114 Chapter 114 Elven King (2/2)
”It is rather irritating, but I'm trying to ignore it.”
The king laughed. ”You describe it as irritating?”
”Yes, resisting it isn't difficult, but doing so constantly is irritating. May I kill any of the trees in the forest?”
”No.”
”You are aware that the trees are old growth, and not producing much mana any more, correct?”
”The trees are resting because of the low mana, so they aren't growing currently.”
”Are they…never mind. Can I blow a hole in the barrier to let mana in?”
”No. The barrier is tied to the life force of the royal family. If you make a giant hole in it, the barrier will try to heal itself by draining the entire royal family to death.”
”The mage who designed that was the same mage that set the barrier?”
”Yes.”
”Are you sure he was working for your people?”
”No, we are not.”
”Shavist! So, you've already tried most of the things I suggested, didn't you?” asked Joseph, shaking his head in annoyance.
”Shavist?” asked the king, confused.
”Oh, that's a made-up word, that I use instead of cursing. My mom hates cursing,” explained Joseph.
The king nodded, amused for a moment, before continuing, ”Unfortunately, your father has been recovering the elves that were captured two centuries ago, when the elves left the forest to try and have children. Even if there is mana here, because of the mana being drawn in, it doesn't seem to be enough.”
”The mana here is stale. It isn't cycling. It's like eating nothing but three-day old bread your whole life. Not bad enough to die outright, but certainly not healthy.”
”Ah. That would make some of the old records more understandable. My son died defending his wife. They had wanted to have a healthy baby, but ended up being murdered by human slavers. They normally try to capture the women in order to sell them to n.o.bles as s.e.x slaves, so my son had fought them to his death. A few elven men, who were with him, were captured and sent to the coliseum in the human's middle kingdom. Our attack to free our captured kin burned the capital to the ground, along with the royal family at the time. We eventually called everyone back.”
”You inherited this problem, didn't you?” asked Joseph as realization dawned on him.
”Yes,” the king sighed. ”We have tried everything you have already suggested, and hundreds of other things, to find out what was wrong. We were not aware the there was an area blocking magic from entering the forest, until you came, but over the centuries we have certainly noticed the weakening, and have been looking for solutions.”
”I am sorry. I apologize.”
”No, it's fine. To notice it within a day is both amazing and disturbing.”
”No, I should apologize. I was preaching at you and looking down on your efforts. Your aura is crawling on my skin, and constantly resisting it is unpleasant, but it appears you can't control it, so I shouldn't be a jerk because I was disappointed. The strain of constantly fighting against your rune, that tries to pull my mana away, also isn't your fault. Neither is the fact, that the younger elves grew up in this environment and don't know of a better way. You need help, and I should offer it without being conceited about it.”
Joseph bowed feeling awful. He was such an idiot! Now he really did have to help the elves!
”Being able to admit you are wrong, is good for one so gifted and young as you. I have seen many with talent destroy themselves.”
Joseph sighed.
”My willpower lets me control myself, but only if I actually want to. Stella normally keeps me from going off the rails, but I think she must have let me this time as a learning experience. Sometimes, despite my previous experiences, I'm reminded that she is much older than me. If I a.s.sume, that over a thousand years, every elf in existence wasn't an idiot, and the problem still hasn't been solved, then obviously I shouldn't expect to just walk in and hand wave it away.”
The king looked at him, then turned and placed his hand on the door k.n.o.b. ”Ready?”
Joseph nodded.
The king opened the door, and they walked in.
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