Chapter 60: Reaping the Harvest - 13
Chapter 60: Reaping the Harvest - 13
Jiha spoke.
"You let those bastards off, but now they'll run around badmouthing you for it—complaining you stopped them from blowing off steam."
"......."
It was exactly as Leticia had guessed.
If she hadn't stopped them, it would have been the Purple elves who suffered.
"......Are you hoping to die? Every one of those elves is tied to a family, great or small. You just made enemies of half the elves in Warsland!"
Still, she couldn't let him keep dragging her along like this.
Leticia shot back at Jiha, bringing up the elves' backgrounds.
She'd stopped Galak, but she understood the sentiment.
Jiha had a real talent for twisting people's guts with just a few words.
Jiha put on an expression of exaggerated surprise.
"What, were we ever friends? You're talking like we'd go out of our way to save each other."
"You're just......."
Leticia's insides were so churned up it was genuinely distressing.
She'd come here prepared to face Enril.
Instead, the man she least wanted to see had shown up, and every word out of his mouth made her angry, made her sigh.
"......What about Enril? Why isn't Enril here?"
Before she knew it, Leticia had blurted it out.
Enril was a dark elf she got along with even worse than an enemy, but dealing with her seemed like it would be easier on the nerves.
"She's swamped with official and personal business, so I had no choice but to attend as her proxy."
"......."
Leticia sighed and pointed at Lijin.
"Fine. Alright. I understand that, but...... send that half-elf out. She has no right to be present here."
"I decide the rules for this meeting. There's no reason I should follow yours."
Done with the needling, Jiha cut her off flatly.
"A Common is sitting at this table. A half-elf has no less reason to be here."
"What in the......."
Leticia was aghast, and Jiha turned it back on her.
"This isn't the time to be blaming me. Shouldn't you be reflecting on your own lack of leadership? You didn't know that idiot was sniffing around, trying to buy illegal Mana weapons? Not just one or two—dozens. If they'd been caught, that would have put you in an extremely awkward position, wouldn't it?"
"......."
When elves caused trouble, the Unique Grade elf Leticia was inevitably the one who had to take responsibility and clean up the mess.
Jiha said it coldly.
"You should be thanking me."
"Well....... I—I was aware of it. I was going to deal with it soon."
"......."
Jiha stared coldly at Leticia's flimsy excuse.
Leticia scrambled to change the subject.
"Bringing a half-elf to a gathering of elves was the mistake from the start. Even if you're ignorant of how things work......."
"That's an elven internal matter. I'm here representing Blue Seal, and you're trying to lay hands on my people. Do you really want to start a war?"
"......."
Leticia had nothing to say to Jiha's threat.
A slave of our country was beaten by a noble from an enemy nation? The right to beat or kill our slaves belongs to our royal house alone. Is this not a blatant violation of our sovereignty? I never liked him anyway. Good riddance! It's war!
The ruling classes of Blue Seal and Purple Liberation generally operated on this kind of thinking.
It was the same reason Blue Seal was refusing to hand over Deubang, a Common, despite the conclusion that he'd killed several Rare Grade elves.
Leticia tried to argue.
"Even so, if you had just spoken more politely......."
"Does the world work itself out through conversation? If I hadn't stepped in, Blue Seal would have used this incident as leverage later."
Leticia was speechless.
The elves had been the ones about to resort to force, and Jiha's logic was that he'd intervened to divert their attention.
Jiha drove the point home.
"You lack the leadership to command elves. You're a Unique Grade, the strongest among elves, yet you don't have their respect, and the people beneath you are running wild as they please."
"......."
It was a stinging rebuke. Leticia was furious but had nothing to say.
She had her own circumstances, her own position, but arguing further would just make her look pathetic.
"This means the engagement is broken."
"Huh? What?"
Leticia couldn't follow Jiha's sudden shift in topic.
Catching his meaning, her gaze flicked toward Jiha's subordinates.
"You don't need to worry. Nothing spoken here will leave this room."
"Of course, Chief! My lips are sealed!"
"......What on earth are you talking about?"
Jiha spelled it out without mercy.
"I'm talking about how you're a trophy wife for male elves. The only thing that changes is who the owner is."
"That's enough out of you!"
Leticia shot up from her seat.
The phrase came from another world, but the insult landed perfectly.
Her chair clattered. Mana surging through her whole body, Leticia fixed Jiha with a murderous glare.
Garaon hurriedly stepped in front of Jiha.
Even against a Unique, he'd serve as a shield, if only for a moment.
"Do elves get their period every three minutes? Every time someone tells you the truth, you get hysterical."
"......Master Jiha, your language was a little extreme."
Lijin spoke up gently.
She'd borne insults and threats without a word, and only now stepped in.
When Jiha looked at her, Lijin continued softly.
"Forgive my impertinence."
"Alright."
As she'd implied, this wasn't a place for Lijin to interject.
But by indirectly chiding Jiha, Lijin had stolen the moment from Leticia, who had been in the middle of her rage.
Lijin had intervened for exactly this effect, and Jiha knew it and allowed it.
Leticia's tightly clenched fist was trembling. Jiha tossed her another line.
"Pamin's social standing is finished. Just by not showing up to these negotiations, he'll have lost the trust of his peers. You can use this incident as a pretext to break the engagement. It won't be hard."
"You think some mere......."
Leticia bristled.
Jiha wasn't wrong.
She'd been a little hopeful he'd handle the engagement cleanly, but this shallow little ploy? It left her feeling cheated.
"That slicked-back-hair type from earlier is probably the frontrunner for your next fiancé."
"......."
"Being the man who takes the powerful Pamin's former fiancée will prove the new hero's worth."
Jiha carried on coolly.
"He'll use the mob he dragged along, succeed in avenging his kin, then get engaged to you to step up as Pamin's successor, the new face of the faction. That's his ambition. Even if you try to refuse, once the Council decides, you'll have to accept in the end."
Leticia's anger stalled. She had no choice but to stare blankly back.
How could a mere human see through the internal workings of the closed society of elves in such detail?
"Do you get it now? That you're a trophy wife? Your position is that you have to be the fiancée of whichever unmarried male elf is currently the most highly regarded."
Jiha laid out Leticia's situation dispassionately.
"Once Pamin is out of the picture, the second-best one will start closing in on you. And in the end, you'll have no choice but to accept."
"......."
A searing observation, but Leticia couldn't refute it.
"Then what exactly do you expect me to......."
"You just do as I do."
Watching this, Lijin was privately astonished.
He'd pinpointed Leticia's state with total accuracy, shaken her, and now he was telling her: if you want out of this situation, cooperate.
Jiha's skill at pushing someone to the brink of tears and then soothing them was an art form.
He won her trust in his abilities but kept the specifics secret, making it so Leticia had no choice but to cooperate for the time being.
Hesitating at the proposal, Leticia opened her mouth.
"I......."
"Ah, sorry for being late."
The door opened and an old man walked in.
His beard was pure white. It was Dudinel, the mayor of Waris.
Taking in the strange atmosphere hanging over the meeting room, and the shattered round table, Dudinel smiled and asked.
"I told the young man from the Galak Family to come as well. Is he running late?"
"......He went back ahead of us, Elder Dudinel."
Leticia spoke respectfully.
Dudinel was only a Normal Grade, but he had once been an elder on the Elf Council and was one of the very oldest among the elves.
By the rules of elven society, Leticia was naturally obliged to show him respect.
Jiha, chin resting on his palm, observed Dudinel with an indifferent look.
Adjusting his glasses, Dudinel inquired.
"I expected to see Lady Woniak. A human I've never seen before has come instead. What's the situation?"
"This shouldn't be the first time."
Jiha dropped the formalities immediately.
Leticia's eyebrows shot up at once.
"Watch your tongue. He is an elder among elves."
"Do I have an obligation to consider elven culture?"
It sounded like Jiha was picking a fight, but it was a valid argument.
Warsland was home to all kinds of species, each with different lifespans.
Cultures for treating elders were inevitably all different, causing all sorts of headaches.
So in Warsland, rank was what formally distinguished those above from those below.
No matter how long someone had lived, if their rank was lower, it was natural to address them as such.
"Even so, you are a Common."
"And a man."
Jiha gave a cryptic answer, then narrowed his eyes.
"Everyone out except the old man."
"What?"
Lijin, Garaon, and Rugin immediately moved toward the door, but Leticia didn't follow.
She had no reason to obey Jiha, and she was worried about Dudinel's safety.
Wasn't Jiha the type who didn't hesitate to use vulgar language or commit vicious acts?
"No. Why should I listen to the likes of......."
"Would you wait outside, Lady Yormun?"
When Dudinel said it with a smile, Leticia had to nod.
"Very well. But should anything happen, call for me at once."
Once even Leticia had left, only Jiha and Dudinel remained in the meeting room.
Dudinel spoke as he took a seat.
"Getting old leaves you with no strength. Can't offer you much in the way of hospitality, I'm afraid."
"Get to the point."
Dudinel gave a puzzled laugh, so Jiha rephrased it.
"State your real business."
"Not sure I catch your meaning, old as I......."
"There's no way you don't know who I am."
It wasn't self-importance.
"I'm currently the only human ranked Common. I'm sure you also know that the Summoning War reached an armistice because of a Mana-wielding Common, and that Waris's economy has taken a hit. If the mayor claims he doesn't know, it means either he has not a speck of interest in how the world is turning, or he knows perfectly well and is playing dumb."
Jiha held up a hand.
"If this isn't the case, then let's have everyone come back in. If it is, then let's speak candidly."
"......."
Mayor Dudinel grinned.
"This could be a long talk. What would you like to drink?"
It was a smile that confirmed Jiha was right.