"This Elf… was never being taken away by those guys, but was being taken back."
The other three were slightly shocked by Elric's words. His casual statent had made it almost seem like another of the usual jokes, but the two now knew better.
If he told Erika to throw chocolate at a bat again, she wouldn't. Spending a short ti with him made it possible to distinguish his intent.
And his intent was completely serious right here.
"Taking her… back?"
"How does that make sense?"
"Right," Elric nodded "You can't get it that easy. She clearly hid information and created a narrative in our own heads"
"A narrative that she was being taken away?" Claude asked.
"Now that you ntion it, she never said those words by herself, we just assud it."
As anyone would have without knowing the events that went on with the two robed n and the elf village.
"She didn't lie to us, but made us lie to ourselves. Such kind of cold suggestions are pretty common."
"Where?"
"I don't know? Sherlock Hols?"
Claude scoffed at his words.
"You want to believe that you of all people would be soone that has read Sherlock?"
"Why can't I have?" Elric snapped.
"Have you?"
"No, but that's not the point."
"I bet you got it from so edgy webnovels for teens. So divine villain god harem thingy."
Elric neither agreed nor denied those words. He simply sighed and got back to the matter at hand.
"Now, you must be wondering, oh great wise lord and sage master of water ruler of all liquids Elric Wald, how did you know sothing like this was up? Go on, ask before I fall asleep."
"How?"
"You left so words there."
"Speak, bitch."
Elric clicked his tongue and puffed his cheeks.
He didn;t want tio tell them annything, but at the sa ti didn't want to miss his chance of being cool by telling them everything.
In the end, what spurred him on was the gloom on Tiana's face as she slightly trembled.
"I just assud that she had so troubles with her ho at first, but you think there's more?"
Elric nodded.
"She had already confird it for , but she knew not where she lived."
Claude's mind fluttered back to the question he had asked earlier.
When Claude posed the question of where her ho was, Tiana had shrugged it away, but she had answered the 'forest' to Elric.
What seed like a sarcastic allusion to her being an elf, was actually a plain and simple answer.
"That doesn't explain why you are so sure."
"That man from before said he was here with those robed guys, right?"
"Leres? I an, he is being hailed as the one who solved things in Soleda but we all know that's not true."
Elric's jaw dropped.
"That's who he was!?"
Elric was filled up with fiery rage. "I thought he was going to hit on Tiana, but he wanted to steal our credits again!"
"I doubt he was planning to do either of those-"
"Hohoho, naive Claude. A thief doesn't change."
"Please apologize to thieves."
"I won't," Elric shook his head. "Anyway, coming back. We should go and hit that guy—"
"We won't now co back for real."
"Yes, so. He said that he was guided by those guys, and if those guys were planning to take Tiana back to her ho and not away then didn't it make sense that the ones inside would be elves?"
Claude nodded and so did Erika.
Tiana muttered an ooh, it did make sense when she thought about it.
"But Tiana had no idea that the forest was the one where she used to live. And worse than that, we still chased Tiana's path that led closer to the forest despite hearing that those two were still alive."
"If she did dislike her ho then she wouldn't be hanging around it, right?"
"Pretty much."
"But what if she didn't know it was her ho?"
"Then she would be unable to avoid it."
Erika posed and Elric snapped his fingers.
"Exactly."
Tiana sighed at that and raised her hands.
"I am sorry, you got —"
"—Hoho!" Elric chuckled. "I am not done."
All of them tilted their heads.
"That's not all I've figured out, little Tiana. I have easily figured out the entire plot of this mini arc and you can not stop from logically putting it forth."
"What arc, what plot?"
"Shut up and bask in my greatness."
"T-t-twenty eight?"
"And where do elves live?"
Elric yawned and sat back down.
"Now listen. Tell again what's fifty-five tis sixteen, Tiana."
"T-t-twenty eight?"
"And where do elves live?"
"In many places."
Claude crossed his hands. So level of understanding was dawning on him.
Just being bad at math didn't justify making such stupid mistakes unless one wasn't Elric. But knowing that other bit required so amount of knowledge, general knowledge.
But where such general knowledge reach soone but basic math skills didn't?
"I guess you're on to sothing," Elric asked.
And Claude nodded.
"I can understand. She didn't know where she lived, nor did she know math, but knew sothing that many others knew. It is a very jaggedy range of knowledge."
"It seems like a stretch," Elric said. "That's why I saved it for the end."
"I still don't get it," Erika muttered. "What are you guys on about?"
"Think of it," said Elric once more. "Where do you find soone that knows a lot about, let's say animal rearing, but can hardly tell you what separates physics from chemistry?"
Erika had gone to the country sides a lot. Her extended family was one of farrs.
She knew well such things.
"Farm hands."
"Or…?"
"F-farm legs?"
"Alright, my bad. Generalize it?"
"F-farr…s?"
Elric coughed.
"No, people with a limited access to knowledge. Soone who has not learned a lot."
"Oh!" Erika humd. "I see, so basically people who were only exposed to one thing but not the other. I still don't get what you're trying to tell ."
"Knowledge cos from exposure, exposure is pretty much experience, the older and freer you are, the more knowledgeable you would be."
"Correct," Erika nodded.
Tiana clenched her fists.
"Do you rember how old Tiana is? We saw her soul stone didn't we?"
Erika raised her head and thought.
How old…
"Wasn't she 98?"
Erika nodded. "Yup, she was 98."
"She's old, she should know a lot."
"But she doesn't."
"The older you are the more you know, the…" Elric bulged his eyes out and leaned toward Erika.
"Freer, you are?"
"Correct!" Elric smiled and sat back. With a wide grin, he pointed at Tiana and spoke in a rapid fire, fully proud of himself. "She's spent almost all 98 years of her life in captivity and that is why she's as dumb as a rock! Boom! Bam! Mystery solved. Fucking. Told. You. So."
Tiana trembled.
A plop sounded out as a teardrop fell from her eyes.
"U…."
Elric froze.
The other two looked at her.
"Uwaaaaa!"
A scream sounded out as Tiana cried her heart in front of them. Tears fell down her cheeks like a broken dam and screams echoed through as if she was crying straight into a microphone.
each woerd. Her hand wiped her eyes but more tears follow right throigh. Erika rushed to her back and placed a hand over her, but "Eh!?" Elric yelped. "Y-y-you don't have to be… so moved."
"I am nottttt…aaaan! That was so rude…." She sniffled in between each woerd. Her hand wiped her eyes but more tears follow right throigh. Erika rushed to her back and placed a hand over her, but her tears didn't stop. "Y-you are so… so insensitive…. Uck… Why did… you have to do it like this…"
Claude and Erika glared at Elric.
"And you! And you! You even called dumb like a rock… uwaaaa…"
Tiana kept crying while Erika and Claude did their best to console her. Frozen in place, Elric had no idea what to do.
"So you're so smart? Well… I am not a rock! Take that back!"
"I-I am sorry, you're not a rock…"
Tiana sniffled and looked up.
"Then?"
"A… a… magpie?"
"THAT'S WORSE!"
The tears began again and Elric panicked again.
"I am sorry! Ok, ok, a pig! A pig!"
"UWAAA!"
"But they're as smart as three year olds!"
"I am not a piiiiiigggg!"
"Human!?"
"NOOOO!"
"Elf! You're as smart as an elf—Oh shit." Elric suddenly stoppd. "What if she really is as smart as an elf? Are all elves dumb? Then my theory breaks apart, Erika, are all elves dumb?"
Erika smacked his head.
"I am not dumb….!!" And Tiana continued crying.
The cries did not stop for a long ti as after ninety eight whole years, the young elf expressed her heart out.
But she still knew.
She still hid.
The truth of herself and her world.
She hid to protect, but she could hide it all she wanted…
As he watched her cry, a soft smile spread on Elric's lips.
He was going to make sure nothing bad would happen, even if it ant razing the elves to death.
The consequences, he could handle those when they co arouynd.
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