-Callen-

  After the battle ended, Karia’s forces moved to occupy the city. Various knights patrolled the streets, alerting those who had chosen to hide of our victory and providing emergency treatment to the injured. As they settled in, I was immediately called into the main castle for a debriefing. Karia, an elderly knight, and Eland were sitting at a banquet table.

  “You must be Callia’s brother. Your aid in battle was timely if unconventional. Though you and your sister seem to have plenty of unpredictability.” The queen gave me a welcoming smile as she greeted me. I took note of the others' expressions, noting the elderly knight's jovial smile but sharp expression and Eland, who seemed shocked by my presence.

  “Thank you, your Grace. It’s the least I could do when I realized that critical information may not have been conveyed after the battle of Port Town.” The queen smiled, nodding, and was about to speak, but Eland burst out first.

  “How did you survive? You were at the heart of a massive explosion!” I struggle a bit for words at the question. Sure, Callia and I had discussed his strange surety of my death, but this wasn’t even the first time we had seen each other since. He had previously saved my life in the previous battle. Karia didn’t seem to appreciate being interrupted, giving him a harsh glare.

  “Well, the details for escaping the explosion aren’t the kind I feel I should elaborate on, but this shouldn’t be too much of a shock; you personally saved my life not long ago.” Thinking about it more carefully, maybe I shouldn’t judge him so harshly. At the time he was busy fighting, and I was likely less recognizable after being sliced up by the elf I had been fighting. As for not giving details on my escape, it would be hard to explain without revealing Nightshade’s status as my familiar. This secret was even more crucial to keep now that she had exhausted all her contingency mana.

  I paused a bit to gather my thoughts but stopped. Why hadn’t Eland warned Karia of the elvish immortality? They should’ve been at least vaguely aware of it even if I had broken the veils en masse shortly after their arrival. I suppose even if he did report the oddity, it wasn’t something they had to struggle against long enough to understand the threat. The more I get to interact with the prince, the more forgetful and inexperienced he seems. I can totally understand Sis's frustrations with his blockhead-level communication. Even Sis wasn’t that bad back when she thought she was unstoppable before the subsequent disasters we barely pulled through. I focused back on the discussion, putting those thoughts to the back of my mind.

  “Disregarding that, how about we move on to the information you’ve risked yourself to urgently deliver?” Karia steered the conversation back to the main topic.

  “What I know can be divided into two portions. What I’ve uncovered from personal action, and what we learned from a prisoner captured by Paladin Jonas. When breaking through to Sense Mana 100, I noticed that the elves are coated in a nearly imperceptible veil of mana. Even with the skill maxed, I don’t think I would notice it without the mana actively changing death into some kind of illusion mimicking life in a manner I struggle to comprehend. It’s like the veil hides their injuries from reality, so even when they have long died, they still act as if alive.” I paused briefly, gathering my thoughts before continuing.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “I’ve found three methods of breaking it. The simplest is forcibly expending the mana by attacking the body repeatedly until it exhausts. The strength of each veil varies significantly, but even the weakest target would require at least a dozen lethal wounds before collapsing. Interfering with the connection between the mana and its imbued Will could also collapse the veil, but I’m unsure how others would achieve that effect without a specialized affinity.” The same way the void made creating runes a nightmare, it had rapidly collapsed whatever connection was activating the veil. Thinking about it, anything that could interfere with an actively forming spell would likely have a significant effect.

  “The first method I used to break the veil was forcefully interfering with it by controlling mana to overwhelm and collapse the veils.” I let Karia and the others mull over what I had shared. The elderly knight even pulled out a notepad, writing something on it briefly. They got into discussions on countermeasures, which I didn’t really have much to contribute to, but eventually seemed to settle down, ready to continue onto the second half of my report.

  “What we learned from the captive elf didn’t quite go into strategic weaknesses and strengths, as she wasn’t knowledgeable on the scale, but we did learn some concerning matters regarding motive. The elves aren’t willfully attacking. The same veils that are giving them immortality also seem to be controlling their actions. They are swarming en masse because something described as the voice is desperately trying to find something. The elf didn’t know what specifically they were looking for, but it's likely that upon seeing it they would immediately recognize it. Again, I’m not too sure how deep the control goes, but the elves seem to be able to coordinate without cues, so the voice has some means of knowing what the elves are doing.” I finally finish my statement as the knight looks deeply disturbed and the queen’s expression tightens in deep contemplation. A grim expression flickers, but she quickly returns to a neutral expression.

  “Well done,” She paused before commanding, “Kneel.” I dropped to my knee, uncertain what she planned. “Callen of Port Town, on behalf of the king, I hereby raise you as Baron of Port Town. When you have decided upon a family name, you will send word to me, your liege, and your neighbors declaring such.” I froze as the pronouncement washed over me. Karia reached down regally, tapping one shoulder and then the other with the grip of her mace.

  “However, before you run off to your family and your lands. Know that as a noble it is your duty to guard not just your lands but those of humanity. Your presence and support in our campaign against the elven menace and the monster behind them is now a duty.” I looked up and nodded solemnly.

  “Yes, your majesty,” The words came naturally as the weight of the title began to settle. However, I didn’t need time to consider what my surname would be.

  “Your Majesty, I would like to bear the name Callen Marek.”

  Together

  Lilia held her breath, bracing before taking the dive with the corruption stats. The stampeding herd, getting closer by the moment. However, a decisive voice rang out behind her, and the sound of marching in unison and purpose drew her attention. She looked back and saw a grim but determined Jasmine leading the army towards her. A spark of irritation flared at the back of her mind.

  “Jasmine! I told you to withdraw!” The formation arrived, and before Jasmine could speak, Freema popped out from the ranks.

  “Lexia! You think we would willingly leave you to face that alone?” Her challenge inspired those in the formation to boldly cheer and slam their weapons into the ground. The use of Lilia's former name sparked anger and rejection, but she was unable to voice it as Jasmine followed the statement with another.

  “You’ve tirelessly protected us, helping us grow while grappling with an issue that we cannot see, but don’t think just because we can’t see what it is you're fighting that we can’t tell you’re about to cross some kind of line.” The silence was intense, only broken by the distant rumbling of a great storm. Lilia struggled for words as a feeling of warmth and appreciation drowned out the anger and despair she had been facing moments before.

  “How am I supposed to be a leader if my subordinates won't even listen to me?” Lilia weakly complained. However, she couldn’t stop the smile that crawled to her face as she turned back to face the stampede. She sharply barked orders for them to form a shielded circle with the archers at the center. She wanted to protect them, but what was she to do if they insisted on facing danger with her? Together they faced the imminently arriving stampede.