The Right Attitude (4)

“I think it’s best for you to go inside now. They have all left.”

“It’s a pity. I wish they would come back…”

Right after the elven delegation departed, King Micail, who had seen off those who visited his kingdom, didn’t hide his disappointment.

The elves’ visit was the hottest issue since his ascension to the throne.

Such a special issue that none of his predecessors had experienced. It was natural for a young boy full of vigor to be interested in this alone, but the problem was that he fell in love at first sight with Ellua, who led the elves.

It didn’t matter that Ellua was over 100 years older than him. He, who hadn’t married yet, realized what a perfect female form was after seeing her this time.

And that exploded when Ellua boldly put aside her traditional attire and wore the dress given by humans.

The daughters of ministers, whom they subtly recommended as queen candidates, were inevitably overshadowed by the mature Ellua, as they were about the same age as him.

‘I can’t let them go like this. They clearly said they wanted to make agreements with other kingdoms too.’

Learning that the elves were trying to establish relationships with various powers, he felt anxious. If he didn’t impress them with something special, it seemed the elves might not visit again.

“Captain of the Royal Guard. I think we should follow them.”

“What!?”

In the end, Micail acted impulsively. Without any of the older ministers knowing, he persuaded the captain of the royal guard to go with him to give Ellua a gift.

“We must go. Let’s go! Come on!”

Micail, who always tried to be mature and aware of his position, started to throw a tantrum for the first time in a very long while.

The captain of the royal guard, who had been close to him like an uncle since childhood, couldn’t stop Micail, who was on the verge of lying flat on the ground.

‘Well, what could go wrong? It’s just one jump point ride.’

In the end, the captain of the royal guard escorted Micail out of the palace secretly with a small force and rode horses. It wasn’t uncommon for a king to travel incognito, and he believed that almost nothing would happen within the country anyway.

“Th-That is…”

However, those who had come so carelessly witnessed a shocking scene. The elven delegation returning to their homeland was being attacked by a mysterious group.

“Your Majesty, it’s dangerous!”

“We must help them quickly!”

Micail, flustered, rushed forward on his horse. The royal guard had no choice but to follow.

“Y-You traitors dare! Do you know who this is!”

Micail rushed into the battlefield, revealing that he was the king of this country, but the surprised enemies didn’t stop their attack. Seeing this, the enraged royal guard also jumped into the battle, starting a desperate fight with the attackers.

This was the reason for the current situation.

‘To think things would turn out like this.’

Isilia, holding her fluttering hood, smiled bitterly and grabbed Patrick beside her. Thanks to Isilia, her companions, including Patrick, were still not directly engaged in combat with the enemies.

“Stay back with Lina. Now that the royal guard has joined, we’ve won this battle.”

“Indeed, they prepared a lot, but not perfectly.”

Patrick nodded, looking around. The attackers were unaware of Isilia’s existence and King Micail’s intervention.

Given this situation, their operation was bound to fail.

‘But escaping is impossible too. In the end, they have no choice but to fight to the death.’

If they tried to escape, she intended to chase and catch them to the end. The enemies knew this too, so fighting was their best option.

“Kuhek.”

Thanks to this, Isilia, who didn’t need to reveal her identity to the royal guard and Micail, turned her head. An arrow cutting through the wind instantly pierced an enemy’s neck.

It was an arrow shot by Ellua. With a hardened face, she fired mana-infused arrows incessantly, felling enemies.

‘Evil bastards. But we were already prepared.’

Ellua, channeling her anger towards the enemies into her arrows, was killing them instantly without any mercy. The royal guard rushing in with swords also received much help from her.

“That woman…!”

But there was someone targeting her. Melchis, one of the main instigators. A former knight, he rushed towards Ellua with a glowing blue sword.

Having messed up the operation anyway, he had to vent this explosive anger.

“No, Lady Ellua!”

Arisa shouted upon discovering him, but there was distance between them.

Melchis, who had stabbed and pushed aside a royal guard soldier blocking his way, rushed towards her with bloodshot eyes. Unfortunately, Ellua, who had run out of arrows, could only watch the sword descending upon her.

“Ugh.”

“W-What?”

That’s when a loud gunshot rang out. The revolver’s cylinder turned, firing a bullet that hit Melchis’s arm as he was charging.

‘I-I hit.’

The person who aimed the gun to save Ellua in the midst of the chaotic melee was King Micail. It was a mythical weapon he always carried for self-defense, but it was so precious that he had only practiced with virtual training and never fired it even once.

The boy’s eyes widened, his hand trembling at its power.

“You dare, you little brat!”

Melchis, who had completely lost his reason due to pain and anger, now saw nothing else. He was destined to die anyway, so he only thought of tearing apart whoever was in front of him, be it the king or anyone else.

Melchis switched the sword to his other hand and threw himself forward.

The terrified Micail pulled the trigger again, but his hand trembling like an aspen leaf caused the large-caliber pistol, which already had significant recoil, to miss.

Even a weapon that ignores mana is only effective if it hits. While Micail hesitated, the enemy had already raised his sword.

“Ughk?!”

But at that moment, the earth vibrated, and soil and stones suddenly sprang up, grabbing Melchis’s feet. Caught completely off guard, he struggled against the ground that wouldn’t let him go.

“It’s harder to miss when you hold it like that.”

“W-Who are you!?”

“Hold it properly with both hands, straighten your arms, correct your posture. Above all, don’t let your heart waver.”

Someone who appeared behind the surprised Micail gently reached out to correct his posture. A beautiful voice was heard from behind his head.

In other words, it meant that person was about the same height as himself, the youngest here.

“The enemy can’t move. If you aim well, you’ll definitely hit.”

‘I’ve only watched the pilot shoot a pistol, never done it myself.’

Isilia smirked as she helped the boy shoot the gun. Micail, too, couldn’t push away Isilia, who was casually touching his body, the king’s body.

It was because he intuitively grasped what kind of being she was. Although she was a girl who spoke respectfully and was of similar height to him, he couldn’t dare to defy her.

“Now shoot.”

As she whispered, Micail closed his eyes tightly and fired the gun again. He aimed at the heart of Melchis, who was shouting and struggling.

The bullet, fired with a deafening sound, instantly pierced through the knight’s body, causing blood to spurt.

* * *

“What about the ones who fled!?”

“Don’t worry. They didn’t get far and were all captured by the elves.”

“Haa… Thank goodness.”

Although the actual event took less than 30 minutes, it was a nerve-wracking time for those involved.

Micail forgot his dignity and slumped to the ground. None of the already exhausted royal guard pointed this out.

“Although there was a fierce battle with the enemies employing high-level installation spells, there were almost no casualties as a result. We had three casualties on our side, and a few injured among the elves, that’s all.”

“They… already knew?”

What shocked Micail the most was that the elves already knew about the enemies’ plot and were prepared for it. Although it became chaotic due to his sudden intervention, the elves still managed to kill many enemies and capture a few with minimal damage.

‘It’s our responsibility.’

However, Micail’s expression wasn’t very good. After all, this incident happened within the territory he rules.

He had wanted to show goodwill and make a good impression on the elves, but now he thought he had surely made a bad impression and became gloomy.

“Now I shall express my gratitude.”

At that moment, Ellua approached them. After all, if it weren’t for Micail’s shot, who knows what would have happened.

And they were the ones who rushed to help in the first place. There was no reason not to thank them.

“I think I don’t deserve it. To think such people existed…”

“According to the intelligence we obtained, they are an extremist human supremacist group composed of various social classes. Please make an example of them as they dared to attempt regicide under the pretext of anger towards other races.”

Ellua passed on the information they knew to Micail, who was scratching his head. His eyes glinted upon hearing it.

The justification was already more than enough. Beyond simply attacking a delegation, this was treason.

He was determined to capture and punish them all, no matter who they were.