Chapter 190: The Royal Capital (Part 3)

  On a hill outside the royal capital, Ethan looked down at the familiar, sprawling buildings not far below and felt somewhat dazed. So much had happened here that it couldn't help but flash through his mind one by one. Too chaotic, too complex, too intense, he couldn't even give a fixed definition to the intense emotions churning within him.

  "Alright, we'll part ways here." Yabin's voice pulled him back. "We'll head south from here. Please take care, everyone. We'll meet again someday."

  His sister, Aimee, bowed to Ethan and said, "Thank you, Brother Ethan. I was able to recover this time all because of your help, and it's thanks to you that we survived unharmed. I will never forget your great kindness..." She paused, hesitated for a moment, blushed, and said, "...if you have time in the future, please come to the Tower of Fangs."

  "Alright, if I have time. I should be free in about fifty days or so..." Ethan nodded to the two siblings with a wry smile. In truth, he didn't know if everything would really be fine after these fifty days. This final mission might not be any easier than the previous ones.

  After he returned to Oufu that day, Sedros removed the residual mind magic from his head and used it to cure his sister, Aimee. But contrary to Sedros's expectations, Yabin and Aimee insisted on not joining Oufu for this reason. Although they now knew the truth, they were firmly unwilling to help the Beastmen and Celeste fight, only reluctantly providing support during the ambush of the Temple Knights. Their reason for refusing Sedros was simple and left no room for negotiation: even if their grandfather died at the hands of a Cardinal, he would never allow them to fight against the Church. So, after their brief stay in Oufu, they left along with Ethan, turning south from here towards the Tower of Fangs, which was the last peaceful place on the continent, temporarily far from the war and turmoil.

  The two siblings did not know that when they refused Sedros's request, they had already taken a stroll to the gates of hell. Sedros would not have let two people who had no intention of helping him and knew too much leave Oufu. But in the end, it was Ethan who secretly persuaded him, saying that perhaps they might have a chance to help in the future, and only then were the two siblings able to leave smoothly.

  The two siblings had also offered to help Ethan with his mission in the royal capital, but Ethan refused. This mission couldn't be solved by fighting and killing, and people unaware of the inside story would not only be of no help but might even be a burden. So he also refused Hilton's request to follow him, sending him to Tatalia instead.

  "I guarantee this little girl actually likes you. It's a shame. You had the chance to sleep with her. A pure virgin, that's a rare and fine piece of goods, I bet she'd be willing, as long as you don't use too clumsy a method." Jessica suddenly said, watching the two siblings' retreating figures. These words made Ethan's back break out in a cold sweat.

  "Even your thoughts and every word reveal a rotten and evil aura. This darkness and depravity comes from the depths of your soul. It's truly hopeless." Luya's face was full of disgust. To avoid attracting too much attention, she wore a large hat that covered her pointy elf ears and silver hair, and had applied some potion to her face to make her skin appear yellow. Dressed in ordinary traveler's clothes, her figure was slender and well-proportioned, but even with such an attempt at a plain appearance, it was hard to conceal her somewhat excessive delicate beauty.

  Jessica laughed in a sharp voice. "Oh, you don't have to be so deliberate with your words. You're just hiding your own inner thoughts, you naive, pointy-eared little rabbit. Don't act so sensitive every time I talk to him about artful matters like sex. That only exposes your own over-suppression."

  Ethan only felt a headache coming on. In fact, it had been like this the entire journey. These two elves were extremely mutually displeased with each other. Attacking each other with words was already a very gentle method. Along the way, they had actually gotten physical at least three or four times.

  "It seems that when Mafa cast you into darkness and made you live underground, it was far too kind. You should live with the rats and bugs in the gutters, and discuss your decadent and evil..." Luya glared at Jessica, her face flushed red before she managed to say, "...evil arts."

  But the Drow just giggled and said, "It's a pity, but I happen to know that your Mafa never said sex was evil. Without that wonderful act, where would you have come from? Little darling, you are also the product of the very act you call evil. Don't tell me your mother gave birth to you all by herself. Oh, right, I heard you crawled out of some strange tree in the Whispering Woods. In that case, you probably don't even know who your parents are. How pitiful."

  "The affection between us noble elves is selfless; we are a complete whole. How could a filthy, lowly creature like you possibly understand our noble culture passed down for ten thousand years."

  "I say, can you two give me a day or two of quiet time?" Ethan felt his headache worsen. He really hadn't expected such a consequence of these two traveling together. But it seemed there was no other way. This time, the elven race was migrating back to the Whispering Woods. Elder Lloyd believed it was necessary to first form a consensus and alliance with Ainfast. That was why he dispatched Luya to accompany Ethan to the Ainfast royal capital, to have Ethan help her arrange negotiations with Commander Roland and Chancellor Mrak. Elder Lloyd and the other elves were busy preparing for the great migration.

  It was clear that Elder Lloyd was deliberately grooming Luya to be the leader of the elven race. That was why he had her come to the royal capital alone to negotiate and interact with the upper echelons of human society. For elves, who were accustomed to seclusion and avoiding worldly troubles, this was undoubtedly the most difficult and most in-need-of-training-and-learning ability.

  In truth, Ethan had originally wanted to return to the royal capital alone to handle these matters, but because of Elder Lloyd's request, he had to bring Luya. In the end, after a moment's hesitation, he didn't refuse Jessica who tagged along. If it was for infiltration, reconnaissance, and assassination in the royal capital, a Drow could still be of considerable use. Although he knew there would definitely be friction between these two, he thought the problem shouldn't be too big. It was only now that he realized he was wrong.

  Women are forever unreasonable creatures... The only thing more headache-inducing than one noisy woman is having two of them...

  Ethan suddenly remembered these words he had heard in a tavern as a child. He had originally thought these things had nothing to do with him, but now he realized they were incisively brilliant.

  "Noble culture? You self-righteous little thing, don't you know you've been suppressing yourselves for too long?" Jessica spat disdainfully. Her eyes dancing with excitement, she said loudly as if telling an incredible secret: "Do you want me to tell you the truth about why you've been picking fights with me all along the way? You actually like this man. Deep down, you actually hope he can gallop across your body, squeezing your delicate limbs, entangling, thrusting... But out of that self-righteous, noble suppression of yours, you bury these impulses deep in your heart. And my direct and frank words happen to keep sending these ideas into your little head, constantly stimulating your repressed desires, just as stimulating as his gentle, strong fingers touching the tip of your most sensitive little breasts..."

  "Shut up." Ethan and Luya shouted at the same time, though Luya's voice was much higher.

  "How about that? Do you feel that wonderful sensation of being hit where it hurts?" Jessica completely ignored Ethan, pointing at Luya, whose face was flushed red despite the concealing potion. Her "haha" laughter was sharp and piercing. "I hit the nail on the head, didn't I?"

  "In the name of Mafa, I shall judge you and send your filthy soul and mouth to hell together." Luya's face was completely twisted by anger and shame. She drew her slender rapier and began to chant a spell.

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  "This is the third time I'm giving you this advice: don't draw your weapon on a Drow." Jessica, not to be outdone, also drew her pair of daggers coated with deadly poison. She licked her lips and sneered. "Let me tell you something. Dismembering surface elves is one of the highest forms of art popular in my homeland..."

  "Atone for your sins with death." Luya charged at Jessica.

  Jessica had just been about to move her feet when she nearly stumbled. She then discovered that the wild grass under her feet had, without her realizing, become as thick as thin ropes, silently coiling around her feet like snakes.

  Luya's movements were by no means fast, nor could they be called fierce, but to hit this immobile and off-balance target would be absolutely no problem. A cold light flashed in Jessica's eyes. The two blue daggers left her hands, flying towards Luya.

  Luya's combat experience, compared to a Drow's, was almost like the difference between a frog and a venomous snake. Although she had gained the upper hand with magic, she had no room to dodge the flying daggers. She could only watch helplessly as she rushed towards the two deadly, poisoned weapons. Even though elven nature magic was very effective in healing and detoxification, if she were hit by these two daggers, she would absolutely have no chance to use magic.

  But the two blue daggers did not hit Luya, and the sword in her hand also did not land on the Drow, because Ethan was there.

  Ethan grabbed Luya's hand with one of his. With his other hand, he flicked away the two daggers. He had been prepared. In fact, this was already the third time he had intervened these past few days.

  In terms of pure physical strength or skill, this wasn't a very difficult matter. Their movements, in Ethan's eyes, were not much different from children brawling with each other. He could stop them without much effort. But he felt very tired, truly tired. He sometimes even felt that he would rather fight two Behemoths on Mount Sanderfirth than continue traveling with these two women. Fighting Behemoths only required effort, fierce fighting, combat, fighting spirit, and killing intent. But with these two women, no matter how high his fighting spirit or how strong his killing intent, he was completely powerless.

  "I'm telling you, either you send this woman away. Or I'll go to that royal capital alone. In any case, I can't stand being with her anymore." Luya stared at Ethan. There was not only anger in her eyes, but also the glint of tears. "I also can't stand you, who colludes with her."

  "Listen to me..." Ethan had a pained expression on his face. In truth, he didn't even know what he should say. He could almost hear his own brain groaning from overload. For him, thinking of words to coax a woman was ten times more difficult than planning how to kill two Behemoths or assassinate Bishop Eschol. If mind magic could increase mental flexibility, he would rather endure another of Eschol's insanity-inducing Mind Blasts.

  Perhaps it was the potential unleashed in a moment of crisis. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck his mind. Ethan immediately said, "You can't be so willful. For the mission entrusted to you by Elder Lloyd, for the grand plan of the elven race. You should know yourself that you cannot complete these tasks alone. Jessica is actually indispensable to the development of the entire mission. Are you really going to disregard the fate of the entire elven race for some trivial feelings?"

  These words stunned Luya, and she immediately had nothing to say. Ethan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. For Luya, a sense of responsibility was far more important than anything else. But that somewhat twisted, flushed face and her red eyes showed that this was not a truly secure solution. Ethan added in a gentle tone, "Don't worry, I guarantee this kind of bickering won't happen again. Jessica won't talk nonsense anymore."

  "I didn't guarantee anything..." The Drow broke free from the grass ropes binding her and said.

  "Just do me a favor, okay?" Ethan glared at her, but his tone was full of helplessness.

  "Fine, I'll help you. But you'll remember you owe me one." Jessica raised an eyebrow, looking triumphant as if she had won a battle.

  "Fine." Ethan sighed powerlessly. He took Luya's hand and turned to walk towards the royal capital. Luya struggled, but couldn't break free.

  In the Magic Academy, in the room of the new Cardinal, Javi.

  Although they might not welcome this Cardinal in their hearts, what had to be done still had to be done. The room the Magic Academy arranged for the Cardinal was still extremely luxurious and magnificent. The furnishings inside were no worse than anywhere else.

  But now, in this room, the one sitting in the chair behind the desk, prepared for the bishop, was not Bishop Javi, but an old priest.

  This old priest was plainly dressed and ordinary-looking, the kind seen everywhere in the Magic Academy. But he sat on that chair, which only a bishop was supposed to sit on, steadily and casually, as if it were a small stool in his own room. And the heroic and extraordinarily handsome Cardinal was now standing respectfully to the side, holding a teapot, pouring a cup of clear water for the old priest. He brought it to him and said, "Sir, please have some water."

  "Water? I'm not a fish. What would I do with so much water? Isn't there even any tea?" The old priest rolled his eyes.

  "I was afraid you might worry that the taste of the tea could mask poison, so I used clear water, which is easy to identify." Bishop Javi smiled, still sunny and magnanimous.

  "Rest assured. One, I have great faith in your courage; you wouldn't dare. Two, even if you dared, you probably couldn't get a poison that could deal with me without me knowing. Three, even if you could get it, after drinking it, I would still have enough time to turn you into a pile of stinking flesh first." The old priest waved his hand impatiently at the Cardinal. "Make the tea strong, with a little brown sugar."

  "Yes." Bishop Javi smiled wryly, took out tea leaves from the desk drawer, and personally brewed a pot of tea before pouring a cup for the old priest.

  The old priest took a sip, shook his head, smacked his lips, and frowned. "It tastes awful. You don't even have one-tenth of your master's tea-making skill."

  "I'm sorry, my teacher didn't teach me this..." Bishop Javi smiled wryly and shook his head.

  "Right. She actually taught you the complete Meditations on Truth and magical techniques. How would she have time to teach you these things." The old priest's gaze wandered over Bishop Javi's face for a moment, then he asked, "But I really can't imagine she would actually take a disciple... Why did she take you as an apprentice? It couldn't be just because you're a pretty boy, could it? There were plenty of pretty boys chasing her back in the day. She should have gotten tired of them long ago..."

  Bishop Javi smiled wryly and shook his head. He, who in the eyes of others was always full of wisdom, majesty, and confidence, a seemingly perfect incarnation, seemed to have no other expression besides a wry smile in front of this old man.

  The old priest said flatly, "I hear she seems to have been locked up by the people from the guild. Perhaps they want you, her disciple, to be active on the outside, is that it?"

  Bishop Javi didn't answer directly. He just said, "This time I came here, my teacher also specially instructed me to be sure to greet you, sir. So after I settled things these past two days, I immediately invited you over, sir."

  "Hmm, I'm suddenly reminded of the practices of bandits on their mountain strongholds. Meaning you want me not to hinder you. That's also the reason you dared to come here alone, isn't it?" The old priest nodded. "For her sake, I naturally won't make things too difficult for you. I suppose the others in the guild don't know about your master-disciple relationship, right?"

  "Yes, sir, you are truly prophetic." The Cardinal nodded.

  "On one hand, you have to help your master. On the other, you have guild matters. And on yet another, you are a young and promising Cardinal. Young people these days are really so busy. Much more diligent than I was when I was young. What are you trying to do this time?"

  Bishop Javi hesitated for a moment, then replied, "Please forgive me, sir, but I cannot speak of these matters... These things are related to the grand plan of the Diya Valley..."

  "Grand plan? Hmph, the Diya Valley has become a foul mess now too. If I were still there, I would definitely drive out all those profit-driven people." The old priest sighed as if suddenly remembering something. "Forget it, these are not my concerns. After all, I am no longer a person of the Diya Valley."

  "Not at all. Your position in the Diya Valley is something no one can ever replace."

  The old priest looked at Bishop Javi and gave a light, cold laugh, and said, "The old fellows in the guild don't have the guts to come here. So they sent you alone instead, figuring I wouldn't bother with a little brat like you? They're also afraid I'll break the oath I swore in the name of The Black Star. It seems these fellows have something on their minds... Don't they?"

  Bishop Javi just respectfully lowered his head and bowed, saying no more.

  "Alright, that's enough for now." The old priest stood up and patted his backside. "Since I've said I no longer have any connection to the Diya Valley, that we won't interfere with each other, and since you are Vedenina's disciple, and finally, for the sake of your respectfully poured cup of tea, as long as you don't cross my bottom line, I won't interfere with whatever you're doing here."

  Bishop Javi asked cautiously, "The turmoil over the future of Ainfast, will you get involved? For example, the royal family and..."

  The old priest impatiently shook his head. "Ronis will worry about these things, but in my opinion, it's none of my damn business."

  Bishop Javi revealed a smile and breathed a slight sigh of relief, then asked again, "May I ask what your bottom line is..."

  The old priest was taken aback. He thought for a moment, then shook his head. "This... I don't know for now. But you'll know when you cross it."

  Seemingly not expecting such an answer at all, Bishop Javi smiled wryly again. But this wry smile was the bitterest of all, so bitter it could hardly be called a smile.

  The royal capital was built with the imperial palace at its center, with layers expanding outwards. The outermost and largest layer was the commoner's district. Here, everything was no different from other cities.

  Ethan led Luya and Jessica to a tavern here first. Before figuring out the situation, they had to find a place to stay and hide. He knew that the taverns here, which also served as inns, were good places to hide. Naturally, a tavern in this commoner's district was a place where all sorts of people mingled. Added to that, soldiers of the Royal Capital Guard often drank here, so it was very convenient for gathering information.

  But just as the three of them reached the tavern entrance, a figure was suddenly thrown out from inside. Flying out along with him were things like wine bottles, cups, and plates. Judging from the sounds coming from inside, a fight was happening.

  Brawls in such places were originally quite common, but when Ethan clearly saw the person who was thrown out, he was quite surprised, because judging by the military uniform, this was actually a leader of the Royal Guard. It wasn't that there were no people in the royal capital who would dare to provoke the Royal Guard, but those people, in any case, shouldn't be brawling in a tavern like this.

  The Guard leader groaned as he got up. He spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, which contained two teeth. He glanced resentfully into the tavern, as if wanting to rush back in, but after a moment's hesitation, he turned and ran away.

  Ethan hesitated for a moment at the doorway, but still led the two elves inside. He naturally still wore the mask given by Sandro on his face. Luya and Jessica's disguises wouldn't be too conspicuous, as long as they didn't actively draw attention to themselves.

  But he had just taken a few steps into the tavern, saw the situation inside, and immediately turned to leave. But it was too late. The female knight, who had just beaten a few Royal Guards to the ground, saw the three of them and her eyes suddenly lit up. She shouted loudly, "Stop."