Hell Mode: Volume 7, page 16
“Is there anything else, Elf Princess?” King Olvahs asked as if he had guessed Sophie’s thoughts.
Sophie looked at the king. She knew the time had come for her to ask what she had known for years she would have to ask him the moment the two met.
“I want to ask about King Rehzel.”
King Olvahs’s golden eyes narrowed in suspicion at this.
“My father?”
“That’s what I’ve heard. That your father’s name was Rehzel.”
Even as the words left her mouth, Sophie could feel her cheeks flush, and she instantly understood the reason behind the king’s quizzical expression. She realized that it was because of the strong hatred she held for this figure and the anguish she felt deep in her heart over those who had been turned into monsters at the hands of the Demon Lord Army.
King Olvahs shifted his gaze from Sophie to Elder Jiamnir.
“Come to think of it, I received a similar inquiry from Rohzenheim.”
“Yes. During last year’s battle with the Demon Lord Army, Rohzenheim suffered a great deal of casualties, and when the king sent a letter expressing his condolences, I received a similar question. Since it was such a rare occurrence, we elders held a discussion, and I responded only that it was the same name as the king’s father. However...”
He added that he had responded to the question with a pro forma reply, but there had been no news beyond that.
At that point, Sophie could not help but interrupt the elder. “We certainly did ask that question. We apologize for refraining from replying until today. However, this was because there was something I needed to ask you directly, King Olvahs.”
Sophie recalled the year she was enrolled in Rohzenheim’s Academy, which had come before she had studied with Allen and the others at the Academy in Ratash. It had been a year of growth and learning for Sophie, who turned fifty this year. She and her classmates had gained knowledge of a great many things. A year was not long given elves’ life spans, but it was an unforgettable year for her.
That was because, the following year, Rohzenheim had been attacked by a force from the Demon Lord Army that was five times larger than usual. In response, to save their people, the elders of Rohzenheim had had no choice but to take similar measures to those taken by the Empires of Giamut and Baukis. In other words, they had issued an order summoning back all of the students studying in domestic Academies.
What Sophie had learned upon returning home to Rohzenheim with Allen to save her homeland was that most of her former classmates who had gone to the battlefield in response to their summons were missing in action. A year later, they still had not been found. It was believed that they were probably eaten by monsters, but most of the bereaved families still visited the elders’ association to ask about the results of the search.
Just the mere thought of it evoked a strong sense of hatred within her toward Rehzel, the Demonic Deity who was the leader of the Demon Lord Army faction that had attacked Rohzenheim and tried to take possession of the World Tree. Many of her compatriots had died because of him, and many of her dear classmates had been lost. Though they had ultimately defeated Rehzel, she could not help but wonder if he and Fabraaze’s dark elves were still trying to settle a grudge against Rohzenheim for having chased them out, and whether the same thing could happen again. Even though she knew her thoughts were little more than a baseless accusation, she still could not stop herself. The realization of what she was doing merely made her chest hurt.
However, Rohzenheim had been unable to ascertain what kind of relationship the Demonic Deity named Rehzel, a former dark elf, had had with the village of Fabraaze. Even after a truce had finally been signed with King Olvahs five hundred years ago, there was an overwhelming lack of information, as most of the exchanges had occurred purely between the elders in charge of diplomacy, who had traveled back and forth.
The dark elves had long since decided on the next king from among a dozen elders and royal children. After the armistice had been signed, Rohzenheim and Fabraaze had begun keeping each other informed of their respective changes of king and queen. However, the name of the candidates had not been reported, and the name Rehzel had been neither among the successive kings known so far nor among the elders known to Rohzenheim.
Now, the only way left was to ask the people of Fabraaze and King Olvahs directly. When she learned that she had gotten a reply from the village of Fabraaze saying that Rehzel was the name of King Olvahs’s father, Sophie had decided that she must one day go to Fabraaze. She had not been able to think of anything else she could do to let go of the hatred that tormented her.
And finally, her opportunity had come.
She, of course, had also thought that telling this story might make it harder for her to do what she had to do now. Even though Fabraaze had been cooperative in dealing with this situation, their cooperation might come to an end should she ask about Rehzel. However, she wasn’t able to put aside her bitterness and hatred for the onetime dark elf Demonic Deity who had slaughtered millions of elves as she proceeded to speak with the dark elves. As the princess of Rohzenheim, she could not simply turn a blind eye to the horrific past. She figured that she should broach the subject before securing their promise of cooperation.
“Hmph. It sounds like this is a topic Your Highness intends to press. Well then, before I talk about my father, let’s hear what you have to say. It seems that the current circumstances may also relate to my father.”
Sophie nodded at the king’s words and took a deep breath. “Yes. When we faced off against the commander of the Demon Lord Army that invaded Rohzenheim last year, he referred to himself as Rehzel.” She blurted all that out in a single breath.
The dark elves gasped. They, too, knew that Rohzenheim had been invaded by the Demon Lord Army. They also knew that even Fortenia, the home of the World Tree, had fallen, resulting in many casualties. Some hated the elves and Rohzenheim, but none had disputed the king’s condolences, even in spite of their historical animosity.
As far as the king was concerned, not only had the princess, who was often referred to as the next queen of Rohzenheim, come to their village without any advance notice, but she had also gone so far as to accuse his father of attacking her country. He could not have possibly predicted this.
Right away, all the dark elves in attendance voiced their angry objections in unison.
“Impossible!”
“Don’t mess with us!”
“Discard the Armistice Agreement!”
Meruru, who did not have nerves of steel like Sophie or Volmaar, looked as if she could burst into tears at any moment due to her anxiety over the sudden uproar.
“Huh? What?” The boy, who looked to be about eight years old and was believed to be Olvahs’s child, could hardly hide his shock. He began to tremble with fear and looked as if he wanted to run away as the rage of the dark elves intensified.
“Don’t worry, Luke. You have nothing to worry about as long as I’m here.”
“Thank you, Fabre.”
The boy, who Fabre referred to as Luke, seemed to calm down a bit. He started stroking Fabre’s head and back as the weasel curled up in his lap.
Among the armed dark elves, the elderly general who sat closest to King Olvahs rose to his feet. “Your Majesty, now is the time to declare that the five-hundred-year-old truce was a mistake. Let’s annul the treaty and invade Rohzenheim.” At this statement, many generals stood up and voiced their support.
“Silence,” King Olvahs said in his usual soft tone.
“Huh?! M-My apologies, Your Majesty.”
Hearing this, all of the dark elves fell silent, looking over to their king in shock. The king’s expression turned angry, and even the general who had called out to him apologized, suddenly lost for words. Even Luke was frightened more by his own father, the king, than he was by the generals and elders.
King Olvahs opened his golden eyes and cast a piercing gaze at Sophie.
“Young lady, think twice before you open your mouth next time. Just like you, we do not mind how much blood must be spilled, friend or foe, for the sake of our clan’s pride.”
Sophie held the king’s gaze, staring back at him with her own strong-willed, golden eyes.
“Yes, we Rohzenheim elves shed a lot of blood against the Demon Lord Army back then. We suffered over three million casualties and still have not managed to recover all of the corpses. The person who caused such a terrible loss of life, the one who said he turned from a dark elf to a Demonic Deity in his quest for the World Tree, gave us the name Rehzel. This is why Rohzenheim asked whether the village of Fabraaze was aware of the name.”
After Sophie finished speaking, the hall fell silent. Everyone present, with the exception of Sophie and King Olvahs, was left speechless, waiting to see what would happen next.
“So, what happened to the demon?” King Olvahs asked.
“We defeated him,” Sophie replied. She recalled Rehzel muttering something at the end. As she thought back on the Demonic Deity’s last moments, King Olvahs slowly closed his golden eyes.
“Why did you tell me about this?” The king spoke with his eyes still closed.
“If Rehzel really was your father, then please, I beg you to let me know what could have inspired him to become a Demonic Deity. That’s all I want.”
Even after Sophie finished speaking, King Olvahs’s eyes remained closed. His brooding silence felt endless as everyone awaited his reply.
“You said you wanted to build a shelter near the village, and that you wanted a map,” the king finally said. His gentle voice echoed throughout the hall as his golden eyes opened.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Allow me to make the preparations. Elders, from now on, discuss with the princess of Rohzenheim those matters which best serve both of our interests.”
“Thank you for your cooperation, King Olvahs.” As Sophie bowed her head and thanked the king, one of the elders butted in.
“What?! Are you really asking us to cooperate with her?!”
“Of course,” the king replied in a calm tone. “This is a matter that concerns our village and its surroundings.”
“B-But, Your Highness! Before we get to that, we must confirm the truth of her story!”
“That’s pointless!” one of the generals shouted, interrupting the elder who was speaking. “What she said was a clear insult to us and our people! We should repay her insolence with arrows! Please entrust me with our forces! I will ensure that our wrathful arrows are delivered to Fortenia!”
“Is that so? In that case, I imagine you should hold a meeting of the elders. I was the one who suggested the armistice, and I am the one agreeing to cooperate with the princess of Rohzenheim this time around. If you deem my judgment incorrect, I suppose it’s not appropriate for me to be the king of Fabraaze any longer. But this isn’t the place to discuss such matters.”
“What?! Are you suggesting your retirement for this decision?!” The generals and elders were alarmed by King Olvahs’s assertion that he would stake his very role as king on maintaining his choices.
All eyes naturally gathered on Fabre, who was curled up in Luke’s lap. However, the Sovereign of Spirits had nothing to say about the matter. Because of this, even the irritated generals and elders had no choice but to calm down.
“So, what shall we do now?”
“Once we’ve reached an agreement with the elders about the refugee shelter, I’ll entrust you with medicine that will halt the daemonic incarnations. After that, we’ll go around to all the towns and villages on the map you entrust to us and defeat the monsters. We will be looking out for survivors.”
“Hmm. Come to think of it, I heard that you’re using monsters.”
“Yes. Those are Lord Allen’s Summons.”
“Hmm? Ah, yes, the man of light who shook off the darkness and saved Rohzenheim.” King Olvahs knew of Rohzen’s prophecies, which were believed in Rohzenheim.
In order to reassure the elves, who were invaded by the Demon Lord Army every year and were tormented by anxiety and despair, Rohzen often gave them prophecies of salvation. This included the arrival of a man of light who would shake off the darkness. So, when Allen and his friends had come to save Rohzenheim the previous year, many elves had come to believe that Allen was the man of light who shook off the darkness that the Spirit God spoke of. This had been communicated to Fabraaze through the diplomatic elders.
“Then are you also a friend of this man of light who shook off the darkness?”
At the king’s words, Sophie naturally smiled and nodded.
“Yes, I am. Well then, it’s about time for us to take our leave. I have to start talking with the elders as soon as possible.”
When Sophie looked at King Olvahs’s face, she noticed a change in his golden eyes that caused her to go silent. There was anguish in them, and she realized that it was similar to the pain that she had to face within herself—the pain of the hatred she still harbored for those who had murdered her people.
The king was suffering from a contradiction within himself. Perhaps there was something he wanted to say or ask but, as king, could not. And yet, he did not want to remain silent, as it pained his heart. What did the king want to say or ask?
At that moment, Sophie forgot their respective positions and saw the dark elf in front of her as a person she needed to reach out to and support. What was making him suffer? Was there anything she could say to get rid of his suffering? Finally, she arrived at an answer.
“I’m sorry!” Sophie spoke in a deliberately surprised tone. “I thought I should share what Rehzel’s last words were before he died.”
The moment he heard that, the golden eyes of King Olvahs opened wider than ever before. “What did my father say?”
Sophie smiled and leaned forward, raising herself on her knees as if she were going to get up from the rug.
“‘I wanted to show this wonderful tree to my compatriots in a distant land.’” It was then that Sophie realized that the last words of Rehzel, who had become a Demonic Deity, were not about hatred toward the elves, but about his brethren who shared the same desire to return to the World Tree.
When she learned that Rehzel and the dark elves were dealing with the same pain as her, Sophie felt the heat running through her cheeks again. And she was not the only one.
“Thank you for telling me about my father’s final moments, Princess of Rohzenheim.”
Fabre sat on Luke’s lap, quietly staring at Olvahs. Meanwhile, Olvahs bowed deeply, refusing to look up for a while.
“I see. Father... I’ve been searching for you for quite some time,” the king muttered in a hoarse voice, his face downcast. Sophie could tell that he was crying.
Chapter 10: Team Keel: The Kingdom and the Republic
While Sophie and her team made for Fabraaze, the home of the dark elves, Keel’s team flew to the south. Merus led the group, and Krena and Keel followed behind him on their Bird B. Allen had not sent a Spirit A along with them since Merus would be with them and could serve as both a liaison and fighter. Instead, he had had their team’s Insect A utilize its Queen Cell and Spawn Abilities to increase the number of Parent Beas and Baby Beas accompanying them. He had done this because he had no plans to have any of the Insect As who had finished up their extermination efforts in Elmahl come join up with them.
Though Keel’s group had begun chasing the pillar of light two days earlier, it seemed to go on endlessly above their heads.
“We don’t seem to be getting any closer,” Krena called out from behind.
“Yeah,” replied Keel, who sat in front of her. They had repeated this exchange every hour or so since first taking off, and yet they seemed no closer to their goal.
After some time, as darkness began to creep up on the party from behind, Merus stopped at the front of the formation. “I think we should call it a day.”
“Got it.”
“Understood, Lord Merus.”
The team landed in a meadow. It was mostly flat, which offered them a great view of the sky. Ahead of them, it was dyed orange, while behind them, it was painted black.
Once they had decided on a location, Merus took out their firewood. He held out his hand, palm facing up, and a black mass appeared in front of him from which he could take out whatever he wanted. Naturally, it could also store whatever they wanted as well.
Merus was using his Angel Halo Ability to access Allen’s Storage, which Allen had made arrangements for in Angel Halo’s permissions. They could also use Storage to transfer items among themselves. However, by using Bird A’s Return to Nest, both of them could come and go as they pleased, so there was no real need to use Storage to exchange items.
The group began setting up camp, with Keel focusing on cutting grass and leveling the ground for a bonfire. He then laid out a circle of stones, set firewood in its center, and lit it.
“All right, we should— Krena, what’s wrong?”
“Shh!”
Seeing the serious expression on Krena’s face, Keel braced himself for an approaching monster. As he held his breath and watched on, Krena drew a knife that was sheathed behind her waist and stalked silently forward. After making a wide turn to the left, she approached a part of the grassland where the soil had risen. Then, she suddenly pounced onto the mound, grabbed something, and stabbed it with her knife.
“SQUEEEAK!” A high-pitched scream echoed across the open meadow.
“Hee hee, I caught it! Looks like we’re eating good tonight!” Krena stood up, beaming and clutching the horns of a horned rabbit that was bleeding from its neck.
“Y-Yeah,” Keel stuttered.
While the healer was still flustered by the suddenness of her action, Krena found a flat stone to lay the horned rabbit on. From there, she expertly field dressed the creature, removing its head, skinning it, and gutting it. She then cut the meat to make it easier to eat and skewered the pieces on tree branches Merus had taken out of Storage before placing them around the bonfire to cook.
