The Survival of an Inferior

Asform gazes down at the human trio leaving the kingdom from the mysterious room. The room has no light except for a few torches.

"What do you think?" Asform asks the elf behind him. An elf is grovelling beside Asform who sits on a chair. The elf is the same elf with purple eyes and blonde hair as the elf that gave Elsa more information during the meeting. 

"I-I find him quite dangerous, your highness. If he can clear the dungeon, he most likely stole the soulstone from the hero that killed the tenth son." says the elf. 

Asform sighs. "Herfia, you still have a long way to go. How can you be useful to the Demon Lord with such perception?" 

"I-I apologize!" says Herfia, burying her head into the ground. Her body trembling. 

Asform smirks at her obedience.

"Recently, our executives have taken notice of him, the so-called waste of the Turner family, Samuel. After our meeting today, I've confirmed my suspicion. He is dangerous."

Asform realises Samuel's gaze when he questioned Samuel. Thus, deducing that Samuel knew the loophole of "Lie Detection". 

"There is a high chance that Samuel killed Jared. After all, he returned from that dungeon with the human noble and her butler. Secondly, for him to clear that dungeon in the Life Tree..." Asform mumbles.

Veins pop on his forehead as Asform grits his teeth. "How the fuck did that bastard clear it so quickly? That dungeon was impossible..."

The armrest of the chair cracks and crumbles when Asform clenches the tip in irritation.

"Herfia, we might have a mole within our ranks. That bastard somehow knows that we have the Pill of Life and Nature's Wrath," says Asform.

Asform glance at Herfia and she jolts in denial. "It isn't me!" 

"I know. Organise your subordinates. We will conduct a thorough search until we find that piece of shit." Asform says as he stands and leaves the room. 

================================

"Wait!" Elsa cries out from afar. My musket aims at her face and she raises her hand. In her left hand is a piece of paper.

"What?"

"T-This is the proof." She says.

...

"Open it and show me."

She complies. The paper is a transcript of a conversation between elf spies in Hanzing. Hanzing is the closest region to Elvis and is mostly occupied by The Demon Lord. 

"Leave it on the floor and move back."

Elsa nods and did as instructed. I pick it up and puts it in my coat.

"Uhm...I'm sorry." She says.

I ignore her and left.

Outside the illusion barrier, a starry night is above. We go back to where we left our horse and untie the rope.

I help Radz tie Lena to his back on the horse. 

"Will you be fine?" I ask.

"Yes, not a problem."

...

"Alright."

We travel back to Chael in the darkness with only a torch I made. 

After around 20 minutes, we start to see light on the horizon. They started rebuilding Chael's wall. 

I can see a lot of carriages outside Chael, some are merchants but most are escorted by knights. Those are reinforcements...? I can't make out what goods are carried from here.

Victoria is talking to a female knight before she notices us in the woods and waves at us.

!!!

I jolt when I realise Victoria is talking to Rena. Rena squeezes her eyes and glares at me.

"Why is he...here?" Rena asks.

"Ah, I forgot to tell you. Young Master came to aid us in the morning when the monster invaded. From his escort's testimony, he was the one that cleared a large portion of the beasts." says Victoria.

"What?" Rena blurts.

She looks at me with suspicion and left without a word to supervise her subordinates.

"Neigh!" Radz and I stop our horses behind Victoria. 

"How is it?" Victoria asks but her expression grows grim when she sees Lena. "Lena?!"

"Don't worry, she was injured but...she was saved," says Radz. "As for our conclusion...You will have to ask Young Master." He glances at me. 

A few people run to us and help Radz bring Lena into Chael. 

Victoria turns to me. "What happened?"

...

"It's best if we talk in private, invite commander Rena and any head military officer too," I say.

She nods. 

Victoria invites Rena to the mansion who reluctantly follows when she sees me. 

When we reach a room for a meeting in her mansion, several people are already present behind a large table. 

"Impossible. It really is the scoundrel!" exclaims an old man with a grey goat moustache and bald head.

"The rumoured noble trash is..." says another young man wearing a hat.

All are wearing a similar grey uniform. 

"Ahem!" Victoria coughs for everyone's attention and silence returns. 

The three of us enter the room and take the seat nearest to the door.

"Now then, this better is worth our time." says the old man with a goat moustache.

"Heth! Be respectful!" Victoria replies.

"Tch..." Heth folds his arms and glares at me.

I place a piece of paper on the table and pass it around.

!!!!!

Odd symbols are written on the paper, it's elfen language.

"You came into contact with elves?"

I nod. "I was able to obtain useful information after helping them. Although they will continue to protect us from beast hordes, they won't be able to intervene for this." 

Heth passes the paper to a young woman with a brown ponytail and eyes. She takes another paper and a quill pen out to translate the message to Elvian, the language that people in Elvis speak. 

"This is June, she is fluent in many languages and has been our translator for 6 years." Says Veronica. 

I nod.

"Uhm...Miss Rena? Don't you feel humid in that armour?" Veronica scratches her head.

"I'm fine." Rena refuses. 

Suddenly, June's jaw drop opens and she stops writing. Her body starts to tremble at the contents' horror. 

"What's wrong?" Heth asks.

"O-One..." June mumbles.

"One?"

"O-One...T-Thousand...There's one thousand Dragonic and an adult Blizzard Dragon coming our way!" She exclaims.

!!!!!!!!!!!!