Before he could say another word. A different voice filled in the silence.
"Oh my, what have I stumbled into?" A feminine voice spoke from the doorway behind us.
"Mother!?" The sorry excuse for a lord spoke in surprise. Completely forgetting our presences.
The new woman entered the room proper and walked to stand next to her son, who still sat at the desk. She was a beautiful woman, even by elven standards. Her long pure white hair denoted her age, but she neither looked it, as she was just about five foot tall, which made her seem like a young lady, with all the charm to boot.
"It seems that your habit of causing trouble hasn't changed. Especially when we have such a special guest." She spoke with a voice that was pleasant and sound almost musical in nature. However, it could easily command a room.
This impressive woman looked at me and smiled before looking at the red orb of little red, who had been flying at the haughty elf, as if to attack him.
'It seems that this elf is special, as she was the only person I have met that could see the little spirits.' I though, as I calmed myself down, returning the room back to its normal temperature.
"I greet the matriarch." Zale spoke with a salute. Followed shortly by the young elf boy.
"I'm glad to see your safe return, Zale. And it looks like you have brought an interesting young man with you as well." The matriarch spoke in a calm voice as she smiled at Zale.
"Indeed, he has been of great help to me on my mission and without him, I do not think I would be able to save our family." Zale said, using this time to speak out in my defence.
"Then he should be treated as our guest." The matriarch said after patiently listening to Zale speak.
"But mother he is an-" Before the lord could finish, his mother placed a hand on his shoulder and judging by his twisted, pain-ridden face, she must have disciplined him before he said anything damaging.
"It is irrelevant where our guest hails from. It doesn't change the fact that he is the saviour of these girls. It would be dishonourable to turn him away without so much as a day of rest." She spoke with the smile still on her face; however, her voice was a little frosty.
Her words made both the lord, and the young elf boy stiffen as they didn't even dare move. Zale on the other hand, couldn't hide her smile.
"I think getting some rest would be for the best." The matriarch said, as she looked at the three elves that looked like they would fall down any moment.
[Quest complete]
You have escorted the kidnapped elves home safely.
[Reward: Access to the elven village (Limited)]
[Quest Received]
With the elves safely home. Your pledge with Zale compels you to find the source of the kidnappings and eliminate it.
[Reward: ???
Failure: Banishment from the elven homeland and a massive loss in favourability.]
"Zale, would you show our guest to the guest quarters. I'm sure that he and you could do with a proper bed." Her face was filled with warmth as she spoke. However, I managed to see the quick intense look she gave me as Zale guided me out the room.
Having no idea what the look meant, it was for the best that I pretended to not have noticed and continued out the door.
"She's quite the woman." I said to Zale as we, once again walked the halls. Thankfully it was just her and I, as our annoying boy soldier was given the task of escorting the woman back home.
"That she is. When the matriarch and her husband led our house, our village lived in security and safety, where our people grew up to be strong and honourable." Zale said with her eyes and voice sounding distant, as if she remembered a happy time.
"That does sound nice. What happened to the previous lord?" I asked, completely glossing over the fact that she implied that the current lord was destroying the village.
"…I can't tell you." She replied while hanging her head low. It didn't take a genius to work out that it was linked to the current issue troubling this village.
I followed Zale through the hallways in silence, until she brought me to a set of doors. Inside was a large room, a room fit for special guests, though by the standards of elves that is. It still had a large bed that looked comfortable, a seating area and a fireplace. And what looked to be a washroom off to the side.
Zale left me to rest, as she still needed to make her full report and plan for the next step of her mission.
I, on the other hand, wanted to take full advantage of the washroom, especially since it had a wooden tub large enough for a bath. And with my newfound control over magic, I could fill the tub in a matter of seconds with steamy water.
Closing my eyes as I sat, soaking in the bath. I wasn't sure if it was because of the stressful day, but I felt unnaturally tired and wanted nothing more than to fall asleep in this pleasantly warm embrace.
Then, like a bucket of icy water, the tiredness vanished, as if it was all my imagination.
"I would have liked to have at least a bath in peace." I said to the seemingly empty room. Having realised that the sudden tiredness was created from magic.
However, after a few seconds passed, a cheeky laugh of a woman filled the washroom. Then, appearing, seemingly from nowhere, an elven woman stood, covering her mouth her a hand as she giggled.
"Forgive my intrusion. I originally came to have a chat with you. However, I couldn't resist playing a little prank." Spoke the familiar form of the matriarch.
"Is that so. Well, shall we continue our conversation in a more appropriate place?" I asked, not particularly surprised by her sudden arrival. I had a strange feeling ever since leaving the office that something would happen, so I was prepared for anything. Though, I'll admit that I didn't think that something would happen when I was naked.
"By all means." She replied with a smile, however, made no effort to move from her spot.
With a deep sigh, I rose from the bath and stepped out to dry myself. I didn't have an exhibitionist fetish, even after my body had become tempered with chiselled muscles. I was never the type of person to show off and make a big song and dance about it. However, I knew people like the matriarch, and it was best to play them at their own game. That was the only way you would get away with some shred of dignity left intact.
However, as I stepped out, I saw that her smile just widened, and her eyes quivered as if she was trying to resist letting her eyes wander. However, to me it looked more like she moved her eyes extremely quickly, but seeing as I wasn't at the level where I could detect such fast movements, I put it out of my mind.
A few minutes later, we were sitting opposite each other in the small seating area in my room. My eleven-guest sat with a pleasant smile on her face. I had a guess as to why she was here, but I waited until she spoke.
"It seems that you're surrounded by such cute little children." Her eyes moved from mine to the little multi coloured orbs playing off to my side.
"I agree, I was pretty surprised when they started to follow me around." I replied, looking at the pleasant children dancing around with each other.
"Oh my, I didn't expect you to be able to see them. I was quite looking forward to your face when you found out about them." Although she had a smile on her pink lips. Her emerald eyes held a look of surprise.
"Then, would you like me to teach you to hear them?" She asked, after regaining some of her composure.
"I already do. In fact, little red was a big help in our journey here." I spoke as I conjured a little flame for the little red orb to eat.
"…." The elf looked at the red orb gleefully dance around the flame. Her smile cracked a little.
"…I need you." She whispered with almost bloodshot eyes. I was a little taken aback by her declaration. I hoped that it was a misunderstanding and not what I thought she meant.
"Let me teach you spirit arts!" She lost all her composure and nearly jumped out of her seat and towards me.
However, I was a little surprised. Spirit arts were the parallel to the arcane, that is to say the arcane's focus was to dominate magic and completely control it, becoming its master. While spirit arts focus was to become at harmony with the world of magic.
"I already follow the path of the arcane. Wouldn't spirit arts be completely impossible for me?" I will admit that I was tempted by her offer. However, it was like a soldier being a pacifist, the two weren't compatible.
"On the contrary, those on the arcane path are often better suited than others. The hardest part is finding a spirit who likes you enough. That's the part that most arcane users fail, as their teachings tend to discredit the worth of them." She explained, having regained some of her composure.
"But then there is you, you have attracted the attention of five spirits. So, I'd say that you pass with flying colours." She added, looking at the floating orbs with a gentle smile.
I thought for a moment. It was a very tempting offer. But wasn't sure whether this would mess up my path, as even though spirit arts were a type of magic, it might be the only thing that could screw everything up.
"I can tell what you are thinking and that you won't have to worry. Plenty of those who followed your path has studied spirit arts in the past." She read my mind. Though, it was a common question to ask.
"Then, sure, it is something I am curious on learning. However, I'm not calling you master." I said, folding my arms, looking her square in the eyes. I knew that she was the type of person who'd like for me to do something like that.
"…Fine." She replied, looking a little upset.
'I knew it. This woman is going to be a handful.'