A fortnight had passed in the blink of an eye, and finally the elves emerged from the Great Mezaiya Forest.
Since Raviata had previously contacted the outside world, the area in front of the Great Forest was bustling with crowds eager to see the rumored elves.
Various journalists had already set up camp for days to cover the event, and among them were several mages.
“I heard that the elves are incredibly beautiful.”
“That’s what the ancient texts say, and if you listen to the rumors among the nobility, they are said to be quite extraordinary.”
The citizens of the Haiel Kingdom who also gathered here out of curiosity wore faces full of interest.
“I can’t remember the last time I felt this excited.”
“Hoho, that’s right. Must be due to the elven magic.”
“I’ve heard that they also have a deep knowledge of elemental magic. I would love to hear more about that.”
The old mages were so excited that they could hardly contain themselves.
“Wow, we could live off articles about the Great Mezaiya Forest for months.”
“Why wouldn’t we? Just mentioning Raviata’s name will sell papers.”
The journalists gazed at the entrance to the Great Mezaiya Forest in anticipation of the profits to come.
How much time has passed?
When the early dawn gave way to the rising sun, a soft green light began to emanate from the forest’s edge.
“Whoa!”
“Wow!”
Following the crowd’s cheers, the foliage that was hiding the Great Forest parted on its own to create a path.
Beyond that path, deer, squirrels, and various birds appeared. And among them emerged Priscilla, the Queen of the elves and the elder elves who accompanied her.
“Wow…”
“Oh, my…”
“Is it possible for such beauty to exist?”
Surely, if a goddess existed, she would look like this.
The crowd that was gathered to catch a glimpse of the rumored elves stood with their mouths agape. Even the journalists were too awestruck to remember to take pictures; they simply stared at the majestic appearance of the elves.
The situation was not much different for the mages, but they quickly noticed the intangible magic spreading around Priscilla.
“This is interesting.”
“Indeed. Could it be related to the elven magic?”
“It seems a bit different from the allure of the succubus mentioned in ancient texts…”
“How fascinating.”
As people who prided themselves on their knowledge, their admiration for Priscilla’s appearance was brief and they soon began to burn with academic curiosity about the magic they were seeing.
“Hello, humans. I am Priscilla, the Queen of the Elves,”
Her clear voice echoed like a baby bird’s cry in the space.
At the same time, the journalists finally regained their composure and hurriedly lifted their cameras to take pictures.
However, they couldn’t rush forward for an interview as they had before.
The atmosphere Priscilla subtly exuded was overwhelmingly intimidating, but more than that, the ones the journalists found most difficult had appeared.
The delegation sent from the Coalition.
No matter how much the journalists insisted on the people’s right to know, there was an exception for them.
Who knew when their necks might just suddenly disappear without a trace while they were shouting for the right to know?
The journalists were also people who valued their lives.
“Ahem, ahem. Welcome, people of the forest. I am Eliza J. Carter, the representative of this delegation.”
“Yes, nice to meet you. Can I call you Eliza?”
“Feel free to call me whatever is comfortable for you.”
As a seasoned political noble, Carter was not greatly disturbed by Priscilla’s appearance.
Instead, he realized that she was using magic similar to charm as he had heard in the reports, which heightened his sense of tension.
It doesn’t seem like this will be easy.
He thought they were only prominent in ancient times…
Unexpectedly, Priscilla’s every action was very similar to those of human nobles.
It wasn’t just her dignity as a queen.
Even the etiquette of humans was so ingrained in her that it seemed like a habit.
This indicated that she had already grasped the customs of human society.
A queen leading a race with such preparation, how could he not be tense?
If Carter lacked even this level of insight, he wouldn’t have risen to his current position.
However, Carter was thinking in too human terms.
After all, they were dealing with a race that had survived since ancient times.
They had overlooked the fact that the display of their power was enough to shatter human common sense.
“Oh my. Is that magical tool called a camera? It’s really fascinating.”
“Ah.”
Having finished a light greeting with Carter, Priscilla smiled as she pointed to the camera of a journalist not too far away.
“Hmm, come to think of it, didn’t you say that journalists use those cameras to inform the public? If it’s alright, I’ll allow just one question for the journalist.”
“That is…”
Before Carter could show his discomfort at Priscilla’s sudden action, the journalist quickly spoke up.
“I’ve heard that elves wish for a friendly relationship with humans. Is that true?”
“Of course. Since ancient times, which you refer to as “Before the Common Era”, we have only used our power to protect ourselves.”
Priscilla then smiled at the camera as if to reassure everyone.
Just as the journalist grew entranced by her beauty and tried to turn on the camera.
“That’s why I want to say, we elves wish to maintain good relationships with those friendly to us… but for those who aren’t.”
“Huh? What do you mean by that…?”
At that moment, Priscilla lightly waved her hand in the air, and the roots of the trees behind them burst from the ground.
“Ah!”
“W-What is that!”
And entangled in those tree roots were a dozen masked individuals who were tightly bound.
They appeared lifeless and they were hanging limp without any movement.
“Unfortunately, not everyone here is as kind and patient as you. These individuals saw our elves merely as merchandise to be sold.”
At that moment, was there still a survivor among them?
One of those bound in the roots twitched.
“S-Save… please save me…”
He voiced a faint and desperate plea for survival.
But what came to the masked man was a rough tree root.
The root swiftly wrapped around his neck, twisted it, and then disappeared back into the ground.
And then, a dozen corpses vanished in an instant.
“Normally, we would let them become fertilizer for our children, but… from a human perspective, I believe it’s called… oh, buried alive? Since that is considered unethical, I personally put an end to their lives.”
Terrifying.
The journalist who was looking at Priscilla’s face that still wore the same gentle smile as before, felt shivers run down his body and sweat trickle down his back.
“Humans, let me repeat once more. We elves have no intention of being hostile towards you. As long as you don’t come into our territory without permission or with ill intentions, we will welcome you just like in the past.”
Seeing Priscilla like that, the people gathered there realized something once again.
The history behind that beautiful appearance indeed held a cruelty fitting for ancient times.
“So, I’ll say it again. Welcome, human delegation.”
Following that, Priscilla gave a deep smile toward the adventurers and knights who were unarmed, as well as Carter who stood there dazed while being escorted by them.
The appearance of the elves once again caused a great stir in the coalition.
Many people wondered if a war was about to break out between humans and elves, but fortunately, the incident Priscilla caused ended quietly.
In fact, this was also due to mistakes and issues of saving face within the coalition.
The coalition also anticipated that with the appearance of the elves, there would surely be a group attempting to kidnap them.
So, they made thorough preparations by creating a long defensive line to prevent intruders, but that group of masked people seemed to have expected this as well, so they dug long tunnels in all directions and infiltrated the Great Mezaiya Forest.
From their perspective, they had no intention of ending the elf kidnapping with just one attempt.
The incident had occurred despite the Coalition’s grand warning not to enter the Mezaiya Great Forest without permission.
Additionally, various political issues had also contributed to the resolution of the matter, and surprisingly, the delegation completed their mission successfully and formed an alliance with the elves. It was all quite different to the initially tense encounter.
Of course, there would still be many matters to negotiate in the future, and the talks would continue endlessly…
From Shane’s point of view, it didn’t really matter.
He had anticipated this outcome, and it was Shane who had directly advised Priscilla to solidify her image like she had done.
A flower blooming on a cliff.
That was the image Shane desired for the elves among humans.
Meanwhile, Shane roamed the academy which he returned to after fifteen days without any difficulty.
Despite his fame, no one approached Shane directly.
Hadn’t Klein, Dilaila, and Anais been asked extensively about the Great Mezaiya Forest?
At this point, there was no reason for the students to approach Shane who clearly exuded an aura of not wanting to be bothered.
Nevertheless, he couldn’t avoid attracting attention and this continued until he reached the faculty office.
“Ah, come in, Shane.”
The person who welcomed Shane was Levi Benjamin, the head professor of the Command Department who served as the examiner for the department’s tests.
“I have many questions to ask, but I imagine you must also be having a busy time.”
“Thank you for understanding.”
“No, no. On the contrary, we should be the ones thanking you. You’ve solved one of humanity’s long-standing wishes. I’m not sure if it’s appropriate for me to say this as a professor, but as a member of the coalition, I feel grateful to you.”
“You’ve also produced many excellent adventurers, Professor.”
“Oh, come now, I can’t show off in front of you. Haha! I see that even someone as stoic as you knows how to flatter people. Anyway, I’ve talked too long. Here, this is what you were looking for.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Benjamin handed over the documents related to the rank assessment.
The rank assessment was already underway, and Shane was a particularly late case since he had other matters to attend to.
“But since you came late, most of the good dispatch requests have already been taken. What you’re looking at is all that’s left.”
Unlike the individual exams taken at the academy, the rank assessment required securing a dispatch request assigned by the coalition.
This was something Shane could not avoid, no matter how great his achievements were.
More importantly, even without that requirement, Shane had no intention of avoiding this dispatch request.
After all, there was one person there who was absolutely important to the future of humanity that Shane had in mind.
“There are about three places left.”
“That’s right. Most of them are dispatch requests that others avoid.”
Benjamin spoke with an expectant look on his face.
“If I had to recommend one… the northern──.”
“This place looks good.”
“Mm?”
Before Benjamin could finish speaking, Shane selected one of the dispatch request documents he had received from Benjamin and placed it on the desk.
[Northern Iron Forest, Dispatch Request to Arunvida’s Viduron Castle Wall Outpost]
It was the best opportunity to meet her at this point in time.
One of the two flowers of the empire, who later led the largest rebellion known as the Northern Uprising in the empire.
Zephyr D. Natasha Anastasia.
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