The next day, Ard and Eva headed to the dark elf chief’s house, escorted by Irina. The others didn’t join them and stayed behind at Mirea’s place. While walking toward the dark elf chief’s ho,
"So, the chief already knows about and Eva?" Ard asked.
"Yes, yesterday I explained everything, including our purpose for coming here. Now, he wants to et you," Irina answered.
"And what about the curse he placed on Mirea’s family?" Eva asked.
"He already suspected you were interfering when he felt the backlash of the curse returning to the caster yesterday, but I haven’t brought up the matter of him lifting the curse yet," Irina answered.
"Oh... thank goodness. Let Ard and handle that conversation with him," Eva replied.
They walked to the other side of the city, to an area on the outskirts that was quiet and inhabited by dark elves, like a village of its own separated from civilization. Many residents there turned their heads as Ard, Eva, and Irina walked past, their faces filled with questions, "who are they? why are they here?" After walking for a while, they reached the end of the road.
In front of them stood a large house filled with antiques and dark elf crafts—masks, large talismans, ropes, and such—so much so that the front of the house was completely packed with crafted items and looked like a shaman’s ho. Irina stepped onto the porch and knocked on the door.
"Co in," a voice shouted from inside. Irina opened the door and gestured for Ard and Eva to enter. When they stepped inside, they saw a middle-aged man with white hair and a beard; he had long ears and a body covered in black tattoos that coiled around his arms and torso like the image of a snake.
Ard and Eva sat in front of the middle-aged man, who sat casually with one leg pulled up onto his chair while smoking a pipe. However, Ard and Eva could see clearly that the man’s face looked pale; faint black lines were appearing on his skin, and his body was wrapped in a thick cloth as if he were shivering. His face looked angry, but also incredibly exhausted. When the man saw Ard and Eva, he turned to look at Irina, who stood by the coffee table right between them. After confirming sothing with Irina, who nodded in return, the man turned back to Ard and Eva. He forced a smile onto his tired, sickly face.
"Greetings, Third Prince of Fredonia and Second Princess of the Orthus Empire. My na is Bhadra Regnas. I am the chief of the Elk dark elf tribe living in this city. Welco to my ho," Bhadra said, offering his greeting.
But before Ard and Eva could return the gesture, Bhadra suddenly glared at them with a sharp gaze full of supernatural energy that felt truly suffocating. Irina backed away to avoid being hit by the blast of Bhadra’s energy; her face looked annoyed and her hand moved to the hilt of the sword at her waist. Ard and Eva, however, were completely unfazed. Both remained calm.
"You should stop, Elder, before soone gets hurt," Ard said.
Instead of stopping, Bhadra intensified his attack. Seeing that Bhadra was serious, Ard and Eva stared back at him simultaneously. Gray energy began to pour from their bodies, crushing Bhadra’s supernatural pressure until his entire body was engulfed by the surge of Ard and Eva’s power. Realizing he was defeated and having felt the true nature of their energy, Bhadra stood up and imdiately dropped to one knee, his head bowed toward the floor.
"Forgive for testing the two of you, Hero Ashton and Hero Esralda. I only wanted to make sure if you are the ones I have been waiting for all this ti," Bhadra said.
"Rise, Elder," Ard and Eva said, standing up and asking Bhadra to get to his feet.
Once they were seated again, Ard and Eva explained the reason for their visit, just as Irina had relayed to Bhadra. Naturally, Bhadra listened, nodding along without saying a single word as he took it all in seriously. Then, he ntioned that currently, most of the dark elf tribe was busy assisting the Kingdom of Durnhill in their war against the Kingdom of Fredonia at the border.
"Hmm... so it’s true then, the Kingdom of Durnhill is attacking the Kingdom of Fredonia," Ard muttered.
"Correct, Prince. The trigger was Prince Julius going missing in the Kingdom of Fredonia, but I suspect that isn’t the real reason. Before King Gregorius declared war on the Kingdom of Fredonia, an envoy from the Emperor of the Orthus Empire arrived a week prior. Ever since then, the King has beco a bit strange," Bhadra replied.
"Behaving strangely?" Eva asked.
"He beca short-tempered, making impulsive decisions and... even locking the Crown Prince in the dungeon because he disagreed with his decisions," Bhadra said.
"Hmm? King Gregorius locked Nikolai up?" Ard asked.
"Yes. The public reason given was that Prince Nikolai intended to rebel to overthrow the throne. Of course, no one believes that, because we all know very well who Prince Nikolai is," Bhadra answered.
"Do you know why King Gregorius changed?" Eva asked.
Bhadra fell silent for a mont, then he looked down and glanced at Irina beside him, who was clearly a mber of the demon race. Then Bhadra looked back at Ard and Eva.
"There is a black shadow enveloping King Gregorius’s body, and his eyes are clearly not the eyes of a human because they are red. We dark elves can see it, but we can do nothing. It seems King Gregorius is possessed by an evil demon or sothing related to demons, because we can truly feel the presence of the demon race within him," Bhadra said.
Ard and Eva gasped; they imdiately turned to look at each other, as they seed to know what was happening based on the story. After that, they looked back at Bhadra.
"It looks like I know what’s happening... that potion still exists, after all," Ard muttered.
"Yes, it’s clear that Edmund was the one who provided it," Eva added.
"Um... excuse , but what exactly are you talking about?" Bhadra asked.
Ard and Eva explained what had happened at the academy and the involvent of the dark sect there. They also described the change in Emperor Ellard III’s behavior before his death and his subsequent replacent by Edmund. Hearing this, Bhadra imdiately went into deep thought; the dots were clearly starting to connect because of Ard and Eva’s story.
Afterward, Ard and Eva also explained the purpose of their journey—eting and training at the Dragon God’s sanctuary and now standing before Bhadra. Once the two finished their story, Bhadra appeared to think for a mont. After that,
"Hmm... there is a possibility that the Githiess egg you are looking for is inside the mine. Recently, the miners discovered the ruins of a city deep within the mine that has been quite disruptive to their work. In the center of those ruins, there is a massive stone that covers the entire site, and it is shaped like an egg," Bhadra said while reflecting.
"Hmm... really? It seems we’ll have to investigate that," Ard said.
"Yes, we’ll try to go inside," Eva replied.
"My apologies, but you cannot enter just like that. You must first ask for permission from the miners’ guild. I will write a letter for you to take to them," Bhadra said.
"Thank you, Elder. But why are you helping us so easily?" Ard asked, trying to figure out Bhadra’s motive.
"The reason is simple. We dark elves also want to live in peace. Actually, we don’t like war and prefer a quiet life. But with the state the world is in, even if we work together to end the war, it will all be for nothing if the root of it all remains. Please, eradicate the root cause of why this world has beco this way, Hero Ashton, Hero Esralda," Bhadra answered with a smile, his face looking utterly exhausted.
"Alright, we understand, Chief," Eva said with a smile.
"Please excuse for a mont," Bhadra replied.
Bhadra stood up, walked toward the back of the house, and entered a room. Ard and Eva let out a sigh of relief, both leaning back in their chairs and relaxing, while Irina sat across from them.
"Truthfully, I already told him everything you guys said yesterday, but it seems he trusts the story more coming directly from you," Irina said, glancing back toward the room where Bhadra had disappeared.
"I know. When he was listening to us, it seed like he already knew and just wanted to confirm it," Ard replied.
"Besides... I don’t feel like he’s still holding onto the curse on Mirea’s family. Judging by how exhausted his face looks, I think he has already released it," Eva said.
"I was thinking the sa thing," Ard replied.
"Oh, so that’s why you didn’t bring the topic up. Yesterday when I ca here, he was nearly dead because he’d been hit by the backlash of his own curse. I healed him, and because of that, he was willing to listen to . I once heard from the Dragon God that the dark elf tribe is the most stubborn and difficult-to-talk-to race in the world," Irina replied.
"Yeah, we know about that. That’s why it’s a bit strange that he was willing to help us so readily," Ard said.
"But Ard, has he ever t us before? For so reason, I feel like he knows us," Eva said.
"Exactly. I feel the sa way," Ard said.
In the end, the three of them just sat there in silence, waiting for Bhadra, who was inside writing the letter of introduction for the miners’ guild.
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