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Before the dragons spread their wings, just as the corpse of Roger Harker had been recovered. In the deepest forest of Eramenia, in the royal capital of the kingdom, aged elven elders and young influential figures gathered to engage in a great discussion regarding Eramenia’s role in the war.

Naturally, the host of the assembly was none other than Great King Richard of Eramenia himself. However, similar to how Anton Caprice’s active interventions in the Audrich Empire’s Imperial Assembly were highly discouraged, the king’s statements were limited to a minimum in the council of Eramenia, which served as an advisory committee.

One elven elder from the conservative, isolationist faction stepped forward to the center of the circular platform and began to speak, glancing around.

“We all understand. What that means is, His Majesty, the rightful heir of the Kingdom of Eramenia and lord of the small kingdom, Princess Margaret, argues that our great Eramenia should declare full-fledged participation in the war and even commit the Great King’s personal guard to battle. Is that not correct?”

“That statement is indeed accurate.”

In one of the equally balanced seats, Margaret, seated in the Eramenia Grand Council, quietly nodded in agreement. Although her arm was wrapped in a bandage showing the wounds from the fight with a dragon, the curse inflicted on her body by the dragon had long since healed, with scars nearly fading away.

The reason she attended this gathering with a bandage, which she didn’t necessarily need, was to showcase her status as a distinguished, nearly unique veteran soldier present here.

She had killed a dragon. Unlike the elder, who was 800 years old, even if elves who had lived for 2000 years and had turned into compost for the forest were to return, her achievement would never be dismissed. Being a Dragon Slayer was indeed an extraordinary feat.

“I’ll be direct. I am an old elf who has defended the Kingdom of Eramenia for hundreds of years while witnessing the history both inside and outside our kingdom. While I know there are elves who believe my wisdom has diminished over time, please listen to my words. How many wars do you think I have witnessed? How many crises, disputes, and conflicts?”

Margaret and her followers remained silent. It wasn’t that only young, spirited elves followed Margaret, nor that only old elders were dissatisfied with Eramenia’s involvement in the war.

However, instead of trying to clear this somewhat unfair misunderstanding, the elven elders focused on solidifying and rooting the stereotype regarding the opposing sides of ‘young Margaret’s supporters’ and ‘old conservatives.’

It was a political strategy aimed at dismissing the calls for elven involvement as the naïve outcries of ignorant young people.

“Among the most numerous disputes were the internal strife among humans. Ladies and gentlemen, do you know how many kingdoms have arisen to the west of Eramenia in the past 800 years? I wonder how many of those kingdoms have been destroyed; perhaps no one has ever counted them. There’s simply no need. After the fall of the Great Empire Caprice, there have been 97 human kingdoms established to the north and west of Eramenia. If you count the principalities and counties that rose as independent states, the number would be even higher.”

“How many of those kingdoms have fallen? Dephiris, do you know?”

Margaret asked in a low voice as the speaking elder paused for a moment to look at her.

“What do you mean by asking how many kingdoms have fallen?”

“I believe I can answer that. You said 97 kingdoms have risen? Then the number of fallen kingdoms must be 96. Only one kingdom remains, and that name is the Kingdom of Audrich. What significance is there in how they fought in the past?”

“However, I am saying that the human race is an unpredictable ally; they can split apart at any moment—”

“Even chimpanzees in the jungle will fight over their own interests.”

Margaret stood up from her seat and walked toward the central platform. In Eramenia’s assembly, entering the stage where the speaker already stood signified a formal request for a one-on-one debate.

Margaret wasn’t one to shy away from such arguments. Rather, she actively embraced them, enjoying the opportunity to present her own claims. While she didn’t always win debates, her somewhat outlier views found value in such ‘commotion.’

“Even ants crawling on the ground wage wars over each other’s territory. Bees, nesting in trees, invade other hives, committing slaughter and stealing food.”

“Your Highness’s words almost make it seem as if humans are being compared to species like chimpanzees or insects.”

“Chimpanzees or insects? Elder, it seems you have forgotten what it is that we worship.”

With a determined expression, Margaret pointed her finger at the trees of the forest.

“Do we worship a single tree?”

“There’s never been a single tree worthy of elf worship.”

“Then how about two trees? Or three? Would you bow to that tree?”

“What kind of wordplay is this, Your Highness? I have heard that you enjoy such discussions, but we cannot afford to waste time with riddles during such a critical moment.”

“Not at all. But we do worship the forest as our dwelling place and offer prayers to it. Just as you do not bow only to one tree, we would not lose our sacred faith in the forest merely because one tree is cut down. Similarly, even if one tree grows taller, it would not make Eramenia any less of a great land.”

Margaret stated the obvious. Dephiris, looking puzzled as if he didn’t know how to respond, tilted his head. The Princess of Eramenia turned to those around her and spoke passionately.

“It seems you wish to emphasize that the nature of humanity is to fight and kill each other for gains. I acknowledge that fact. However, is that all I am to concede?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“97 kingdoms have risen, but 96 have fallen. Where have they gone? Did the one surviving kingdom sink all the others beneath the sea? Did they behead all who lived in those fallen kingdoms after destroying them? Fights have conclusions. What was divided has been united. Setting the most critical fact aside and merely discussing eternal strife is a most terrible distortion.”

“The conclusion reached through absorption does not justify fratricide. Ah, please do not misunderstand. I am not a misanthrope. Humans are delightful beings to converse with, and the rare human guests I’ve met were exceedingly polite and kind. But that is all. If I must lift my weapon to aid a human friend I personally know, then I must do so, if that’s a duty of friendship. But for Eramenia to uphold its allegiance to Audrich with weapons? That is an entirely different matter, Your Highness.”

“Do not only say they fight among themselves but watch what battles they are engaging in!”

“It is a battle of iron and fire. Only wars of killing and burning. Many of the elves here are soldiers equipped with iron weapons, but which elf would enjoy fighting with flames?”

“Dephiris, you are a very old elf. The experience and knowledge earned from your years should command respect beyond rank. But when the Demon King’s army surged a hundred years ago, I have no recollection of seeing your face while leading a small raiding party watching the outskirts of the forest.”

“It was an unauthorized battle. It is not something to be proud of.”

“I am not trying to boast. However, have you ever seen the battles of the orcs?”

At these words, the elder fell silent. Margaret was right. Even very old elves rarely experienced skirmishes with regular demon troops.

During the tumultuous national strife, humans often crossed the borders of Eramenia, occasionally invading regions not allocated to them. The elves relentlessly punished such illegal encroachments, but at a time when human power was stronger than now, demon troops seldom ventured near Eramenia.

“I believe I have much to teach you about that.”

“I seek to be taught, Your Highness.”

The elder lowered his head, acknowledging his own shortcomings. Of course, it wasn’t a complete submission to accept Margaret’s claims.

“To elaborate would take us through the night, but as time is of the essence, I will keep it simple. They only fight to destroy. We have been intoxicated by the sacred mana flowing through this forest and seem to forget that the opposite mana flows from the distant north. But do not forget! That opposite mana flows from the distant north, not the west! It is a tribe that seeks only to exterminate what opposes them and wishes to commit slaughter to erase everything! Do not cloud the discussion with tales of how humans slay one another. Do you think our wise Eramenian elves would be such fools as to distinguish between the gravity of matters?”

Despite Dephiris’s grimace, he could not muster a rebuttal to Margaret’s words. The nature of orc slaughter was clearly more severe than human wars. If he were to counter that, he would surely be labeled a fool who cannot distinguish between serious matters.

The elven elder resolved to slightly shift his argument against expanding involvement.

“Your words are true, Your Highness. As I mentioned earlier, I do harbor some doubts about whether I can fully trust humans as allies, not because I bear any ill will toward the human race, but rather a sincere concern. I firmly believe that any elf would choose humans over orcs should they stand in front of them. Surely everyone can agree on that?”

No one opposed this statement. In terms of appearance or temperament, it was undeniable that elves seemed to get along better with humans than with orcs.

“Then why are we opposed to raising troops for them?”

“However, we must always prioritize our stance, Your Highness.”

Dephiris gulped. Margaret nodded, showing her willingness to hear what the elder was saying.

“You have mentioned the many races forming the ecological community of our great forest. Honeybees that produce honey for themselves, ants that build homes underground for their own, gorillas that sometimes brandish violence for their prosperity. We strive to become a superior race; however, I have never heard of a race that survives while putting others before their own kind in the flow of harmony.”

“Advocating for active participation in war also serves the purpose of Eramenia. If Audrich falls, the Demon King’s next target will be the Kingdom of Eramenia. Surely everyone is aware of that fact.”

“Then now is not the time for decisive action. At least not while Walter Hellhound’s army is currently advancing on the northern front.”

Dephiris spread his arms wide, trying to persuade the crowd.

“Humans have yet to reach the brink of destruction! However, war is perilous, and the future is unknown. I have no doubt that the army of Eramenia is strong, and elves are great warriors. But if we charge forth carelessly, we might suffer unprecedented casualties! Let us wait! Wait until they devour each other, until one side gains an upper hand! If the advancing Imperial troops are pushed back far and even the royal palace of Caprice is in danger, then it would not be too late to lift our weapons! They say the Empire has many heroes, so even if they reach such a state, many of the Demon King’s army will be dead and it will become an easier battle than now. If a hero manages to win every battle like that and defeats the Demon King, wouldn’t that be a great outcome? But if we don’t wait and suffer unnecessary losses and retaliations, and lose friends we don’t need to lose, then do the lives we had lost hold the same value as human lives?”

“Are you trying to weigh the value of lives, Elder?”

“They only live for a mere 100 years!”

The elder shouted at the elves.

“And we live well over a thousand years. Even if a young human’s life ends prematurely, it is merely 80 years earlier than it would have. In this old elf’s eyes, the extinguished life of a young human seems no different from the renewing life of an elf.”

“We are the ageless kind. Our hearts may be influenced by the passage of time, but our bodies do not age. We elves are that kind of race.”

“That is certainly true. I believe that my statement that a longer lifespan and healthier life has a greater value, while cruel, is not an unfounded claim.”

“I mean to say that if we were to die right now, we might not be losing much,” the voice of Margaret was calm yet sharp.

“What do you mean by that?”

“They age. Young men who die at twenty lose not only the experience of their middle age but also the aging experiences they would have had as their hair color changes and their bodies weaken. What should be a mere process in a human’s life becomes an unknown experience that they can never have, and they leave this world just like that. But what of us? If we were to die right now, how much would we lose?”

“Are you claiming that the life of a human is lesser than that of an elf?”

“Not at all. However, I simply wished to express that the way we play with words can lead to drastically different methods of weighing value.”

Margaret smiled faintly at the corner of her mouth. Yet the wild energy glittering in her eyes was overwhelming the atmosphere among the crowd. That gaze was one only someone with experience in slaughtering living beings with their own hands could possess.

“And life is not something that can merely be weighed with wordplay. Such debates about value are meaningless, do you not think?”

“Such words should be reserved for those who are neither human nor elf. Ask the humans! Whether the life of an elf is more valuable than a human! They will surely hold human lives in higher regard. Nothing wrong with that.”

“There is some truth to that. But my comrades from the west are nothing less than brothers to me. They think like us, can act like us, and even share a long history of contact with us. Where have I gone wrong?”

“If you personally consider them to be brothers, then there is no issue. But that is all that you can do; it merely allows you to send your troops into battle. The Eramenia Grand Council has never obstructed or intervened against that, have they?”

“I stand here to persuade more elves to see them as brothers, just like I do. I reiterate, denying the existence of a fateful community between Eramenia and Audrich, elves and humans in the current reality is nothing but the most foolish escapism!”

The argument seemed only to grow longer and more tangled. Each side seemed to hold only their own arguments for reinforce their claims, lacking the destructive strength to topple the other’s assertions.

Just as King Richard stood up to mediate the escalating argument, an elven messenger burst forth from the trees and charged into the center of the assembly.

“Intruder! An outsider has entered!”

“An outsider? An unauthorized person, perhaps?”

Just as Richard, who had been half risen from his chair, jumped up in surprise. The messenger tilted his head slightly.

“That… he possesses an amber stone. Also draped in a blue robe, if what I’ve heard is true, he is…”

“I will meet him myself.”

Margaret moved before Richard could even finish his sentence. The King momentarily reached out to stop his daughter’s hasty action, but he sensed her expression—filled with anticipation after displaying the fierce eyes of a wild beast just moments ago—and determined he couldn’t stop her, let out a shallow sigh.

“It seems a guest has arrived, so I will dissolve this meeting here for today. Everyone, retreat and take your time. And Margaret, prepare the royal hospitality. Although it is a guest to be welcomed, I fear that he may bring news that has reached him all the way into this forest.”

 

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