Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Chapter 15: The One Who Walks Ahead (1)
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“Ugh!”
The door to the tent burst open. The Imperial Army knight in charge shoved Silvia and Siadin inside roughly. The two elves tumbled to the ground.
Silvia slowly lifted her head.
Straight ahead hung a flag with a red background emblazoned with a golden dragon. The number ‘5’ emblazoned at the top of the flag caught her eye.
“The 5th Prince...”
“How insolent! He is of the imperial bloodline of the Philius Empire! Have you no manners?”
“Don’t be too harsh, Gestain. They’re just pitiful pawns who were used.”
The 5th Prince, Raymond, spoke calmly from his seat beneath the imperial flag. Only then did Gestain withdraw his menacing aura and step back.
Bloodstained bandages wrapped around his neck and arms, covering his entire body, but his eyes burned with life, his sharp gaze monitoring Silvia and Siadin.
“Used...? Are you certain?”
The elderly man in the blue robe, the Azure Tower Lord, narrowed his eyes at Silvia and murmured lowly.
“Am I wrong? Silvia Platie.”
He knows my name?
Silvia’s composure, which she had maintained even while bound and dragged by the Imperial Army, faltered.
“H-How...”
Silvia’s eyes shook. For him to know her family name meant her clan had been exposed.
Right now, she was under suspicion of involvement in an imperial assassination attempt. If word of this reached the capital, the true Imperial Army would mobilize.
Even if the Philius Empire was in decline, crushing a single small elf clan would be no great feat.
Since the Great War, the unity among non-humans had shattered, leaving Silvia’s clan with nowhere to turn for aid.
“That thing around your neck—isn’t it the ‘Necklace of the Forest,’ proof of high elf blood? And with your clan’s symbol etched on it, it wasn’t hard to pinpoint.”
He knew it precisely.
After the Great War’s armistice and the ensuing isolation, exchanges between humans and non-humans had ceased. She had assumed no human would recognize the Necklace of the Forest and hadn’t hidden it—a mistake.
“I know you were used, but it’s too early to relax.”
Raymond spoke firmly. He intended to overwhelm the atmosphere and seize the initiative first.
[The One Who Walks Ahead, Silvia Platie. She was a pure elf in every sense. But after enduring all sorts of cruelties under the 2nd Prince’s threats, her temperament changed. She usually appeared timid, but when needed, she acted with extreme pragmatism—sometimes even seeming cruel and ruthless.]
Silvia Platie. In the novel, she wasn’t just a guide for the protagonist. She sensed dangers ahead and warned of them, effectively serving as the command center for the protagonist’s party.
She’s probably racking her brains right now to survive.
From the novel’s descriptions and settings, the original Raymond could easily guess what she was thinking.
“Being used doesn’t erase your crimes.”
“Your Highness, the 5th Prince, but...”
“If you want to live, don’t overthink it—just tell the truth honestly. You have no choices here, and I hold the sword. Remember that.”
“Understood, Your Highness, the 5th Prince...”
Silvia trailed off. She had tried to seize control of the mood, but she was utterly overwhelmed.
With the initiative lost, any clever tricks would backfire.
Raymond suppressed a triumphant smile as she meekly nodded. By reminding her who held the power, he’d stifled any foolish notions—time to shift tactics.
He had swung the whip; now came the carrot.
“Answer my questions truthfully, and I’ll guarantee your safety—both of you. I swear it on the name of the Philius Empire’s 5th Prince.”
A prince’s name carried weight. Silvia could finally ease up a bit at his declaration.
“Who’s behind it?”
Though this assassination attempt was a ‘variable,’ inferring the culprit from the author’s setting notes was simple.
Asking Silvia despite already suspecting was to inform his watching subordinates of the mastermind’s existence while turning ‘suspicion’ into ‘certainty’—a light process.
“Before I tell you the mastermind, Your Highness, I have a request.”
The two Tower Lords and the 5th Prince’s retainers in the tent scowled at her words.
To them, Silvia was in no position to bargain or ask favors.
They itched to remind her, but their lord, the 5th Prince Raymond, seemed deep in thought, so they held their silence.
“You know you’re not in a position to ask favors, right?”
Raymond replied coldly on purpose. He was interested in what she could offer but feigned disinterest.
Only then could he extract from Silvia what the novel’s protagonist, Richard, had gained.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness... But this concerns my clan’s survival. Please, help us.”
“I don’t see why you’re suddenly bringing up your clan’s survival.”
He knew full well, but to maximize his gains, Raymond played dumb.
“The assassination’s masterminds are blackmailing my clan.”
“Judging by how desperate you are, it must involve the World Tree.”
“...How did you know?”
With the conversation stalling, Raymond had advanced by pretending ignorance.
“Has the World Tree been corrupted?”
He ignored her question and pressed further.
Silvia didn’t affirm it. Instead, her eyes widened in shock.
She’d suspected as much when he mentioned the World Tree out of nowhere, but she hadn’t expected him to know so much.
The 5th Prince, Raymond, sat there with a serene expression, as if he already knew plenty. He surely knew the mastermind too. Then why keep asking?
Her deliberation was brief; the answer was close at hand.
He wants me to say it myself.
She could guess why. After a moment of lowered gaze, Silvia slowly looked up at Raymond.
“Your Highness, before I name the mastermind, allow me one final impertinent question. Can you help my clan?”
At her query, Raymond realized he’d pushed too far too soon.
She caught on.
But it wasn’t critical. He’d momentarily forgotten how sharp Silvia was.
No choice—he’d have to reveal some of his hand.
“You needn’t worry about that. Just name the mastermind.”
“It’s the 2nd Prince, Your Highness.”
Silvia bowed her head slightly, revealing the culprit behind the attempt. While Raymond, who had anticipated it, remained unsurprised, the others were stunned.
“Everyone out.”
Foreseeing a barrage of questions for Silvia once they recovered, Raymond ordered the two Tower Lords and his retainers to withdraw temporarily. But Gestain and Desia stayed.
“Not you two?”
“Your Highness, a shield never leaves its master’s side.”
“We don’t know what might happen. Please, keep at least Desia and me by your side.”
He trusted those two. The Tower Lords were reliable too, but they’d likely grill Silvia extensively. Gestain was taciturn, and Desia knew when to hold her tongue, so with a short sigh, Raymond nodded.
Everyone except Gestain, Desia, and the two kneeling elves left the tent. Raymond spoke calmly.
“Tell me everything in detail.”
At his words, Silvia opened up about all that had transpired.
“One day, the World Tree became corrupted. Then a man sent by the 2nd Prince arrived, claiming to know a way to slow the corruption.”
It matched the novel’s setting notes exactly.
“We did as they said, and the corruption truly slowed. But without the potions they supplied, it was impossible. In exchange for those potions, they began demanding more and more.”
Tears began streaming down her face.
“It started with herbs, but their demands escalated—eventually to young elves and even parts of the World Tree. They even demanded elves who could wield spirits.”
Her voice trembled. Raymond listened silently. Glancing aside, Gestain maintained an eerily stoic face, while Desia seemed slightly angered, biting her lip.
“Continue.”
“Ten elves who could handle spirits were selected—including me. We were all sent on dangerous missions, and in the end, I was the only one left.”
Raymond knew why she alone survived. She was a guide competent enough to earn the title ‘The One Who Walks Ahead.’
In the novel, the protagonist Richard never lost his way after meeting her and escaped every peril with her aid.
“The World Tree doesn’t have much time left, Your Highness.”
“You’ve told me this much, so you think I can purify the corruption?”
“Yes.”
“Can you explain why you think that?”
“Is that what you want?”
Silvia’s gaze briefly lingered on Gestain and Desia before returning to Raymond.
“Do you truly want that?”
Sharp as ever. Raymond met her eyes with a calm smile.
“No, you don’t need to say it.”
Silvia didn’t know he’d seen the author’s setting notes. She only assumed he knew more than others. To boost her value, she’d acted like she knew even more, and Raymond had played along to a degree.
Thanks to the setting notes, he knew the herbs needed for purification.
“Purifying the World Tree’s corruption isn’t difficult.”
It was the answer she’d hoped for. A faint smile touched Silvia’s lips.
“But what do I gain from purifying it, even if it means antagonizing Brother Deneb?”
“Hasn’t the 2nd Prince already sent assassins after you, Your Highness? Doesn’t that make us enemies already?”
“That’s separate. Don’t assume I’ll help out of sympathy.”
“Name your price.”
She hadn’t expected it for free. Unlike the grim-faced Siadin, Silvia spoke calmly.
“A modest amount of herbs I can spare, your loyalty... and one more thing.”
“My life’s already forfeit, so offering my loyalty and some herbs is no hardship. But I’ll need to hear the last one.”
“I want to see the place with the ancient statue.”
“You even know about that?”
It was a secret known only to the high elf bloodline and a few in the Platinum Herb clan. Silvia grew curious about how Raymond knew of the ancient statue.
“It’s just a statue passed down from ancient times.”
True enough. That was all she knew, but Raymond was different.
As if...
The statue she dismissed as mere stone bore the aura of the first magic swordsman, Dairian. Withstanding its mana granted the ‘Blessing of Sword and Magic.’
The very cheat blessing that made Richard the protagonist.
Raymond’s eyes gleamed as he looked down at Silvia.
“Impossible?”
Raymond asked.
In the novel, Silvia had gladly guided the protagonist Richard to the statue.
But their current meeting wasn’t pleasant, so he’d considered the possibility of refusal.
“On my high elf blood, I swear: if you purify the World Tree and protect us, Your Highness may take what you desire.”
Silvia bowed politely. It felt like something was omitted, but the deal seemed sealed.
“Miss! What about Lady Aria?!”
Siadin cried out desperately. Only then did Raymond recall ‘Aria.’
Aria was Silvia’s younger sister, currently held hostage by the 2nd Prince’s subordinates at this point in time.
“Sir Siadin... Aria is in the capital...”
Silvia’s voice faded. From her demeanor, Raymond realized she’d deliberately omitted her sister.
Negotiation basics.
Never demand too much.
For her clan’s survival, she’d been prepared to sacrifice her beloved younger sister, Aria.