“There you have it. Lady Renna knows that you must have a path where you were betrayed a bunch of times. Thanks to your relationship with her granddaughter, she didn’t want to make things difficult between you, but she had a responsibility for her own people as well.”
“It doesn’t matter either way. I don’t care.”
I don’t know how that woman sent a message to them so fast, but it didn’t matter. They came too late and I almost died for the convenience of others once more. Following the path of forgiving and forgetting was the best option for the sake of efficiency and for my peace of mind, but I couldn’t only do that so many times after being betrayed and dealing with close to death situations like this one.
“We put the guards and the elves that came with these men to sleep, but they will eventually wake up and we can’t be here when they wake up. If you agree to not leave any traces behind, you can take shelter at our base.”
“I am fine. Your help is unnecessary.”
I equipped my hand crossbow in my right arm to use it with my mouth pulling the bowstring, but reloading with a single hand was still difficult, so I decided to focus on magic and supporting Glacien for a while. She had grown strong enough to deal with this kind of problem for me.
Leaving now without getting into the alchemist class was simply unacceptable, after all. Besides, I knew that they never talked with Renna, but with her husband instead. Still, they followed her request to come and help me. They didn’t have any reason to do so, at least not for free when they asked me to leave their hideout before. So, they were doing this to gain something.
“I see. I am going to leave now since I am not that good at stealth. Still, Ayla here will stay behind to make sure that her stitches will remain in place or in case you move too much and end up loosening them. She can remain in the shadows without getting in your way, so you don’t have to worry about anything. Here are some camouflage potions. You can already use the skill at a decent level, but you still leave some traces behind in the air when you move. Any veteran elf can catch that and understand what is happening.”
“As long as you don’t get in my way, I don’t care what you guys do at all.”
“All right then, good luck.”
I received the potions and then the guy turned around and left while the woman disappeared into the darkness of the area. I felt like throwing the potions on the ground since I didn’t want anyone’s help anymore… but it felt really wasteful and I didn’t like to make things less efficient.
Before moving on, I decided to use some leather that I had to support my injured arm. Any strain on it would only make the wound heal slower, so I had to be cautious about it.
I probably could heal even faster while using Blood Siphon, but my thirst only gets stronger when I try to experiment with it… as I am right now, mentally exhausted. I wasn’t sure if I could fight those desires.
Once that was done, I turned around to resume our exploration. Glacien looked a bit worried, but we only had this final part of the section and another before we were done with the exploration here. Even if we take our time, nothing would change that much… my wound wasn’t something that could be healed in a day or two.
‘I guess what Renna is true… the empire can’t use their clairvoyant to find me, but it is clear that they are hiding many pieces of information.’
I couldn’t match the entire empire when it comes to the information that I have access to, not even by a large shot, so it couldn’t be helped that I was really walking in the dark here.
In any case, it looked like the clairvoyant wasn’t told or didn’t it find necessary to see the future of Louise’s father or Rowan… otherwise, this retard wouldn’t have come. Even if they couldn’t see my future, his death would become clear if he suddenly went to look for me and then nothing else was shown.
‘Clairvoyance is supposed to be rather dubious given how easily the future can change, but they looked confident in this new guy, huh?’
As far as I know, power like that can’t be granted… a person can’t be born with it, it has to be obtained throughout life. Then, the person also has to level up the skills involved. Maybe the process isn’t easy or maybe they stumbled on a new class that made this a lot easier for them.
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Thinking about that only made me more annoyed… if they keep using that power, even if they can’t see me directly, they can use it on others to have an estimation of where I will be, then they can send a large force to get me… the possibilities were truly endless and the empire has a powerful tool now to shape the future as they see fit.
Soon I was forced to forget about that since the next group of kobolds emerged in the distance… My loyal squire, Glacien, stepped forward to fight for me, but I still had one hand to cast magic on the monsters, so I bombarded them with wind Shurikens.
… …
Clarice began to write down some things on a piece of paper after listening to her brother. Her forehead was getting darker and darker by the moment, and when they looked at each other, Arslan couldn’t help but think that she didn’t recognize him as her brother anymore. Her gaze was that cold when she raised her chin and squinted her eyes.
“You can make that kind of face now, huh?”
Clarice didn’t say anything in response. Since that meeting and how things ended, she didn’t say a single thing. She was completely astonished after seeing how those closest to her could act. Arslan forced Renna to tell what she had done, and Renna for her part didn’t try to argue back that much. She could tell that Renna had a plan of her own, but she still couldn’t believe that even her beloved grandmother could act like that.
“The empire has a powerful card in their hand now… if they are truly working to make sure that the next rift won’t change the world as we see it today, they are doing what is necessary to do so, like obtaining allies and crushing those that can be a nuisance in the future. They won’t abandon their expansionist plans, but they should delay it for a few decades. Grandmother did the right thing by focusing on the future of our people.”
For a while, Clarice knew that people act based on their self interest, even when their morals and honor were put to test. It was only logical that they would… Why focus on doing the honorable thing when that can hurt a lot of people? Even more so those closer to you?
She could understand the logic, but she still couldn’t accept what it represented… betraying everything else for the sake of the best option at the moment. For a race like them who lived for so long, that was truly short-sighted.
“Besides, the empire has more uses for that guy alive than dead, so your little friend won’t be killed. It feels like they are playing with fire by letting him live, though. I wouldn’t take those chances.”
Once again, Clarice didn’t say anything… so Arslan just sighed and told her to deliver the messages that she just wrote down. He had planned to give her a position close to him to make her understand that they were building something that will last for many thousands of years… her friendship of a few years didn’t mean anything if compared to it. Still, it looked like it would take a while before she could fully realize that.
Clarice left the room wondering if she would become like that too one day… thinking about the future of the Aeloria Dominion was something that she had to do as well, but how many lives did they have to influence negatively for them to achieve their goals? Was it truly impossible for them to do that without causing harm to others?
‘The need of many above the need of one…’
Clarice could tell that it was logical, making things the easier way is what everyone strives for. Still, she knew that doing that all the time would eventually come to bite them in the ass later…
‘Although I can’t say much since I was also afraid of him… Grandmother, Arslan and Celica also had weapons at their reach at every single moment.’
Neither of them had been fair to Regulus. He knew that and he acted like he didn’t care, anyway. Still, experiencing time and time again would eventually tire him out. Living on the run for years, being betrayed and worrying about betrayals all the time. It felt like it was only a matter of time before Regulus became what everyone feared. It almost felt like he was destined to become that, out of spite even.
‘I need to make sure that this won’t happen… I don’t want to lose my first real friend that doesn’t see my family status instead of me when they look at me.’
Clarice now had an important position, one that granted her access to opportunities most could only dream of. With the right strategy and a careful approach, she could learn secrets and obtain information that would remain out of reach for others. Thanks to that and the recent situation, Clarice understood she had to improve herself, both in strength and wisdom.
Becoming powerful would allow her to stand her ground and protect her position without reliance on others who might steer her in the wrong direction. At the same time, gaining knowledge was equally crucial. Only by understanding the surrounding dynamics, people’s motives, hidden agendas, and the systems in play could she navigate the delicate balance between using her position for good and falling prey to manipulation or corruption?
Clarice was determined to grow stronger and smarter, knowing that only by securing her independence and integrity could she truly ensure her actions remained aligned with her values. Betrayal, no matter how tempting or logical it might seem to some, would never be an option for her. Instead, she would build a foundation so unshakable that she could wield her influence without compromise.
‘I can understand why grandfather decided to leave after doing this kind of work for centuries… he must have felt crushed by the choices that he had to make. I will do my best. I won’t betray anyone…’