Chapter 91
91. What Was Inherited
I had no skill for interrogating people.
But Mercedes herself seemed eager to talk, so it didn’t take long to get her talking.
“It’s all because of you. Because of you, His Highness turned strange...!”
The beginning of the story was, of course, resentment directed at me. I mostly let that part go in one ear and out the other.
“His Highness was originally a gentle soul who loved peace. By nature, he simply wasn’t suited to fighting or conflict.”
“Him? He declared war, though?”
“You know nothing about His Highness, so that’s why you can talk like that! He was never like that!”
Ah, right. I let the insult slide, but it was so absurd that I immediately shot back. I shouldn’t have done that.
Mercedes, having been thoroughly set off by my retort, started rattling on about just how gentle and kind that prince was.
I let most of that go in one ear and out the other too, but even from the bits I did hear, it was obviously the rambling of someone hopelessly infatuated.
But it probably wasn’t completely wrong.
After all, Eleanor, whose taste ran to brave types, had always badmouthed him for being weak and frail.
“But ever since he ascended the throne, His Highness had changed as if he were a different person. Even his eyes were completely different.”
“Eyes that once shone brightly lost their light, and only a dry, emotionless look reminiscent of the former king remained.”
“Your former self used to say every day that you would do whatever it took to end this tiresome conflict...!”
So, to put it simply, the moment he inherited the throne, he changed completely.
“His Highness said my defeat in the duel with you was the start of the war, and ordered me exiled.”
That was expected. He got exiled because they used the duel as an excuse.
“I did everything I could to bring His Highness back, but for someone like me, who only knows how to handle a sword... there was nothing I could do.”
“Didn’t he just show his true colors once he became king? You were in the way, so he tossed you aside.”
“How many times do I have to tell you that His Highness is not that kind of person! Humans really have rotten heads, don’t they!”
Who’s she calling brain-dead? If her head were normal, wouldn’t this be the obvious way to think?
“His Highness already... told me he wouldn’t hold me responsible for the duel.”
Mercedes went on, fiddling with her severed ear.
“He said he was glad I hadn’t been hurt any worse, told me not to worry about losing, and promised he’d find a way to fix my cut-off ear...”
Her blue eyes looked back on the past with longing.
“He said that if he still couldn’t find a way to fix it by the time a hundred years had passed, he would take responsibility...”
Mercedes’s voice shrank to a tiny murmur. A faint blush colored her face.
Oh, come on, give me a break.
The two of you are putting together a thousand-year pure-love epic here. If you posted that on a community gossip board, it’d blow up.
Still, I more or less understand it now. I think I see why she resented me so much.
Mercedes probably didn’t truly believe it was my fault. It was a kind of escapism.
By setting one target and fixating on it, she was trying to bury her feelings.
I know what that feels like.
As if I wouldn’t know.
But that kind of escape makes it hard to face the real problem. The cause of the prince’s change was obvious.
Inheriting the throne.
The moment I reached that conclusion, a quest notification appeared before my eyes as if it had been waiting for me.
**
[Epic: The Dark Elf Saga - Queen’s Command]
Description: In a hundred years of war, the dark elves have been steadily pushed into a disadvantageous position.
That is because the human kingdom, with its rapid learning and growth, has become incomparably stronger than it was a hundred years ago.
Perhaps it’s because the dark elves, who are fond of humans, have become hesitant in fighting the kingdom army.
And with the arrogant, haughty high elves pressing the attack as well, the dark elves have no time to rest.
That is even more true for the queen, who leads the war and bears responsibility for everything.
Through your solo actions, you obtained suspicious information about the one behind this war.
If you dig into that properly, you may be able to lighten the burden on the queen’s shoulders.
(Warning: The difficulty of this quest is very high. A party of 25 or more is recommended.)
[Quest Objective]
1. Uncover the secret.
2. Reveal the mastermind.
3. End the war.
**
I went to Eleanor and told her exactly what I had heard from Mercedes.
Once I stripped away the useless fluff, it was a simple enough story, so it wouldn’t take long.
“Indeed, that is strange. More than the declaration of war itself, the fact that he exiled his own first knight is very strange.”
Eleanor, who had known the prince and Mercedes for a long time, whether she liked it or not, said as much.
“But you, to say you’ll confirm it with your own eyes? What do you mean by that?”
Eleanor asked with a hardened expression as she looked at me, already fully prepared.
“Exactly what it sounds like. I need to see it for myself.”
I planned to infiltrate the high elves’ territory and see that prince’s face myself.
The updated quest objective and description made it clear that this long faction quest would end here.
Then there was no more reason to hesitate. I’d clear the quest in the simplest, fastest way possible.
“It’s too dangerous! No matter how capable you are, you want to storm their camp alone?”
Eleanor shouted, her face twisted in a deep frown.
It was a different look from her rarely seen worried expression. She looked more irritated than concerned.
“I’m not alone.”
But I had no intention of charging in alone, as Eleanor said.
“I’m going with Mercedes. She seemed frustrated about that prince too.”
I didn’t even need any elaborate persuasion. Mercedes still seemed to be searching for a way to bring the prince back.
She didn’t like teaming up with humans, but for His Highness, she’d apparently even join hands with the devil.
If we infiltrated along the route Mercedes had shown me, we could see the prince’s face without much fighting.
Honestly, if Mercedes and I put our heads together, even a head-on assault wouldn’t be impossible.
Seeing his face won’t solve anything, but if we pin him down and stab him with a sword, won’t he spill everything, secrets and all?
“But, but...”
Eleanor bit at her lip with an uncharacteristically unconfident look. She seemed worse off than ever.
Looking closely, she’d been like that the whole time. Even though I kept sleeping beside her at her request, the starlight in Eleanor’s eyes only grew dimmer.
She seemed to be sleeping soundly, but she always looked tired, and her old free-spirited boldness was nowhere to be seen.
And today was the worst it had ever been. No matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t understand why.
“No, it’s nothing. How could I stop you?”
After struggling with her thoughts on her own, Eleanor eventually said that in a weak voice.
She looked so forlorn that I almost blurted out that I wouldn’t go.
……
No, let’s not worry about it. No matter how human she looked, she was still just an empty shell without a soul.
It would be ridiculous to abandon such an important quest just because I was worrying about an NPC.
I’d sworn I wouldn’t stop.
**
I returned Mercedes’s gear, recharged the pendant, and set out right away.
At first I was a little worried, but a green console clearly indicating friendliness was floating above Mercedes’s head.
It was safe to assume she’d definitely joined us as an ally. The system is always honest.
“It’s changed a lot here too.”
The inner reaches of the Great Forest, which I was visiting for the first time since the duel on the 7th floor, had been completely remade by war.
All the nature the high elves supposedly treasured had been cut down, and wide roads, watchtowers, and the like had been installed in a flashy manner.
“His Highness personally ordered the changes. He even cut down the apple tree that held our memories without a second thought.”
Mercedes, with a displeased expression, launched into another story from the past. It wasn’t interesting, so I just let it go in one ear and out the other.
After that, the story drifted wherever it pleased, until she was now bad-mouthing the human kingdom army, the very cause of the war.
“With not the slightest respect for the World Tree, and driven by greed as they claimed rights to our land... truly uncivilized.”
In the meantime, I heard the sound of many footsteps crunching toward us from far away.
Both Mercedes and I had very keen senses, so it didn’t take long to identify what the footsteps belonged to.
“Looks like they heard you bad-mouthing them and came over, huh.”
A unit of the kingdom army targeting the high elf camp had infiltrated this far. And probably a fairly elite force at that.
“Hmph, perfect timing. You’re fighting on Eleanor’s side anyway, aren’t you? Might as well cut down the enemy numbers here.”
“Are you crazy? We came here to infiltrate. What are you going to do by fighting random soldiers here?”
“What do you take my skill for? I can cut down ordinary human soldiers without making a sound.”
She must have had it rough after being exiled; her personality was completely different from the Mercedes I saw on the 7th floor.
“For some reason, I’m suddenly thinking of that bitch who went on about skill while fighting with her hands behind her back and still got beaten.”
……
“Get a grip. Don’t you think about His Highness at all?”
Mercedes, suddenly struck dumb, quietly sheathed the sword she had drawn. Finally, now we’re on the same page.
We left the kingdom soldiers where they were and began infiltrating toward the high elves’ royal castle.