Ch.546Illegal Immigrants at the Western Border

======[ Western Border of the Holy State ]=======

A week had passed since Haschal was officially recognized as Rotholandus’s successor. In the dead of night, with even the moonlight hidden from view, a pair of figures raced through the forest at the western border of the Holy State where it met the great forest of Alvheim.

Warriors concealed in deep green cloaks and hoods, armed with bows and thin swords. They leapt from branch to branch, light as feathers and swift as the wind.

Two guardians dispatched by Alvheim. Assassins with special orders to eliminate the Empire’s First Sword before he could become Carlos the Great’s second coming.

Of course, even the elders of Alvheim didn’t believe that just two guardians could eliminate Aishan-Gioro Haschal.

If their surprise attack failed and combat ensued, the possibility of their own elimination was substantial.

Therefore, the elders had chosen a method several times more certain than a simple ambush. Though not enough to reassure the guardians who were taking on the risk.

“Poison… I wonder if things will go that smoothly… Honestly, I don’t think we’ll succeed. What do you think, Lady Feilandria?”

“Hmm… Karvios. You’re about two hundred years old, correct?”

“What? Oh, yes. About two hundred and sixty…”

Instead of an answer, an unexpected question. Karvios tilted his head as he answered his senior’s query.

“Still so young… Is that why? Why you ask such things?”

Feilandria. A guardian who had lived for over seven hundred years, turned to her fresh-faced junior and smirked.

It was quite amusing to see him puzzled after saying something that anyone over four hundred would never utter aloud.

“Karvios, shall I give you some advice as your senior? It’s the secret to living a long life.”

“Advice? No, rather, about this mission—”

“If you want to live long, don’t question the orders of the Council of Elders. For some reason, elves with too many questions don’t seem to make it past five hundred. Strange, isn’t it?”

“……”

Karvios closed his mouth. Though the tone was light as if joking, he wasn’t foolish enough to miss the cutting warning behind it.

“Good, you catch on quickly. Keep it that way.”

Feilandria smiled sweetly and turned her gaze away from her speechless junior.

For her, it was sincere advice. She had seen what happened to those of their kind who harbored resentment toward the Council over the past few centuries.

The roots of the World Tree were filled with elven skulls, and one elder’s bedroom contained more than thirty-nine dolls stripped of their self-awareness.

‘And death isn’t even the end.’

It was a fact unknown to recent generations of elves, but Feilandria knew.

The true nature of the lesser spirits used as disposable tools wasn’t a product of nature, but artificial constructs made by extracting souls from human children.

And if lesser spirits were made from human children…

What materials were used to create the high spirits, which possessed overwhelming power and intelligence compared to lesser spirits?

Those who opposed the Council never found peace, even in death.

Instead of departing to the afterlife to rest, their souls were trapped within the World Tree by the elders’ arts and crafted into high spirits.

That was the truth of the spirits.

—-

The mission assigned to Feilandria and Karvios was to infiltrate the island of Extrashafel and make contact with Perneisia, with whom communication had been lost. According to previous reports, Perneisia was maintaining a close relationship with their assassination target, Aishan-Gioro Haschal. The plan was to “persuade” Perneisia by any means necessary to serve Haschal a slow-acting deadly poison with her own hands.

Since it wasn’t a fast-acting poison, he wouldn’t notice and respond immediately, and if they ambushed him after the poison had spread throughout his body, they could take him down easily—or so was the judgment.

Of course, Feilandria didn’t fully trust this plan riddled with vulnerabilities. There were too many prerequisites for success.

First, they needed to infiltrate the island safely, then find Perneisia with whom contact had been lost, secure her cooperation, and ensure Aishan-Gioro didn’t notice the poison.

If just one thing went wrong, the plan would immediately fail.

‘If it looks completely hopeless, I can just wrap things up by retrieving Perneisia and returning.’

Having served as a guardian for hundreds of years, Feilandria was skilled at glossing over difficult situations.

She could shift the blame to someone else and bring back something that could be presented as an achievement to the elder who had devised the plan.

Perneisia of House Epiraxus.

A woman who had opposed the Council with young elves but, thanks to her bloodline, avoided extreme punishment and was sent to the Empire as both hostage and spy.

If she explained that the mission failed due to Perneisia’s betrayal and then secretly presented Perneisia’s body as a gift to an elder who favored female company, there was no chance of responsibility falling on Feilandria herself.

Of course, if the elder wasn’t satisfied with just Perneisia… she might have to endure a difficult night herself.

Anyway, Feilandria saw no problem with this.

“Isn’t it a bit late for forest bathing?”

Until an unknown human blocked their path.

—-

‘A paladin? A border guard from the Holy State?’

Feilandria, halting her sprint, quickly assessed the human man standing askew in their path. Being detected before even entering the Empire was an unexpected situation for her.

‘Red hair. Armor of the Celestial Church. Short sword. Guardian-level… Was there such a person in the Holy State? I heard the only ones to be wary of were Aishan-Gioro Haschal and some blond named Ceylon.’

The appearance of an unknown powerful figure. Her wariness sharpened.

“Elves. And guardians at that, attempting to sneak across the border under cover of darkness—things must not be going well in Alvheim? I understand your feelings, but if you want to seek asylum in the Holy State, you should go through official procedures. Not sneak in like rats.”

Perlien, the man who had blocked the guardians, delivered his taunt while gripping the hilt of Hauteclaire.

The talk of illegal border crossing was just a joke; Perlien had already guessed their purpose. What else would two guardians be secretly dispatched for if not to assassinate a hero-class knight?

Since his own abilities wouldn’t be known as far as Alvheim, the targets they were after must be Haschal, who had recently been recognized as Rotholandus’s successor.

‘Elmaine’s intuition is impressive. She said Alvheim would make a move and to guard the western border area.’

And indeed, assassins had appeared just as she predicted. Lacy’s prediction had proven exactly right.

“What should we do? If we cause a commotion at the Holy State’s border, our mission will be…”

Karvios whispered to Feilandria, showing signs of distress.

“Wait.”

Feilandria clicked her tongue, falling into thought.

Though they had the numerical advantage, if they engaged in a fierce battle by summoning high spirits, it would be troublesome for them.

The moment a high spirit’s massive form appeared, every Holy Knight within several kilometers would come rushing in. That alone would mean their infiltration plan was ruined.

No, it was more than that—they had to worry about the aftermath. The appearance of a high spirit would be clear evidence that elven guardians had attacked a human nation, which would be tantamount to a declaration of war.

Alvheim, already locked in a back-and-forth struggle with the dwarves, had no capacity to maintain a two-front war by facing human armies as well.

‘Should we retreat? No, that won’t work. If we’re detected during movement and fail, it becomes entirely my fault. The elders won’t accept an explanation that we were blocked by a single person in the middle of a forest at night.’

Feilandria’s expression twisted involuntarily. An unexpected setback. If she captured Perneisia, she could blame it on her betrayal, but if they were detected at the Holy State’s border and failed, there would be no room for excuses.

“…Red-haired short-lived one. May I ask you one thing?”

“Ask away, illegal elf. I’ll answer if I feel like it.”

“…How exactly did you know we were here?”

It was something she couldn’t comprehend.

They were moving through the forest under cover of darkness, even wearing night camouflage, yet they were detected so easily. It made her wonder if information had been leaked in advance.

“Well… the stench of rotten old age was vibrating through the forest. If you’ve lived hundreds of years, shouldn’t you be in a grave by now? Don’t you get tired of living?”

Perlien offered insult instead of an answer.

He had been able to detect the elves thanks to Hauteclaire’s guidance, but he had no reason to tell them the truth.

“So you won’t tell me. Fine. I won’t ask anymore. Become forest fertilizer like the short-lived creature you are. That’s the only value your kind has.”

Feilandria pulled back her hood and drew the thin sword at her waist. There was no point in retreating. At this point, the only option was to eliminate him as quietly as possible and withdraw.

“Are we going to fight?”

“Do we have a choice? I’ll have to show that a guardian’s power isn’t just in high spirits.”

Karvios felt troubled but couldn’t refuse Feilandria’s decision. He too thought that if they turned back after being blocked by a single human, severe punishment would follow.

‘Damn, is there no choice…’

In the end, Karvios also prepared for battle, unstrapping the bow from his back and gripping it firmly.

“It seems you have no intention of withdrawing quietly. That’s unfortunate.”

Perlien awakened the power residing throughout his body and firmly gripped Hauteclaire’s hilt.

For him too, this would be his first battle against elves, so he couldn’t hide his inner tension. He wouldn’t need to worry about the firepower of high spirits, but even so, facing two guardians alone would not be simple.

“We didn’t expect you to. Short-lived one, consider it an honor to die at the hands of Feilandria Eberond Gravitas, the great guardian of Alvheim.”

“Karvios Jeresielad Kirmeiserus.”

Just before the battle began, the two guardians revealed their names to Perlien. A courtesy meaning that he should at least know the names of those who were about to kill him. It was a kind of traditional elven culture.

“Those names are too long to put in a report. Could you write them down on paper so I can remember them?”

Perlien burst into laughter. The names were so long that he couldn’t properly understand what they had said.

He had no interest in elven names to begin with.

“There’s no need to remember. You’ll be forest fertilizer!”

With Karvios’s roar, the two guardians and the paladin clashed head-on.