Unwilling to continue spending time thinking about matters that were outside his control, Alz quickly confirmed his approach towards these two issues before returning his thoughts to the first of the three matters.

"Time is precious, can't afford to waste any."

He briefly hesitated as he looked down at his body, but his eyes soon filled with determination as he stood up from the log and began walking towards the trees by the side.

He had decided to visit the military library he had just gotten access to, but before he could do that, he was planning on making a pair of crutches to aid his movement for the long journey.

While he would have still have to spend more time travelling, there was not much else he could do in his current state either.

For starters, physical training was totally out of the question with his injuries as it wouldn't exactly be considered training even if he were actually dumb enough to try now, it would be closer to self-torture.

Most other activities also required moving the body which were inconvenient for him now, but reading was one of the rare few that were largely unaffected, at least that was how it was for him, something he had personally learnt back during his stay in the archives.

A bitter smile spread across Alz's face as he trudged along the path towards the guardhouse while time seemed to stretch out forever.

Despite doing his best to move faster, he still ended up taking more than three hours before he arrived here, where the southern guardhouse, and more importantly, the military library was finally in sight.

As he looked towards the library, the anticipation within him finally surged out uncontrollably, overwriting the bitterness he was feeling along the journey as he hastily made his way to its entrance as fast as he could manage.

"Halt, this is the military library. Access is restricted only to selected personnel." seeing Alz approach the entrance to the library, one of the two guards by the door immediately called out to him, causing Alz to pause and look up towards them.

"I am Alz, I have already been granted permission by the captain to browse the library." Alz bowed towards the both of them respectfully before speaking, unfazed by the doubtful eyes they casted at him.

"Alz?... Wait here, I will go check with the captain." the guard murmured Alz's name, but it didn't seem to ring a bell. However, he shot a brief glance towards Alz before deciding to check it with the captain.

The guard exchanged looks with his partner who nodded at him before jogging to the entrance of the guardhouse.

"What in the world happened to him?"

Meanwhile, shock and curiosity began to spread in the eyes of the other guard as he observed Alz in greater detail, noticing that there seemed to be even more bandages hidden beneath his clothes.

"Alz? He's here?" the captain revealed a look of bewilderment after receiving a sudden report from the guard in charge of guarding the library, doubting his ears for a moment despite how unlikely it was.

"Y-Yes captain, the elf who just arrived called himself Alz. " the guard was slightly taken aback by the captain's reaction, but promptly replied the captain's query without asking anything.

Upon hearing his reply, the captain hastily jumped out of his seat and stormed out of his office, rushing off towards the military library.

A look of puzzlement spread across the guard's face, but his well-trained body reacted faster than his mind as he hurriedly chased after the captain's back despite not understanding the reason behind his large reaction.

"Isn't he supposed to be resting!?"

There was also some confusion on the captain's face as he made way out of the guardhouse, recalling the information he received from the unexpected visitors yesterday.

---

The Previous Day, in the Captain's Office.

The skies had already gotten dark, but the captain was still diligently going through documents in his office when he heard a knock by the door.

"Captain, I have brought two guards from the palace who say that they are here to see you." a slightly frantic voice came from the door, immediately drawing his attention with the contents of the report.

"Welcome to the southern guardhouse." the captain walked up to the door without delay and personally opened the door, welcoming them in as his gaze floated over to their left shoulders as though searching for something.

He made an imperceptible frown as he didn't see what he was looking for, but he instantly blanked out the next moment as he finally noticed the distinct uniforms they were wearing, realising who these two elves were.

Meanwhile, the accompanying guard hurriedly saluted the captain and excused himself, knowing that his role here was done.

The two elves didn't mind the captain's reaction and returned light smiles to him before proceeding into the room.

"Why are the personal guards here so suddenly?"

Seeing this, the captain quickly came back to his senses and rush ahead to lead the way, wearing a wide smile across his face to avoid any risk of incurring their displeasure.

There was little difference in the function of the uniforms worn by the guards of the palace and those of the guardhouse, but there was one simple way to differentiate between the two, the presence of the royal crest on the left shoulder.

However, there were also exceptions to this rule, as there were a select few units that had specialised attire for their duties, bearing the emblem on a different part of the uniform, as were these two elves before him.

They were part of the personal guard unit in the palace, wearing a uniform that was primarily designed for female elves with stealth and mobility in mind with the royal crest inscribed on the back of the uniform instead of the left shoulder.

Although, with their distinct eye-catching uniforms, the need to check left shoulder for differentiating their identities was naturally non-existent, as there were hardly any elves dense enough to mistake them for regular guards in the capital.

"We are here to send you a decree on Her Majesty's order." after entering the room, one of the two immediately stated the purpose of their visit while the other guard removed a scroll from his bag and walked to an open space by the side.

Seeing this, the captain instantly immediately took a knee in front of the guard holding the scroll, nervously resting his eyes on the ground as he wondered about the possible contents in the scroll.

"By Her Royal Majesty, the Elven Queen's decree."

"The son of the Northern Chieftain, Cruz Custos has been brought into the custody of the palace for ambushing a fellow guard of the southern guardhouse, Alz of the Calla tribe."

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"Know that although he is not in any mortal danger, the guard Alz had suffered heavy injuries from this incident and you shall see to it that he gets the rest he needs to recover."

"Rest assured, the guards were only sent to inform you as both elves involved are part of the southern guardhouse. I understand your difficulties and do not intend to blame you for this incident. I hope you will continue to serve well as the captain of the guardhouse."

The captain's facial expressions changed several times as the guard recited the decree, with relief being the last emotion on his face as the guard finished reading the contents of the scroll.

"I thank Her Majesty for her grace, all shall be as Her Majesty wills." he carefully received the scroll from the elf and reviewed the contents of the scroll again as he started to ponder on what this entailed.

While unexpected, the contents of the incident itself were hardly surprising to him. Cruz's notoriety was never a secret in the guardhouse, widely known for terrorising and bullying the other elves from the southern tribes.

Usually, elves who witnessed such incidents would simply report it to him and that would be the end of the matter, as the palace was unwilling to interfere while he was powerless to do anything about it as a mere captain of the southern guardhouse.

Yet, the palace had chosen to get directly involved with the incident, even going as far as to apprehend Cruz. While he was gratified by this, seeds of unease also began to bud in his heart as he worried about the upcoming future.

"Thanks for coming all the way here." regardless of what he thought, he knew that now wasn't the time to think about this, rising to his feet as he thanked the two guards for delivering the decree.

"Before we leave, there is a letter that the Queen instructed us to hand over to you. Make sure you deliver this to the guard named Alz the next time he comes to the guardhouse." the elf handed another scroll to the captain before moving towards the door with her partner.

The captain inwardly heaved a sigh of relief when he saw them leaving, hastily seeing them to the door before closing it behind them, finally feeling the pressure in him began to ease as he alone in the room again.

Feeling slightly puzzled, the captain looked down at the letter in his hands with some hesitation, but his curiosity soon won over as he unravelled the scroll.

"Did her majesty really write this!? What is going on!?"

After peeking at the contents, he hurriedly rolled it back up and placed it down on his desk, feeling cold sweat forming all over his body as he realised that there was definitely more than met the eye for this incident.

---

"Alz! You really came! How are your injuries?"

Alz was patiently waiting before the entrance to the military library when he suddenly heard someone calling out to him enthusiastically.

"What's wrong with the captain?"

There was a slight pause before he looked over in the direction of the voice with an unnatural look on his face, feeling greater confusion as he confirmed the owner of the voice with his eyes.

"Alz, shouldn't you be resting now? I already gave you permission to come by at any time, so you don't have to be in such a rush and can come when your injuries have healed."

Shock briefly flashed across the captain's face when he saw the extent of Alz's injuries, but he immediately went up and greeted Alz with a face full of smiles as he started convincing Alz to go back and rest with a tone full of concern.

"Captain, I can't do anything else with these injuries anyway, and I'd rather spend the time reading. Please grant me permission to enter the library." Alz replied with a bitter smile, but his gaze contained wariness as he looked towards the captain.

"I see. Well, if that is what you want, I will not stop you, but remember to take care of yourself so you can recover faster. As for your duties, I will assign someone else to do it instead, so you do not have to worry about it." the captain nodded with understanding as he replied.

However, his overly pleasant attitude only made Alz feel more uncomfortable as he eyed the captain with suspicion, subconsciously backing off from him slightly.

"W-What's wrong captain?" Alz asked in a cautious voice, baffled by his complete change in attitude from yesterday.

No matter he looked at it, the captain overly friendly attitude was nothing but strange to him, unable to come up with a plausible reason that may have resulted in this.

While it did float across his mind that his interactions with the princess might have been revealed, he quickly denied that line of thought as he didn't think that the palace would actively publicise such information randomly either, although he was beginning to suspect otherwise now.

Noticing the suspicion in Alz's eyes and the two stunned guards by the side, the captain let out a dry laugh as he realised that he might have been acting too unnaturally.

"Alz, the palace had already sent word of your incident yesterday and instructed me to take care of your health. Also, they left a letter behind for you, asking me to pass it to you when you came to the guardhouse." the captain explained.

"A letter?" Alz asked.

"Yes, a letter written for you by Her Majesty herself." the captain said, holding a scroll out to Alz.

""The Queen!?"" the two guards standing by the side exclaimed in a feverish voice, looking towards Alz with shock and excitement on their faces.

Yet, the emotions of the main subject himself differed largely from them, as Alz felt like the blood flowing in his veins instantly ran cold at the mention of the Queen, causing even his breathing to become rougher as he struggled to maintain his footing.

Judging from the captain's reaction, it was easy to conclude that he was not informed about the princess's involvement with the incident, or he wouldn't have been so surprised about just a letter sent by the Queen.

However, Alz knew what they didn't, of the facts behind the attacks yesterday and that arrow that he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Despite successfully treating the princess in the end, he also understood that he was undeniably the one accountable for putting her in danger in the first place, a worry that had been weighing on his mind ever since.

Having already came to a conclusion that this was unavoidable before he set off earlier, Alz carefully retrieved the scroll from the captain and began to go over the contents

---

Dear Alz,

I have heard much about your talents and exploits and would like to meet with you personally. I would be extremely grateful if you could decide on a time to drop by the palace after your injuries have healed and convey it to your captain.

The Elven Queen

Sofia Alvein

---

The letter had contained none of the hostility he had expected and was written politely with great sincerity instead, with the Queen even signing off with her name at the end personally.

Furthermore, instead of calling him for an audience, she allowed him to decide on the time he would head down to the palace himself, a letter he would never have imagined was written by the Queen just from its contents.

Alz read the letter several times before falling into a daze, brought into deep thought by the contents of the letter as he struggled to decipher the Queen's intents.

A bitter smile soon surfaced as he realised that he was getting nowhere with his thoughts, feeling like he was understanding her intents less and less the more he thought about it, deciding to put it aside for now.

Realisation also dawned on him when his eyes returned to the captain, finally figuring out the reason behind his abrupt change in attitude, that he had already set his eyes on this letter before.

However, even though it was a personal letter for him, Alz didn't intend to pursue the matter further as it also saved him some trouble knowing that the captain had already peeked at it, not having to explain further.

"I will... think about it more, can I go in now?" Alz saw the expectant gaze of the captain and cut him off before he spoke, asking if he could enter the library.

"You may." hearing this, the captain swallowed his words back down the throat and permitted Alz to enter the library, seeing him off as he limped through the entrance with the aid of his crutches.

After Alz entered the library, the captain also didn't stay for long, returning to his office after dropping several words of encouragement to the two guards.

The two guards also recovered from their shock and diligently returned to their posts, but the curiosity on their faces only grew with time as they actively began to discuss on what they had just seen.

With the fervour in their discussion, one could already foresee how the news would soon begin to spread in the guardhouse like wildfire, originating from the mouths of these two elves.

"I'm finally here!"

Within the library, Alz took another look at the letter before putting it aside, looking at the many shelves in the room with growing excitement in his eyes as he began to make his way to the one that was closest to him.

---

Meanwhile, as Alz was embarking on his long-awaited literary journey in the military library, there was more activity than usual in the core of the capital, with rows of guards repeatedly saluting to the oncoming members of court arriving in response to the urgent summons by the Queen.

As these elves entered the throne hall, they immediately went up and bowed deeply to the figure sitting on the throne at the front before moving to their designated spots on either side of the large hall.

The Queen was also not idly sitting by on her throne, as she responded to all of them with a warm smile and a sincere greeting, addressing each of them by name and asking about how they were doing in recent times.

This was the Elven Queen who was known for her compassion and benevolent rule throughout the elves, a motherly figure who watched over the safety of the elves in the forest.

Before long, the fifteenth elf appeared at the entrance of the throne hall, following the same procedure as the others who arrived before him while the Queen warmly welcomed him.

"The Court shall now commence!" after this elf got into his position, a personal guard stepped up from beside the throne and declared the beginning of the court session, finally setting things into motion.