Eolande looked at Tal'hat'mata and said, "This might hurt a little bit, but please don't struggle, okay?"

Tal'hat'mata, still very confused and in a peculiar state of mind, weakly nodded her head. Now possessing consent, Eolande placed her hands against the woman's head and closed her eyes before she used a skill. "Full Body Reverse Enchantment."

Enchantment Magic Skill: Full Body Reverse Enchantment

A refined and self-made enchantment created by the Elder Tylwyth Teg, Eolande. It allows the host to scan a person's body for any and all abnormalities and cancel illusions and enchantments, even permanent ones.

Can only be used on beings at the same rank or lower than the host.

Cost: 10,000 MP (Additional 10,000 MP per rank of every illusion or enchantment detected and removed) Mastery: Master Level 10

Tal'hat'mata grimaced a bit, but within a few seconds, Eolande was finished so she removed her palms and the High Elf's face returned to being expressionless.

Eolande held her chin in thought for a moment before saying, "She's not been brainwashed or put under an illusion as far as I can tell..."

Elder Shan'len breathed out a sigh of relief and grinned. "In that case, it's only natural to assume that the Nine-tails is being controlled by an outside force and we obviously can't trust you, his companion, to inspect him, so I suggest we move on and conclude this trial."

Eolande turned her head around to look and Elder Shan'len before her eyes moved to Lone. "No wonder you're not fond of this guy. He's in an awful hurry, isn't he?"

Lone shrugged. "He's guilty, after all, so of course he's in a rush. Anyway, you discovered something, didn't you?"

Eolande stuck her tongue out. "I've been found out, have I?"

Sophie growled and hugged Lone's waist. She looked absolutely adorable hanging from him like that.

King Ele'hunda, sick of the three's antics, spoke, "Fairy Princess, please explain. What did you find on this child?"

Elder Shan'len was still confident. 'It's impossible to find it. It's untraceable. Even a world-class specialist would be none the wiser.'

Unfortunately for him, Eolande's skill had been developed specifically to find such things over the course of one-hundred and fifty-thousand years during the grand magical era of Earth before she came to Altros.

"She's got some sort of bug, maybe a parasite, inside her brain. I'm not sure what it's doing, but it's clearly not natural," Eolande calmly said as she pointed at Tal'hat'mata's head.

Elder Talion confirmed that she wasn't lying, so King Ele'hunda frowned.

"Her brain, you say? Then the only way to confirm these claims is by killing her and checking her brain physically... That's impossible. I'll need you to find more conclusive evidence before we can do anything," King Ele'hunda stated and every other council elder agreed.

They all wanted to know who was truly in the wrong, either Lone or Elder Shan'len, but they would never kill a potentially innocent High Elf to accomplish that, even if she did have a stained past.

'If they can't prove it exists or remove it, then I'm safe...' Elder Shan'len sighed to himself in relief. He was, for once, glad that the council used the 'innocent until proven guilty' law model.

It was at that moment that Lone decided to shatter all of Elder Shan'len's hopes. "I can get rid of it pretty easily."

Great Elder Lipsilk eyed Lone curiously. "Is that true, Lone? And if so, how? We can't let you do anything that would cause her permanent harm, but if you can avoid that, we are open to suggestions."

King Ele'hunda nodded his head in agreement, so Lone simply cut off his hand and restored it within a few seconds via his Creation Magic. "I can use this healing magic in another way. You see, I can reconstruct a body at the cellular level, so all I need to do is reconstruct her brain and essentially push the parasite out. It's a lot more complex than it sounds, but that's the gist of it."

King Ele'hunda trusted Lone's healing capabilities, but he still had to ask a single question. "Your success rate?"

"About... hmm... ninety-seven percent? I've never reconstructed her before, so it's not one-hundred percent guaranteed, though I doubt I'd run out of mana mid-operation. It should be fine." Lone's nonchalant attitude stemmed from the fact that this technique of his had yet to fail.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

He had used it on himself, on Breena and on the Crimson Foxkin Clan's Elder, Lossa. As long as he had the required mana, he would be fine, but he understood the Elves' and Fairies' concern since they had never heard of a healing skill capable of such accurate and precise restoration.

Sounds of astonishment rang through the hall. Not only the council members, but the royal guards and even the servants of the council members waiting by the entrance were all amazing by what Lone had just said.

Smiling proudly, fully aware of how powerful his ability was, Lone spoke, "Well, King Ele'hunda? Want me to do it?"

The muscular Elf didn't reply and simply stared at Elder Talion who somewhat nervously looked back at him. "The Nine-tails is telling the truth."

Elder Shan'len began to panic. "We cannot risk the child's safety over these deluded claims-"

His shouting was abruptly cut off when Great Elder Lipsilk snapped his fingers. "You shouldn't insult a Saint-ranked healer so lightly. If the Grand Healing Association knew about this, Shan'len, they might ban our tree from receiving their services for all eternity. So, if you'd be so kind, keep quiet like a good boy."

Great Elder Lipsilk smiled childishly and winked at Lone. 'This Fairy... I'm starting to warm up to him. Letty, Luckful and Lipsilk... weird names, but the Fairies seem to be good people, huh?' Lone thought to himself.

King Ele'hunda smirked ever so slightly at this exchange before he opened his mouth. "I grant you permission, Nine-tails. Know that if it comes to light that both you and the Human had committed no evil, then you shall all be compensated for the trouble we have caused you."

"I'm just here to have fun with my good friend Elder Shit'len, but sure, I don't mind getting free stuff," Lone shrugged casually, forcing Elder Shan'len's eyes to bulge and his expression to distort.

Lone then walked next to Tal'hat'mata and calmly placed both of his hands on her head. Just before he began reconstructing her brain, he issued a light warning. "My healing powers are pretty gross. You won't see it, but some of the noises are a bit... graphic, so if any of you don't like this kind of stuff, I'd suggest leaving the room or covering your ears or something."

None of the Elves or Fairies present reacted. "Don't say I didn't warn you..."

Eolande took out two pairs of earbuds from her Glade and passed one pair to Sophie before putting the other set in her ears. Sophie did the same. Clearly, these two were more than accustomed to Lone recreating his body in the past six months and his constant recreation of Breena's body.

Were one to look closely, they would see that lone's shadow had shifted slightly. Inside the darkness, Breena was tightly holding her hands over her cute and fluffy Foxkin ears.

Lone began his reconstruction, and immediately, a loud squishing noise filled everyone's eardrums. It was goopy and invasive. The sound almost seemed to scratch at the soul and purposefully penetrate the brain.

Almost instantaneously, every single Elf and Fairy, Great Elder Lipsilk and King Ele'hunda included, covered their ears with their hands. Unfortunately, it was too late and the damage had already been done.

Two minutes passed before Lone was finally finished. Tal'hat'mata looked around with a tired and puzzled expression as Lone nimbly grabbed the small blood-covered parasite which had been forced out of her head by his skill.

Mysteriously, as soon as he took a look at it, it flew out of his hand and floated over towards Great Elder Lipsilk who held it and carefully cleaned the brain matter and blood from it. "Hoh... This is a Mind Eater Bug. Very rare creatures that can't be found naturally. They have to be specially cultivated by the Sand Bug Clan who hide under the dunes of the Talso Empire."

He looked at the struggling lifeform in his hands and smiled before he crushed it mercilessly. Great Elder Lipsilk then looked at Tal'mat'hata warmly. "I know that you must be confused, child, but please, tell us the last few moments that you remember."

'Mind Eater Bug?' Lone thought. 'I read about them back in Milindo... How did Shit'len get his hands on something so expensive and dangerous despite the fact that they only live for a week and definitely kill the target if not removed, which is almost certain since they can't normally be detected? Does he really not care about a fellow Elf's life despite his patriotism? That reminds me, why exactly did the unfortunate accident involving Tal'hat'mata and the dungeon group get blamed entirely on her even though it obviously wasn't solely her fault?'

Lone was thinking a lot today, and as he entranced himself in these ideas and question, Tal'hat'mata began to speak.

"The last thing...? I... I was summoned to an elder's manor..." Tal'hat'mata mumbled almost incoherently as she tried to force herself to remember, however, her memory seemed to be foggy.

"Who's manor and for what purpose?" King Ele'hunda asked with a gentle tone in his usual powerful voice.

"I... I..." Tal'hat'mata scrunched up her eyebrows. "I can't remember which elder, Your Majesty. I do recall being told to spread a strange substance around the dungeon discreetly and I was told it would help heal the tree... After that... I think I was given some tea and I can't remember anything past that. I'm sorry."

Elder Talion looked at Tal'hat'mata with pity. "The child is telling the truth."

Great Elder Lipsilk stroked his chin and smiled knowingly. "Thank you, child. Please, go and rest," he said as he gestured for a few of the royal guards to escort her back to her home. The King didn't object, so Tal'hat'mata left the hall with two royal guards behind her.

Great Elder Lipsilk shifted his attention towards Elder Shan'len. He waved his hand, releasing the magic preventing him from speaking. "Elder Shan'lan, I want you to tell me honestly, did you summon Tal'hat'mata, deceive her and trick her into consuming the Mind Eating Bug?"

Elder Shan'len remained silent and sweat slowly dripped down his brow. King Ele'hunda heaved a heavy sigh filled with many emotions. "Guards, take Elder Shan'len and imprison him. The security threat is minimal so only inform the warden of his arrest and make sure at least one prison guard is watching him at all times."

Four of the royal guards slammed their hands to their chests and moved to apprehend Elder Shan'len. He obviously couldn't resist the powerful guards despite being an S-ranker, so he was dragged away. As he passed Lone, he stared daggers at him and vowed in his heart to kill the Foxkin if it was the last thing he ever did.

The grand hall was filled with a tense and gloomy atmosphere. "Nine-tails, Human, Fairy Princess, we have inconvenienced you and wrongly accused you of crimes you did not commit. The Fairy Princess shall receive twenty bottles of spirit essence as compensation for her assistance while the Nine-tails and the Human shall both be given four chances to take techniques from the Grand Technique Hall. This meeting is henceforth adjourned. Nine-tails, come to the Royal Palace please, I wish to speak with you in private. Bring the Human with you if you so wish."