After reading through the article, I realized that the elven soldiers had guided me to the elven kingdom, which was not that far away from the position where Amelia and I had been fighting.

As soon as we arrived, I could feel that there was definitely a strange feeling in the atmosphere, probably because of my presence. All the elves just kept staring at me as we walked through the bustling streets. However, they did so in silence. It was the look in their eyes that told me a lot about their inside thoughts.

“Hey, could you untie me?” I asked with a sigh. “It’s not like I did anything bad.”

“No. You won’t be untied until we verify what you have just told us.”

Ever since I had mentioned her name, this whole situation had escalated to a whole other level. It seemed that she was a very important person within the elven kingdom, too. With her talent, it wasn’t anything surprising, though. It was actually very normal.

However, there was one thing that was worrying me. The fact that I wasn’t on good terms with Aelua at the moment.

***

It took a few more minutes, but we had finally reached what seemed to be the biggest building within the entire kingdom.

I entered it, and it looked eerily similar to the Ice Castle. This time, it wasn’t made out of ice but other luxurious materials that certainly cost a lot. There was once more a throne at the end of the long and wide hall, and there was once someone sitting upon it.

This time, it wasn’t a woman but a man. This kingdom had a king, and as far as he could, the aura he was exuding was definitely the one of a king. He imposed respect with only his presence, which wasn’t something that was easily attainable by many.

Amelia, for one, didn’t really have that quality. She was feared by some, but she was still betrayed by her own subjects.

The beautiful golden-haired elf from earlier brought me in front of the king as she kneeled down.

“I pay my respects to the king!” The soldiers all uttered at the same time with their heads bowed down.

“Rise.” The king muttered.

The atmosphere was definitely different from the Ice Castle. However, I didn’t dislike it.

They also didn’t attempt to make me bow down, and none of the nobles said anything about it.

“We have found this individual fighting in the Elven Forest, causing problems. Once we arrived, he was completely alone, and he claimed that he was attacked and that a friend of his was kidnapped by demons.”

I noticed a slight frown on the face of the king at the mention of the word “demon,” which was definitely interesting.

“Demons, are you sure?” The king asked.

However, he wasn’t talking to me yet. He was talking to the golden-haired elf right beside me.

“Yes. That’s what he is saying. He also said that his name is Caedrel Stuart.”

This time, the king’s eyes widened all of a sudden. Anyone could see the surprise on his face at the mention of my name. It was the first time that there was such a reaction to hearing my name, and it seemed that my influence and strength were slowly spreading among the kingdoms. However, I welcomed it as long as they still ignored what my ‘strength’ entailed.

As long as they ignored my abilities, I did not care.

“The Caedrel Stuart?” The king muttered as his eyes suddenly turned in my direction for the very first time. “Hm… seems like it really is him.”

“Why have you come to the elven kingdom?” the king suddenly asked. “There must be a reason why you came all the way here. Is it because you believe that there are demons within our society?”

At those words, a few nobles watching from afar couldn’t help but speak up.

“Such nonsense. There are no demons among us.”

“The humans are just trying to scare us…”

“Why would a nobody like him know so much about this anyway. This ‘demon’ stuff was clearly all fake!”

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One after another, they kept talking, saying that what I had announced a week ago was all lies, which was obviously a lie. However, I didn’t bother saying anything. Demons weren’t the reason why I was here anyway.

Well, they sort of were, but I wasn’t here to kill any demons.

“Well, I do believe that there are demons within you all. That is not the reason why I’m here.”

“Hmm, then why is it?”

“I need to meet up with an old friend of mine. You might know her under the name of Aelua Lumoira…”

Once more, her name caused a reaction from the crowd and also the king, who seemed slightly surprised that I knew of her existence.

I could hear murmurs all around me, but I didn’t pay them any attention, and neither did the king as he continued speaking.

“Hm… is that so? Could I know where you met Aelua?”

“Ugh… it’s complicated. I don’t really want to get into it. Is that fine?”

The king frowned because I refused to answer his question.

After all, I doubted that it happened often that someone would refuse to answer him since he had absolute authority over this whole place.

Then, just as the king was about to speak up again, I felt murderous intent directed at me… it had lasted for maybe half of a second, but I had definitely felt it from my left.

My head snapped in that direction as I scattered throughout all the nobles’ faces, trying to see who had done such a thing. However, it was impossible for me to figure out such a thing when the murderous had now vanished as if it had never existed in the first place.

‘Did I just hallucinate?’ I thought, weirded out.

“Is something wrong?” The king asked, noticing my strange behavior as I kept looking around myself.

My eyes drifted back toward him. “Ah… no. Everything fine’s. What were you saying?”

“Aelua, where did you meet her? If you don’t answer that question, then you will not be able to meet with her.”

“During the war, probably on the battlefield or something. I don’t really remember. Can’t you just bring her here? She’ll prove that I knew her right away.”

‘Though, she might curse me out…’ I thought.

The king then stopped talking as he turned to the person on his right, indicating him to get closer to him, and he whispered a few words in his ears.

Then, that person left right away.

It seemed that they would bring her just like I had asked.

‘Ah… how long has it been since I’ve last seen her? I hope she’s not too mad about last time…otherwise, this might not go like I have planned.’

***

“Where is that fucking bastard!?”

I started hearing shouts getting louder and louder, coupled with loud footsteps.

“How dare he come after what he did last time? Old friend? Old friend, my ass. We’re enemies more than anything else!”

Hearing that, I now knew very well who was making such a ruckus. That was unlike elves nature, who were usually peaceful and extremely calm.

Then, she appeared in my field of vision, walking in with a big frown on her face.

She wasn’t wearing anything glamor or fancy that would compliment her figure. She was wearing normal clothes that were just there to be ‘there’… Her hair was also short so that it wouldn’t be a bother to arrange in the morning. Everything about Aelua screamed one thing and one thing only, efficiency.

“Ah. There you are, you fucking bastard!”

Her eyes locked into mine right away, and she kept glaring at me as if she was about to pounce at me.

I had to admit that I had pulled off quite a disrespectful move on her… but it really wasn’t my fault. You had to believe me here.

“Ah, hey, Aelua, been a while. How have you been?”

“How I’ve been? You dare fucking ask me that after you pulled off?!” She grumbled. “And why the hell did you say we’re friends? We’re the furthest thing away from being friends.”

“Tsk, come on. You know that I was just pulling a joke on you back then. Nothing too bad.”

Aelua just couldn’t handle it anymore as she shook her head, not wanting to get into this right now, especially in front of everyone in the crowd. It would just make things complicated for no reason.

“Whatever, we’ll have a ‘nice’ and very, very long conversation about it once we’re alone.”

“Guards, untie him. I want to talk to him. If Caedrel came here unannounced, it’s because it’s important. He wouldn’t be here otherwise; he’s not the type of person to waste time.”

Aelua didn’t even bother asking for the king’s opinion, and the king also didn’t say anything about her decision. It was as if she was on the same level as the king. Still, I was glad that she hadn’t made me an enemy of the elves in front of everyone. That would have been absolutely terrible.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep