That evening, Laius and Altair returned to their quarters together.
He was holding the book in question.
“Have you finished checking all the temple materials?”
Looking at the pile of docunts in the reception room, Laius asked.
Arthur nodded and reported.
“For now. It was impossible for the two of us to look at everything, but we were able to extract the important parts. Since they were books belonging to the temple, we couldn’t take them out, so we wrote down the necessary parts.”
The elves promised to investigate and transcribe other docunts that they had not yet confird and then send them to the Caerleon Empire.
Laius nodded.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
It seed as if all the grudges had been resolved by then, and even though he had a blank expression, Laius looked refreshed.
On the other hand, Grand Elder Altair was smiling with a face that seed to have lost its soul.
“Heh heh… no. It was sothing I had to do.”
Richt and Llewellyn looked at the Grand Elder with pity.
It seems that he was dragged around here and there by Laius and suffered a lot of abuse.
“Well, it was a good thing that he left Arendt behind, wasn’t it?”
“He made the right decision.”
As Llewellyn whispered, Richt nodded silently.
Arthur asked incredulously.
“He told to wait at the accommodation… Could it be that he was trying to pass that guy onto ?”
“I couldn’t help it on humanitarian grounds, Sir Arthur. The elders would tremble just thinking about Captain Laius, and now add that guy to the mix. They would have all collapsed from stress.”
“Who’s going to take responsibility for my stress?”
“Sir Arthur, you are familiar with that guy. As his senior, you must take responsibility.”
Arendt, who was looking at Llewellyn and Arthur bickering, blurted out.
“What can I do? It’s because I’m too smart. I completely understand.”
“…”
The two n who had been arguing, Richt, and even Grand Elder Altair, who had lost his mind, looked at him with tired eyes.
Laius, the only one who maintained his composure, handed the book to Arendt.
“Take a look. Is this what the dragon was looking for?”
“Hmm.”
Fortunately, Arendt’s interest turned to the book.
The appearance of the book was exactly as described by Lexion and Prince Matthias.
A large jewel was set in the middle of the book, and it was surrounded by smaller jewels, making it very splendid.
Beneath the central jewel was an ancient text engraved on a leather cover.
It was a prayer to the god of darkness, as said by Elder Polaris.
Arendt blurted out as he flipped through the book.
“I guess it’s not an artifact after all?”
“I think so as well.”
Laius answered.
Old books certainly had magic, but it was a different kind of magic than the Frosty Touch or the Shadow of the Strong.
Arendt opened the book.
The pages, which clearly showed the passage of ti, were filled with unreadable letters.
He skimd through it a bit, but as expected, there wasn’t a single part he could read.
Arendt blurted out, closing the book without thinking.
“I think this is the book Lexion was looking for. I’m not sure what magical powers are, though.”
Llewellyn grumbled.
“This is truly unbelievable. I never thought I would find this here.”
“Don’t be too sad. You still have a lot of work to do.”
Arendt responded, slung the thick book over his shoulder.
Then Llewellyn shut his mouth tightly.
From the beginning, Arendt’s commission to the Explorers’ Union was not to find the book, but to find the dragon’s dwelling place.
Llewellyn clenched his fist and made a pledge.
“Just wait and see. As soon as I get back, I’ll be obsessed with that.”
“…It’s not my place to interfere, but are you sure that’s okay?”
Altair, who had been watching quietly, added a word with a face as pale as a corpse.
The knights and Llewellyn’s gaze naturally turned to the Grand Elder.
“What is it?”
“It’s ridiculous to even bring this up again, but… Lord Llewellyn and Captain Laius. Do you know why there are so few sightings of dragons?”
Elder Altair spoke slowly, looking back and forth between Llewellyn and Laius.
“It’s because few people survive after discovering the true nature of dragons. They are great, unruly, and cruel. It’s said that they are the closest thing to gods.”
“…”
“It’s dangerous. It almost feels ridiculous to even say it again. As you already know, as an elder, I must warn you once more.”
Llewellyn smiled mischievously at the grim-faced Grand Elder Altair.
“Of course I know, but sotis I want to risk my life for sothing absurd. That’s just the way humans are, Grand Elder.”
“Does Captain Laius share the sa opinion?”
Altair looked at Laius with eyes full of concern.
The captain answered calmly.
“My subordinates have judged it necessary for the safety of the Empire and the Royal Family. There is no reason to back down.”
“…I see.”
The Grand Elder now knew very well that the person he was talking about was Arendt.
Altair’s gaze briefly landed on the apprentice knight, then turned back to Laius.
“I guess you won’t listen to . Is there anything else you need?”
It was a look of half-resignation.
Now, their business in the elven kingdom was almost over.
Elder Helio was receiving proper treatnt at Polaris’ ho, and he also received a promise from Altair that he would take responsibility for him and look after him until the end.
The materials in Cheltan’s laboratory were collected by the Fog Forest Guard and would be delivered to the knights’ quarters by tomorrow.
It would be faster to have the analysis done at Count Stadler’s laboratory than here, so the knights decided to bring it back.
Now all that remained was to return safely.
Laius nodded lightly.
“That’s enough. Thank you for your consideration. Once preparations are complete, we plan to leave tomorrow afternoon.”
“Okay, I’ll tell them to get the boat ready. Have a good night. If you need anything else, just let know.”
Altair answered calmly, bowed his head briefly to Laius for the last ti, turned around, and left the inn.
Before they knew it, it was deep into the night.
The slightly humid air typical of the seaside beca more chilly, and the hazy moonlight cast a silver curtain across the slightly cloudy night sky.
Altair walked slowly towards the eting hall.
Occasionally, the chirping of nocturnal birds in the distance and the buzzing of insects greeted him on the quiet night road.
Sabak.
Almost at the sa ti, the sound of neat footsteps on dry grass suddenly revealed its presence.
As the Grand Elder stopped walking, the sound also stopped coming any closer and the person just stood there.
Altair suppressed the sigh that was about to burst out and opened his mouth.
“Do you have anything to say, Lord Arendt?”
“It’s nothing particularly grand.”
A voice returned with a composure so calm it almost felt shaless.
Looking back, he saw a young man standing a few steps behind him, looking like he was made of moonlight under a cloudy sky.
“I just wanted to ask you sothing.”
The attitude of blurting out what was important without even asking for understanding was extrely arrogant.
The bad tone, the arrogant posture, the indifferent look in the eyes.
It was completely different from when they first talked.
But he didn’t want to point that out again.
It was because he knew full well that it was aningless.
The Grand Elder, who had been silent for a mont, made a suggestion.
“…Would you like to walk with for a bit?”
“Sure.”
Arendt nodded readily and ca closer.
For a while there was no conversation between the two.
After entering the deserted path, Altair burst into laughter and started to speak.
“How strange. On the first day, I thought you were just a well-educated young knight…”
“The Grand Elder doesn’t know how to read people. I’m just like that.”
“If you say so, then so be it. Captain Laius must really be having a hard ti.”
It was an indifferent answer, but sohow it sounded like he had lost all strength.
Arendt stared blankly at Altair, who was walking a few steps ahead.
“I’m the one who’s having a hard ti.”
“That doesn’t seem to be a lie, so let’s just say that we both have had a hard ti.”
Altair let out a hollow laugh.
“What are you curious about that made you co all the way here? Is it a question you can’t ask in front of the others?”
“It’s a pretty personal question. And I don’t want other people to hear it.”
Altair glanced at the young man who nodded arrogantly and asked plainly.
“Tell .”
“It’s about the elves of the past.”
He had only just thrown out the topic, but Altair suddenly stopped walking.
Arendt also stood there and continued speaking.
“What happened to them?”
“…”
Altair did not answer for a while.
Arendt waited without rushing him.
After a long silence, the Grand Elder opened his mouth.
“Are you just asking out of curiosity? Or do you know sothing?”
The voice asking the question cracked harshly at the end.
Arendt responded briefly.
“I’m asking because I need to.”
“Then that ans you know sothing.”
The Grand Elder turned and faced Arendt.
Arendt could read many emotions in the beautiful face of the elf staring at him.
Discomfort and fear, impatience and resignation.
And sympathy was clearly evident in the Grand Elder’s green eyes.
Arendt continued dryly.
“There are too many unnatural parts. From the fact that not a single one of the previous elves survived, to the fact that only Chernion’s na was erased from the temple records… and the unnecessary fear that the Grand Elder has.”
“…”
“In my judgnt, the Grand Elder is not that stupid. Llewellyn also seed to have trusted and followed you quite a bit before this incident.”
Altair lowered his gaze with a closed mouth.
A beautiful voice that was unusually pleasing to the ears flowed in.
“It’s quite strange that soone like that would do sothing so ridiculously stupid in this case. It’s like soone whose reasoning has been paralyzed by extre fear.”
Still the Grand Elder remained silent.
Arendt asked again.
“Don’t you know sothing, Grand Elder? What happened in the past?”
“…You overestimate , Lord Arendt. No… Do you trust the vision of Lord Llewellyn, who trusted ? That is a blessing in itself.”
After a while, Altair smiled bitterly.
It was an attempt to change the subject, but it didn’t work on Arendt.
The young man added under the cold moonlight.
“That’s what the traitor Cheltan said. It’s a divine punishnt. Could it be that God…”
“Lord Arendt.”
Altair cut him off decisively.
When Arendt paused at the voice that sounded like a warning, the Grand Elder added slowly.
“I understand, so stop talking. This is advice for you.”
“…”
It was a voice with a cool resonance.
The Grand Elder, who had lost his place to escape to, smiled sadly under the night sky.
“…I’ll tell you what you need. I’m not sure if I can satisfy your curiosity. Feel free to ask questions, but please understand that I can’t give you proper answers.”
“…”
Arendt, who was about to say sothing more, quietly closed his mouth.
Under the tranquil night sky of the elven kingdom, the voice of the Grand Elder, added as if talking to himself, sounded all too vivid.
“If anyone is to be punished, it should be . I hope Lord Luce and Nereid look after you.”
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