Lucia happily gave me a pat on the back, and then looked at me with excitement. She loudly remarked, “You’re amazing, Travor!”
She didn’t seem to realise what just happened. To the contrary, she felt as though I did something good that allowed us to do something as friends and comrades, “Travor, you’re truly amazing. How did you figure out so much? I didn’t say anything, so how did you know?”
I looked at Lucia. As I headed back, I replied, “Simple. Although I may seem amazing to you, the truth is, you might think it was nothing special once I explained it to you.”
Because I was in a good mood, I was eager to talk more. At the same time, seeing the way Lucia looked at me satisfied my vanity. I looked into the darkness with glee and smiled, “First of all, Achilles, which is the merchant, came here. When he first arrived, I didn’t think about this. Then the chapel arrived. They signed a completely pointless agreement with me, which made me suspicious. Why would they sign an agreement that has nothing to support them? As a matter of fact, it could negatively impact them. Normally speaking, signing an agreement should allow you to gain something, not suffer losses; therefore, I considered the possibility of the chapel having something else in mind. In order to proceed with plans, one must have a stable environment to do so. That’s when I thought about Angelina running between the chapel and the merchant.
I suspected that there was an issue between the merchant and chapel. Then, you came to me and shared your flavouring. In turn, my suspicion grew. Who goes around carrying flavouring with them wherever they go? All of my queries made sense once I associated you three. You provide the goods. The chapel provides the channel. Meanwhile, the merchant conducts the trade. That makes for a perfect chain of operations. By that point, I understood what was going on, but lacked evidence.
That was when Angelina came to our place. She lingered when she noticed the flavouring. That, to me, was a sign that she knew about the flavouring and didn’t expect us to also have some. That pieced everything together for me. The next thing I did was have you two meet, which gave me the chance to enact my plan to set up an appropriate meeting.”
“That’s it?” asked Lucia. By the time I finished long explanation, I had arrived at the door. Lucia looked at me with great astonishment, “You didn’t do anything, but stay home, yet were able to deduce everything? You didn’t infiltrate or interrogate anyone? It was that simple?”
“I’m no soldier… How am I supposed to infiltrate or interrogate… Moreover, the war has ended. I can’t use those means… I’m just an ordinary man. Secrets are in people’s minds; however, minds are worn on one’s face. My job is to discern the secrets hiding behind one’s expressions. There are no idiots in this world. Everybody acts for their own gains. There will never be anyone who gives up his own profits unless they’re abandoning smaller profits for bigger ones. Hence, I also took into consideration what the bigger profit the merchant and chapel stood to gain was.”
Lucia looked slightly disappointed. I smiled, “I told you, didn’t I? It looked as though I could see through everything, but in reality, I just deliberated what everyone was doing and would do. Providing a reasonable explanation for actions will usually lead to the correct answer.”
I pressed my hand onto the door handle. I looked at Lucia and smiled, “If it’s all right with you, do you want to come back for some tea?”
“Travor, you truly are the same as an owl, surveying the entire dark forest as if it was daytime. You know of everything that happens inside the forest.”
With her eyes on me, Lucia suddenly grabbed hold of my hand, consequently giving me a fright. Because of her excitement, her eyes looked particularly excited in the night. She looked at me an exclaimed, “Travor! Travor! You really are so amazing! You didn’t do anything, yet had everything in the palm of your hands! You really are the smartest person I’ve ever met! You’re totally worthy of the name!! With this, I think we elves will need your help! If it’s possible, I hope that you can help us attain the freedom we have always desired!”
I looked at Lucia with surprise. She, on the other hand, looked at me absolutely seriously. She loudly exclaimed, “I need you!! Travor!! I need you to come to me! I want you to help me! We elves need you!”
Before I could respond, an ice-cold blade was violently thrust through the wooden door and straight through the gap between our faces. I dawdled for a moment. I saw my dumbfounded reflection on the metal blade. It took me a few seconds before I realised what happened. Once I did, I leapt away with a shriek. Lucia, too, dallied for a moment. Before I could regain my balance, the door violently swung open. Veirya came out from inside, grabbed my collar with one hand and pulled me over into her tight embrace. She held me up against her body with her right hand while holding her sword in her left. She coldly looked at Lucia, “This is my property, Lucilia. We are friends, aren’t we?”
Lucia looked at Veriya with astonishment. She took a step back and drew her dagger by her side, “Veirya! What are you doing?! Of course, we’re friends!”
“Then, you can’t steal from your friend, Lucilia. This is my property. The day you want to steal him. Will be the day we fight to the death.”
Veirya coldly looked at Lucia. While the two were close comrades, Veirya wasn’t willing to back down a single step when it came to me. She had no plans of letting me out. Lucia looked a Veirya and took another step back. She replied, “Fine, fine, fine, I won’t steal him; I won’t steal him. With that said, Veirya, as with last time, I truly need Travor this time. The elves need him right now! We elves need freedom! We need better future! Veirya! I promise to return him to you in one piece, so lend him to me!”
Veriya looked at me. Then, she hugged me even tighter. She showed no signs of releasing me. I wasn’t averse to going to Lucia’s place for a while. Plus, it might be quite nice there. Leah would probably like it. Veirya, however, didn’t let me speak. She resolutely shook her head, “He is. Very Important to me. So, no lending.”
“Veirya!! We really need him!”
“No.”
Veirya resolutely shook her head. Then, she yanked me inside before loudly shutting the door. Next, she turned her head around to look at me. She pressed me up against the wall, and then leaned her face in close. Voice cold, she, “You’re not allowed. To go anywhere. I don’t allow you. To leave with anyone, understood?”
“I get it. I get it.”
“Good.”
Veirya suddenly leaned her face in closer, and our teeth touched again. The impact rendered my brain numb again.
I don’t know what happened.
‘Is this some sort of praise from Veirya?’
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