The Great Forest
The Imperial Capital
The intelligence Olivia had sent reached the Imperial Council and the Imperial Palace without delay.
The Emperor left the entire matter in the hands of the Council, and the Council promptly erupted into an uproar. It was hardly surprising — the New World Group's forces were considerable.
"According to the information Her Excellency the Taesa has provided, the New World Group has planted a great many of their people in the vicinity of the capital alone."
"As expected of the Ashtar duchy's young lady. To obtain intelligence of this caliber…"
So when the Taesa had said she was going on a journey, she had actually been investigating the New World Group all along. And they had even tried to stage an incident in Ribelt? Audacious little bastards. Still, it was a blessing that the Ashtar young lady had crushed them so swiftly.
"But why haven't these people moved until now? There aren't many who've been stirred up near the capital."
"The young lady surmised they intended to rise all at once when the time was right."
"That makes sense. Then we strike first — before the New World Group can act."
"Agreed."
The Council resolved on the spot to launch a full-scale purge of the New World Group. They had been searching ever since the previous attack on the capital without success, but now, armed with the materials the young lady had sent, they could finally take as many as they wanted.
"Fortunately, none of them are inside the capital's own forces."
"We rooted them all out after the last incident. Does that mean we deploy the army?"
They would have to. Sweeping the New World Group clean left no other option.
"They're a pack of black mages. Better to turn the army loose."
"Capture, or kill on sight?"
"Kill them where they stand, she said."
"And we'll need to print fresh copies of this map and distribute them to every lord."
"Of course."
The Council moved with ruthless speed. Units of Tarhana — the special-operations arm of the capital garrison — scattered in every direction and fell upon the New World Group's hideouts.
"Ghk… How did you find this place—"
"The Imperial Army, moving this fast?!"
Amazingly, the New World Group's faithful still had no idea what was happening. They folded without resistance. Orders had come down: no captures, no mercy of any kind. Tarhana obeyed to the letter, cutting the cultists down where they stood.
Without the slightest hesitation, Tarhana slaughtered the believers one by one until every New World Group cell near the capital had been ripped out by the roots.
"The Empire will only take us prisoner. They don't even know anything about us."
"This is a chance to convert Imperial soldiers, if anything."
More than a few cultists deliberately allowed themselves to be taken. Every last one of them was dragged outside their hideouts and shot.
"Does the Imperial Army have no mercy at all?!"
"Mercy? Tarhana has none. Our only duty is to kill you."
"Gyaaaaaaah!"
Some cells heard the news and made a last stand in their lairs. Tarhana simply set mages to work pouring boiling water into the caves and collapsing them, burying the cultists alive.
Nor was that all. The Empire's Assassin Guild moved just as swiftly, joining the purge of New World Group cells across the provinces. The nobility did the same.
"You don't like the aristocratic order we have now? You insolent rabble. Lowborn trash who don't know their place — release the knights!"
"All of this is for the people of my domain. Exterminate the traitors!"
Corrupt nobles fought to preserve the system that fed them; lords who had actually governed with the common folk in mind fought for justice. Between them, they hunted the New World Group without quarter.
As a result, the cult either fled into foreign lands or, terrified by Tarhana's savage executions, simply defected.
When the Emperor received the report, he smiled with genuine satisfaction.
"Yes. This is the sort of work that makes one worthy of the title of Taesa."
He had sent her north on an uneasy premonition, and she had handled things better than expected. Now, then—
"The White King. Are we simply going to let that creature grow?"
The Great Forest
Beyond the Empire's western border stretched a vast woodland known as the Great Forest — the realm of the elves.
Within it lay the Elven Kingdom. Once living in scattered tribes, the elves had unified under a monarchy long ago under the pressure of Imperial threats.
The Elven Kingdom had stayed out of the wars between humans and the Demon Realm, though more recently they had attached a returning elven warrior to the Hero Party. The intention, of course, had been that she would bind herself to the Hero. The king of the elves had never imagined she would end up living such a thoroughly debauched life.
Isis, the Elven King known as the Spirit King, suddenly felt a dark premonition crawl down his spine.
"Fuck. Something seriously fucked-up is coming this way."
"Spirit King! How can you utter such vulgar—"
"As we have told Your Majesty before, you must not employ the base curses of humans!"
The elven elders — the equivalent of aristocratic bureaucrats in the Empire — glanced around nervously as they scolded their king, terrified someone might overhear. Isis had no intention of listening.
Hell, it would have been stranger not to swear.
With that thought, the Elven King spoke again.
"Bullshit. Listen up, you bastards. Something is coming into this Great Forest."
"What on earth do you mean?"
"I can feel the aura of that son of a bitch who toyed with me back in that godforsaken Hero Party! The very reason I started talking like this is heading this way!"
The entire Hero Party had been a parade of people he couldn't stand. The elders had fawned over them, and the Hero himself was so spectacularly stupid that, handled properly, he might have made a useful puppet for the elves. But one member in particular had been pure poison.
The mage Noah.
A creature who could enrage even the proudest of elves. The reason Isis's mouth had become this filthy was that he had spent too long matching that bastard curse for curse.
"But that mage is dead, is he not?"
"Indeed. How could that mage return?"
Even the elders broke out in a cold sweat. That mage had been nothing like the easily flattered Hero. For all his gloom, he had treated elves like playthings and never once held back from humiliating them. And yet not a single elf could have beaten him in a fight. Isis himself had once made a wager with the man and lost; after that, he could not even talk back when the mage swaggered.
"It isn't quite the same as his, but the aura is similar. Tell the forest warriors. Whether the one coming is Noah or not, they are clearly a person of consequence who cannot be handled carelessly. Keep a measured watch and bring them here."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Given his druthers, Isis would simply have had them seized outside the Great Forest. But if it really was that gloomy mage, only innocent elven warriors would end up hurt. Twisted as the man had been, he had never been an enemy of the elves. There was no need to poke a sleeping dragon and make things worse.
We reached the Great Forest.
Along the way we had heard news from the Empire. The Council had unleashed Tarhana — the secret police attached to the capital garrison. Think of them as an assassin guild inside the Imperial forces and you have the right idea. They were executing New World Group members on the spot, and the cult's power had taken a savage beating overnight.
"I never expected the Empire to move this quickly."
"The capital couldn't afford to wait."
"The nobles are something else. Those rotting bastards actually managed it."
They acted precisely because they were rotting.
"Of course they did. The New World Group wants to tear down the system that keeps them fat — poison to corrupt lords and to the ones who actually look after their commoners alike."
Even a rotten man hates a knife in the ribs. The nobles who had been tangled up with anti-Imperial elements had already been purged in one clean sweep. All in all, this was a terrible season for the New World Group to start anything.
"Anyway. We've arrived at the Great Forest."
"Wow. It's been ages since I last saw the Great Forest."
Looking at the colossal trees spread out before us, I let out a long breath. Once we stepped inside, we would be in elven territory.
It might not look like much of a country if all you saw was trees, but elves are a people of the forest. Farther in you would find wooden houses, barracks, even a royal palace — a whole civilization. And the forest itself, starting from this very entrance, functioned as a natural fortress. What more needed saying? Some Imperial tyrant had once tried to burn it down and discovered a magical barrier made the whole idea impossible.
"You've been here before?"
"Yes, a long time ago, I think."
"In the old days, the moment you set foot in the Great Forest the arrows started flying."
Thinking back on it now, the thrill had been incredible. Beating the shit out of every elf who loosed an arrow at me — pure ecstasy.
"At you, Lady Olivia?"
"That's right. First time, so plenty of idiots just opened fire without thinking. Ella practically threw herself on me, begging me to stop thrashing her people."
"Whoa. That prideful bitch? I'd have paid to see that."
Come to think of it, what was the Hero Party even doing these days? As long as those morons weren't getting up to something idiotic, I supposed I could live with it.
That was when a group of elves stepped out in front of us.
Hmm. I had expected flying arrows and tight security. For them to simply walk out and greet us like this was a surprise.
"Who are you, to seek entry into the Great Forest?"
When asked who you are, the polite thing is to answer. We held a certain standing, after all. An explanation was in order.
"We've come from the Empire."
"From the Empire? Judging by your attire, Imperial officials?"
They caught on quickly enough.
"This is Olivia Lapa Ashtar, Taesa of the Empire. Here is an identification bearing the Imperial seal."
I handed the Imperial papers to the wary elven guards. After examining them, the elf's earlier hostility melted away.
"Why would the Emperor's own teacher come here? You do not appear to be an official envoy of the Empire."
Fair enough. Anyone would find it suspicious. That was the normal reaction. And the truth was, I was no official envoy. It looked rather rude at a glance. Still, sneaking in disguised as a commoner would have been even more awkward.
"Ah, I simply thought you ought to know about the New World Group. And I was traveling anyway, so I killed two birds."
My answer only made their eyes grow more dubious.
"Traveling?"
Honestly. I was the Taesa — a little more courtesy wouldn't kill them.
"Is travel in the Great Forest forbidden even to Imperial citizens?"
"A legitimate reason is required. Given that you are both Taesa and a duchy's young lady of the Empire, we cannot admit you lightly."
Yes, of course. That made sense. Being a young lady, Taesa, and Saint carried weight even among the elves. Still, this level of treatment felt a little excessive.
"Simple reason. I was given a week's leave and had nowhere to go. Head into any noble territory and I get fawned over half to death, so I decided to try another country."
"What in the world…"
The elf's face settled into an expression beyond description.
I understood perfectly well what he wanted to say. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do about it either.