Chapter 84: A New Arrival

“I’m sorry,” Elru's voice rang amidst the spinning sphere of Arcane-Wind that carried the group.

Rainer shook his head.

“It isn’t your fault at all. Don’t worry.”

Elru referred to Maya who she had placed a Runic seal on. Until a day passed and the seal naturally started fading, forcibly removing it could cause significant damage. Interrogation would serve no purpose if she wasn’t even able to speak anymore.

While one strong enough could easily overpower the seal, and come out unharmed, level 20 tier 1 Maya could not overcome dual efforts of Elru and Furtak in the slightest.

Rainer suddenly thought of the palace that had been sealed. He imagined the World Tree wouldn’t leave any Fae to their deaths within. And too had the Fairy Ring, that was an actual ring, gone inert. The item would teleport one directly into the Palace.

“Elru, what happens to anyone inside when the Palace is sealed?”

“I was not around when last a Ruler of Fae fell, but I’ve read a journal entry of one of the palace servants. He had been dusting a shelf when suddenly he felt a strange and massive power come over him. And before he knew it, he stood outside of the palace quite a distance away. If Quera was inside, then she would have been expelled.”

“What do you think the courts will do with those expelled?”

“Question them…but it would take a long time. They are slow in such matters, and it is difficult to say for certain whether one was just a servant of the World Tree or there to serve Yulia.”

“While we head there how about explaining anything offensive to Fae I shouldn’t do?”

They continued speaking as the rest of the party listened. Luna sat as a silver bird on Rainer’s shoulder, though she would have to return to his coat once they were there.

Towards the end, Rainer asked his own questions. Similar to Wolfkin, references to other creatures resembling them were considered to be at the top of the list of offensive remarks. Things like flies or bugs, or even butterflies contained within them the greatest of insults.

“What about using [Appraisal] or taking them out of their Glamour?”

“It is customary to lower one’s guard to [Appraisal] in a negotiation, as children were taught to constantly use [Appraisal]. It is almost second nature to use it, and it would not be an insult at all.”

“Thank you. It couldn’t have been easy,” Rainer said. He gained a new appreciation for Elru for not appraising Luna.

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“It was not,” Elru responded.

“It is impolite in the first place to use Glamour for anything but fun or benign purpose in the presence of another Fae.”

“Fun?” Rainer asked.

Elru shimmered to reveal her original form before her hair started taking on a variety of colors. Something akin to eyeshadow appeared beneath her eyes matching her hair color. Her original blue eyes too changed as well.

Rainer then wondered what kind of trust issues could be developed in the Fae dating scene before realizing that even with his improved Charisma, Fae seemed to still outpace him in appearance.

“Hey, Elru…are there ugly Fae?” Rainer asked. Life was relative and what may still be beautiful by human standards may not be for others.

“No?” Elru responded confused.

“Children use it to play games of hiding as well.” She then said continuing the conversation.

“So, I should be fine shoving any Fae around me out of their Glamours.”

“If you wish for an advantage in negotiations, I would even suggest it,” Elru responded. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

They continued their flight until they reached the Fairy Ring.

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Wearing a dark enchanted leather armor, a brown-haired Fae stood in front of a group of seated Fae, and one in particular. Elder Taramath. His blue hair which has lost its shine did not detract too much from his Fae beauty.

His brows furrowed as the Court Assassin in front of him conveyed his discoveries. At a great distance, he followed the [Archon] out of the Fae Ring and witnessed the end of the battle the [Archon] had been embroiled in.

Many one-time use Body enchantments were consumed in the failed attempt to keep up with the [Archon].

He entered the scene just in time to see the [Devil King] and the [Archon]’s actions against him. At the mention of the [Devil King] whispers erupted between the court members.

They couldn’t fathom what relation Yulia had to the appearance of [Devil]s. But they now believed they had a greater understanding as to how Yulia managed to attract the attention of an [Archon].

Seeing their looks as if they solved something, Laneth struggled to keep his laughter to himself.

Sitting at a circular table that grew from the wooden ground beneath it were other high-ranking members of the four Fae Courts.

“Was the Wolven Demon a familiar of the [Archon]?” Taramath asked.

“I did not sense a connection between them, but I cannot be sure.”

“Yes…there are other means of connection to a familiar…you may go,” Taramath waved him off.

“It seems you made the correct decision, son,” A similarly golden haired Fae spoke to Laneth seated beside him. At this mention, many gave pointed looks at the duo but said nothing else. They held quite a bit of jealousy toward the Prince who gained such a relationship with the [Archon]. But with Laneth’s disinterest in politics, they weren’t too worried about it.

Taramath, who had been one of those to try and block the [Archon]s path, knew now how close he might have come to death. As a group, they, of course, had confidence in dealing with a single level 19 2nd Tier individual. While he knew, he likely would have died on his own.

And given the description of the magic used on the [Devil King] the confidence in dealing with him even as a group lessened significantly. Yet his known action in teleporting directly to the Fae Realm left them without any options in trying to prevent him from coming here.

“What are we to say to the populace?”

While hated amongst the Fae courts for their deaths she caused, the majority of Fae, in fact, liked her. The Queen or King of Fae had several powers to influence the Fae realm one of which included the manipulation of world energy density.

An ability that was kept secret.

In the capital city, closest to the Palace, the density had been higher than anywhere else. This improved the general quality of life of Fae living there. Many animals and plants raised by the Fae in order to harvest their Mana for consumption had their quality, and taste of their Mana improved.

But with Yulia, such a situation changed. She spread the world energy equally across the Fae settlements and revealed to the populace their leader always had such an ability. She then threatened the court she would remove it entirely if her agents were stopped from leaving.

Were Yulia stopped from leaving, they would simply kill her rather than just stop her. So, she did not even bother with such a condition.

They had been hesitant before to stop any who served the World Tree by working at the palace, and this had cemented that hesitation.

“I see no reason to claim she was killed in the Palace. It is best we say we do not know and that she had left. I imagine you’ve all already spoken with those present at the scene to keep quiet in any case?” A white-haired Fae answered.

“What about shifting the blame to the [Archon]?” One asked.

“Blaming the [Archon] as an evil Queenslayer will only make us look incompetent. And if he returns who volunteers to detain him for his crimes?”

Following a few private conversations, no one said any word of dissent.

“If or when he returns, then, how are we to treat him?”

“We’ll reward him in private as we try to understand the organization behind him. My own searches in the archives proved fruitless…”

They were several grumbles in agreement.

“Then we can-“

“The [Archon] has arrived!”

A voice suddenly yelled into the meeting room.

“This should be entertaining,” Laneth whispered to his father.

His father only gave him an annoyed glance. While his son’s actions proved to give their own court the greatest relationship with the [Archon] as well as a possible aid for the soon coming trial, he knew a large part of his motivation wasn’t for such a purpose.

Inviting outsiders was usually not an option, nor was there even a point. In single combat, the Fae thought their enchanted warriors and powerful mages as unmatched. But given the possible rewards and status that may be bestowed upon their Queenslayer, even if publicly for a different reason, he would no longer be an outsider.

And his strength in killing Yulia shown above their belief in their own strength.

Whether it was his fallen brother or to anger the Fae elders, Prince Yaf couldn’t be sure of his son’s motivations.