Under Vide's patient guidance and assistance, Legolas discovered something that brought him unexpected joy and satisfaction.
Farming.
Moving through the tall corn stalks, or stepping carefully across the freshly tilled earth, harvesting those perfectly ripened crops, watching them gradually accumulate and multiply in his hands. This feeling of being able to completely visualize the tangible results of one's efforts was remarkably pleasant.
Of course, it helped immensely that these miraculous crops grew with supernatural speed and proved convenient to harvest. The rapid planting and harvesting cycles meant that the fruits of labor could be quickly demonstrated, which proved quite uplifting to the spirit.
"I can't believe there are so many miraculous things in this world," Legolas mused aloud.
At this moment, he had removed his finely crafted leather armor, bow, arrows, and various weapons, changing into simple cloth garments more suited to agricultural work. He sat on a small wooden stool beside the flourishing farmland, gazing across the fields, then at the trees swaying gracefully in the wind nearby, feeling genuinely leisurely for perhaps the first time in centuries.
The afternoon sunlight spread warmly across his body, comfortable and soothing.
Unlike the generally serene homes of elves, where time moved like honey and conversations flowed like gentle streams, the people here always had much to say and countless things they wanted to accomplish. They were absolutely full of vibrant life energy.
Perhaps this was a trait unique to those races with limited lifespans. Time chased their footsteps from behind like a relentless hunter, forcing them to take decisive action within lives that had a clearly visible end.
After finishing the plot of land assigned to his care, Legolas wandered over to other areas of the settlement. At this time, most residents were actively planning the upcoming banquet. Although Roadside Fort didn't house enormous numbers of people, wherever residents gathered, lively scenes inevitably blossomed.
As an elf, Legolas was quite conspicuous among the predominantly human population. But the residents at most glanced over with mild curiosity before returning to their tasks, thinking nothing particularly unusual about his presence.
There had been far too many shocking developments in their territory already. Forget elves appearing suddenly. Even if a dragon materialized one day, the residents probably wouldn't express much surprise. Everything extraordinary could find its explanation in their remarkable lord.
"Is there anything I can help with?" Legolas asked, observing the bustling activity before him.
The person he approached initially seemed somewhat surprised by the offer, then immediately recovered his composure, pointing toward a nearby area.
"We need some additional tables over there, plus tableware and cups for the feast. If you don't mind the work, perhaps you could bring some supplies from the warehouse?"
"Absolutely."
Legolas nodded eagerly and immediately began contributing to the preparations.
As Legolas became more active throughout the settlement, residents soon discovered there was a remarkably hardworking elf living among them. Some boldly struck up conversations with him and received friendly responses, creating an atmosphere of easy camaraderie.
When the Roadside Fort Foundation Day banquet officially commenced, Legolas had successfully integrated into the community, able to chat and laugh naturally with residents as if he'd lived there for years.
During one such conversation, a little girl with bright eyes pulled a small red flower from inside her dress and stood on her tiptoes to present it to him with obvious ceremony.
This simple gesture made Legolas freeze completely.
"Thank you. Does this flower carry any special meaning?" he asked gently.
"I don't know," the little girl replied honestly, shaking her head with childlike directness.
"This was given to me by one of the iron golems that Lord Levi created when I first arrived at Roadside Fort."
Her small face grew more serious as she continued: "When I first came here, I was very scared, hungry, and tired from traveling."
"It was a patrolling iron golem that gave me this flower, and that's when I finally felt safe and at peace."
A remarkably serious expression appeared on that tender young face: "You're a good person. I don't want you to be sad."
"Sad?" Legolas crouched down to her eye level, gently touching the little girl's head with careful reverence. "No, child, I'm not sad at all. Quite the opposite. I'm very happy. Life here is wonderful. There's always something meaningful to do every moment, very fulfilling."
"But..." the little girl said with obvious hesitation, "I always feel like you're very lonely inside."
Legolas smiled with gentle melancholy, lowered his head, and stopped looking directly into the child's perceptive eyes. He carefully tucked the precious flower into his clothing and said softly: "I will treasure this gift always."
Then he quietly left the banquet venue and walked toward the castle, needing space to process the unexpected emotions stirring within him.
"Levi."
"Yes?"
"I think if kindness had a visible color, it might not be impossible for it to be red."
"Perhaps you're right."
Levi answered somewhat distractedly. He didn't know exactly what had transpired with Legolas during the celebration, but something significant seemed to have shifted within the elf. There was a quality to his voice that hadn't been there before.
The first day of the banquet coincided perfectly with ice and snow melting throughout the region and tender green shoots beginning to emerge across the grassland. Spring was genuinely arriving.
Levi emerged from the castle in high spirits, cheerfully greeting residents wherever he encountered them. Every person he passed would raise their cups in enthusiastic celebration for both their lord and Roadside Fort's continued prosperity.
"By the Valar above, this drink burns like dragon's breath!" one villager cried out after draining a full cup of vodka in one foolhardy attempt. The fierce spirit struck him at once, leaving him swaying and blinking as his vision blurred.
The greater part of the spirits served at this feast came from Levi's own brewing, with but a modest selection of the villagers' homemade efforts. Save for the lighter ales and malt beer, Levi's concoctions held no less than twenty proof. Many folk, accustomed as they were to mild wine, found themselves quite befuddled after their first taste of such fierce liquor.
However, some individuals possessed exceptional talent in this particular area.
"This taste is somewhat harsh," Legolas observed clinically after drinking two large cups of vodka in quick succession, leaving only this measured comment.
"My fingers are slightly numb."
"Is this what being intoxicated feels like?"
The elf delivered these observations with no flush whatsoever on his pale face and a perfectly steady heartbeat, leaving many residents watching this display absolutely dumbfounded.
Did all elves possess such extraordinary alcohol tolerance?
"No, that isn't true intoxication," Levi replied with obvious amusement, moving over a large table and setting down ten barrels of fifty-five-proof vodka with deliberate ceremony.
"Want to drink with me properly?"
He raised an eyebrow at Legolas with obvious challenge.
The surrounding residents were immediately drawn over by this development, sensing an epic contest brewing.
Legolas looked left and right at their eager faces, then smiled slightly with newfound confidence.
"Certainly."
"Wooo!" A crowd began cheering and making enthusiastic noise, most supporting their legendary lord.
"It appears they have tremendous confidence in you," Legolas observed with wry humor.
He shook his head, raising his cup in a formal toast to Levi.
Well, after all, it was Levi. If he were in their position, he'd probably also support the man who'd achieved impossible things. But then...
"Go for it, elf big brother!" a high, childish voice suddenly rang out behind him.
Legolas turned around and spotted the same little girl from earlier, clenching her small fists and cheering him on with obvious determination.
He smiled warmly at her, nodded with appreciation, then turned back to Levi with renewed spirit.
"What a fortunate coincidence. I'm also very confident in my abilities."
"Now, let me toast to our meeting and to the founding of Roadside Fort!"
"Agreed."
Levi also raised his cup with genuine warmth: "To our friendship!"
Glug glug glug.
This legendary drinking session lasted an extraordinarily long time.
The residents joyfully sampled various delicacies throughout the evening. Occasionally tasting something crafted personally by Levi, they would exclaim with delight and quickly summon others to share the experience.
Endless food, endless wine, endless happiness to share, and endless stories and memories of both past and present. This was what a true banquet should be.
The residents circulated again and again throughout the celebration, chatting and laughing everywhere they gathered. Only two people remained seated in the same spot for the entire duration.
Legolas and Levi.
No one kept accurate count of how many cups they had consumed, or rather, how many entire barrels had been emptied between them.
Everyone only remembered that the elf was finally carried back to the guest quarters, sleeping very peacefully with a contented expression.
Meanwhile, their lord showed no ill effects whatsoever. He could even find time to drink several cups of milk while consuming alcohol, demonstrating truly astounding capacity.
The first day of the banquet passed in this memorable fashion, and the settlement temporarily fell into quiet contentment.
At midnight, Levi sat alone in the castle hall, contemplating various matters, when suddenly the sound of a door opening made him look up with surprise.
"Legolas?"
Levi felt genuinely surprised by the appearance.
"You recovered so quickly. Would you like some milk?"
"Thank you."
Seeing Levi sitting calmly in the hall, Legolas felt equally surprised. Didn't this extraordinary person need sleep like other mortals?
"What's all this about?"
Levi studied him carefully from head to foot. At this moment, Legolas had changed back into his finely crafted leather armor, with bow and daggers all properly equipped for travel.
"I'm planning to depart. Thank you for your generous care these past days, Levi. I've understood many important things during my time here."
"Oh? Can you tell me what you've come to understand?"
"I've understood something fundamental," Legolas replied with quiet certainty. "I'm not the only person in this world who feels deeply lonely."
Levi sat up straighter, responding with considerable agreement and understanding:
"Indeed."
"That's absolutely correct."
Nodding respectfully to Levi, Legolas drank the offered milk in one smooth gulp, visibly becoming much more energetic. He looked at the empty cup in his hand with some surprise, then at Levi with dawning comprehension.
Levi's expression remained unchanged, offering no explanation.
Legolas wanted to speak but hesitated. In the end, he simply shook his head, set down the cup, and rose to his feet with newfound purpose.
It was time for parting.
Seeing Legolas preparing to leave, Levi also stopped sitting and accompanied him partway outside, as was proper for a host seeing off an honored guest.
"We'll meet again," Legolas said with quiet confidence.
Leaving these final words hanging in the cool night air, Legolas mounted his horse and set off eastward along the main road, disappearing into the darkness.
Many days later, the gate guards of the Woodland Realm looked with surprise at the familiar figure approaching their domain. Just as they prepared to go back and report the prince's return, they were stopped by a gesture.
"Don't announce that I came back."
That morning, Thranduil arrived in the great hall as usual, walking with measured steps toward his intricately carved wooden throne.
Suddenly, his keen eyes noticed something that made him pause completely. A small red flower rested on one of the chair's armrests, with a single green leaf placed carefully beside the delicate bloom.
Green leaf. The traditional elven symbol of safe return.
"Legolas..." the Elf-king whispered with profound tenderness.
He carefully picked up the flower and leaf, then stood motionless in the vast hall for a very long time, lost in thoughts that none would ever know.
In the magnificent hall carved by cutting living stone into soaring pillars, the Elf-king had always sat in solitary majesty on his carved wooden throne, holding an oak-carved scepter that symbolized his authority.
Throughout the long years of his reign, it seemed only the eternal changes of seasons could truly capture the Elf-king's attention and interest.
When the seasons turned to autumn and winter, he would wear a crown woven from wild berries and crimson leaves. But during the warm flowering season of spring, he would don a garland woven from the finest forest flowers.
This year, when spring arrived once again in its eternal cycle, the elves of the woodland suddenly noticed that their king seemed subtly different from previous years.
The garland resting on his noble brow contained an additional touch of brilliant red.