======[Western Border of the Holy Kingdom]=======
A week had passed since Ha-shal-leur was officially recognized as the successor of Rotholandus. In the dead of night, when even the moonlight had vanished, a pair of a man and a woman were running through the forest at the western border of the Holy Kingdom, adjacent to Alvheim’s Great Forest.
Cloaked in deep green mantles and hoods, armed with bows and short swords, they leaped from branch to branch, light as feathers and swift as the wind. They were two Guardians dispatched by Alvheim—assassins sent with a special mission to eliminate the Empire’s Greatest Sword before he could become the reincarnation of Carolus.
Of course, the Elders of Alvheim didn’t believe that just two Guardians could take down Ai-shan Gi-or Ha-shal-leur. If the ambush failed and a battle broke out, the likelihood of them being eliminated instead was extremely high.
Thus, the Elders chose a method several times more reliable than a simple sneak attack. Though it wasn’t exactly reassuring for the Guardians who had to carry out the mission.
“Poison, huh… Do you really think it’ll go that smoothly? Honestly, I don’t feel confident it’ll succeed. What do you think, Pailandria-nim?”
“Hmm… Carbios. You’re around two hundred years old, right?”
“Huh? Ah, yes. Around two hundred and sixty, but…”
Instead of an answer, a random question came back. Carbios tilted his head and responded to his senior’s query.
“Still young, huh… That must be why. Asking about such things.”
Pailandria, a Guardian who had lived for over seven hundred years, glanced at her fresh junior and chuckled. It was amusing to see him tilt his head, completely clueless about what was wrong, even after bringing up topics that shouldn’t be mentioned before four hundred.
“Carbios, as your senior, let me give you one piece of advice. It’s the secret to living a long life.”
“Advice? No, rather than that, about this mission—”
“If you want to live long, don’t question the Elders’ orders. For some reason, fairies who ask too many questions don’t live past five hundred. Strange, isn’t it?”
“……”
Carbios shut his mouth. Though the tone was light, almost joking, he wasn’t foolish enough to miss the sharp warning hidden within.
“Good, you catch on quick. Just keep it that way.”
Pailandria smiled faintly and turned her gaze away from her speechless junior.
To her, it was sincere advice. Over the past few hundred years, she had seen time and again what happened to those who harbored resentment toward the Elders. The roots of the World Tree were filled with fairy skulls, and one Elder’s bedroom housed over thirty dolls with their consciousness erased.
‘Even death isn’t the end.’
It was a fact unknown to most fairies these days, but Pailandria knew. The true nature of the low-level spirits used as expendables wasn’t some natural product but artificial creations made by extracting souls from human children.
And if low-level spirits were made from human children… what were high-level spirits, with their overwhelming power and intelligence, made from?
Those who opposed the Elders found no rest, even in death. Their souls, instead of descending to the underworld, were trapped within the World Tree, crafted into high-level spirits by the Elders’ schemes.
That was the truth of the spirits.
—
The mission given to Pailandria and Carbios was to infiltrate the Imperial Capital, Exra-shapel, and make contact with Ferneythia, who had gone silent. According to recent reports, Ferneythia had maintained a close relationship with their assassination target, Ai-shan Gi-or Ha-shal-leur. The plan was to “persuade” Ferneythia by any means necessary to use her hands to administer a slow-acting poison to Ha-shal-leur.
Since it wasn’t an instant poison, Ha-shal-leur wouldn’t notice immediately, and once the poison spread throughout her body, they could easily ambush and take her down.
Of course, Pailandria didn’t fully trust this plan riddled with holes. There were too many prerequisites for success. They had to infiltrate the capital safely, find Ferneythia, secure her cooperation, and ensure Ha-shal-leur didn’t notice the poison. If even one thing went wrong, the plan would fail.
‘If it seems hopeless, we can just retrieve Ferneythia and call it a day.’
Having served as a Guardian for hundreds of years, Pailandria was skilled at glossing over troublesome matters. Shifting responsibility to others and presenting some semblance of success to the Elder who devised the plan would suffice.
Ferneythia of the Ephilaxus family. A young fairy who, along with others, had opposed the Elders but, thanks to her lineage, avoided execution and was sent to the Empire as a hostage and spy.
If they explained that her betrayal led to the mission’s failure and secretly gifted her body to an Elder with a taste for such things, Pailandria herself would avoid any blame.
Of course, if the Elder wasn’t satisfied with just Ferneythia… Pailandria might have to endure a night of hardship herself.
Either way, to Pailandria, it was no big deal.
“A bit late for a forest bath, isn’t it?”
Until an unknown human blocked their path.
—
‘A paladin? The Holy Kingdom’s border defense force?’
Pailandria, who had halted her sprint, glanced sideways at the human man blocking their path. Being discovered before even entering the Empire was beyond her expectations.
‘Red hair. Celestial Church armor. Short sword. Guardian-level… Was there someone like this in the Holy Kingdom? I heard the only ones to watch out for were Ai-shan Gi-or Ha-shal-leur and that blond-haired Seilon.’
The appearance of an unknown strong opponent sharpened her wariness.
“Fairies. And Guardians, no less, trying to sneak into the country under cover of night. Things must not be going well in Alvheim, huh? I understand your feelings, but if you want to seek asylum in the Holy Kingdom, you should go through the proper channels. Not skulk in like rats.”
The man blocking the Guardians, Perrien, taunted them with a mocking tone as he gripped the hilt of Oathclere.
The mention of sneaking in was just a joke; Perrien had already guessed their purpose. If two Guardians were secretly dispatched, it could only mean the assassination of a hero-level knight.
Since his own skills couldn’t have reached Alvheim’s ears, their target was undoubtedly Ha-shal-leur, who had recently been recognized as Rotholandus’s successor.
‘Elmain was right. He said Alvheim would make a move, so we should be on guard near the western border.’
And indeed, here they were, assassins arriving so blatantly. Lacey’s prediction had been spot on.
“What should we do? If we cause a big commotion here at the Holy Kingdom’s border, it’ll interfere with the mission…”
Carbios whispered to Pailandria with a troubled expression.
“Just a moment.”
Pailandria clicked her tongue and fell into thought.
Though they had the numerical advantage, summoning a high-level spirit and engaging in a fierce battle would only complicate things for them. The moment a high-level spirit appeared, the Holy Legion within a few kilometers would swarm in, and the infiltration plan would be ruined.
No, it was worse than that. The appearance of a high-level spirit would be undeniable proof that fairy Guardians had attacked a human nation, tantamount to a declaration of war.
With Alvheim already struggling in a back-and-forth war against the dwarves, they had no capacity to maintain a two-front war against human forces.
‘Should we retreat? No, we can’t. If we’re discovered during the retreat and fail, it’ll be entirely my fault. The Elders won’t accept the excuse that we were stopped by a single person in the middle of the forest at night.’
Pailandria’s expression twisted involuntarily. An unexpected setback. If they captured Ferneythia, they could blame her betrayal, but being discovered at the Holy Kingdom’s border and failing left no room for excuses.
“…Red-haired short-lived one. Can I ask you one thing?”
“Ask away, sneaky elf. If I feel like it, I’ll answer.”
“…How did you know we were here?”
It was something she couldn’t understand.
They were moving through the forest under the cover of night, wearing cloaks, yet they were discovered so easily. It was as if the information had leaked beforehand.
“Well… The stench of centuries-old decay was vibrating through the forest. If you’ve lived for hundreds of years, shouldn’t you just go into a grave? Aren’t you tired of living?”
Instead of answering, Perrien hurled insults.
Though it was thanks to Oathclere’s guidance that he had discovered the fairies, there was no need to tell them that.
“You’re not planning to tell me, huh? Fine. I won’t ask anymore. Just become fertilizer for the forest, as befits a short-lived one. That’s all you’re good for.”
Pailandria pulled off her hood and drew the short sword at her waist. There was no way out now. The only option was to eliminate him as quietly as possible and escape.
“Are we fighting?”
“What else can we do? We’ll just have to show that a Guardian’s power isn’t limited to high-level spirits.”
Carbios felt uneasy but couldn’t refuse Pailandria’s decision. He too thought that being stopped by a single human and turning back would lead to severe reprimands.
‘Damn it, no choice…’
In the end, Carbios also prepared for battle, unstrapping the bow from his back and gripping it tightly.
“Seems you have no intention of retreating quietly. A pity.”
Perrien awakened the power within him and firmly gripped Oathclere’s hilt.
This was his first battle against fairies, and he couldn’t hide his inner tension. Though he didn’t need to worry about the firepower of a high-level spirit, facing two Guardians alone was no simple task.
“Did you expect anything else? Consider it an honor to die by the hands of the great Guardian of Alvheim, Pailandria Everbond Gravietas.”
“Carbios Zereshiellad Kirmesios.”
Just before the battle began, the two Guardians announced their names to Perrien. It was a tradition among fairies—a courtesy to let their opponent know who was about to kill them.
“Those names are too long to write in a report. Couldn’t you just write them down and hand them to me?”
Perrien let out a hollow laugh. The names were so long he couldn’t even make out what they were saying.
He had no interest in fairy names to begin with.
“No need to remember. You’ll be forest fertilizer soon enough!”
With Carbios’s shout, the two Guardians and the paladin clashed head-on.
