Chapter 49, It Wasn’t Intentional (2)

Translator: Hedge

Editor: Lizzz

 

When Kalian changed his mind, Elder Zher smiled. Seeing this, Kalian felt somewhat embarrassed. After all, he had been acting stiffly until now, only to completely change his attitude at the mention of the Forest Path.

 

There was no way to justify this change in attitude, to return seated right after Zher spoke of the compensation. Therefore, Kalian looked at Zher and spoke honestly.

 

“Yes. Since it’s for the Forest Path, make sure you keep your promise.”

 

“The King of Humans is straightforward. Don’t worry. Elves are a race that values our promises.”

 

Kalian furrowed his brow. It was not because of the promise to keep his word, but because the use of this wrong title had been very irritating.

 

“I told you my name, so stop calling me whatever you want.”

 

Zher nodded with a smile, saying nothing else.

 

Kalian asked Zher.

 

“The missing Elves. Is there any information I should know?”

 

“They are all male Elves in their early to mid-twenties.”

 

“Are they capable fighters?”

 

“They would be of no match for your Knights, but they can fight to some extent.”

 

After hearing this much, Kalian’s face showed that he did not quite understand. It was because while they were searching for Elves who could fight, no Elf had come looking for Sia, who had been missing for much longer.

 

“Then why didn’t anyone look for Sia?”

 

“Luca said he saw that you were protecting him.”

 

“Aren’t you being too trusting? Even if he is your son, as you say.”

 

Zher pointed to his own face with his finger and answered.

 

“Luca said that Sia’s face did not show fear, so I believed those words.”

 

As Kalian briefly recalled Sia’s terrified face when they first met, Zher continued.

 

“Also, all the young Elves in this village are my sons and daughters.”

 

Realizing there had been a misunderstanding, Kalian made an *Ah* sound. The word ‘son’ did not mean that Sia was his actual son. Kalian understood it as something like ‘my young villager’ and nodded.

 

“Then what did that Elf called Luca say he was going to do when he left?”

 

Zher suddenly shook his head and sighed.

 

“He probably went out to earn money. After visiting a Human village once, he became enchanted and has run away from the village several times to earn money. But, he has never failed to return until now.”

 

Kalian chuckled as he realised why Luca had sold sculptures and stolen expensive Divine Artifacts. [Come to think of it, isn’t Luca the real culprit who entangled me in the Latran incident?]

 

Kalian informed Zher with a slightly resentful tone.

 

“Do you know that the Elf called Luca has been stealing Human belongings?”

 

Zher’s face immediately turned solemn.

 

That was understandable. Even Kalian had been considerably surprised when he first learned that an Elf had stolen something.

 

“When I find him, I’ll give him a proper education. I’ve gotten into trouble because of what he stole.”

 

“I understand.”

 

“Anyway, an Elf selling sculptures should be uncommon. We’ll start looking from tomorrow.”

 

Zher raised his finger, pointing to the right and left respectively.

 

“First, there are two towns on either side of the forest. They are called Nerica and Sting. It would be better to start your search there.”

 

Kalian nodded, memorizing the names of the two places. Zher thanked him for helping and instructed another Elf to prepare accommodations and dinner for the group.

 

* * *

 

The dinner provided by the Elves was surprisingly good.

 

Kalian had worried that they might only eat raw plants, but it was not like that at all. As he was enjoying black bread with orange jam – the bread having the unique sour and heavy taste of rye – he suddenly felt something strange.

 

It was because of the conversation topic that had started around Kalian.

 

The recent events in Latran had become the topic among the Knights. Although it was not something Kalian particularly wanted to revisit, he could not stop them from talking about it, so he simply silently listened.

 

But then the conversation took an odd turn.

 

A discussion on ‘how to shatter a sword into pieces’ began, as if deliberately for Kalian to hear.

 

“He must have blocked a mana bullet.”

 

“There were no burn marks on the sword. Besides, the mana bullet did not explode. It was cleanly cut, remember?”

 

The voices grew louder. They were probably hoping that Kalian, hearing this, would directly explain to them. However, Kalian pretended not to hear and just kept tearing at his bread.

 

When it became clear that no answer would come from Kalian, the Knights looked at Arsene.

 

“What would you do?”

 

Kalian’s hand paused momentarily.

 

In truth, Kalian had been curious too. In his previous life, his sword would not break no matter how much Aura he used. Yet, it had shattered with just one gesture from Arsene.

 

Instead of answering, Arsene focused his mana on the knife in his hand. Immediately, frost formed on the knife, turning it white, and with a *crack*, a long fissure appeared. After examining it carefully, Arsene quietly said.

 

“Of course, knives and swords are forged differently, so I can’t freeze and break them this quickly. Still, I think a similar method might work to destroy them.”

 

It seemed he had yet to figure out the method used.

 

At that, one of the Knights burst into laughter and said.

 

“Breaking a sword. If he set his mind to it, he could even capture a Sword Master.”

 

[Right. Capture.] While Kalian firmly committed the name of the man who had just spoken to memory, the eyes of the other Knights all turned to Kalian.

 

“Sword…?”

 

They were Sleiman’s Knights. Given that they were associated with a Sword Master, how could they not make the connection with Kalian’s shattered iron sword?

 

Kalian just smiled and tore off another piece of bread.

 

He figured that since his use of Aura would be discovered immediately upon meeting Sleiman anyway, it did not matter if they found out a few days earlier.

 

* * *

 

Fortunately, after that, the Knights did not persistently follow Kalian asking for the truth or request a duel. This was because Kalian had sent them all out of the forest to investigate on his behalf.

 

As a result, the Knights, without even seeing Kalian’s face, went around in plain clothes looking for any town showing suspicious circumstances. The reason Kalian did not go himself was that there was a need to carefully observe first.

 

As soon as he heard Zher’s words, what Kalian had immediately thought of was Elf Slave trafficking. They were young, strong Elves after all. From what Zher had said, they could fight but were not exceptionally strong so they would seem like potential targets.

 

If it became known that a Prince was directly investigating slave trafficking, the traffickers would all certainly hide or flee, which is why he had only sent his Knights out.

 

“There doesn’t seem to be any slave trafficking in this area. We occasionally see people who look like mercenaries, but it’s difficult to link them to the crime…”

 

This was what Yuran had reported after completing the investigation and returning to the forest.

 

The next day, Kalian went out by himself. He was only accompanied by Kyrie, who had yet to participate in the investigation. The Knights, who had already searched the towns, did not follow as their faces might be recognised.

 

“Which direction would you like to go first?” Kyrie asked after they left the Elf Village. He was asking whether to visit Sting or Nerica first, the two towns were located on opposite sides of the forest.

 

Kalian recalled what Ian had explained. The two towns were similar in size, and their Lords were of similar age as well, which had led to intense competition between them. This had made it difficult to choose which to visit first.

 

“Let’s go to the one with the shorter name first.”

 

There was no need to deliberate further.

 

His thinking was simple – they would start from the closest and shortest-named place and expand from there. There might be something that turns up.

 

After silently passing through the forest and riding for about two hours, they arrived at Sting.

 

Kalian immediately put on a robe and pulled up his hood.

 

Sting was not a large town by any means. Even from a distance, it was clearly different in scale from Latran. Still, it was well-organised, and there were more people going about than expected. Judging by their appearances, they did not seem to be in any economic difficulty.

 

As there were no obvious problems on the surface, as Yuran had said, Kalian decided to first satisfy his hunger. Kalian looked at Kyrie and briefly said.

 

“Meat. I want to eat meat.”

 

Kyrie smiled more definitively than usual. After all that serious contemplation and travel, the first thing he had said was about meat. Pretending not to notice he was being a little childish, Kalian continued.

 

“Let’s go eat meat. Then, we can head to a weapon shop to buy a usable sword. After that, we’ll look around a bit more.”

 

“Why don’t you get a better sword?”

 

“Do I need a better sword?”

 

“Ordinary swords can’t be used by you for long, Your Highness. They can’t hold your Aura.”

 

Kyrie was learning swordsmanship from Kalian.

 

Because of this, Kalian had to explain to Kyrie how he could handle Aura, and being bad at keeping secrets, Kalian eventually revealed some of his secrets to Kyrie. Of course, he did not tell him about his past life.

 

” I won’t be able to use it once we return to the palace.”

 

Kalian raised his finger to point at the sky.

 

“Soon, I think excellent material will fall from there.”

 

Kyrie’s gaze turned to the sky, but that enigmatic statement alone was difficult to understand. Kalian moved Raven without saying anything more. He was not keen on making prophet-like statements about a proper meteor falling at the beginning of the next year.

 

Anyway, after finding a restaurant and finishing a meat-heavy meal, the two went out to find a weapon shop. But they had to look at each other and tilt their heads at what the shop owner said.

 

“We have no swords.”

 

“No swords? You mean they’re all sold out?”

 

“Are you mercenaries? You seem quite young though.”

 

The owner briefly looked at Kalian and asked instead of answering.

 

Kalian nodded slightly and pointed to Kyrie and himself in order, giving a vague answer.

 

“He’s a Swordsman and I’m a Mage. Anyways, I need a sword. Is it difficult for you to get one?”

 

The owner crossed his arms and began to contemplate something. His demeanour clearly showed he was wavering about whether to speak or not. Knowing exactly what to do in such situations, Kalian took out two silver coins from his pocket and handed them to the owner.

 

The owner hesitated a bit more, and only after receiving one more silver coin did he look around and quietly say.

 

“For some time now, mercenaries have been secretly gathering.”

 

“Secretly? You mean without the public noticing?”

 

The owner nodded. Then, in an even lower voice, he began.

 

“Today at noon, two soldiers came and said they would take all the weapons tonight, so I should keep them ready.”

 

Kalian slightly furrowed his brow.

 

As an ominous feeling gradually crept up, the owner continued.

 

“So if you’re a mercenary, go there.”

 

With that, the owner gestured with his chin toward somewhere outside the shop. Where his gaze landed was the Lord’s castle.

 

Kalian’s eyes began to shine.

 

Two small towns of similar size nearby. One was secretly gathering mercenaries, and requisitioning weapons from within the town – this could only mean one thing.

 

[So, they’re planning to wage war.]

 

Kalian, who had discovered in one meal what Yuran could not uncover in three days, lowered his head and scratched his cheek.

 

[Well, this sure is something…]

 

He now understood where male Elves, who wanted to earn money and could fight moderately well, might be. He also better understood that he had once again stepped into something troublesome.

 

The Hirisca Forest Elf Village was between the two towns. If a fight broke out between them, the Elf Village would naturally be affected.

 

In a way, he could also understand why Zher had asked him for help.

 

[In a roundabout way, he was asking for me, the Prince of Cyries, who visited their village, to stop the fight between the two towns.]

 

Kalian’s brow, hidden under his hood, furrowed deeply.