[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-reincarnated-as-an-elf-prince":3,"chapter-reincarnated-as-an-elf-prince-reincarnated-as-an-elf-prince-chapter-304":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Reincarnated as an Elf Prince",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},267533,538,"Chapter 304: Trail","reincarnated-as-an-elf-prince-chapter-304",304,"\u003Cp>He walked straight to the table, rolled up one sleeve, and placed a smooth river-stone down in the center of the map, one now faintly marked with a golden sigil etched by his own mana. His eyes never left the lines carved into the parchment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I found a trail,\" he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Silence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One of the older captains tilted his head. \"What kind of trail?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Residual mana. Warped. Unstable. Like something tried to pull space into itself and couldn’t quite close it afterward.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Another man—thin, silver-haired, dark rings under his eyes, shifted uncomfortably. \"Tracking mana threads across the continent? That’s not something anyone does.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’m not anyone.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You could be leading us in circles.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I’d rather circle than stand still.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jaren stood in the corner with arms crossed. \"I saw him test the thread. It’s real.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some of the commanders exchanged glances.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lindarion let the silence hang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eventually, a younger elf with copper armor leaned forward, expression skeptical. \"And what exactly are we supposed to do with this... trail? March blind through half the realm?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"No,\" Lindarion said. \"You’ll stay here. I’ll follow it. Quietly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Alone?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"With Ashwing.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The war table fell quiet again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A moment later, a soldier burst through the flap without ceremony.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Dust streaked his coat. One sleeve torn. No armor. Just a scroll case clutched in his fist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone turned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The courier bowed quickly and handed the letter to Jaren. \"Urgent. Multiple townships. Delivered by hawk. Some marked royal.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jaren opened the first scroll. Read. Didn’t speak. Just passed it to the next hand beside him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The silence twisted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next scroll came. Then the next.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the fourth, no one was sitting anymore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jaren finally spoke. \"They’ve begun attacking human border towns. Westward. Deep strikes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How deep?\" one of the generals asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Past Silverwake. Through Hillgrave. There’s mention of bodies hanging from the city walls.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Someone else swore under their breath.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And then, one more courier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This one ran.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Breathless, shaking, but still moving.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t even stop at the table. Just held the scroll out to Lindarion directly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lindarion took it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The seal was crimson. Broken hastily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He unrolled the parchment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eyes narrowed as he read.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then stopped.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His voice, when it came, was low. Flat. Dead quiet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Evernight Academy has fallen.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one spoke.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lindarion lowered the letter to the table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Only fragments remain. The buildings were destroyed. Witnesses say... they think a creature came out of the sky. Not a spell. Not an army.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Just one?\" a commander asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And it did that?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Someone backed a step from the table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jaren looked toward Lindarion. \"Still want to follow that trail?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lindarion stared at the golden-threaded stone. The one he had marked. The one that had pulsed with just the faintest whisper of direction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn’t hesitate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yes,\" he said. \"More than ever.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stood outside the war tent alone, breathing in smoke and cold pine air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The camp stretched behind him, torches flickering along every ridge, armor glinting between tents, the quiet shuffle of a hundred soldiers pretending they weren’t listening. The letter about Evernight still sat folded in his hand, its edges damp from his palm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He hadn’t moved in five minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ashwing crouched on a rock nearby in his smaller form, wings folded tight against his back. His tail tapped lightly against the stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They’re scared,\" the dragon said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lindarion didn’t look at him. \"They should be.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He turned his eyes to the ridge. Past the last of the watch fires. Beyond the treeline, toward something none of them could see.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I felt it,\" he said quietly. \"Just for a second. A wound. Like the earth cried out.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ashwing tilted his head. \"And the trail?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lindarion lifted the golden-marked stone. It pulsed once in his hand—barely a glow. The connection was weak. Fading.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He could feel it just under the surface of everything. Like breath through silk. A rhythm that didn’t match the land around it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It’s moving,\" he said. \"But slowly.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ashwing stood, stretched out his wings, then narrowed his gaze. \"You want to chase that thing alone?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I won’t find their base if I show up with two hundred troops and a warhorn.\" Lindarion tightened his grip on the stone. \"I’ll move faster with fewer people.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"How many’s ’fewer’?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Just you.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ashwing blinked. \"That’s not fewer. That’s suicidal.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lindarion looked back at the camp. Torches lined the dirt paths between tents. Soldiers stood in small knots, speaking low. Some sharpening blades. Others not even pretending to sleep.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You said it yourself,\" he muttered. \"They’re scared.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They have reason to be.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They need time. Direction.\" His jaw tensed. \"If I can find the base—just locate it—then they’ll have something to aim for. Not just rumors and ash.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ashwing grumbled deep in his throat. \"This is the kind of thing your system should speak up about.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It won’t.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Because?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It doesn’t care.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The dragon snorted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lindarion let the silence sit for a long moment. The moon was high above now, soft light running down the side of his armor. A breeze moved through the pine trees in slow, uneven breaths.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ashwing fluttered once, then nodded toward the edge of camp. \"When?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Tonight.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You’re not even going to tell Jaren?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He’ll talk me out of it.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That’s because he’s not an idiot.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lindarion gave a weak, humorless smile. \"Then he’ll understand later.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The system didn’t chime in. No map. No marker. Just that stone. That faint pulse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>’Whatever’s behind this doesn’t want to be found.’\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was fine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d find it anyway.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He moved quietly between tents, taking only what he needed, a second waterskin, his knife, a roll of smoked meat, and a thick travel cloak. No banner. No emblem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time the edge of camp disappeared behind the trees, his heartbeat had already settled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ashwing flew overhead in full form now, wings dark against the stars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They didn’t speak again for the first mile.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was nothing to say.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just the trail.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the faint, pulsing thread of mana tugging him forward.\u003C\u002Fp>",1006,"2026-05-29T17:03:12.824Z","2026-06-01T04:29:47.183Z",1,"novelbin.me","438116613ddfacbf372a74931fa2e03c3dcc9eddeb555b5a36e27d7dc097450b","reincarnated-as-an-elf-prince-chapter-305","reincarnated-as-an-elf-prince-chapter-303",564,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Freincarnated-as-an-elf-prince-cover.jpg"]