Chapter 102: [102] Are You Ready?

The elves were busy talking amongst themselves, their voices creating a lively atmosphere in the village square.

But all the talking ceased the moment Eliron arrived. Dressed in traditional elven robes, his hair packed up high, courtesy of Yen, he exuded an aura of competence and unrivaled grace.

It had just been a few weeks since the village had experienced one of the worst attacks in decades.

Yet, he had managed to turn the village around in such a short time.

Although they were still a long way away from their goal, the elves could finally see a future where they did not have to live like slaves.

Eliron had more than proved his strength, and his potential was set to grow to even greater lengths.

Everyone stared at him with reverence, every elf having deep-rooted respect for him.

But he was not the only reason that the elves had gone quiet. Three stunning beauties had accompanied him to the square.

The first was the most popular person in the village, a woman with unparalleled grace, known as the Vibrant Rose of Artaris, Artie.

Her beauty was as sharp as the edge of a knife, and sometimes, her gentle gaze seemed to grow colder than the river in winter… albeit for a moment, before she was back in character.

The second was a newcomer that had arrived in the village’s time of need, Yennefer.

With eyes as bright as the sun, and a personality just as warm, her delicate beauty could be said to be a gift from the heavens above.

And the last was the woman who had been sent to take their lord’s life.

Although many still bore some levels of anger towards her, in the face of such bashful beauty, they couldn’t help but scratch their cheeks in embarrassment.

Well… even the girls were not the only reason the village had frozen still.

After all, it was hard to remain composed when there was a ten-foot wyvern just a few feet away from you, wasn’t it?

“Uhum…” Lazarus cleared his throat, breaking the elves from their reverie.

It was only then that the instrumentalists realised that they had stopped playing.

The coordinator quickly tapped his wand against his hand, and the band hurriedly began.

This time, the tune had transformed from its former playful tune, to a more serious song.

It was time for the coronation.

The elders all rose, their expressions serious as they all stared at him.

The elves who had been sitting stood up as well, the environment turning solemn.

Lazarus stared at him and said, “Eliron Tranquil, please step forward.”

Eliron walked up to where the elders were, and got on one knee, his head bowed.

’Let’s get this over with…’ he murmured internally.

If it was up to him, they would skip the entire process. What was the point of all the theatrics when all they were going to do was give him a necklace?

Still, it was gatherings like this that gave the position of Lord more relevance before the elves.

No matter the race, people loved to see a performance, and the more elaborate it was, the better.

That was why coronations were such grand affairs.

Lazarus began his speech, speaking for some minutes about elven history and the weight of being a lord.

Then, when he was finally done, another elder walked forward holding a thick wooden box.

The box was engraved with swirling sigils, creating a forest-like pattern on the spotless wood.

Lazarus opened it and took out a shimmering necklace.

’Woah…’

The wood elves were terribly poor, broke even, that was why Eliron was so surprised to see that they had gold.

Although his brother was the former lord, he abhorred jewellery, and so Eliron had never seen the necklace in person.

’I guess some things are just too important to be taken lightly…’

It had been made by the finest craftsmen during their time of glory, that was why the necklace was so regal.

The necklace was crafted out of small, dark wooden beads, each one bearing a unique, beautiful pattern.

And then the golden pendant was shaped to form a golden phoenix, with a crown atop its head.

Lazarus walked up to Eliron…

The music ceased, the tension in the air palpable as he placed the bead around his neck.

The moment he let go, the gold pendant resting against his clothes, everyone, including the elven chiefs, fell to their knees.

“May your days be as long as the Tanakan tree whose branches stretch over the world!”

“May your youth be as unshakable as the northern mountains that never change!”

“May your wisdom span forever like the ancient Nile!”

“May your reign be filled with peace!”

“LONG LIVE OUR LORD!!!”

The musicians began playing a jolly tune and the chiefs rose, signifying the end of the coronation and the official start of the banquet!

After the official events were over, Eliron was seated at a table with Artie, Sabrina and Yennefer, while Ash was patrolling nearby.

“Phew—!” Eliron sighed as he relaxed his back on his chair. “Finally, I thought the speeches were never going to end…”

Even in his last life, Eliron could not stand a long lecture. That was why he chose to move to a course filled with more math as opposed to literature.

“It’s tradition.” Artie smiled as she sipped from her cup. “As Lord, you should be ready for many more events like this,” she snickered.

Eliron let out a low grunt.

“I’ll have to abolish all of them then, or I’ll have Ash take my place.”

He stood up and began taking off the outer layer of his garment.

“I looked like a clown today, didn’t I?”

Just like the confluence had its own dress code, the coronation had clothes specifically designed for it.

It was a given that it would be large, elaborate and hardly practical.

Artie shrugged. “You were okay.” She stared into her cup and smiled. “Cute even…”

Eliron was not sure if he should be happy that she thought he looked good, or disappointed that she called him ’cute.’

He was still eighteen, so it was natural that he would look ’cute’ to someone many years older than him.

Yet, he could tolerate being called cute by others.

But when it came to Artie’s, it stung a little.

“Use handsome next time, handsome is better.”

“Mm? I guess we’ll see how that goes.”

“What do you mean you want more?!”

Yennefer’s voice reached them.

She was scolding the giant wyvern as though it was her kid. “You already had five plates, don’t be stingy!”

The wyvern had a sad look on its face as it watched Yennefer, its azure blue eyes glistening.

Yen sighed. “Don’t look at me like that…”

It tilted its head a little…

“Alright, you can have another one.”

“Hryuuuu!”

Eliron slowly shook his head as he watched them. “You’re going to spoil that creature if you keep babying it like that.”

“Yoush trysh to say num to him.”

(You try to say no to him)

Yen said between mouthfuls.

Artie then placed her now empty cup on the table and stretched, letting out a low sigh as she stared at the village.

“You’ve come a long way from the boy you once were.” She spoke thoughtfully, reminiscing on past events.

Since Eliron was very young, everyone knew how he had been in his childhood days.

He was a timid child, far too soft for the world of wood elves.

Most had expected him to die in the last raid, yet, not only had he survived, he had grown exponentially.

Artie could hardly compare the Eliron from two months ago to the man sitting next to her now.

But…

Although change was a constant thing in this world, and the wood elves were happily accepting it, change was not something that could be achieved easily.

Artie smiled as she stared at the golden stars above.

“The elves have a popular saying. When one tree falls, another is sure to rise in its place…”

“The humans are more sincere with their version. When one devil falls, ten more, far more devious than the last, will rise to fill the void.”

She had a stoic look on her face as she turned to face him, her hand casually twirling strands of her crimson hair.

“Are you ready for what is coming?”

“…”

For a few seconds, Eliron was quiet.

In just one day, they rooted out the spy amongst them, foiled an assassination attempt and even managed to save Sabrina in the process.

But this was just the beginning…

Lord Galanhad, the major sponsor for their demise, had invested centuries of his life to see them fall.

He would rather gouge out his own eyeballs than see them succeed.

Very soon, they would have to clash against the ancient elf, and for that, Artaris had to be ready.

At their current strength, one battalion was enough to erase the entire village.

And that was not all…

Artaris was still largely a dump. The infrastructure was poor, the land was barren, they had nothing in their savings, and their warriors were weak.

There was a lot of work to do if he wanted to see his plans for Artaris actualised.

But…

Eliron smiled.

“Am I ready?”

He had a fire burning in his eyes as he spoke. “Bring it on, I’m fucking raring to go!”

..

..

A/N

Sorry for the late upload!

I plan on doing 3 Chapters per day for the first three days of this month, wish me luck!

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