It wasn't that Halduron didn't believe Ael'tharion.
Refugees as a source of information were inherently unreliable, and the intelligence they provided was likely exaggerated due to panic.
After the Orc army broke through Quel'Thalas's defenses, Vereesa, who had been staying in Windrunner Village to teach her younger brother, immediately realized they were isolated.
She immediately assessed the situation based on the intelligence she had, deducing that the orcs were likely making a forced march towards Silvermoon City.
The Windrunner Family's territory, located in the southwest of Eversong Forest, was far from the center of the battlefield. Remaining there would make it difficult to obtain more intelligence and could lead to them being defeated piecemeal by the enemy due to divided forces.
The current head of the Windrunners, Liressa, was leading the Ranger forces in guerrilla warfare against the orcs in the northern forest, accompanied by her second daughter, Sylvanas. The eldest daughter, Alleria, was leading troops elsewhere and had not yet returned.
In this situation, the decision of the third daughter, Vereesa, concerned the future of the entire family. Moreover, her youngest brother, whom the family doted on most, was by her side. She dared not gamble that the Horde would not attack Windrunner Village.
After mobilizing retired Farstriders in the Windrunner territory for re-employment, she led this small team to escort the non-combatants of Windrunner Village through the mountains and forests.
Relying on their knowledge of the terrain, this team avoided areas where orcs and Trolls were active, crossed Sunscar Peak, and successfully reached Farstrider Encampment to rendezvous with Halduron.
The non-combatants from Windrunner Village remained in Farstrider Encampment for shelter.
Vereesa left most of her forces in the camp to protect her kin and volunteered to go to the ruins of Sunstrider Isle, which had been destroyed by the war, to try and establish contact with the Ranger forces still fighting in the northern forest.
"If the main force of the Amani Trolls has indeed moved north, Vereesa, who is stationed at Sunstrider Isle trying to communicate with the northern forest, will surely discover it."
Halduron beckoned to the side, and a handsome elven Ranger with a youthful face immediately trotted to his side.
"Commander Halduron, please give your orders!"
This young elf, who was clearly a new recruit, was the Windrunner Family's only direct male descendant, Lirath Windrunner, and one of Ael'tharion's good friends.
It was his first time completely away from the care of his mother and sisters, and Lirath felt a mix of excitement and unease.
Now was a time of need. Although Lirath, like Ael'tharion, was inexperienced in battle, he had still received strict training from the Windrunner Family. His Ranger skills were beyond doubt; what he lacked was practical combat experience.
Lirath… right?
I remember this—handsome, young guy… in the original timeline, he dies in this war, doesn't he? Poor dude...
Not just him. The mother of the three Windrunner sisters, Liressa, also dies during this war.
Though it's unclear if that moment has already happened in this timeline.
Ael'tharion frowned when he saw this bullet chat.
"Lirath and Liressa will die?"
If it had been before the war with the orcs, Ael'tharion would never have believed such nonsense.
Liressa was a Ranger General with incredibly rich combat and command experience, a veritable legendary Ranger.
For the past thousand years, the Amani Trolls had been firmly suppressed in ZulAman, and Liressa's contributions were immense; even Zuljin was personally captured by her.
Having personally witnessed the orcs' formidable strength, Ael'tharion couldn't guarantee that Liressa would survive the brutal war.
Zuljin, Orgrim, Chogall, and Guldan—these four renowned top Horde combatants were all legendary combat professionals, not to mention some hidden masters in the Horde faction whose reputations were not yet prominent.
While Liressa was powerful, she alone could not support the effort.
There was nothing to be done; the High Elves' true core combat strength was all concentrated in Silvermoon City.
Another powerful legendary Ranger, Alleria, was fighting abroad. Besides her second daughter, Sylvanas, who always accompanied her, Liressa truly had few people she could rely on.
The Ranger forces bore the heavy responsibility of guarding Eversong Forest. Ael'tharion had little contact with the busy Liressa; their only few meetings were because of Lirath.
In his impression, Liressa was a beautiful woman with a powerful aura and a rather serious demeanor.
One could see her doting affection for Lirath in her eyes, but due to her personality, she didn't express this motherly love directly.
Halduron's next words interrupted Ael'tharion's distraction.
"The situation is urgent; even if Vereesa resents me, there's no other way."
Halduron solemnly instructed Ael'tharion: "Vereesa is engaged in guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines; she certainly won't openly expose her position."
"To find her, we can only use the Windrunner Family's unique communication methods, so Lirath will accompany you."
Halduron lightly patted both their heads and earnestly admonished them: "You two youngsters are carrying out such an important mission for the first time; you must be extremely careful."
"Ael'tharion, don't let yourself be carried away by hot-headedness. Always think one step further."
"Lirath, your personality is more cautious. I hope you and Ael'tharion can complement each other on this mission."
Cautious sounded nice.
In Ael'tharion's view, due to living under his mother and sisters' meticulous care and spoiling for a long time, Lirath's personality was somewhat soft and lacked assertiveness.
At critical moments, he always found it difficult to make up his own mind and would subconsciously seek help from those around him.
After they became friends, under the strong-willed Ael'tharion's repeated corrections, Lirath's soft personality had improved.
If it were the even weaker Lirath from before, he might not have had the courage to risk traversing the forest, and would most likely have chosen to stay in Windrunner Village to await the end of the war.
666!!! 😭 THE HISTORICAL DIVERGENCE POINT IS RIGHT THERE CHAT!!
SO THAT'S HOW LIRATH ESCAPED DEATH 😭 AEL'THARION = GOD-TIER MERIT 💀🔥
YO CAN HE USE THIS TO FLIRT WITH SYLVANAS AND VEREESA?? 😏💀
BRO… CALM DOWN. AGE GAP = ABYSS AEL'THARION WOULD BE A TODDLER IN THEIR EYES IF HE WASN'T BORN NOW
BUT WAIT—DIDN'T HE SAY ALLERIA IS REBELLIOUS AND LOWKEY TEAM YOUNGER BROTHER?
BRO CHAT: THAT'S ALREADY CHEATING THE SYSTEM 💀
SYLVANAS = NAH, CAN'T TOUCH THE QUEEN
VEREESA THOUGH… HE COULD TRY
SPAM 💀🔥😳 IF YOU'RE TEAM AEL'THARION'S LOVE ARC
THIS MAN TURNED HISTORY INTO A ROMANCE SIMULATION
Ael'tharion ignored the suggestive bullet chat, exchanged glances with the shy Lirath, and solemnly assured Halduron.
"I will do my best to control my temper and ensure the mission is completed."
Halduron sighed with a somewhat complicated expression: "If it weren't absolutely necessary, I truly wouldn't want to assign such an important task to you two young people."
Halduron's gaze flickered, as if he was conveying some information to Ael'tharion with his eyes.
"Ael'tharion, why must it be you for this mission? You can think about it on the way."
"The answer will be revealed after you reach Sunstrider Isle and make contact with Vereesa. Consider this a task I'm leaving for you on Alleria's behalf—use your brain more."
Ael'tharion: "?"
...
"The reason it must be me..."
Two light-footed mechanostriders galloped along the western shore of Lake Elrendar. Ael'tharion sat steadily on the bird's back, scratching his head in distress.
In peacetime, from this position, one could look across the lake to Ael'tharion's home on the opposite bank—Deepshadow Manor.
Unfortunately, to reduce losses from guerrilla attacks by Rangers hiding in the forests, the orcs burned the forests along their path to Silvermoon City.
Even now, acrid smoke still hung over Eversong Forest, and the clear lake surface was shrouded in mist, making it difficult to see the scenery on the opposite bank.
As the bullet chat put it, the delicate-looking Lirath was like a weak, submissive puppy following an absolute alpha.
Some women who enjoyed shipping couples had been squealing in the bullet chat for a while, but Ael'tharion selectively ignored those unsightly comments.
After pondering for a while, pulling at his hair, Ael'tharion still couldn't grasp Halduron's deeper meaning. He helplessly turned to Lirath beside him for help.
"Lirath, do you have any idea?"
"Hmm... huh?"
Lirath had never seen Ael'tharion's bare face before.
He had secretly imagined, presuming that under Ael'tharion's big beard was a rugged, tough uncle's face.
But the reality was quite different from what he had imagined.
Snapping back to attention and hearing his friend's question clearly, Lirath lowered his head in thought.
"First, we can rule out one thing."
Ignoring Ael'tharion's glare, Lirath said mercilessly: "It's definitely not because of your strength."
"Don't glare at me. It's good to know oneself. We are both just greenhorns right now. I don't think a seasoned veteran Ranger like Halduron would make random decisions at this critical juncture."
"It has nothing to do with strength. Considering my relationship with Vereesa... connections?"
"Uh~"
At Lirath's reminder, Ael'tharion suddenly thought of something, and his mouth twitched violently.
A certain figure's phantom flashed through his mind, so quickly that the bullet chat couldn't even tell if it was male or female, human or ghost.
"...I think I've guessed the reason. So that old pervert Halduron was planning this."