"Please, help yourselves, no need to hold back. We have prepared this feast for you, after all," Remarked one of the Elven Elders.
"How kind of you, we appreciate the hospitality," Smiled Lyra in response.
It was the following night, and the Elves had set up an elaborate, lavish welco banquet for their guests.
The entire group was in attendance, including the carriage drivers and Lyra’s attendants. And from the Elves, all the Elders were present, along with their Grand Warriors and a handful of their First Stage Warriors.
"Looks like the Queen was right, they’re still pretty wary of us. They’ve laid out a whole lot of booze here, maybe they’re trying to get us drunk and see how we act once inebriated...and based on how it goes, it’ll affect their decision whether or not to form an alliance with us. Pretty much every Elf attending this banquet is really strong, I can sense that pretty damn clearly...they’re likely here to step in if any of us causes a commotion or sothing," Surmised Raven warily.
"Woah, this is really good. I wonder what it’s been seasoned with, I haven’t tasted this flavor before, but it’s amazing," Remarked Celia, as she munched on a piece of at.
"Careful, you’ve got sauce all around your mouth," Raven inford her wryly, before opening his mouth as she held up a piece towards him, adding as she put it in his mouth and he bit into it, "Mm, that is good...it’s savory with a nice, spicy kick to it."
The group from Persona began to relax after initially feeling a bit tense, mingling with the Elves and helping themselves to the wide spread of food and drink.
Despite the Elves’ reservations towards the humans, they had gone all out with the feast they’d prepared, setting out the best they had to offer.
"Oh, you possess Arcane Magic? I thought the humans executed such people about a century and a half ago or so, labeling it as Irregular Magic," Remarked one of the Elders in surprise.
"Yeah, that was the case until recently, but that law has been repealed now," Replied Aster, as he sipped on a mixed fruit wine, "Wow, this is so rich and sweet."
"I see, it seems Persona’s new leadership truly is making changes for the better."
"What? Did you say the Undead King? I’ve heard stories of him from so of my predecessors...I can’t believe you really managed to defeat him!" Exclaid another of the Elders in disbelief, who was chatting with Jules.
"Well, he isn’t exactly gone. We couldn’t kill him, so we sealed him away," She replied, grimacing as she recalled the battle, before adding, "And truth be told, my contribution to his defeat wasn’t all that significant...the one who deserves the most credit is him over there."
She nodded at Raven, who was with Colt and Celia.
"I’ve been wondering about that human. His appearance, is he a Homunculus?"
"You know about that?"
"Well, I’ve heard of it, I believe your ancestors used Homunculi as weapons, before Ancient Magic was declared forbidden."
"Huh...I didn’t know the plural of Homunculus is Homunculi."
As the banquet continued, the Elves and humans began to feel more and more at ease as they interacted with each other, although there were a few Elves who were still wary, eyeing the humans cautiously.
"Hm?" Suddenly frowned Raven, turning his gaze towards the woods as he picked up a scent, the sa one he’d noticed after the incident with the Earth Dragon.
He narrowed his eyes as, the instant he turned in the direction the scent was coming from, it swiftly withdrew.
His suspicions roused, he began to take a step that way, before he suddenly got distracted as an Elf, one of the First Stage Warriors, accidentally bumped into Colt.
"Wha-...hey, watsch where you’re going!" Slurred the Elf with a glare.
He had long, wavy, golden blonde hair that went down past his shoulders and frad his face, sparkly blue eyes, a fair complexion and was quite tall, and he was pretty visibly drunk.
"Sorr-...actually, no. I was totally standing still, you’re the one who bumped into ," Responded Colt tauntingly, letting his masochistic side get the better of him.
"Huh!? The hell did you jusht shay to , human!?"
"Oh, shit," Muttered Raven, as Celia grabbed her brother’s arm and pulled him back with an incredulous look on her face.
"What, did I stutter? Would you like to repeat mys-...?" Began Colt with a smirk.
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"Hey, stop that!" Frowned Celia in exasperation, as the commotion caught the attention of the others.
"You bashtard...I’ll kill you! Do you have any idea who I am!? I am Feno, a First Shtage Warrior of Shylph!" Snapped the Elf, starting to form a water projectile in his hand as he took a threatening step towards Colt, before he was abruptly stopped in his tracks as two of the Elders shot towards him and grabbed his arms, pulling him back as he let out a startled yell.
"What do you think you’re doing?"
"How disappointing, we do not appreciate such uncouth behavior from our Warriors."
"Tch..."
"Uh, we’re really sorry about this...this idiot here likes provoking people, we apologize on his behalf," Remarked Raven as he smacked the back of Colt’s head.
"Seriously, we can’t apologize enough for him...he’s a masochistic pervert who really needs to learn so self-control," Chid in Aster with a strained sigh.
"Yeah...my bad, guess I should’ve kept my mouth shut," Added Colt sheepishly.
"No, I saw the whole thing...Feno bumped into you, at no fault of yours, and then snapped at you. Additionally, a few words of provocation is no justification for attempting to attack soone. Apologize, Feno, you were in the wrong here," Spoke up one of the Grand Warriors as he walked over.
"Tch...fine, I apologize," He muttered with an irritated look on his face.
His apology was very obviously not genuine, a tension filling the air as the commotion had thrown a wrench into the the relaxed atmosphere.
"Oh, I have a suggestion! How about we hold a friendly competition tomorrow? Like, a number of sparring matches between the Elven Warriors and our Knights?" Suddenly suggested Lyra, in an effort to ease the tension.
"Wait, what?" Blurted out Jules in surprise.
"Hm...yes, I can see so rit in that idea," Nodded one of the Elven Elders thoughtfully.
"I, as well...very well, then, Queen Lyra, let’s do it," Declared another of the Elders.
"I don’t know about this...," Muttered Jules skeptically.
"No need to overthink it, Commander, I bet it’ll be fun," Remarked Aster wryly, as he patted her shoulder.
"Maybe, but-..."
"You’re way too stressed out, I’m not saying you should let your guard down or anything, but it’ll be counterproductive if you’re too tense," Pointed out Aster objectively.
"I suppose you have a point, I should try to be more composed," Sighed Jules wearily, before glancing to her left as she spotted Raven approaching, "Hm? What’s the matter, Vice-Captain Raven? You look a bit grim."
"Yeah...so, right before that Elf bumped into Colt, I picked up a scent in the distance," Raven replied as he lowered his voice and continued, "It was the sa scent I picked up after the Earth Dragon attacked, and once again, it disappeared as soon as I noticed it."
"Pardon , I happened to overhear what you just said. I’m Saevel, one of the Elders," Spoke up an Elf as he approached them.
He had dium-length, light blonde hair that was neatly slicked back, a pointy chin beard, blue eyes, a pale complexion, and was a bit above average height with a strong, agile build.
"Oh, right...Elves can hear way better than humans can, guess whispering isn’t enough to keep them out of earshot," Raven thought to himself.
"Evidently, you have a strong sense of sll...are you really certain that the scent you picked up was the sa as the one from the Earth Dragon attack?" The Elder asked him.
"Yeah, all my senses are way sharper than that of a normal human’s, I usually have to dull them significantly, but since the air in this nation is so clean, I don’t have to suppress them as much as I normally have to. And yes, I’m sure it’s the sa scent...it’s a pretty unique one, so I recognized it. It’s kinda similar to the scents all the Elves give off, but it’s missing sothing, the scent of Mana. Which shouldn’t be possible, the scent of Mana only fades when a creature dies, so this doesn’t make sense.
But that’s not all, there’s sothing else strange about this...whoever the scent belongs to, they were a fair distance away. Specifically, the amount of distance you’d need to avoid being sensed by Detection Mages. My senses are able to cover a slightly larger range than Detection Magic can...but that’s besides the point, what’s strange is that, whoever this is, they imdiately realized and reacted the instant I noticed them, and retreated right away. That happened both tis. Are Elven senses strong enough to pick up on things from that far away?" Inquired Raven grimly.
"No, certainly not. That shouldn’t be possible," The Elder shook his head in response, before Raven noticed him averting his gaze slightly.
"Hm? That reaction...he’s hiding sothing. He definitely knows more about this than he’s letting on, no doubt about it. But I suppose it isn’t my place to press him for answers...still, I’m getting a really bad feeling about this."
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