I kept thinking back on what happened in the spar against Laura Virdi. Her last attack.

Even now, I was at a loss for how she had managed to do such a thing. Hell, I didn’t even know of the power she had utilized to move so fast… the speed at which she moved was similar to the one of the small monster who had been keeping an eye on us in the Snowy Mountains.

Hank had been able to keep an eye on it while I was at a complete loss when it came to it.

‘Maybe it could be related to aether?’

That was the only idea that I had in mind. I knew that elves were naturally more agile because of their connection with Earth, but that’s where it stopped. Both Aelua and I ignored the existence of an elf that could move so fast.

In fact, even Aelua, who had been watching from the sidelines, knew what had happened during that fight. She was at a complete loss for words.

I thought she might have been able to help me, considering that she was watching from another point of view. But she was even more lost than me when it came to this.

“Have you ever seen that princess call upon Mother Nature?” I asked Aelua, who just shrugged.

She had told me beforehand, but she really didn’t pay attention to anything when it came to the elven territory. She ignored just as many things as me, and I had just arrived. She was truly a scientist whose only purpose was to keep making tests all day long.

“Hm… maybe I should ask her directly. She should be able to tell me about her, right?” I asked. Enjoy new adventures from empire

I wasn’t actually sure if Mother Nature remembered the times that she was summoned with others. However, I hoped she did. I knew that she remembered me since every time I would call upon her, she would recognize me.

“I don’t know. You can try, but she only remembers about a few of us. The ones she is interested in are the ones she remembers; as for the rest, she barely even recalls what she did.”

I nodded. “Well, if someone with Laura’s talent were to call upon her, then she should be interested in her. At least, I hope so.”

With that thought, I closed my eyes as I called upon the power of the elves, Aelua shaking her head as she watched me.

“I still think that it’s completely ridiculous that you can do such a thing. Using powers that should be only limited to specific races is out of this world. You really are lucky to have such a gift.”

I smirked. I knew that I was lucky to have that power. However, it wasn’t like I hadn’t worked for it. It was a result of my effort in the long run. And it was certainly deserved.

Then, just as Aelua was about to continue, Mother Nature appeared before us with the same alluring appearance as always.

“Caedrel? Why are you calling me when there aren’t any dangers nearby?” Mother’s Nature snapped when she noticed that Aelua was also present in the room. “Um… are you in the elven territory right now? How come you’re here?”

“I needed help from her. Though that isn’t why I wanted to see you. Actually, it’s not even about me. I wanted to ask about another elf that you may or may not know about, a certain Laura Virdi. Ever heard of her?”

“Laura Virdi?” She asked, floating before me. “No… I don’t think I know anyone by that name. Why are you asking?”

“We think that there’s a chance she’s a demon hiding within the elven territory. Actually, not only that, I think there’s a chance that she might be one of the Demon King’s daughters.”

The atmosphere instantly changed, becoming a lot more serious. Mother Nature’s also became a lot more intense as I could feel it reaching every corner of the room.

“Why do you think about that?” She took a pause. “Be careful what you say. You are talking about an elf. You know that I like you a lot. However, I won’t accept any disrespect when it comes to the elves.”

It was the first time that I had seen Mother Nature turn so serious with me, and it was definitely different from her usual way of doing things.

“Calm down. I’m not saying this for no reason. I have doubts, and I need answers.”

“Why is that? What did she do against you?” She frowned. “How would the daughter of the Demon King even manage to pass on as an elf? This makes no sense, Caedrel. I hope you have a good explanation.”

“I do. When I killed Zero, one of the sons of the Demon King, he told me that his siblings were hidden in all the races without anyone being able to detect them at all. High officials that no one has ever seen before that are hidden within the races as spies to get connections.”

“And what did this Laura do?” She asked right away.

“During the spar I did with her, she managed to beat me. However, I have no idea how she did it.”

Mother Nature closed her mouth for a moment. She couldn’t believe what she had just heard coming out of my mouth. “She beat you? How? Were you using all of your strength?”

She found it hard to believe that an elf she had never heard of before had managed to beat me. It made no sense to her, especially since she knew very well about the extent of my strength. It wasn’t just anyone who could beat me.

“I said that she would win if she landed a strike on me. In the beginning, I had managed to hold her off without any struggle. However, I allowed her to use whatever power she wanted, and that’s when everything turned for the worse.

She moved so fast that I had lost sight of her, and the next thing, I had a sword pressed against my neck. I’m saying this seriously. Even if I had used all the powers at my disposition, I wouldn’t have been able to stop her. If she had wanted to, she could have killed me right there without a doubt. She has the strength to kill me… and you don’t even know who she is. Don’t you see how strange this is?”

Mother Nature stopped talking as she stopped flying and sat on the nearest bed, thinking for one long minute about everything that I had just said.

“You’re not lying, right? All of this truly happened?”

“That’s right, that’s really what happened.”

“And she did all that without calling upon me?”

“Yes.”

It seemed she was slowly realizing just how strange this whole situation was in the first place.

“Hm, if you bring me to her, I’ll be able to tell you if she really is an elf,” she finally said, thinking long and hard about it.

I had managed to convince her to think that someone had taken on the appearance of a demon.

“I really hope you’re wrong about this. What do you think about this, Aelua?” Mother Nature asked, turning toward the silent alchemist.

“I don’t know. There’s definitely something strange about her. Her strength was unlike anything I’ve seen with someone as young as her. I did hear that she was a prodigy. But the fact that she didn’t call upon you to defeat Caedrel is definitely strange, and in my opinion, it shouldn’t be possible in the first place.”

Mother Nature nodded quietly. “Then, let’s go. I have to see her to tell you if she is truly an elf or someone who is disguised as one.”

“I just want to warn you before we go there. There is a chance that she has taken over the body of an elf. Don’t go off into a rampage right away. If you find out that she is really a demon, don’t react. Wait until we leave and tell me then. She is strong, and fighting her without a plan could be very dangerous.”

I remembered the words Zero had told me. That his siblings were a lot stronger than him. That’s what he had said, and I had detected that he had been telling the truth.

There was also the fact that I had only been able to hurt Zero with some Aether mixed in my power. Even when I had tortured him at the end, I had to use aether to make him feel pain. Otherwise, it was as if he was unkillable.

That’s why fighting Laura right now wasn’t smart when I couldn’t even control Aether decently.

“Don’t worry, I won’t do anything stupid. Now, let’s go; what you see made me intrigued by the person who defeated you.”

With those words, we left Aelua’s room and ended straight to Laura’s.

However, when we arrived, there were two guards in front of her door.

Aelua recognized them instantly. They were the King’s personal guards.

What was the King doing in Laura’s room right after our spar? Something was definitely strange here.

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