The atmosphere in the room grew oppressively heavy after Arsn’s words. His comparison in the air was like a storm cloud, suffocating the fragile calm that had existed moments before.

  Jacques and Iri reacted instantly, their emotions fring. Jacques’ gre was sharp enough to cut through steel, his jaw tightening as though he were holding back a retort that would shake the room. Iri’s anger was quieter but no less intense. Her piercing gaze locked onto Arsn with a burning heat that spoke of betrayal and disbelief. Neither made any effort to mask their fury; their emotions were raw, spilling over in a way that words alone could not express.

  Arsn, for his part, stood unmoved, either oblivious to their reactions or unwilling to acknowledge them. The weight of his statement lingered, casting a shadow over the group and threatening to fracture the tenuous bond between them.

  “Hahaha, just kidding. I can’t say that the rumors were true, and I just interacted with Regulus for a couple of hours.”

  The atmosphere got a bit lighter, but Crice still could tell that Jacques and Iri were still angry. They are professionals enough to not let that bother them and affect their decision making, but it was still troublesome. She wondered why her brother was testing the patience of their allies like that. She could only think that he was a sadist or something.

  Before long, the group left the headquarters of the silver bows and then got in a carriage to head to where their troops were located. During the trip, Crice wondered if the Cirvoyant gave Jacques the information about the best actions to win this battle… if this was true, then Arsn was doing something beyond stupid.

  ‘Maybe he is testing the power of this cirvoyant… at the cost of losing. Who knows how many lives here.’

  Crice knew that those who lead a lot of people had to sometimes make tough decisions and they couldn’t let those decisions slow them down or bother them too much. If they let those affect them, it is bound to cause more trouble in the future and snowball things one after the other.

  Still, Crice couldn’t help but think that her brother was taking things lightly… She bmed herself for not knowing how her grandpa worked. That would have been a good reference… When he was still on duty, she was a lot more carefree and didn’t care about the silver bows at all.

  After traveling for an entire day, they finally reached the area where their armies were camped. Crice sighed when they headed to the elders’ tent and she realized that her brother took her time before in order to be the st elder to arrive.

  “Status report.”

  The other elders looked at Arsn without hiding their displeasure… it wasn’t like the battle had already started, but he was still way too casual about the whole messy situation.

  “... The enemies are moving to keep a circur formation around the central part of our territory. It would seem that they think that the elves of lesser standing will join their cause soon enough.”

  “They sure have nerves to consider that.”

  “It won’t surprise me if that does happen. While valuing our history and the legacy of our ancestors is something necessary to do, a lot of the people here focus too much on that and try to get in the way of those who could improve our society.”

  “Why don’t you say some names of those people, then?”

  “I don’t need to.”

  The elders rarely got together like this. They usually sent messengers to pass what they wanted to say to others. It wasn’t surprising that some of them would look like they wanted to pick a fight with each other over their differences in opinions.

  Crice couldn’t help but sigh… for them to show such behavior in front of their allies, she never saw that many elders in a single pce together, but it looked like they didn’t care that much about the image that they were passing to the people beyond their borders.

  She noticed a stark contrast among the Elven elders during their discussions. The loudest voices belonged to those who seemed the least concerned about the consequences of their decisions. They spoke with confidence and certainty, dismissing opposing views as if the situation were already resolved in their favor. However, Crice’s observation revealed that not all elders shared this attitude.

  A smaller, quieter group sat back, their expressions thoughtful and their demeanor restrained. These elders spent more time watching and listening than speaking, their silence underscored by a deep contemption. It was clear to Crice that these individuals were not indifferent; rather, they were carefully weighing the stakes. Their silence came from a desire to consider every angle and ensure that their actions would not lead the Elven nds into a precarious or irreversible situation.

  “While we already asked for reinforcements from the empire in exchange for an alliance, it would be better if we tried to negotiate with the dwarves before anything happens. Blood hasn’t been shed yet, so this is still possible.”

  That was the common opinion among the most calm and quieter elders. Not a single elf or dwarf would gain much if the war breaks out. The empire would gain most, but no one would say that.

  “Hm, this might be a bit difficult since one of their camps was already attacked. I have information that while it wasn’t one of us, one of their camps was attacked and one of the insurgents was killed by Regulus Dawnshield. It wouldn’t be far-fetched for the dwarves to assume that he is working for us. They don’t have as much information about him as us, after all.”

  Arsn was stirring things up again and Crice had no idea what was his end goal aside from apparently spreading chaos. He should know that if he goes too far, they will lose all the allies that their grandfather had, but maybe he already had done something about them.

  Jacques and Iri didn’t react in any shape or form to these words… from that perspective, that wouldn’t change things since if it was deemed that Regulus was the cause that the peace talks couldn’t be achieved, then they would have more allies to capture him.

  “I suppose we can at least try in order to tell the dwarves ter that we tried to solve this peacefully. Still, before that, we have to decide what we will deal with the insurgents.”

  After that, a heavy silence fell over the room. The weight of unspoken truths was clear on everyone present. Even if the peace talks succeeded and open war was averted, the issues were far from over. The insurgents still posed a significant threat, a clear sign of the division within Elven society. A substantial portion of their own people had sided with the enemy, and that reality could not be ignored.

  The elders knew they were walking along a razor’s edge. Showing too much lenience might be interpreted as weakness, risking future issues and undermining the fragile unity they wanted to rebuild. On the other hand, responding with too much harshness, risked deepening the fractures, pnting the seeds for another rebellion before the current wounds would heal.

  It was a delicate bance, a solution that demonstrated strength while fostering reconciliation. Anything less than a careful approach could cause the Elven nds into turmoil once again...

  “There is nothing to talk about with traitors! This is also a good chance for us to recover the nds that the dwarves stole from us over the years!”

  “Unless all the insurgents are disposed of and we show to everyone that our traditions aren’t anything that they can dismiss, the same thing is bound to happen again. This is already a disgrace to our history that we can’t ignore!”

  “We also need to weaken the dwarves enough to make them agree with the alliance! The next rift could happen at any moment and we don’t have time for negotiations anymore!”

  Crice’s sharp gre fell on the elders, who seemed almost too eager for war, their voices brimming with fervor as they asked for war under the guise of protecting their traditions. To her, their justifications felt hollow, mere pretexts designed to mask their real betrayal. It became painfully clear that these individuals were already working for the empire, their actions aligning too neatly with the empire’s interests to be just a coincidence.

  The way they twisted the situation to suit their narrative sickened her. It wasn’t just their willingness to sacrifice peace for conflict that angered Crice; it was the sheer audacity of their actions. They were willing to exploit the fear and anger of their people, driving their society closer to destruction, all in the hope of gaining favor with the empire.

  Crice couldn’t help but feel disgust about them. How could anyone stoop so low, willing to sell out their own kin and values, all for a sembnce of power or recognition? It was a betrayal not just off their nd, but of everything the elves were supposed to stand for.

  “Hm. While your passion is understandable, we still have to try to talk with them. I suppose we can ask Sir Jacques and Lady Iri to be the mediators of this meeting and tell them what are the pns of the empire in joining this war. Aside from that, who wants to represent the elders of the empire? No one is willing to do that? That is a problem…”

  Crice gred sharply at her brother. It looked like the most troublesome elders weren’t the only ones with cunning pns to reach their goals. Even now, he remains too calm about the whole situation.

  Crice looked at Cellica to see what she was thinking, but she just looked proud in standing by Arsn’s side… something felt off about this whole situation. While she was working directly to her brother, she wasn’t informed of the most pivotal pieces of information. That was more than clear now.

  “I suppose I can do that. The elder Cellica can come to assist me as well. Is that fine with everyone? Then send an envoy to the dwarves and mention to them the peace talks.”

  WritingMachineGun