I Reincarnated to An Chapter 316: What Are You Afraid Of?

Chapter 316: What Are You Afraid Of?

"But Elder, we need to warn the world!" Eirbhaen exclaims, her voice firm and unwavering.

"Your Highness."

A male voice cuts in, soft yet stern.

Eirbhaen whips her head toward him, irritation flashing across her face.

"What? You think this isn’t important either?"

The blue-haired man simply stares at her in silence, unblinking.

The weight of his gaze lingers.

Eirbhaen exhales sharply, her shoulders dropping.

"Fine. Fine. Fine."

She runs a hand through her hair, trying to steady herself.

"But I still think we need to warn the world. Altheon has forgotten about magic. We need to remind them that it is coming back."

Her voice tightens, urgency bleeding through.

"Altheon is not ready."

Elder Maer sits in her usual wooden chair, her walking staff leaning against the table beside her. She watches Princess Eirbhaen with that gentle, loving gaze of hers.

But Eirbhaen is not fooled by her soft deanor. Elder Maer is one of the strongest mages she knows.

That is the only reason Eirbhaen, princess of the Vaelin, keeps her emotions in check. She does not dare be angry at the gray-haired woman who looks so gentle, so utterly harmless.

But her thoughts are threatening to spill over.

As a princess, she has a duty to protect Altheon. Their ancestors made that clear.

"Elder Maer, Elder Loujt," she begins, her voice asured now, deliberate. "Natural disasters are breaking out across Altheon. But we all know they are not truly natural. They’re caused by mages who have lost control of their mana, people who have never been taught. If we do nothing, those mages will die. And eventually, so will Altheon."

She keeps her tone gentle, softer than before. She hopes it works better than her outburst did.

Elder Maer regards her for a mont before speaking, her voice as unhurried and soft as everything else about her.

"You are right. Those disasters are not natural. They are caused by people who have never been trained, people losing control of sothing they do not understand." A pause. "Yes. You are right about that."

"However."

She takes a breath.

"This may look like the Vaelin’s duty. But it is not yours."

The words land with quiet finality.

Eirbhaen’s shoulders drop. She sinks into a chair like a deflated balloon.

She stares at her fingers. "I just want to do my duty," she says quietly.

Elder Maer smiles softly.

"You are doing your duty, Princess."

Eirbhaen looks up, hope lighting her eyes.

"By continuing to learn nature magic and the history of Altheon," Elder Maer finishes.

Eirbhaen deflates again.

"Those lessons are so boring that I almost always fall asleep in class," she pouts and mumbles.

"Hmph." Elder Loujt scoffs, almost bursting out laughing, but one stern gaze from Elder Maer makes him double down and turn it into a string of coughs.

Eirbhaen looks at the blue-haired man with concern.

"Are you okay? Do you need sothing to drink?"

Elder Loujt shakes his head, still coughing.

"Thank you, Your Highness," he says in a choked voice.

Eirbhaen steals a glance at Elder Maer before looking back down at her fingers.

"Your Highness?" Elder Maer calls to her.

"Hm?" She looks up at Elder Maer.

"Are you not supposed to be in History class right now?" Elder Maer asks.

Elder Loujt looks away, hiding his amused expression.

Eirbhaen looks at Elder Maer with pleading eyes, which has no effect on the strict Elder whatsoever.

She finally blinks and simply nods.

Eirbhaen gets up and exits the room with her head bowed.

"You need to be stricter with her, Loujt," says Elder Maer once Eirbhaen is completely out of earshot.

"And she will hate you if you keep shutting her down," replies Elder Loujt.

Elder Maer looks at Elder Loujt. "You know she’s not ready to go out there. She is still young."

Elder Loujt chuckles lightly. "Young? She’s already 31. She’s not a child anymore. In Altheon, she is already considered an adult."

"But we are not really in Altheon, are we, Loujt?" Elder Maer sighs.

Elder Loujt stands up, approaches Elder Maer, and taps her hand.

"My dear Sister, I have said this to you so many tis that I could say it in my sleep. But I am going to say it again, since it seems you still don’t get it."

He takes a deep breath before continuing.

"We are in Altheon. This forest is in Altheon. We are still residents of Altheon. A small group of people who know Altheon’s true history. And we have a duty to protect Altheon and, above all, to prepare it for the return of the mana."

"But we’re already doing that, Loujt. You know we are," Elder Maer cuts in.

"Maer, giving history and magic lessons to our younger generations and maintaining contact with the rest of the world through the Eralians are not doing our duties. They are only part of it. We need to be actively out there, recruiting those fortunate humans and training them to be proper mages," Elder Loujt says in a firr tone.

"What are you afraid of?" he ends with a question.

"And don’t tell

you just want to protect Eirbhaen." Elder Loujt cuts in the mont he sees Elder Maer open her mouth.

She closes it again.

Elder Loujt sits back down and massages the bridge of his nose. "I can’t believe you were really going to say that."

"But I am trying to protect our princess. She’s the only direct descendant of our Great Ancestor, the Great El Dhaerith of..."

"That’s bullshit and you know it." Elder Loujt cuts in with such hostility that it stuns Elder Maer into silence for a few seconds.

"I don’t an that the Great El Dhaerith being our ancestor is bullshit. Co on, Maer, you know

better than that. I an your reason to protect the Princess is bullshit."

Elder Maer does not say anything. She only blinks slowly, looking at her younger brother.

Elder Maer is close to a century old, and Elder Loujt is only in his 50s, though he looks like a man in his early 40s. His hair is so dark blue that it looks black in dimr lighting.

He helps his much older sister govern and lead their people, living deep within the untouched forest of Eralis.

The Vaelin have lived in peace and have never experienced the shortage of natural resources that drove the rest of the world to war over them.

Living in peace and remaining very much in touch with natural mana grants them naturally long lives.

Elder Maer was not exaggerating when she said 31 is too young. She asures it against her people’s standard, while Elder Loujt asures it against Altheon’s.

"That fire..." Elder Maer finally says.

Elder Loujt frowns. "You an that unnaturally large fire that happened in the forest a few months ago?"

Elder Maer nods.

"I sensed a very strong mana from it. It was not natural fire, Loujt. Soone caused it. Soone very powerful." Her voice trembles slightly. The horror of that fire is still with her.

"We all knew that. We all felt it. What’s the problem?" Elder Loujt does not understand.

The fire did happen. It appeared and disappeared as though it owned the forest. The Vaelin were in total shock when it burned through their forest. And they were in even more shock when the fire did not spread, but stayed contained within a certain area.

After the fire disappeared, the Vaelin did everything they could to regrow the burnt area. Although it was far from their village, the thought of any part of their forest burned to the ground hurt the Vaelin more than they cared to admit.

"Soone caused that fire. And it was not one of us. Loujt, not even I could summon fire that strong and keep it from spreading. It’s a forest. Thick trees. Very easy to burn. Are you really not following my train of thought here?" Elder Maer blinks in frustration.

"Are you saying you’re afraid that Eirbhaen will et the person who caused the fire?" Elder Loujt asks in disbelief.

"Maer, Altheon is huge. The chances of that happening are very low."

Elder Maer scoffs. "You can be so smart sotis, and yet so dumb. If the person who caused that fire is a trained mage, it ans that person is more powerful than . Which ans dangerous."

"But if that fire was the result of that person losing control over their mana, it ans they are much more powerful than . And that is very dangerous. Because you know how an untrained mage will eventually die when their mana explodes and destroys everything around them," Elder Maer explains with exasperation in her voice.

"Right. That I understand. So you are afraid that Eirbhaen will be in danger because a mana ti bomb might explode." Elder Loujt looks at his sister, waiting for confirmation.

"Yes," she says, relieved he finally understands her fear.

Loujt laughs slightly.

"Again, my dear Sister, the chance of that happening is very low. For soone to be that powerful is very rare. That is one. You’re already very powerful. Among the strongest in the records of our people."

"Two, again. Altheon is massive. Very big, my dear Sister. The chance of Eirbhaen eting that person is closer to zero."

He straightens his back.

"And if the person really is a rogue mage, all the more reason we need to find him and train him before he explodes."