“Wait, wait, wait. What oathbreaker? I have no idea. I just heard from Senia that an incredibly skilled archer lives here…”
Iyue’s words left the young hero completely confused.
Her emerald eyes calmly examined the boy’s face for a moment, then she said:
“You, a human, dare to address the princess by her name?”
“Uh… I suppose that’s not really proper. It’s just that I’ve gotten used to calling her that.”
The young hero scratched his cheek with an awkward expression and laughed sheepishly.
‘He seems like the type who doesn’t stand on ceremony. That fits my sister’s preferences.’
Nai Fei Tali, who was watching from the side, thought so.
“…If you’re not someone she sent to deal with me, then who are you?”
“I already told you! I’m the Hero! But you didn’t even give me a chance to finish before attacking me!”
“Sorry.”
Iyue bowed her head and apologized simply, then looked at him with the same indifferent expression as before.
“You say you’re the Hero… Were you summoned by that summoning ritual?”
“Yes. Those people said I’m the fifth one. I’m currently traveling to defeat the Demon King.”
“Defeat the Demon King? I think you’d better give up. Since you were summoned by that ritual, you must have heard what kind of end your predecessors met.”
“I know. But I have a reason I can’t give up. And even if I did, I can’t go back to my original world. Sephy… the Sage told me that my summoning ritual exhausted all the magic power in the Earth Veins of the Grand Teleportation Array of Iranxia.”
The boy’s expression and words were full of resolve… but in the eyes of that elf ranger whose heart was like dead ashes, all she saw was a shadow resembling her past self.
“Is that so. Good luck then.”
So she took back the dagger from the young hero, and then followed the path he had come from, heading home.
“Wait! You’re the archer Senia mentioned, aren’t you?!”
The young hero froze for a second, then quickly chased after her.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about. If you’re not here to kill me, you’d better leave this forest quickly. We elves don’t like outsiders entering our territory.”
Iyue said without looking back. Behind her, Nai Fei Tali and the young hero walked side by side.
“How interesting. How exactly did you manage to take my sister away later?”
The young hero didn’t hear her intrigued murmur at all.
He ran ahead of Iyue and blocked her path.
“Your name is Iyue Nairfu, right? Even though we only exchanged a couple of moves, I’ve got a sense of your strength… You must be the person Senia was talking about.”
“I’m not.”
Iyue walked around him and continued forward, but the boy stubbornly blocked her again and again.
In this way, one after the other, they arrived in front of a small cabin.
“Stop following me.”
“Listen to me! I want to invite you to travel with me! A few days ago, we drove off the Demon Spirit Duke who invaded Fenglin City and his army. The Allied Army plans to press the advantage. Next, the Allied Army will march to the occupied Holy Nation… and as a vanguard, I need to go there first to scout. With your help, this journey would be much smoother—”
“You say Fenglin City was invaded by the Demon Spirit Duke’s army?”
Iyue, who was about to step into the house and close the door, stopped her hand.
“…You don’t know?”
The young hero’s shock and confusion were even greater than hers.
After confirming that she truly knew nothing about Fenglin City being besieged and the current king being assassinated, he told her everything he had experienced these past days.
During the story, Nai Fei Tali saw her sister’s originally blank expression shift repeatedly—shock, regret, shame… but in the end, it returned to blankness.
“His Majesty has passed away… and the Princess has ascended as the new Queen.”
“Yes. A few days ago, she formally established an alliance with the Sea of Trees and Yilansiya… All of this happened recently. How could you not know?”
“…I haven’t left this forest for a very long time.”
“You elves are really too cold, aren’t you? When I asked the people in that village, they also looked scared… Is it because the Demon Spirit Duke’s main attacks are only on the northern forest domain and Fenglin City?”
“…”
Knowing that no one could hear her, Nai Fei Tali still answered the young hero’s question for her silent sister.
Talking to herself to eliminate loneliness and dispel the darkness—this was a habit she had developed while locked in that sunless deep prison.
“That’s how it is. Our elves’ way of life is to live in seclusion, so the connections between territories are very loose. Although we nominally have a single king, each territory is essentially independent and autonomous. And even I only learned about Fenglin City’s invasion after I was released from that prison.”
“There’s something I need to ask you. The Nelf family… how is the Nelf family?”
After a moment of silence, Iyue suddenly asked the young hero.
And this question made the playful expression on Nai Fei Tali’s face disappear.
“You mean your family? Their warriors seemed to be fighting another unit of the Demon Race in the northern forest domain, so not many stayed behind in Fenglin City. But they still became a great help in our defense…”
“Then have you seen a child who looks very much like me?”
Before he could finish, Iyue cut him off.
After entering this memory, Nai Fei Tali saw anxiety and pain on her sister’s face for the first time.
“…Sister.”
She couldn’t help but step forward and gaze into her sister’s eyes.
But what reflected in her sister’s pupils was only the figure of that young hero.
“Uh… you elves all have blonde hair and green eyes, especially those from the Nelf family. Honestly, I can’t tell who is who…”
“Stop blabbering. Have you seen her or not?”
Iyue’s tone grew heavier.
“…No. The family members who participated in the battle all looked about your age or older. I didn’t see any children.”
“…”
‘Was she relieved?’
Seeing her sister’s expression return to blankness, Nai Fei Tali thought so.
“Is it your family you’re talking about? If you’re worried about her, I can ask about it when I go back… No, why don’t you just come with me? Senia must really want to see you.”
“…No.”
Iyue directly closed the door, locking the young hero outside.
“Huh? Won’t you reconsider?”
A moment later, the young hero knocked on the door with a thump thump thump.
“There are other people you can invite besides me. I am not as strong as the Princess described.”
“Hey…! Geez…!”
No more sounds came from inside the house.
The boy stood there, stomping his foot in frustration.
But Nai Fei Tali could tell from his expression that he didn’t intend to give up.
The locked door could stop the young hero, but not Nai Fei Tali, who was merely an observer.
Like a ghost, she passed directly through the closed door and entered the cabin she knew all too well.
Then she saw her sister crouching in front of her own door, sobbing into her hands.
“Nefi… Nefi…”