Vol 1 Chapter 43 (1/2)

Confession Beneath the Tree of Light (Part 1)

(AN: I didn’t think I would be able to finish this before midnight, but I did! [TL: I didn’t!])

The elves were gathered outside the cell.

Seeing Wynn come out pulling Leticia’s hand, they made a path.

Standing amongst the crowd, Tiara caught a glimpse of Wynn’s angry face and Leticia’s teary expression in the light of the World Tree, and started to go after them, but then—

She shook her head, and instructed the other elves in the crowd to avoid getting in the couple’s way.

As Tiara and the other elves watched, Wynn and Leticia walked to the towards the World Tree sapling and stopped at its roots.

“How pretty. I can’t imagine how many more breathtaking sights there are in the world.”

Wynn looked up at the World Tree sapling.

From its trunk, from its branches, from its leaves, many different colored b.a.l.l.s of light — red, blue and yellow– spilled out from the all over tree, just like dewdrops of light.

Leticia also looked up.

“…It truly is pretty.”

She whispered in amazement.

Unlike Wynn, it wasn’t the first time Leticia had seen the World Tree sapling. She had even seen the World Tree in the elven capital.

But when she thought back on it, she didn’t remember feeling moved.

The World Tree would normally touch anybody who saw it, but she considered it as moving as a pebble on the roadside. Back then, she thought of the World Tree as a source of magic power for transfer magic. Merely a convenient tool.

Beside Wynn, Leticia also looked at that mystifying sight. She held her hand up and caught one of the floating droplets of light. Like snow, the light melted and and dissipated.

“Hey, Leti.”

As he looked up, Wynn started to speak.

“Leti should stop fighting. Especially in battles between humans.”

Leticia looked towards Wynn.

Wynn kept watching the lights floating down from the tree.

“You might be the Brave who slew the Demon Lord. Praised by everybody, admired by the people, respected by all. However—”

His gaze moved from the tree to Leticia.

“You can’t let them believe that you would wield that power against humans. You are strong, Leti. You are extraordinarily strong. If you got involved in a conflict, the side you supported would definitely win. I don’t have much knowledge about the outside world, apart from what I learned in school and read in books. Coming to this elven village made me realize how the world I knew was only a small part of the real world. I truly can’t imagine how big the world really is. Even if I had knowledge of the World Tree sapling, seeing it in person is completely different from seeing it in books.”

Wynn once again looked up at the tree.

“But I do know one thing. People can change their perceptions of you. Since you are a n.o.ble of the Empire, it should be justified for you to fight in the defense of the country. But, as Leticia van Mavis the Brave, you can’t do that. You saved the world by defeating the demons. You will not use that power against humans. That’s what the people believe. ”

“However, if people begin to believe that you could turn that power towards humanity, then the praise and respect people give you as the Brave can easily turn into fear and paranoia. If that happens, then it’ll be difficult to change their impression of you. They dread the notion that a power that exceeds human understanding could be turned against them. From the Brave to a monster— you would become the new Demon Lord. I don’t want to see Leti thought of that way by other people.&

rdquo;

Leticia thought back to the day the oracle proclaimed her the Brave.

Even as they praised her strength, their eyes betrayed their fear as they drew away from her.

―“Is she… really… human?”

―“Could she be a demon in disguise? What a monster…”

―“The Brave really is different from us humans.”

―“She’s definitely a monster.”

‘I— I’m not… a monster…’

‘They saw me as an existence that surpa.s.sed human limits. That’s right, shouldn’t I have understood that best? I must have noticed it before Wynn pointed it out to me, right?‘

Wynn looked at Leticia, who was crying while hanging her head.

He gently stroked Leticia’s hair. The lights emanating from the World Tree caused Leticia’s flaxen hair to sparkle.

Those who didn’t know better would never believe that this girl possessed immense power. But those who did know would want to obtain her as a p.a.w.n to manipulate as they pleased.

The easiest way to do that was to hold Wynn hostage.

‘That’s no good. Like this, I’m just holding Leti back… Becoming a knight is my dream. But should I just stop there? What should I do?’

“Hey, Onii-chan…”

Leti spoke right then.

“I understand well why you tell me not to fight. I really needed to realize that I had gotten Onii-chan involved.”

“No, Leti, it’s not like that—”

Leti smiled at Wynn’s words.

And then, Leticia—

Clatter.

“Ah… S- sorry”

Sherry said in a small voice.

Everybody was startled by that sound.

Sighing, Kelvin leaned back against the wall of the stone cell.

”Hey, Kelvin. Even though it’s been a long time, you don’t seem lively”

“Like I would change after a couple of years or so! — is what I would like to say, but you’ve both changed quite a lot these past few years. Especially Royce. How the heck did he become like that? I almost thought he was a different person when I saw him from afar, you know?”

“He became fatter from indulging in his fortunes. He’ll have to cut down quite a bit later… but enough of that.”

Kelvin then turned towards Locke, who was standing beside him.

“Please take Sherry out for now. Rosefeld, we will take the girl into our custody. That won’t be a problem, right?”

”Right now the Elders are occupied with the preparations for a reception, so…”

Rosefeld poured two cups of the wine he brought, then held one cup out to Kelvin. Since he was cold, he gratefully received the alcohol. Kelvin drank it all down in one sip.

The sweet and sour taste of the fruit wine filled his mouth.

”Was what that boy said before true? Were you really trying to use the Brave?”

“…Eh, well… ”

Rosefeld also downed his wine.

“I don’t intend to criticize you. It’s a reasonable course of action in your position. But for you two, it’s not that simple, right?”

”Well, if they entered the forest, that is inevitable. We may not have caught everything, but…”

Rosefeld and Kelvin exchanged information and plans over the wine.

Once Kelvin heard the information he needed, he stood up.

”Thank you very much. You helped us out.”

”Princess?”

”I see.”

‘Oh yeah, the Great Sage was a High Elven princess, wasn’t she?’

”Kelvin. I said that it was a reasonable course of action to use the Brave, but the elves would never allow it. If you humans wrong the Brave in any way, we elves will take her side. Don’t forget that.”

Kelvin shrugged off Rosefeld’s suddenly lower and harder tone of voice.

He left the cell.

They could hear the sounds of the elves bustling about.

Even though they were separated from the main scouting platoon, and had to return as soon as they could, Kelvin decided that it would be fine to stay a night.

He would be able to get some warm food. Remembering that he had worried about what to eat when he arrived, Kelvin quickly started walking as his stomach growled.

It was the day after the scouting platoon returned to the camp.

“Sir, Lieutenant Royce wishes to make a report.”

“I don’t want to see him. I would rather eat rubbish than see his ugly face!”

He dipped a soft loaf of bread into the warm cream stew made with a generous amount of milk. The stew contained the meat and vegetables set aside for the high-ranking officers. Drinking down the luxurious grape wine, General Feyl, commander of the advance troops, started yelling at his guards when he heard the name of the subordinate that he detested the most.

“But Sir, Lieutenant Elstead wishes to report an urgent matter.”

“Shut up. I am in the middle of my meal. If he needs to, he may see me afterwards!”

“B-but…”

“Good morning Sir. While everybody is busy preparing to set out, you are gracefully indulging in your food, I see.”

Brus.h.i.+ng aside the knights who were guarding the entrance to the tent, Royce barged into the tent’s s.p.a.cious interior.

“Imbecile! Who gave you permission to enter! What are you doing, reaching out like that!”

Without minding him, Royce picked up a piece of grilled chicken from the plate atop the table and took a bite. He stroked his chin while holding a piece of the chicken.

As soon as Feyl saw Royce’s face, his appet.i.te became replaced with nausea.

“Wasn’t it an urgent matter? Did you just come here to steal my food!?”

“I am very sorry. It looked so delicious— oh, this is delicious. You can tell that a first-cla.s.s chef from the Logistics Division made this meal. You should share this with your men.”

Even though he apologized, he wore an unrepentant smile, and kept eating the meat. His every word dripped with sarcasm.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay at the back to protect the commoner last night! Why did you abandon your post?”

“Last night, the girl that we brought back told us the location of the enemy camp. That is what I wish to report.”

“Oh? Where is it?”

“Doria village. Two villages away from Torc Village, where we got the first report.”

“Hmph. How foolish.”

Feyl laughed at Royce.

“Now look here. This is the information we received from the main army. The location of their camp is written here. It is only a few hours from here by horse. We should crush them immediately.”

Feyl smirked and tossed the missive from the main force onto the table. Royce looked down and read it silently.

“We should immediately halt our departure.”

“What!?”

“Sir. Looking at the current state of affairs, it seems that our movements are being leaked to the enemy. Please think about it. There is a traitor within the main army— no, a rebel who was enticed by another country. Those orders may be a trap.”

“What sort of foolish drivel are you spouting? Which one is correct, the information from a village girl, or the information from the main army? Even a fool could tell!”

Enraged, Feyl shouted at Royce, but Royce’s expression remained unperturbed.

“Sir. There seems to be something amiss with the enemy movements. Why is the Petersian army attacking and annihilating villages? If Petersia wanted territory, it doesn’t make sense to act like this. They infiltrated our border defenses, and are slowly going around raiding our territories. It’s only reasonable to believe that there is somebody on the inside guiding their movements.”

Royce pushed aside the dishes on the table, and gestured to the knights who were standing by. Feyl frowned at Royce’s inconsiderate action, but did not object. It may have been because seeing Royce made him lose his appet.i.te.

Royce unrolled a map on the now-cleared table.

“The attacks on the villagers and merchants all happened near the border: within the fiefdoms of Count Valessia, Marquis Remrandt, Marquis Cliffdorf, and regrettably, my own. But of those, only in Marquis Cliffdorf’s lands have merchant caravans been attacked, while none of the villagers were. I believe that the wise General Feyl can connect the dots?”

“M- Marquis Cliffdorf is the traitor, you claim. But is that all supposition?”

“No, of course it is nothing more than a conjecture. The origins of those merchant caravans also haven’t been investigated. But what is more puzzling is their current position. Up until now, we had just barely missed them. We are clearly being guided to that location.”

Feyl also looked down at the map. The route they had taken until then did seem to lead them to the place the latest orders indicated. But it could also be just a coincidence due to their pursuit.

There was something special about that location.

There, the border between the Remuls.h.i.+l Empire and the Kingdom of Petersia was unclear.

But Feyl’s disdain for Royce influenced his judgement. He cast away his suspicions.

“Silence. n.o.body will listen to you. The orders are orders. We will move as planned!”

“Then, we should at least scout out the area thoroughly once more before we depart.”

“How insolent! We don’t need to doubt whether or not the orders we received from the main army are real or not. It wastes time and energy. We have five hundred men. They have two hundred. We outnumber them more than two to one. What are you so afraid of?”

Incensed, Feyl accused Royce of being a coward.

“The expedition has been decided upon. Anymore will be seen as insubordination.”

“…Please excuse me.”