Ch.139139. Reason (2)

In a quiet office, a woman sits with her legs crossed, slowly reading through the documents placed before her.

Ainel Sianella, her eyes were swimming in the sea of words that densely filled the documents.

One sentence at a time. As Ainel carefully read through the story, she uncrossed her legs and lowered the hand that had been supporting her chin.

Tap— Tap— Tap—

Ainel, as was her long-standing habit, began tapping her index finger on the desk.

With that steady sound, in her calming mind, Ainel quietly sighed or occasionally furrowed her brow as she organized what she had read so far.

“The Keepers of the Great Forest—”

The dense information was about the children of the Great Forest, the elves.

It included not only the notable deeds of elves known to the public and the general consensus about them among humans.

It also contained information about the friendship and history shared between the Sianella family and the elves in the past.

Ainel shifted her gaze.

Among the numerous documents spread across the desk, her eyes focused on one particular document she had been reading carefully.

Ainel quietly read aloud the sentence that caught her eye.

“The County of Sianella has shared a deep connection with the people of the Great Forest.”

The westernmost county in the kingdom and the easternmost elves. Though physically distant, they could be considered spiritually close.

Historically, the Sianella family had fought alongside the elves against demons. They had unhesitatingly supported each other whenever help was needed, leaving behind numerous records.

Although the same level of trust from a thousand years ago no longer remained, the family still occasionally exchanged letters with them to confirm their mutual goodwill.

Ainel shifted her gaze once more.

Her eyes moved between various documents before stopping again on one particular page.

It was a document containing public opinions about elves.

“Elves are inherently pure in spirit, as clear as glass, gentle and compassionate, knowing how to embrace all people and how to be loved.”

Tap— Tap—

The tapping index finger stopped.

“Hmm—”

The widely spread public opinion about elves was, of course, full of praise.

As if they were a perfect race from fantasy, created by layering fantasies about the forest people.

Each individual elf possesses beauty rarely granted to humans, and whenever they appear in the world.

Whether it might be an affected behavior or not, they have only shown us endlessly favorable and gentlemanly appearances.

The world, no, humans defined them as good, and it somehow became a universal truth.

Therefore, she too had originally intended to treat them as old friends without doubt, based on publicly known evaluations, records left in the County of Sianella.

And the history of goodwill built with the elves, but.

“Haah…”

Ainel Sianella was showing hesitation about this.

“I wish I hadn’t heard such things.”

Whenever Ainel read writings praising the goodness of elves, she was reminded of what Sione’s former personal attendant had told her.

No, now Ray, widely known as the promising first male knight from the County of Sianella, a family renowned for producing the kingdom’s finest knights.

His words to her echoed in her mind, disturbing her thoughts.

Ainel crossed her arms and recalled the recent past.

‘Certainly after the socialites ruined the princess’s coming-of-age ceremony…’

After a series of important meetings, I had fallen into a deep sleep from exhaustion one day.

While I was unable to easily wake from my dream, Ray came to my room.

Thanks to that, I couldn’t even fix my disheveled hair and was in my sky-blue nightgown…

“Tsk…”

Perhaps I’m trying to recall too much from the beginning.

Ainel lightly clicked her tongue while readjusting her clothes, and recalled her conversation with him that followed.

—Ray, I want to hear what you discussed with the daughter of the Arielt family. What happened with her, what conversation you had. Tell me everything without omission right here.

—Lady Friel Arielt said this to me.

Ainel’s eyes tensed slightly.

—How interesting. You, as a human, are interesting. In that sense, would you like to become mine?

It was an unimaginable story.

—You can’t become mine? Do you really think so, Ray? Whether you’re a slave or servant belonging to the County, that doesn’t matter. What matters is… your will.

Among the good elves, the Frielt family was especially known for being more noble than most.

Ray, who had calmly mimicked the words and intonation of the daughter of the Frielt family, still vividly remembered.

—If you want it, I’m confident I can take you from your family. After all… it’s just a county from a kingdom created by short-lived species, isn’t it?

Despite the friendship maintained over the years, how could a child of the Great Forest look down on the County like this?

Her words betrayed the goodwill between the County and the Great Forest. And terribly so.

—Contrary to her publicly known purity… she revealed her sticky greed to me without hiding it. And unlike what would be expected of someone loyal, she said that if she wanted something belonging to Sianella, she could obtain it by any means.

An elf who was neither pure nor loyal.

—I wish for Lady Ainel to harbor suspicion and be somewhat cautious of Lady Friel Arielt, rather than placing deep trust in her.

That was the elf Friel Arielt as Ray had insisted. And perhaps even further, it might be the hidden true nature of elves.

And coincidentally—

Since the elf who visited the County yesterday evening was also that Friel Arielt.

Inevitably, her thoughts had to deepen.

“Sigh…”

Ainel’s deep, worried sigh filled the office.

Intoxicated by her sigh, Ainel turned her gaze away from the documents she had been staring at intently.

The curtained window. A small light was streaming in through the tiny gap.

“I’m not sure.”

With her chin resting on her hand again, Ainel stared blankly at the door, her blue eyes filled with anguish.

The upcoming conversation with Friel.

She wanted to smoke a cigarette for the first time in a long while.

* * *

“And… that’s what happened.”

“Hmm…”

After hearing everything that had happened at the royal palace, Siabel didn’t show a particularly good expression.

Those pointy-eared ones who obsessively care only about their appearance and image. Their dark intentions. Those who first glimpse the abyss of their hearts all show the same complicated and subtle reaction.

Siabel’s reaction could be considered somewhat textbook in that regard.

“That explains why Sione’s mood has been so down. To think that an elf famous for frugality and loyalty would do such a thing… Ray, there wasn’t a single lie mixed in, was there?”

I nodded at her words.

“It’s all true.”

Though since humans aren’t gods and are imperfect, there might be some distortion in my memory…

The words Friel said to me that I told Siabel about. The words Friel used when speaking to me might have become slightly more intense or different.

Still, well.

I conveyed the atmosphere at that time and the essence of Friel’s words clearly.

The big picture wouldn’t change, so I can say that everything I told Siabel was the truth.

Siabel, having organized her thoughts, looked at her sword with a cold gaze.

“Today there will be a conversation between Mother and the daughter of the Arielt family.”

Siabel began to gradually raise her aura.

“Do you think Mother will handle it well?”

“Of course. She’s the head of the family, after all.”

“True—”

Siabel surrounded her practice sword with a shallow aura.

I too began to circulate my Mana, seeing her actions.

“If it’s Mother, she’ll resolve it well.”

Clang!

The clear sound of metal crying out.

Today, the impact of the sword strike vibrating through my hand was particularly rough.

* * *

Instead of the office filled with the musty smell of old paper, two women met in a spacious and splendid reception room.

Ainel quickly examined Friel’s attire.

A sword at her waist. And a fairly large bag containing something. Especially from that sword, she could instinctively sense something unusual.

Noting this point, Ainel exchanged brief greetings with the elf who had come from the Great Forest as they sat facing each other.

Friel, greeting Ainel with a fresh smile, slightly revealed what she had brought.

“Yesterday I couldn’t speak properly due to the circumstances. I’ve brought tea leaves favored by us children of the Great Forest. Would you accept them?”

“Gladly.”

Ainel slightly raised her previously flat lips and received the gift from her.

Even during this exchange, their blue-green and blue eyes met, busy assessing and evaluating each other.

The conversation progressed slowly but surely.

Starting with inquiries about each other’s well-being, as they moved toward deeper topics, a seriousness began to settle in Friel Arielt’s blue-green eyes.

Especially noting that quiet smile deepening whenever the topic of the Great Forest was subtly brought up, Ainel.

She calmly settled the atmosphere and asked.

“Friel Arielt. May I ask why a member of one of the three families recognized by the High Elves has come all the way to a county of the kingdom?”

Friel Arielt finally erased her empty smile at that question.

“The Grand Elder instructed me to tell the truth to the family head… Before I tell you why I came to the County, I should first explain the current situation in the Great Forest. Would that be acceptable to you, Lady?”

“Please do.”

At Ainel’s words, Friel smiled readily again and moistened her throat with the tea before her.

She elegantly put down her teacup and placed her hands demurely on her knees.

“The Great Forest is currently in quite a dire situation. Long ago, cultists operating secretly in the Empire secretly entered the sacred forest, and beasts intoxicated with Magia have been gradually damaging the forest.”

“Though we noticed it a bit late… if it were just beasts and cultists, our Keepers could handle it sufficiently. So the Keepers purified many beasts and cultists. But… the cultists who survived the Empire’s strong suppression were by no means easy to deal with.”

“They eventually succeeded in summoning a Demon and hiding its existence from us.”

Friel’s voice had changed to that of an infinitely cold woman, without a trace of the elven compassion once felt.

“The Demon was cunning. It hid itself and slowly burned the roots of the World Tree from the very end with Magia. By the time we noticed, the World Tree was already severely intoxicated with terrible Magia. And now, the World Tree’s strength, which connected the door to the spirit realm, has weakened to the point where even we elves are struggling to summon spirits.”

“Therefore, the Grand Elder of our Great Forest people decided to seek help from the Sianella family, a trustworthy comrade who fought alongside us against Demons in the past.”

“So I would like to take this opportunity to ask for your help, as per the Grand Elder’s wishes.”

The elf said.

“Please send Sione Sianella and Sianella’s knight, Ray, to the Great Forest.”

Ainel looked at Friel with an ice-cold gaze.

She was expending considerable effort to suppress her irritated pressure that was about to burst forth.

Words full of sophistry and disharmony.

Friel Arielt. Her heart finally tilted between the boundary of trust and suspicion surrounding her.

“Would you say that again?”

In Ainel Sianella’s pupils was doubt, and in her demeanor was clear vigilance.