Narzan is an elf.
So it made no difference even if Calian introduced himself. Of course, Calian also knew this, so he told Elder Zer his name. But this time it wasnât mentioned that way.
The problem was that Narzan was not just an elf.
I asked who he was and he said he was a prince, so the answer wasnât wrong, but the person he was talking to was an elder who represented all elves. A great elder whom Lemain had not yet met.
Calian, with Grand Elder Narzan in front of him, raised his head. He looked down at Narzan and said something similar to what Plantz used to say to Arsene.
â Kairis is crazy.
This is what it sounded like to Plantzâs ears. It would probably be difficult to find a person as crazy as Kalian, not only in Kairis but in the entire continent, but this is how it sounded anyway.
Narzanâs sharp eyes, which appeared to be dark silver, closed and opened for a moment.
Soon Narzanâs head turned to the side. This is why I thought it would be better to talk to the second prince, who seemed calmer, rather than the third prince, who seemed to have a hard time communicating.
âWho are you?â
Plantz let out a silent sigh and put down his teacup.
Plantz opened his mouth in a calm voice on behalf of his crazy younger brother, who was now arguing with the elf elder.
âValkan Vice Commander.â
â That guy is my brother.
Well, it roughly meant something like this.
Calian smiled brightly as he saw Narzanâs hand tightening as he held the handle of the sofa.
âPlease talk to me. My older brother is very shy.â
âYou guys are just as rude.â
Calian was looking at Narzan without adding another word to his reaction. When there was no reply, Narzan spoke again.
âI remember how the king of your country treated us. I forgot everything that happened that day and treated you with courtesy even when I visited you unexpectedly, but why are you acting like this? I guess this is why you are thinking of moving to another country. â
âBefore you show that you have forgotten something in the past, you should think carefully about why it happened. Why do you think as you please and forget as you please?â
Calian moved his hand and pointed to the floor.
âThe elves you were supposed to manage made a mistake first. If we leave out the fact that His Highness treated us that way because we were trying to ignore the incident, it would sound like we did something very bad. We were not allowed to enter the palace during the festival. Thatâs why Iâm angry, but I donât want to apologize for the disrespect the elder did to me, so if I wanted to just pretend to be a weakling who suffered unfair things, I should have behaved like that until the end.â
Calian smiled flawlessly.
At the same time, the long finger that was pointing toward the floor slowly moved and touched the end of the teacup. The clear sound rang for a moment and then subsided, followed by a cool voice.
âHow dare you ask someoneâs name?â
Narzan closed and opened his eyes once again.
It seemed like he couldnât figure out how to react, so Calian added an explanation. To be precise, he continued to reprimand me.
âYou said that elves are weak. You claimed to be weak and then asked my name. Then you pretended to forget what you did wrong in the past and tried to pass all the blame on to us. Then I will be angry, not angry.â
âI didnât know you would come all the way here and ask for an apology.â
âI thought if you came this far, you would naturally apologize first.â
âI thought you came to negotiate about matters with Secretia.â
âIâm here to negotiate, but I donât think itâs necessary.â
âWhy do you think itâs not necessary?â
âYou kicked away the opportunity to negotiate.â
Narzan fell silent for a moment, and Calian continued speaking.
âI came here to talk quietly about what the problem was and try to reconcile, but I ended up wondering if I had come for no reason.â
Plantz picked up his teacup.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on the peach and apple scent coming from the green tea and thought about it for a moment.
âAm I remembering wrong?â
From the beginning, it seemed like Calian had no intention of talking quietly or trying to reconcile. But isnât Calian a guy who canât lie? So, this is a cause for concern.
For my sister, âquiet talkâ was a stabbing in silence, and âreconciliationâ was a generous act that lifted Annelusia up.
Kalianâs story continued while I was wondering whether I should learn from my younger brotherâs way of thinking, which seemed to have eliminated all common sense when asked to eliminate prejudice, or whether I should moderately filter it out and grow up to be a good and upright adult.
âDo you want to look down at me from high up, talk to me at eye level, or crouch at my feet? Just do one. Doing all three is greedy. If you mix them up however you feel comfortable, you will be confused about which way you should treat them.â
This means that if you want to take care of your pride, donât pretend to be the weak. If you want to negotiate on an equal footing, apologize without turning away. If you want to pretend to be less powerful than Kairis, donât ask for their name.
Narzan laughed.
At first there was a small laugh, and then little by little a louder sound escaped. Then, in the end, he laughed so loudly that it was confusing whether the person sitting in front of him was Narzan, the warchief of the elves, or Siegfriedâs great man, Slayman.
âThe King of Secretia also said something similar to you. Itâs surprising. The two seem to be similar in many ways.â
And he said this.
Calian laughed quietly and Plantz opened his eyes.
â
The teacup was tilted.
The white clothes were stained a rust color.
* * *
At this point, itâs a habit. I couldnât call it a mistake anymore.
Arsene, who was sparring with the knights trained by Count Aizen Aprin and completed by Demirea and sent to Balkan, broke his sword again. I said I didnât mind researching alone, but I would refrain from breaking my sword during sparring, but I broke it again.
âIâm sorry, Lord Bern.â
And I got scolded by Hina.
The sword was broken, but there was no reason for Hina to be angry. As soon as he hit Arseneâs shield, it shattered and a fragment of the sword flew in all directions and landed on the back of the arm of an innocent knight standing far away. Iâm so glad it didnât hit my head or heart.
Thanks to this, Arsene was scolded by Hina before he could enjoy the joy of successfully breaking the iron sword that was in contact with the shield. I was scolded all the way from the office where Lucy and Anne were running around and playing to the treatment room.
âIâm fine. Donât be too angry, Healer.â
Perhaps because of the blood spilling from his arm or because he was a little surprised, the knight with a somewhat tired face said this and stopped Hina.
In the end, Hina let out a short breath, and Arsene expressed his sincere apology one more time by saying that he would buy the driver a glass of carbonated water after the treatment was finished, and then went back to clean up after him.
â Iâll fix it right away. Donât worry.
Hina said this and placed her hand on the knightâs arm. A golden light, more like the spring sunlight on blooming flowers than the midsummer sun, enveloped the knightâs arms.
After a while, the blood stopped completely and the open wound healed slightly. Since he did not have the power of blessing like Calian or Plantz, his healing speed was bound to be significantly slower than the two.
â I need treatment for a few more days. I will tell you not to receive training until then.
The driver bowed his head eagerly and greeted me with the words that Veronica had given me along with the medicine she had prepared not long ago.
âYes, Healer. Thank you.â
I almost got into big trouble, but I felt relieved that I was alive and well. I feel proud that I am now someone who has received treatment from a healer. The excitement of being able to boast about the warm feeling I experienced while receiving treatment.
Because of that, the knight did not see the shadow creeping behind him. When I turned around the hallway where the treatment room was and entered the corner, feeling very uplifted.
â Boom!
Someone snatched his arms behind his back and pushed him against the wall.
Since it was my injured arm that caught me, I habitually held back the scream that was about to come out without me even realizing it.
Instead, a sharp dagger protruded from the sleeve of the arm that was not being held. The knight left the grabbed arm in place, turned his body and switched positions with the opponent, and swung his dagger. There was a crunching sound and an unpleasant sound coming from his bent arm, but he ignored it for now.
â Kwasik!
The opponent who attacked the knight avoided the attack with flexible movements. The dagger, having lost its target, passed through the air and became embedded in the wall. The knight put down his dagger and extended his fist towards the other person.
The opponent lowered his body to avoid the fast-flying fist.
Then, while lightly touching the floor, he extended his long leg and kicked the knightâs ankle.
â Pow!
â Boom!
âUgh!â
The knightâs body tilted as he momentarily lost his balance with a shock that made him think his ankle might have been broken. The opponent, who did not miss the moment, kicked the knightâs ankle once again, causing him to fall to the floor.
The opponent, who mercilessly suppressed both wrists and waist with his knees, grabbed the knight by the hair and pulled him up. The knight lowered his eyes when he felt something sharp and sharp touching his neck.
The beautiful headdress aimed at the neck catches the eye. It was almost at the same time that the blue sea-colored hair started flowing down.
âThereâs a bird.â
A cold voice reached the knightâs ears.
âah. Letâs greet each other. That friend is just Jeon Seo-gu, and Jeon Seo-gu is a bird, so he is a bird, but he is not the kind of bird you think, so you donât have to worry. âHeâs a sincere friend whoâs been training hard, so letâs just leave him alone and be friendly with each other.â
Arsene, who belatedly wondered if the two might recognize each other, came back and cleared up the misunderstanding just before Aelaâs hairpin burrowed into the knightâs neck and before the knight chewed the poison in his mouth.
â You fell down the stairs?
It was only a moment later that Hina, who had been running around excitedly after receiving treatment for her injured arm, made a sad face when she saw the driver who fell down the stairs and was carried back.
â How can I roll and dislocate my elbow and shoulder and break my ankle?
The birds do not know each otherâs faces, but Aila is not an ordinary bird, and Ailaâs owner, Calian, is not attentive enough to say, âThere is a former coworker of yours at your place of work,â so the small incident that happened was like that. It ended peacefully, leaving one person seriously injured.
* * *
At night, the mother tree gave off a soft glow.
Thanks to this, the sandy beach at midnight sparkled as if it contained fine glass powder.
Itâs the same ocean, but ultimately itâs salt water that all mixes and flows somewhere. Perhaps because it was a little different, I felt more unfamiliar with the beautiful night sea rather than glad to see it.
âAre you here again?â
While the elf healer who received the elderâs words was treating Siona, Kalian was by Sionaâs side. Because I didnât completely trust the elves, I stayed by their side and waited for the treatment to be completed.
A lot of time has passed because the wound was deeper than I thought. After finishing treatment, on our way back to the building where the group was staying, we met Needlen, who looked embarrassed.
âThe vice commander has disappeared.â
âwhen?â
âI found out just now. âIâm sorry for not showing up so muchâ¦â
I wonder if the habit I developed inside can be corrected outside, but I heard that Planz opened the window of the room where the Vulcan soldiers were guarding and jumped out.
It was obvious where the peas had gone, so I was thinking of leaving them alone.
âEven if you come out the door after talking, thereâs no one to stop you.â
In the end, he came and said this.
Instead of answering, Plantz, who was still standing in front of the waves, quietly looked down as the white foam slightly wetted the tips of his feet and then moved away.
The sound of the waves, which had become quieter as the wind became thinner than yesterday, continued to stay and leave.
âIâm afraid it might be a bother. âFor a moment.â
âEven if you come out for a moment, it is better to let us know and then come out. If you find out later, youâll be even more devastated.â
âOkay.â
Calian lowered his gaze and looked at Plantzâs knees. I remembered the white clothes stained by the rust-colored tea that I had spilled with my own hands. Thanks to this, Calian stopped laughing and the
captain The remaining ânegotiationsâ between Law and Calian were safely postponed until tomorrow.
âAre you okay?â
âItâs okay.â
Even if there was the Grand Elderâs words, their healing was only allowed to Siona, a fellow elf. In the first place, the wound was caused by the tea water. I couldnât even think about asking him to heal me. There was no way he would do it just because I asked him to, and I couldnât ask him to cure Devlanâs illness while healing Plantzâs burns. Since he has the power of blessing, if he says itâs okay, itâs really okay
. It was going to be scary. It wasnât even boiling water.
âYes.â
So Calian didnât say anything that made him even more worried, nor did he ask why.
âYou canât hear me even if you keep waiting here. There are a lot of rocks around, so whales that big donât come all the way here.â
Even if they did come, they didnât say that they wouldnât be able to hear the cries of whales here with the average personâs hearing. Calian also knew that they didnât scream like that because they didnât know that. âLike that sound
. Thatâs not what I asked you to hear.â
Plantz did not respond for a while to the words he said while looking at the distant horizon covered in dim moonlight. Could it be possible to see a large animal coming up to take a breath? Even if it doesnât come close, can it still be seen? Plantz, who had been looking into the distance for a while,
wondering if there was anything, opened his mouth. âI know I canât be forgiven.â
Calian, who was about to go back now, looked at Plantz.
Plantz didnât look at Calian, but instead looked at his white I looked down at my clothes. The white clothes ended up getting dirty and washed off again and again. Even when I poured green tea on them, they ended up getting all washed off. âI donât have any desire to do that
. I have no intention of forgetting it. I donât know why you want to take that for me, but itâs my responsibility, not yours. So stop worrying too much and trying to bury it.â
âI donât know what youâre talking about.â
Calian lowered his eyes as he said this.
He looked down at the same white foam of the receding wave that was soaking his toes and fading away.
Planz looked up. I turned around. I looked straight at the black and bright red face with clear light green eyes.
âI told Brother Randel that what you both do is greed, but today, your younger brother said something similar. You seem to be very confused because you hold yourself to the same standard.â
Calian did not respond.
Plantz continued,
âYou have to live as Calian, but you think you have no right to blame me and curse at me. Living as my brother, I have to see myself through the eyes of someone other than my brother. Stop thinking that doing both is greedy. Live as you please. You can do that.â
ââ¦â¦What authority do you have to allow that?â
âBecause Iâm your older brother.â
A sigh-like laugh came from Calianâs mouth.
â Woe!
Calianâs hand was on Plantzâs collar. In the end , I
burst out in resentment that I couldnât hold back.