Chapter 91 – Renia Gate (1)
“You may already know, but Renia was wrongfully imprisoned. The entire process, from investigation to trial, was rushed. In the meantime, her beloved assistant and students were tortured into giving false confessions.”
“Those bastards…”
Tas clenched his teeth and trembled. The fur on his ears and tail bristled, just like Renia’s. It seemed to be a characteristic of the Fox Tribe.
“But High Elf, to uncover the truth, we need evidence and witnesses. Even if they are the witnesses they tortured, we need them to turn the results around.”
“I anticipated that and have already prepared. The witnesses they tried to dispose of have been safely sent to a place only I know and are currently recovering. When the time comes, they will testify about who did what to them.”
“Is that really true!?”
When I said that I already knew everything, his eyes widened. His mouth fell open, frozen in genuine shock.
That was not a bad reaction. He needed to cooperate with me to ensure things went smoothly.
“If we set our minds to it, we can prove Renia’s innocence and rescue her. But are you just going to be satisfied with that? You rose to power as the king of your tribe through legal means and are still the king of the foxes. Are you going to end things over just retrieving a few people?”
“Of course not. If I had my way, I would like to overthrow the nobles in disguise and reclaim my rights…! So please, High Elf, help me. If you support me, I…”
“No, that alone isn’t enough.”
Indeed, Tas’s ambition had not yet died. The aspirations he had nurtured since childhood were now bursting forth as he matured.
However, having been suppressed for so long, his capacity for ambition was now rather small. A man’s ambitions should be grand, should they not?
Some boy king somewhere was breaking all precedents to take an elf princess as his queen.
“This incident is an opportunity to clear away all the obstacles in your way. Those nobles you despise, the fools who only look after their own interests while the world is in crisis. Rescuing Renia is just the beginning. Don’t you want to lead the charge to change the corrupt Federation government as well?”
I directly coaxed Tas, who was staring up at me with a blank expression. Although it still pricked at my conscience, given that the end process was already in motion, I could not stop.
I must act before those cursed individuals destroy this world.
“The ingredients are already prepared; all we need is a chef. And that chef is you. Depending on your abilities, those ingredients could become delicacies or just snacks.”
“Then I will need more ingredients. At least enough seasoning, at the very least. Do you have anything in mind?”
He was no fool, despite everything. After hearing my words, he shifted his gaze and asked, in a tense voice, if I had prepared any additional ingredients.
“I heard there are some unpurified mythical era weapons lying around?”
I twisted my lips into a smirk and revealed one of the cards I had been thinking ahead about. It was a powerful card that any politician in this era would not dare refuse.
“Hand over the witnesses to me. I will stake my name to protest against the Federation government to rescue Renia, and I will deal with the Fox Tribe that was involved in this process.”
“Alright. Just send me the time and place.”
It seemed like Tas had finished calculating completely, and his eyes now looked at me unwaveringly. And from those eyes, loyalty dripped.
If I left things as they were, he seemed about ready to kiss my feet.
Given the situation he was in, it wasn’t strange that this moment felt like an extraordinarily dramatic miracle.
It was unintentional, but the timing and presentation seemed just right. I appeared just when he was most hopeful yet despairing.
“Did you return safely?”
“Yeah. I wasn’t detected. They probably didn’t even imagine it.”
After finishing my meeting with Tas, I returned to the lodging where Arisa was waiting. The way I got from the lodging to the palace was through a tunnel.
Having secured a first-floor lodging, I used earth spirits to dig a small tunnel that connected directly to the palace.
After that, I stealthily emerged and jumped in succession using the winds up to the third floor, where Tas’s bedroom was.
“I’ll handle those idiots, so you contact the informant secretly. Let’s start the plan.”
Having confirmed there were no watchful eyes using the wind spirit, I gazed slowly at the earth that was returning to its original state in the middle of the room.
If I start digging carefully, broken flooring and other debris might reveal me, but most likely, everything will be over before that.
‘They will likely try to recover the witnesses by force, but if I stick close by, they won’t be able to do that.’
The moment Tas shouts he’ll reveal the truth while receiving the witnesses, if I casually act interested and move next to him, the enemies will not dare to attack him forcefully.
If only they would attempt to use force. That would make things much easier.
But that wouldn’t happen… things will likely proceed just as we expected.
Tas, having brought the Renia situation to public attention, will deal a blow to the Federation government, and I will publicly support Tas while revealing some cards.
Tas, having organized the internal matter of the Fox Tribe, will rapidly rise in power and even take bites out of the Federation government. Even if he doesn’t completely control the Federation government, the consequences of their past actions will ensure Tas’s voice grows louder.
“If all goes well.”
Of course, all these assumptions apply only if our plans unfold smoothly.
Since this is just the starting phase, I couldn’t afford to relax.
“Did you sleep well last night?”
“Yeah. I slept enough.”
What I must do now is to leave some leeway while holding the gaze of those desperately trying to win me over.
Having dealt with matters overnight and taken a brief nap, I was visited by several people led by Chancellor Leorne, who began to fuss around with plenty of attendants.
Today, they said they would take me to the most famous tourist spots or beautiful natural landscapes in the area.
‘I wonder if Yellowstone still exists?’
The land settled by the Beastman Federation and the Fox Tribe, which I flew over in one leap from the Old Continent, lies at the far eastern edge of what was once called the North American continent. I had no intention of genuinely going, but there must be at least some remnants of the famous natural landmarks from long ago.
“I’m not here for leisure. I’ve heard that there are those who have suffered from erosion here as well.”
“That’s true. So, are you thinking of visiting those places? They are all located in remote areas, so the journey might be inconvenient for you.”
“Even with the signs of impending doom, it seems quite comfortable. Who knows when the corrupted monstrosities will spring forth from there?”
I had to play along with them adequately, but it was hard to say anything positive while watching their foolish antics.
As I clicked my tongue and rolled my eyes, they hurriedly urged their attendants with gestures.
The attendants brought precious food and caused a scene in service, which was the next occurrence.
“Thanks for the hospitality, but we came here in the first place to see the erosion sites. If you have no intention of helping, you don’t have to follow us.”
“That, that can’t be true.”
I enjoyed this subtle power trip while waiting for Arisa. After all, the signal flare will be shot up by Tas, so we just have to lounge around and wait until then.
“I have delivered news to the informant. They will send a message to the Fox King, and they will handle the transfer of the witnesses at the meeting place.”
“That’s how it should be. While shifting as many eyes as possible toward us.”
That afternoon, after finishing her mission, Arisa approached me and whispered. She added that there had been a tailing.
“It wasn’t difficult to shake them off.”
“I guess they were too complacent.”
Of course, as a seasoned elven warrior, Arisa was not the type to be easily discovered by mediocre tailing. Thanks to that, our plan continued to progress quietly in the shadows.
The task of taking the witnesses away would be led by Patrick successfully.
‘Why isn’t that Tai Zhu stepping forward?’
For now, Arisa and I just have to keep stirring the pot with Leorne’s group.
However, one point of confusion was that this key player, Tai Zhu, who could be considered the driving force behind all this, was particularly elusive in my eyes.
Perhaps he was preoccupied with the issue of the lost witnesses, but I couldn’t search for him when I didn’t even know who he was, so merely glancing around and scanning the surroundings seemed to be the best I could do.
“—? —…”
The wind spirits did not show any results either.
I wanted to see what he looked like, but I had no choice but to let it pass.
