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Chapter 143: Reunion

~Nelfie’s Perspective~

I saw the Emperor’s lifeless body, with a sword stuck in his chest. His daughter, clinging to his corpse.

Was this the only outcome…

Could this have been avoided if we had made a different set of choices…

Even though I know it was meaningless, I ended up thinking about it.

Such thoughtless thinking, however, was an insult to Princess Luna who decided this outcome with a heartrending grief.

It was the outcome of a member of the royal family weighing the “future of the Empire” and “personal duty”. I respect that, and do not hold contempt even in the slightest.

Right now, my role is to allow her to say her goodbye. I should do what I can so that Princess Luna’s decision will lead to a better future.

≪This is Nelfie. The Emperor was killed by Princess Luna Ibrudia. We will head to the rendezvous point shortly.≫

≪Good job! I had accidentally let one of the demons escape. Sorry, but please help me with the search..≫

≪Understood. I will head there after guiding Her Highness Luna to a safe plac–!?≫

——Tap, Tap…

I felt a strong chill run down my spine while on telepathy with Aun. And almost at the same time, I heard footsteps behind me. The footsteps were made audible on purpose.

I had not let my guard down. In other words, someone possessing a stealth technique that could not be caught by my Detection skills suddenly appeared behind me.

At the very least I decided that it wasn’t an ally, so I immediately jumped towards Princess Luna and turned around.

There stood a man wearing an eerie mask that had a half crying and half ecstatic face.

「……Who are you?」

「!! No Face!」

The one who answered my question was Her Highness Luna behind me.

「The payment for the information I received from you guys is in the hidden room under the courtyard fountain. Check it out later.」

When I heard the man’s voice, more so than the ambiguousness of the information he shared, a shocking suspicion arose in my mind.

「Your Highness Luna, could you go to the rendezvous point by yourself? Also, I want you to investigate the place that this man mentioned with Aun and the others.」

「Huh? …What about you, Nelfie-san?」

「I want to have a little chat with this man…. Just the two of us.」

「But……」

「Please.」

Following my words, No Face took a half step to the side and cleared the way to the door. It seems like he’ll go along with my wishes.

「…Please be safe.」

Her Highness Luna rushed to the doorway while being cautious, slipped past No Face, opened the door without losing momentum, and left the room.

As if disliking an open room, No Face quietly closed the door and activated some kind of magic tool. It was probably the kind of anti-eavesdropping tool that was also at the Golden Grape Arbor.

「Well then, what do you want to talk about?」

His voice, and the atmosphere that suddenly changed around him after we were left alone… There’s no doubt about it.

「I didn’t think I would see you alive again… Nii-san.」

「So you notice me, after all. We haven’t met in 70 years, but you can tell just by hearing my voice, huh.」

「I’ve been looking for you for a long, long time. Where have you been and what have you been doing?」

「Nelfie, the man you knew as “Lione Garden” is dead.」

「What do you mean!? I don’t understand!」

「That’s not something I can tell you. Besides, you should just walk the path that you believe in, Nelfie. Although… Oh right. To help with that, I’ll give you this. I don’t need it anymore.」

He threw a book over to me after saying that. As I flipped through it, I found that it was quite old, but there were no torn or smeared pages. I could tell that it had been treated with great care.

「What is this?」

「That book contains the history of the Dark Elves around the time of the Human-Demon War. It was left behind by our ancestors.」

History of the Dark Elves…

After the Demon King was sealed in the battle that occurred approximately 2000 years ago, the Dark Elves were persecuted by humans throughout the Sphin continent. The reason for that was a groundless rumor that they were connected to the demons. It was also during this time that the Dark Elves created hidden villages in various parts of the Sphin Continent.

I had heard fragments of the story that we had interactions with demi-humans such as elves and dwarves at that time, but before I could learn more about all this, the Dark Elves’ hometown was attacked and destroyed by someone.

My brother and I were able to escape to a settlement in the Forest of Illusion, where other elves, dwarves, and beastmen lived in hiding. But one day… My brother just disappeared. He only left a note saying “I’m going on a trip”…

「Where did you obtain this?」

「At our birthplace, the hidden village. You should go there once, too.」

My mind was still confused. Leaving aside the fact that my missing brother was No Face, I wanted to ask what he plans to do from now on. The reason I started being an adventurer was so that I could travel across countries to various places in search of my brother. Still, we hadn’t seen each other for 70 years. I can’t count the number of times I thought he was dead.

However, I can somehow understand from this atmosphere that my brother will be heading down a path different from mine…

But still, I had to ask.

「What are you going to do from now on, nii-san?」

「I’ll just say that I’ve accomplished my purpose in this country. I’m not going to tell you anything else.」

I don’t know what my brother meant when he said that. But it was more than enough to crush my heart.

「Fuu… It seems that your comrades are here. I’ll be leaving ahead first.」

「Wai…」

Before I could even say the word, my brother had disappeared from the room.

As if he was never there from the beginning…

Ahead of my gaze, which naturally dropped due to the surging emptiness in my heart, there was the book handed to me by my older brother.