only Mesnoel, an elven city protected by powerful Mystlock Locks..."

"I know that," Gaven said puzzled, "You told me about this legendary tale when I was a child. Legend has it that within Mesnoel, there lies a powerful Elf Divine Artifact, waiting for its rightful owner to return." Gaven sounded puzzled, "But no one has ever seen what Mesnoel looks like, not even the other inhabitants of Mir Forest seem to have seen it. It’s as if it vanished into thin air... existing only in legends."

"The legendary Mesnoel has appeared," Zalanda said, "it reemerged in Mir Forest during The Year of Upheaval. But the Mystlock Locks that originally protected this elf city are malfunctioning, expanding uncontrollably outward and severely disrupting the lives of the forest’s natural residents."

"By that, do you mean you want me to start with this incident to find the cause of the Mesnoel Mystlock Locks’ malfunction, and ideally solve this issue, in order to build friendly relations with the residents of Mir Forest?" Gaven grasped Zalanda’s implication immediately.

Zalanda nodded and said, "Exactly. It’s the most expedient way to establish friendly relations with those conservative natural races. Such simple creatures often hold gratitude for their benefactors for centuries. As you’ve said, the different forest races handle things in varying ways. Just because you have a covenant with Fairy Wilderness and good relations with the Elf inhabitants of Comanso Great Forest, it doesn’t mean the natural races of Mir Forest will treat you with the same attitude."

"Your idea is correct, sister. Have you collected any intelligence on Mesnoel?" Recalling his interactions with the Elf race, it seemed to follow this pattern, especially after helping Spring Bud Forest solve the issue with the Legendary Carrier Worm, the relationship escalated significantly, entering a whole new level.

"All here," Zalanda said as she handed over two books that looked historically significant to Gaven.

"Is this all?" Looking at the pitifully thin books, Gaven’s brow furrowed.

"This is it. Information about Mesnoel inside is even scarcer," Zalanda said helplessly, "In the past two centuries, the Tesser Royal Family’s attitude towards forests and elves has always been torches and axes.

The downfall of the Royal Family and the rise of warlords, as well as the endless wars with the elves, cannot be overlooked. The elves of Mesnoel were the first to respond to the call of Eternal Gathering Island, abandoning their homeland out of weariness from the endless wars.

These two books are not from elves but from Tesser People’s poetic chronicles and can only serve as a reference, not as valid intelligence.

The best sources of intelligence would still be the other native residents of Mir Forest."

"Then are there any messages about the original inhabitants of Mir Forest?" Gaven had to settle for the next best thing.

"Actually, our connection with Mir Forest is much closer than we might imagine," Zalanda’s gaze was somewhat complex, "because among us, there are people who originated from Mir Forest."

"One of us?" Gaven was slightly surprised and quickly went through the people he knew in his mind, eventually focusing on a large figure, thoughtfully saying, "Sister, you’re not talking about Nola, are you? I’ve heard there were sightings of Giants in Mir Forest."

The forest race isn’t limited to elves and fae, but also includes many other monster races, including some Giants and Half-Giant races, particularly the latter, which aren’t few in number but find it difficult to integrate into human life.

Once they appeared in human society, they were either as enslavers or as the enslaved.

It was exceedingly rare for someone like Nola to become one of them.

Most of the time, she would hide her half-giant lineage, just appearing as a human with an unusual build.

Zalanda nodded and said, "Yes, Nola indeed comes from Mir Forest, and this matter is actually related to your mother, Lady Alice."

"Related to my mother?" Gaven was astonished. Weren’t they talking about Nola? How did it shift to him?

To be honest, Gaven knew very little about his own mother.

All he knew was that she was a Half-Moon Elf named Alice, but nothing else, not her background, origin, or even if she was alive or dead.

Although when he was very young, someone had told Gaven that his mother had already died.

Baron Tessen had issued a gag order, forbidding anyone to speak of her, including the maids who had served her. They all disappeared secretly, supposedly sent back to their hometowns, but no one could clarify this, nor dared to ask.

After all, Baron Tessen held absolute power of life and death in Nort Castle.

But from the traces left during his days living in Nort Castle, Gaven always felt that his mother’s death was not so simple.

There was no evidence, merely an indistinct feeling.

In neither his past life nor his current one did Gaven entertain the thought of investigating this matter.

They had never lived together, and their relationship was very indifferent. Not to mention Gaven was occupying someone else’s nest; that made it even more distant.

"With matters as they stand now, I feel some things should no longer be hidden," Zalanda sighed deeply and continued, "It was your mother who brought Nola to Nort Castle."

"I know this. I knew it when I was very little. Nola told me herself; she was already able to remember things by then." This was another reason why Gaven and Nola had been quite close since childhood.

"But what she doesn’t know is that when your mother arrived at Nort Castle, she was already pregnant." Zalanda dropped a bombshell.

"Wait, wait, let me sort this out," Gaven said, his mind reeling from the news, despite his usually strong mental fortitude.

Because this directly overturned a whole series of understanding he had held until now—his understanding of his identity.

He was Gaven Nort, the second son of Tessen Nort, half-brother to Rogan Nuote.

Now this identity was being overturned.

Gaven swallowed hard, incredulous as he said, "Big sister, you aren’t about to tell me that the child my mother was carrying at the time... was me?"

Zalanda nodded and said, "That’s correct. In all of Nort Castle, only Old Master Tessen, my father, and I knew about this. Now, only I know."

"My father isn’t my father? Then who is my father?" Gaven felt a headache coming on.

This plotline was just too melodramatic.

"I don’t know," Zalanda spread her hands and said, "It seems only Old Master Tessen, my father, and your mother knew about this. I was too young at the time; they didn’t tell me anything of importance. One thing is for sure, it definitely has something to do with Mir Forest and is somewhat related to Nola’s identity."

"What about my mother? Is she alive or dead?"

"That too, I do not know. After you were born, she vanished without a trace. Neither Baron Tessen nor my father knew her whereabouts. They announced that she died in childbirth. The maid who delivered you was sent away from Tesser by Baron Tessen, and no one knows her final fate."

"Since I’m not related to my father by blood, what was their relationship? After my mother’s death, my father actually acknowledged me as his son and didn’t leak a word about it to anyone." Taking someone else’s child as his own was not an ordinary relationship, although Tessen was indifferent to both his biological sons and Gaven, whose origins were unknown.

"I heard them mention in passing that they used to be in the same Adventure Group when they were younger. They had gone through life-and-death experiences together. Later, for some reason, the group disbanded, and each went their separate ways. Perhaps my mother had some unspeakable difficulties and came to Baron Tessen for help," Zalanda finally provided a useful piece of information.

This reason did not surprise Gaven.

In Felen, bonds forged among mercenaries and adventures often went above even those of sworn brotherhood.

Because both of these relationships were forged through life-and-death experiences, and not just once or twice either.

To entrust one’s orphaned child to a comrade who had shared life-and-death moments with them was nothing out of the ordinary.