Ch.803Albheim’s Response

======[ Alvheim ]======

“Lost again…? Now it’s a complete annihilation?!”

Alvheim was in complete turmoil.

“The Guardians are dead! The Guardians!”

“Six of them at that! How is this even possible?!”

The thunderous voices of the shocked elders echoed throughout the hall. A devastating defeat beyond words. Throughout all of history since Carlos the Great, there had never been such a loss in a single battle.

No, even in Carlos’s era, they had never lost six out of seven deployed Guardians at once. The Great’s Twelve Knights had only managed to kill them one by one through waves of attacks.

“How will you take responsibility for this! Luna Pontius!”

Naturally, all blame fell upon Elder Elf Luna Pontius, who had proposed the operation to eliminate the Empire’s First Sword while they had the chance to remove a future threat.

In the face of this historic defeat, the elders, whose eyes had rolled back in search of a scapegoat, had long since erased from their minds the fact that they themselves had readily agreed with Luna Pontius’s opinion.

Before the elders who interrogated him with such ferocity they seemed about to foam at the mouth, Luna Pontius could only bow his head with a devastated expression.

Given such losses, no matter what excuses he might offer, his fate would not change.

The roots of the World Tree were waiting for new fertilizer.

—-

Sacrificing the elder who had planned the operation as nutrients for the World Tree would not solve all their problems.

What should be done about Guardian Eirnesia, who was clearly taken prisoner? How should they respond if the Empire declared war? How would they fill the now-empty gap in their forces?

Numerous discussions continued in the meeting hall, which was as noisy as a marketplace.

“Is there any need to retrieve her? If she’s become a human prisoner, she’s as good as dead anyway. Even if we recover her, she’d be worth little more than a decoration.”

“Shouldn’t we prevent our information from leaking? We should negotiate to at least get the prisoner back, claiming it was a conflict caused by miscommunication in order delivery—”

“Preposterous! The Empire would never accept such negotiations. We should declare a state of emergency right now and replenish our Guardians and Patrollers!”

“You needn’t worry about all-out war.”

A young councilor who had opposed the operation against Haschal from the beginning shook his head, interrupting the elder who was pounding the table and insisting they prepare for war.

“According to information from my spies, the Empire itself won’t have the capacity to move its army for the time being. The great invasion from Baryachrus, the advance of the Ka’har, and the surge of monsters—I’ve heard they’ve suffered enormous damage from a series of calamities.”

“You dispatched spies to the Empire? How?”

Alvheim’s intelligence capabilities could hardly be called excellent, even as a figure of speech. Elves, both in appearance and personality, were ill-suited for the role of spies.

Their elongated ears and striking appearance made them the worst candidates for blending naturally among humans.

Therefore, until now, Alvheim had to rely on information from Perneisia, who had been dispatched to the Empire under the pretext of being a special admission student, and rumors that reached Alvheim.

Consequently, they had been struggling with information gathering since Perneisia’s betrayal of Alvheim was confirmed.

Until now.

“It wasn’t that difficult. Isn’t this why we kept the ‘half-ears’ in containment facilities?”

Half-ears. The half-elves, mixed-bloods between elves and humans, whom humans called half-elves.

Most half-elves in Alvheim were byproducts born when some elves, dreaming of heretical deviations, interfered with human livestock in the containment facilities.

While elves despised the very existence of half-elves, they considered them to have value as slaves and kept the obedient ones captive in facilities for breeding.

The young councilor, after contemplating more efficient ways to utilize these half-elves, discovered a new use for them—as spies to extract information from the Empire.

The method was simple.

While humans were hostile to elves, their vile desires presumptuously craved elven appearances, so they would satisfy these cravings by offering the half-ears.

Even the incompetent and useless half-ears didn’t look much different from elves in appearance.

The young councilor secretly established a half-elf brothel to attract Empire nobles. Nobles satisfied with the half-elf prostitutes would invite other nobles with similar tastes, expanding their influence.

Burning the leaves of the World Tree, nobles addicted to the pleasure provided by half-elves began to freely divulge information about the Empire they possessed. It was truly a satisfactory outcome for the councilor.

The brothel wasn’t the only method.

The few half-elves who maintained their purity were sold as “maids” to certain nobles.

Perhaps because the Empire’s First Sword Haschal kept a half-elf as a maid, half-elf maids had become popular ornaments among nobles.

Since this was conducted secretly, it wasn’t known to the Imperial House or upright nobles, but nearly thirty percent of Empire nobles were already accustomed to caressing half-elves in their beds.

Just as they had already forgotten how the Great Fire of the Capital occurred due to a rebellion by enslaved inferior mixed-blood Werebeasts with strong human features.

In any case, thanks to this, the young councilor could obtain a wealth of information without leaving his seat. Limited to information known to Empire nobles, of course.

“Hmm… I never thought those half-ears would have such use.”

“Thank you.”

Enjoying the elders’ reactions of admiration for his fresh idea, the young councilor shared the information he had discovered at the meeting.

The current state of the Imperial army, the number of Masters and Heroes, Haschal’s abilities that were already common knowledge among Empire citizens, and the fact that she had been chosen as the Saint of the Church of Astraea.

“Astraea… that goddess of paladins. To bestow stigmata on a Ka’har half-blood.”

“Then, the ‘wedge of order’ that the World Tree mentioned…”

“Yes, it must be that woman.”

The councilors nodded, recalling the meaning of the oracle given by the World Tree. Break the chains of heaven and the wedge of order. And thereby release the devouring wolf.

The elves interpreted this as an order to kill the Saint of Elpinel and the Saint of Astraea.

Lacy Elmaine Stardolf, whose name had reached even Alvheim, and the unknown Saint of Astraea. By eliminating these two, they would cause the owner of the “embodied karma of murder,” who was prone to rampages, to go berserk.

However, now that the Saint of Order was revealed to be none other than Haschal, that interpretation became controversial.

“Then what does the ‘wolf’ mean? I was certain it referred to that Ka’har…”

“Could it really be… Vanirgand?”

“Are you drunk?”

“……”

The councilor who had previously suggested that the devouring wolf might be Vanirgand remained silent, seeing another elf who shared his speculation being treated like a drunkard.

“Let’s think about this from a results perspective. What would happen if that woman lost her life? Wouldn’t the Werebeasts who lost their king, and the Ka’har who lost their leader, begin to stir again? Especially Landenburg, which would inevitably fall into chaos after losing its lord twice. The Ka’har would seize this opportunity and advance like a flood. To capture the partially destroyed wall.”

“You mean…”

“Yes. I believe the ‘wolf’ refers to either Baryachrus’s second great invasion or the Ka’har’s great army. Doesn’t that make sense? Many Werebeasts resemble wolves, and the Ka’har are short-lived species who worship wolves, aren’t they?”

It was a convincing interpretation.

If Archbishop Elmaine Stardolf, who united the Empire’s churches, and Haschal, a core defensive force of the Empire and the next Margrave of Landenburg, were assassinated, the Empire would inevitably fall into great chaos.

Baryachrus and the Ka’har would clearly not miss such an opportunity.

“However… at present, neither side has the capacity to attempt assassination. Regrettably, we have no choice but to monitor the situation for the time being.”

That was the conclusion reached by Alvheim’s council.

If poisoning were possible, they might attempt assassination using the nobles the young councilor had brought in, but poisoning saints who could use the miracle of purification themselves was nearly impossible.

In reality, Haschal had never used the miracle of purification and couldn’t even use it… but that was something the elves of Alvheim couldn’t know.

Who could have imagined?

That a saint chosen by a goddess would be unable to use even a simple healing miracle due to not having even a shred of faith.