Briefly taking her time to think, she then said to me, "It would seem you are who you claim to be, Mike of Asia. I am Selana. Princess of the Hidden Elven Kingdom, Arthuri. Please forgive my people for your previous treatment."

"It's fine, being tied up and blindfolded could be quite fun every once in a while."

The Princess snorted which made everyone observing us even more curious about what transversed amongst us since we start communicating telepathically.

"You're an interesting man, Mike of Asia. I wish to offer you a stay here as our guest. You will be treated quite fairly, I a.s.sure. In return, I would like you to share some knowledge of your world. What say you?"

d.a.m.n, she's good. Since there's no real way of proving whatever I'm saying is true, they can't just let me go since I might be a spy or something. And at the off-chance I'm the real deal, it would've been a waste to not learn about a world other than their own. So instead, she decided to offer me a stay here where they can keep an eye on me while trying to discern the truth.

You might be saying that I should just prove myself and leave, right? Don't be so naive. If the knowledge I provide them turns out to be revolutionary, or even being a little bit useful, I doubt they'll allow me to even leave! n.o.body's stupid enough to let an advantage like that go away! And if I only give some vague, useless knowledge, they might a.s.sume I've been lying from the start and have my head.

In summary: If I'm real, they keep me. If I'm fake, they kill me. Simple as that.

The question asked was merely an illusion, there was never a choice in the first place. So I followed the script and accepted her offer.

"I'm humbled to be allowed as your guest, Princess. Please take care of me," I bowed my head while still being tied.

"You're a smart man, Mike of Asia."

She smiled and gave some orders to the elves. They stood there in a daze for a moment before proceeding to release me. Of course, they would, I went from captive to guest in a mere few minutes of silence. On my way, I glanced at the Elf dude, the one who had been abusing me until now, and gave him a mocking smile before being escorted out.

Thus, I have officially become a guest of the Elves. Now that my life is no longer in imminent danger, I should focus on piecing together the clues. So far, I've concluded that I have a gap in my memory. It's the only logical solution I can come up with since one of the travel bags in the car is mine. But I obviously don't recall packing up. For the issue of whose car I woke up in, I still can't figure out. Judging by the bags, there should be another two people together with me. If so, where are they? I don't even know how much I've even forgotten in the first place. I also can't check the date since my smartphone refuses to turn on. Maybe I'm already dead after all, and the me right now is merely a reconstruction from my other self, meaning I'm not really me. Aaaaaarrrrgghhh!! I scratched my head in frustration, which earned me weird looks from the people around me.

I decided I should head back and further investigate the car. But I don't they'll allow me to do so yet. For now, I'll focus on earning their trust. I'll ask for their permission to investigate the car later. As for my family, they'll forgive me for being gone a while as long as I return safely - if I can even return in the first place. I guess we'll just have to see.

I walked past the courtyard, through the garden, and finally arrived at the guest villa. There, I was greeted by a man, his blonde hair strangely mixed in with streaks of black. His eyes were dark brown like mine. I noticed his ears were less pointy than the average Elf I've met so far. Half-Elf? How considerate. Or insulting, depending on how you look at it.

"Greetings traveler, my name is Moro. Since I have been a.s.signed as your attendant, please do not hesitate to let me know regarding your needs. I will personally ensure whatever it is will be fulfilled, as long as it's within my powers", he relayed telepathically and gave a slight bow.

"Thanks, a pleasure to be in your care," I nodded in approval.

Great, a butler to watch my otherworldly a.s.s 24/7.