CH 25: Falcon

Time passed quickly in the City of Light, and nothing particularly noteworthy happened aside from the repairs spreading throughout every corner of the city, along with the rumors circulating here and there.

Soon, five days passed!

At this time, inside the royal palace, an Elf girl who looked to be in her early twenties, with a slender figure, green hair, and an aura of nobility and pride, walked through one of the palace corridors. Behind her followed four middle-aged men with white hair, white wings, and sharp claws.

The girl and the four men arrived before a gigantic gate decorated with countless carvings of different trees. The guards opened the gate and allowed them to enter.

The moment they stepped inside, they found Councilor Etham discussing numerous plans with a small number of councilors.

Councilor Etham’s attention was drawn to the newcomers, but when he saw the green-haired Elf, he smiled slightly and greeted her.

"Welcome back home, Tala."

"Thank you for your concern, Councilor. Tala has completed her mission, and these are the envoys of the Falcon race who came to negotiate." Tala placed her hand over her chest, performed a military salute, and explained the situation in a steady tone.

"Thank you for your hard work. You will certainly be rewarded accordingly." Etham nodded and formally thanked her. "You may leave now. I’ll take over from here."

"With your permission, Councilor." Tala saluted once more, handed Etham a spatial bag, and departed.

"Mmm." Councilor Etham nodded after receiving the bag, then turned to the four-member Falcon delegation and greeted them with a fake smile.

"Welcome, welcome, friends from the Falcon race. The City of Light is honored by your presence." He spread his arms wide and gestured toward the chairs around the table. "Please, have a seat."

"You flatter us too much, Councilor Etham. We haven’t done anything yet," one of the Falcon delegates replied with the same fake smile, a crafty glint flashing through his eyes as he sat down.

Of course, Councilor Etham noticed that crafty glint and politely smiled.

"Forgive my lack of manners, Sir Mark, but what brings you here?"

"What do you mean by that, Councilor Etham? Naturally, we came to negotiate the cost of assisting you in the war against the Centaur race." The smile disappeared from Sir Mark’s face, replaced by a cold expression as he demanded an explanation.

"Oh, I’m afraid to tell you this, Sir Mark, but the war actually ended five days ago. Still, don’t worry. We’ll make sure to host you properly and pay an appropriate amount for your trouble and for coming all this way to help us." Councilor Etham maintained his smile, though this time it carried an obvious trace of mockery.

Their trouble? Coming to help? Nonsense. Those bastards would exploit even the smallest opportunity and the worst situations to squeeze out the greatest possible benefits, so why should he treat them with respect?

"Impossible! How did you even manage to stand against the Centaur race when they had twice as many third-level Masters as you? Not to mention those gigantic catapults the Centaurs built with the Giants’ assistance!" Sir Mark shot to his feet in shock, completely forgetting his status and composure.

Things had gone completely out of control. It seemed the Falcon race had lost an enormous fortune, and naturally, most of the blame would fall on him, since he had been the one to suggest exploiting the situation and raising the price of their aid.

"It seems you know quite a lot. But you’d better watch your words carefully, Sir Mark." Councilor Etham looked at him as his smile turned dangerous, releasing his aura as though ready to draw his sword and fight at any moment. "Those words are an insult to the entire City of Light."

Now that the City of Light had the Tree of Abyss, Rios, as its protector—a being who had annihilated the entire Centaur army within minutes—the Elf race feared nothing anymore. That confidence had swelled into arrogance in people like Councilor Etham, especially since he firmly believed King Rios would emerge far stronger after devouring the Tree of Life.

"I wish to meet Princess Elena or the other senior members of the council. Or have you become the one in charge of the City of Light now?" Sir Mark clenched his fist and slammed it onto the wooden table in anger.

"I’m sorry to tell you this, but I truly am responsible for the City of Light and the affairs of the Elves in Queen Elena’s absence. However, Queen Elena and the other senior council members are currently on a mission and will most likely return today or tomorrow at the latest. So, if you have nothing urgent to attend to, I hope you’ll continue enjoying our hospitality until then." Councilor Etham smiled mockingly as he spoke.

"We’ll wait until the rest of the council arrives and see for ourselves." Sir Mark ground his teeth in anger after feeling humiliated and left with the rest of the delegation.

"Guard, escort our friends to their accommodations."

After giving the order, Councilor Etham returned to discussing matters related to the affairs of the City of Light with the remaining council members.

A few minutes later, inside a spacious room roughly the size of a small house and decorated with countless carvings of trees and scenes of nature, the four delegates sat on two opposing sofas while sipping hot drinks.

"It seems many things have changed in the City of Light during this short period," one of the four Falcons remarked.

"Since when did that little princess become the Queen of the Elves? Why didn’t we receive any news of this? Why didn’t our spies tell us anything?" another Falcon asked.

"What do you think, Sir Mark?"

Among the four, Sir Mark was the strongest, the oldest, and the most experienced. At that moment, however, he was absentmindedly contemplating many things, paying no attention to the discussion. When he heard his name, he snapped back to reality and replied,

"The issue isn’t who took command of the City of Light. The issue is where the Elf race got all this confidence."

"What do you mean?" one of the other three asked in confusion.

"Haven’t you noticed it yet? How did the Elves defeat the Centaurs when every statistic predicted a crushing defeat for them? And where did Councilor Etham get the confidence to speak to us so rudely unless there was something—or someone—backing that confidence. Even fifty years ago, when they were still at the height of their power and equal to us in strength and status, before their decline began, they would certainly have shown us at least some respect."

"Are you saying there’s someone or something beyond the third rank supporting them?" one of the three asked with furrowed brows.

It wasn’t that they were foolish or hadn’t considered the possibility.

They simply didn’t want to think about it.

A person—or a force—at that level would completely rewrite the rules of the game across the entire continent.

"Then do you have any other explanation? But there’s no need—"

Before Sir Mark could finish with reassuring words, a voice echoed throughout the entire City of Light.

"In two days, Princess Elena will be officially crowned as Queen of the City of Light. All councilors and nobles are required to gather at the royal palace by the morning of the day after tomorrow. Whoever fails to appear will have no one to blame but themselves!"