Chapter 227: Confession and Leniency
It was a special kind of attack, a parting gift from the Demon King. And Frieren had been the unlucky one. From the sound of it, it had been a one-time use. Otherwise, the other two would have been hit as well.
But for them to have just... taken the city's power... the sheer audacity of it. They were either in a dungeon now or on a wanted poster.
"What's the name of the city?" she asked.
"I'm sorry. I don't know." She had been unconscious, after all.
"Calm down, Serie," he said, and gently patted her on the head. "There aren't that many human cities in the north, and even fewer with priests. We'll find them."
"I'm just... worried that they might have surrendered." She knew her two students. Ela was the quiet one, but she could be reckless. The idea to take the city's power... it was probably hers. And the other... under his own, gentle tutelage, she had become a kind and good-hearted person, a person that she herself... was not. And if they were to find themselves in a situation where they knew they were in the wrong, and where they did not want to harm any innocents... they would have just surrendered.
"That's a possibility. It seems we'll have to go at once."
"Hmph. I'd like to see who dares to lay a hand on them," she said.
"But first..." his gaze now fell on the still-unconscious girl, "...we have to find a place for her. She needs to rest."
She, too, looked at her. To take her with them... she would just be a burden. But to leave her here... that was not safe either.
"I want to go with you," she said, her voice now a small and weak sound. She didn't want to be the reason for any delay. And she had to know if they were safe.
"Don't be ridiculous," he said, and with a gentle touch, a wave of a soft and calming magic now pressed her back down. "You can barely walk. How can you go anywhere?"
He saw the stubborn look in her eyes, and a small smile touched his lips. "It seems they did not save you in vain. Very well. If you must go... she can carry you," he said, and pointed to the other.
"Huh?" she said, her eyes widening. "Why should I carry her?"
"I heard that elves don't like to touch strangers. It would be... inappropriate, wouldn't it?"
"I don't care about such things." Her own travels with him... she had not cared then. Of course, he was an exception.
"If it's not too much trouble, Lord Rhodes..." she said, her own voice a meek and submissive sound.
"Alright then," he said, and turned to her. "You stay and look after her. I'll be right back."
"Where are you going? I thought we were in a hurry."
"We need a ride, don't we? And I need to get some information. Or did you want to fly all the way there?"
And before she could ask any more questions, he was gone, a silent and traceless departure.
She looked at the spot where he had been and just pouted. Secrets again, she thought. 'A ride'... he's just going to find a new power source.
But she still found a more comfortable spot for the other girl.
She looked at him, at his sudden disappearance, and a wave of a new and profound awe washed over her. Just how strong are they? she thought, and her gaze now fell upon the other, upon the beautiful elf with the long, golden hair, an elf who now radiated an aura of a cold and unapproachable power. "Lady Serie," she asked softly, "is... is he always like that?"
"Don't mind him," she said without looking up. "He's always like that. So mysterious, and always doing whatever he wants, without a care for whether or not he's making people worry." Her tone was a feigned annoyance, but her words, they held a warmth and a familiarity that the other girl could not miss. "Oh," she said, and asked no more questions.
In an interrogation room.
"Name?"
"Ela," she said, her own voice a tired and weary sound. She was chained to a chair, a magical ward preventing her from using her own power.
"Sex?"
"Female. Can't you tell?" she said, and gave the mage before her a look.
"And race?"
She wanted to say something, something sarcastic about her long, pointed ears. But the young woman before her... she looked so nervous, so unsure of herself. "Elf."
The mage quickly wrote it down, a look of a profound and abiding fear on her face. To interrogate an elf, a powerful elven mage... it was a thing no one wanted to do. The relationship between humans and elves... it was a delicate one. After the founding of the Kingdom of Ersten, there had been a brief period of a 'honeymoon' between them. But as humanity had grown stronger, and the elves, having lost their ancestral home, had begun to decline, that relationship had grown... strained. They were still one of the most powerful races in the world, and an elven mage of her caliber... she was a person of a great and terrible importance. To mishandle this... it could lead to a diplomatic incident of a disastrous proportion. The older, more experienced mages had all known this, and so the task had been pushed onto her, the rookie.
In another interrogation room.
The atmosphere here was a little less... grim. She was not in chains, and there were only a few guards outside the door. And across from her sat a middle-aged man in the fine clothes of a nobleman, the Duke of this city himself.
"Miss Flamme, is it?" his voice was a calm and level sound, but with an undercurrent of an undeniable authority. "I am surprised. With your human identity, and your great magical talent... why would you, along with that elf, do such a reckless thing?"
(End of chapter)
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