Chương 270: A walk in the lands of the trees

"Adriana, are you okay?"

"Ah! I'm just thinking about some things, don't worry. Thanks for asking, Fabedia. Ah, but I think I will take my leave now. I still have some training I want to do before night comes."

"...okay. We'll see you later then."

Saying farewell to the elves sitting around the round table in the open-air café, I commenced the short walk back to the royal abode in the center of the capital.

As the gentle sunlight was prying its way through the thicket of trees around us, I couldn't help but feel a bit... out of place. This, despite being with my own kin, people who I have known since I was but a child.

'It all happened so fast...'

It felt like just yesterday when I had still been at Ainu, hanging out and training with my classmates, laughing and struggling together. But after that one day...

'-I want you to come home, Adri. It's not safe in Mensch anymore.'

The words that my father had said still rang out inside my head and I hadn't been to refute them. I still couldn't.

What James had done that day had cemented the fact that he was capable of doing things way outside what anyone thought was possible. Ainu wasn't just some random hunter academy. It was the most prestigious academy in the world, and with that came security measures to match.

So if he could infiltrate Ainu that easily, that more or less meant that he could go wherever he wanted and... do whatever he wanted.

'I still can't believe it...'

What James had done that day was beyond anything that I thought he would ever do. It wasn't that surprising to me that he would do something but to go as far as to kill his former classmates? Inconceivable... or at least that's what I wanted to believe.

In reality, I truly had no idea.

It wasn't as if I had believed him to be a virtuous and good person even from the start, but I also never thought that he was an outright evil person.

Strangely enough, I still didn't have a clear answer regarding whether he was evil or not, despite the atrocities he had already committed.

"Haaa..."

Taking a deep breath, feeling my body getting slightly invigorated by the fresh, forest air, my feet came to a stop.

Surrounded by the many houses, both integrated into the massive trees and the more modern ones that looked similar to the ones in Mensch, I felt more lost than ever.

'Guess they were my friends after all.'

I was never an overly emotional person, even as a child, but now I couldn't stop my hands from clenching in anger and frustration.

How odd it was that now was the first time that I fully understood the truth. No matter how much I thought of myself to be an outsider, I was already connected to the people I had spent so much time with at the academy.

******

[3rd person POV]

In one of the rooms on the uppermost floor of the royal estate in Mensch, there was a pale girl with golden hair lying in her large bed.

The girl was lying completely still, to the point where it would be hard to say that she was alive if it wasn't for the weak intake of air that was still ongoing.

Despite this, even though her face was completely expressionless, there was an indisputable aura of pain surrounding her.

"She is still not awake..."

Sitting beside the bed was another person, a certain king who was now deeply regretting every decision he had ever made. Because those decisions were what had sentenced the biggest treasure of his life to live like this.

There were no royal garments covering George's body right now. Instead he was only wearing some worn-out slacks and a t-shirt, of which he couldn't even fill out the arms anymore.

George's heart twisted, knowing that he couldn't even hold her hand during this time, couldn't swipe the small strands of hair away from her face... couldn't allow her to feel his presence. To let her know that he was here with her.

At this point, the king knew that he had lost. Not because he doubted that Mensch would survive and flourish once again, but because he failed with the one bottom line that he had. He allowed his daughter to get hurt.

However, no matter how much he yearned for it, time never stopped. And that meant that he couldn't stop either.

Therefore he stood up once again, carrying his sins with a straight back, knowing that even if he would never be forgiven he would keep fighting.

After all, how could he expect the world to forgive him when he would never be able to forgive himself?

-------

Sitting around a large round table in one of the many conference rooms at the castle, six people were currently discussing a very dangerous subject.

These six people consisted of King George and his advisor Sir. Fernsby, a very bored-looking Mr. Naut. Mr. Viper who was as always hiding his face underneath his cloak. The Commander in Chief of the army Sir. Gallagher and lastly Mr. Denver, the current head of the Denver family and guild.

"What's the situation?"

Taking the lead, now clad in the royal red, George didn't want to waste more time than necessary, to which Sir. Gallagher rose from his seat, fully prepared to explain the current state of affairs.

With his clean-looking mustache and buzz-cut black hair, as well as the army green uniform he was wearing, fully decorated with all kinds of medals, it was clear that he was a military man through and through.

"We have now completely lost any and all communications with Kurat. On top of that it has been confirmed that they are currently preparing their army. Although our agents haven't been able to confirm the exact numbers, it seems very likely that they are preparing for large-scale war."

Silence roamed the room for but a second, with everyone taking some time to reflect on what Sir. Gallagher had just told them. All of them wore stiff faces, unable to contain the fact that they were all very much conscious about just how grave the situation was.

All of them except for one.

*Thud!*

Putting his feet up on the table, Mr. Naut's face had merely turned from bored to annoyed when seeing the grown men around him reacting like this.

"Tch! Acting like this is the first war that Mensch has ever been a part of!"

Turning their heads to the man clad in the leather jacket with the fluffy collar, the other men around the room weren't all too happy with his words, including Mr. Viper. And as he clasped his long, thin fingers together, he wasn't about to allow his opinion on the matter to go unspoken.

"Just because you don't care what happens to your people doesn't mean we shouldn't. I have no particular longing for seeing my people die without reason. Also, don't we have another matter to deal with as well?"

Nodding his head, Fernsby also joined the conversation.

"That's correct. It's already hard to keep our nation united due to the repeated terrorist attacks from the group that calls themselves Midgard. If, on top of that, a war was to break out..."

"I'm sorry, Sir. Fernsby, but it's not if. At this point, it's a matter of when."

Once again Sir. Gallagher had risen from his seat, as always fulfilling the code of conduct that he had been taught ever since he joined the army many, many years ago.

"Therefore, Your Highness, we need to start making preparations as soon as possible. Otherwise. we will most likely end up having to make several concessions, maybe to the point of giving up some very strategic geographic areas on the borders."

Now all eyes were set on the king as was the one who ultimately had the final say in the matter. Yet, he didn't give the response that they were expecting.

"We have to wait."

"My liege, I'm not sure if..."

"It cannot be helped, Commander. If we force this issue right now we would still be unable to fight without recruiting a lot of the bigger guilds within our kingdom. And if we try to do that right now, in this time of crisis, I'm afraid that we will only find ourselves in an even worse spot."

Standing up, George naturally knew that he couldn't leave this matter at that, seeing the very critical eyes both from his Commander, Mr. Denver, and Mr. Viper. And that's why...

"Therefore we will now use any and all resources that we can muster to quench the attacks coming from Midgard."

*Bzzzt!*

"Ha... hahaha... HAHAHAHAHA! Yes, that's how it should be 'Your Highness'!"

While laughing, a certain individual could no longer contain his excitement, unable to keep the red tendrils of pure energy from emerging, coiling around his body as he stood up.

And with that, the king spoke no more. Because everyone around the table already understood who was going to be responsible for putting a stop to the terrorist attacks. And although most of them knew next to nothing about Mr. Naut, there was no one who didn't know this one particular fact.

A lot of people were going to die.

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