Chapter 145: Disgrace(3)
Chapter 145: Disgrace(3)
Arwen lay atop an old tree, gazing at the sky. Stars glittered in the black expanse.
Like those stars, Arwen wanted to shine.
“It’s for the best.”
The one who had always stood in the way of her shining was Arein. Under the pretext of protection, Arein had smothered her.
He prevented not only men but also girls her age from getting close, and he never let her go anywhere on her own.
It had gotten so bad that Arwen had once disappeared from a human village all by herself just to get away.
And now, that same Arein had been sentenced to ten years in the dungeon for being a sex fiend. Even the elves of Scandinavia had nodded in agreement with the prince’s punishment.
“Kerry…”
By now, Kerry’s name was engraved in Arwen’s mind.
When she had first bumped into him in the village, she never would have imagined things would turn out this way.
A small, glowing blue ball of light approached her. It was one of her low-grade spirits.
It had no form yet and couldn’t speak, but it possessed a will of its own. The low-grade spirit circled around Arwen.
And it wasn’t the only one.
A variety of spirits surrounded her. From Elestra, one of the highest-grade water spirits, to Noeanen, a highest-grade forest spirit.
They all gathered around Arwen.
Arwen loved the spirits. And the spirits loved her back. They were her only friends.
“I know, Gnoam. I’m better off without my brother Arein, too. I told you, I’m not sad. And you, please stop getting so excited, Saleana. Are you going to take responsibility if you set the forest on fire?”
Arwen spoke to the spirits, calling each by name.
Surrounded by a kaleidoscope of spirits atop the green, ancient tree, Arwen exuded an aura of mystique.
Just then, a low-grade spirit whispered in her ear.
“What? A human is coming? How could a human be here this late at night? More importantly, what kind of human? A man? Don’t tell me it’s Kerry? All of you, hide! Quick!”
Arwen was still hiding her closeness with the spirits, even from her mother.
Kerry climbed up onto the old tree.
Of course, he hadn’t come by chance; he had asked around to find out where Arwen was.
He was here to offer her a spot in the party.
‘Since I’m the one who got rid of the damage dealer, Arein, it’s on me to fill the spot with a new one.’
“What are you doing up here, Princess?”
Kerry asked. Arwen turned her head away from him sharply as she replied.
“...Just enjoying the view.”
But Kerry could see them.
The spirits hiding here and there.
One of the more curious spirits was even peeking its head out from its hiding spot.
‘Low-grade… mid-grade… high-grade… she even has highest-grade spirits? This is insane.’
Kerry didn’t know much about spiritmancers.
But from what he’d overheard during his time as an adventurer, there was a supreme spirit, a Spirit King, for every element, with highest, high, mid, and low-grade spirits existing below them.
‘I wonder if Arwen could summon a Spirit King.’
Just then, Arwen spoke, pretending to be nonchalant.
“Why are you here?”
“I have something to discuss with you, Lady Arwen.”
“...What is it?”
“I’ll get to that in a moment. But first, your spirits are quite cute.”
“!”
Arwen was startled. Only another spiritmancer should have been able to see spirits that had concealed their forms.
“You’re a spiritmancer?”
“I am not.”
“Then how…”
“Let’s just keep that a secret.”
“...”
Surprised, Arwen met Kerry’s eyes for a moment before hastily looking away.
Strangely, ever since Kerry had nursed her back to health, she hadn’t been able to look him in the eye.
Perhaps hearing Kerry say he could see them, the spirits began to reveal themselves from all over.
There were spirits in the form of humans made of light, and a lizard-shaped spirit that breathed fire. The fire-breathing one looked a bit like a Charmander.
‘Damn. Spiritmancers are so cool.’
“Seriously. If you can command such incredible spirits, why did you get caught by a succubus?”
“...”
A low-grade succubus, at that.
“...I’m still inexperienced, so it takes time to call my friends. If it weren’t for that, I never would have been caught by the likes of a succubus.”
“...”
He could pretty much guess what happened.
Nabi must have cast her charm on Arwen before she could summon her spirits. Kerry looked at the spirits around them.
“Are they strong?”
“Of course they are! They’re all big shots here in the elven forest.”
Well, she did have highest-grade spirits, so there was no way they’d be weak in a proper fight.
‘Not bad. So her casting time is slow. I can just cover her with a shield.’
It wasn’t a bad thing from the perspective of adding another role for himself in the party.
Kerry was starting to like the idea of Arwen as his next party member more and more.
He had already gotten Lina’s permission. If Arwen agreed, she could join anytime.
A single flower petal fell onto Arwen’s head. Kerry reached out to brush it off.
“I-I can do it myself!”
He was just trying to remove a petal, but Arwen flailed in a panic, shaking her head vigorously.
Kerry could see her blushing face through her hair.
He had heard about Arwen’s situation from the other elves.
Because of Arein, she had never been able to hang out with others her age, nor had she seen much of the outside world.
Ironically, the man Arwen had spoken to the most was Kerry, who had approached her without worrying about Arein.
“Lady Arwen.”
“...”
“Lady Arwen.”
“What do you want?”
“By any chance, are you interested in the outside world?”
“!”
“The truth is, the hero would like you to join her party.”
“L-Lina?”
“I suspect she recognized your talent as a spiritmancer.”
In fact, Lina had been aware of Arwen’s talent.
Though, since they hadn’t been close in her past life, she hadn’t known the full extent of her incredible power.
“I also heard that you despise the organization that placed the curse on the forest.”
“...”
Arwen’s mind went blank.
The hero’s party. The title of ‘hero’ was something she had only heard in fairy tales as a child.
Of course, in the fairy tales Arwen had read, the hero was always a tall, handsome man.
Arwen glanced to her side.
She saw Kerry’s face. Arwen had seen many elf men who were like perfect sculptures.
Because of that, her first impression of Kerry had been rather plain. But for some reason, it was different now.
‘...He’s handsome in a warm way.’
Unlike the male elves, who all had the same kind of sculpted beauty, Kerry seemed ruggedly handsome.
“What do you say, Lady Arwen?”
Arwen stared intently at Kerry before whipping her head away in surprise.
‘If I go with them, I can stay with Kerry…’
“...I don’t know. I just remembered something urgent, so I have to go.”
With that, Arwen bolted from the spot and ran away.
But Kerry smiled. Seeing Arwen’s flushed, dreamy expression, there was no doubt.
“She’s almost hooked.”
Lina’s party was waiting for Kerry. The task of inviting Arwen to the party had fallen to him.
Originally, they had planned to recruit the mage Arein as their damage dealer, but he had been exposed as a sex fiend.
There was no way Lina’s party, which was mostly female, could accept him.
That was when Kerry had recommended Arwen.
“Husband is late.”
“I’m sure Kerry will be able to persuade Lady Arwen.”
“That’s not it. I’m worried Husband and Arwen might… no, that can’t be right. You’re right. Husband will persuade her just fine.”
Just then, the long-awaited Kerry opened the door and walked in. Lina, who had been waiting anxiously, asked.
“How did it go, Kerry?”
“Well, she didn’t give me a straight answer, but I think she’ll come around with a little more coaxing. Lady Arwen is very interested in the outside world, and… she hates the organization that threatened Scandinavia.”
“...That’s a relief. I’ll leave the matter of recruiting Lady Arwen entirely to you, Kerry.”
“Yes. Leave it to me, Lina.”
Lina nodded, sending him her characteristic look of complete trust. It’s been a while since I’ve seen that look.
Damn it. I spoke too confidently without thinking. I need to be more careful next time.
“What’s the situation with the Spirit Sword?”
Lina shook her head.
So that’s how it is. When Kerry had placated Titania, she had said a week would be enough.
Natasha spoke in an angry voice.
“Can’t we just not get the Spirit Sword? She’s making such a big fuss over a single sword.”
“...”
Lina seemed to ponder for a moment before she began to explain the situation.
“There’s a reason why the Spirit Sword is absolutely necessary.”
“What is it?”
“I am the hero, but… due to certain circumstances, I cannot draw the Holy Sword. To compensate for that handicap, I must have the Spirit Sword.”
The prophecy from her past life. The prophecy that said if Lina drew the Holy Sword, she would bring about war. That was why she couldn’t draw it.
This was news to Kerry.
‘I knew there had to be a reason she needed the Spirit Sword, but I never imagined it was because Lina couldn’t draw the Holy Sword.’
Lina, with her busy schedule, had been held up here for a week.
The fact that she still couldn’t give up on the Spirit Sword meant it was absolutely essential.
‘Shit… is this my fault?’
Titania was the one who broke the promise, but Kerry’s conscience ached as if it were his own fault. No. How could anyone have known things would turn out this way?
Still, it was fine. This was something he could take responsibility for.
“Lina. Would you entrust the matter of the Spirit Sword to me as well?”
“What? As I said before… I am against you bowing your head for the Spirit Sword, Kerry.”
I don’t plan on bowing my back, I plan on rocking my hips.
“That’s right. Why should my husband have to wag his tail to get on that woman’s good side?”
“Kerry, I’m against it too. The more you kowtow to her, the more she might try to wrap you around her finger.”
The thought of Titania wrapping him around her finger was something Kerry could hardly imagine. But there was no way to clear up the party’s misunderstanding.
“Most importantly, we can’t leave everything to you, Kerry.”
“...”
Titania wouldn’t listen to anyone but him. But Lina was just as stubborn. In that case…
“Then I’ll leave recruiting Lady Arwen to all of you. Please leave the matter of the Spirit Sword to me. I have a way.”
“...”
In the end, Lina’s party had no choice but to accept Kerry’s proposal.
In retrospect, perhaps this was the natural course of things.
‘Arwen seemed to have a favorable impression of Lina, too. It might actually work out well.’
Lina looked like she was still thinking it over.
But no matter how much she thought about it, when it came to Titania, she had no choice but to leave it to Kerry.
Lina wasn’t the type to take the Spirit Sword by force.
It was the right decision.
Besides, Kerry had a way to resolve this peacefully. Well, a method that was less peaceful and more… sticky.
“...I see no other choice. We’ll leave the Spirit Sword to you, Kerry. In return, we will do our best to recruit Lady Arwen.”
Just as Kerry, having finished the discussion, was about to head straight for Titania, Victoria grabbed his hand.
“K-Kerry…”
Victoria’s voice trembled, her eyes wavering.
She couldn’t say it out loud with the others around, but Kerry understood immediately.
‘Her cooldown is up again!’
Kerry’s eyes pleaded with her. Hold it in! Just hold it in, somehow.
Victoria shook her head from side to side. It had been quite a while, after all.
It seemed she was truly reaching her limit.
“I’m going to see the Queen now. You be a good girl and wait, Victoria. Got it?”
“...”
Victoria stared at Kerry’s retreating back for a long time.
Kerry quickened his pace.
He’d been in Scandinavia for quite a while. It was really time to leave.
Just seeing how anxious Lina was made it painfully clear that time was running short.
The Queen’s residence was at the highest point in the area.
Kerry told the elf guarding the residence that he was here to see the Queen. His face was a familiar one by now.
The guard contacted someone inside. Before Kerry could even exchange a few words with the elf, with whom he’d become friendly from his frequent visits, permission to enter was granted.
Kerry stepped into the Queen’s residence. He didn’t need an escort. He headed straight for the Queen’s bedroom.
The elves attending to Titania simply gave him a familiar nod.
Kerry swung open the door to the Queen’s bedroom.
As if she had been waiting, Titania was lying seductively on the bed.
She was wearing nothing but a see-through, full-body fishnet suit. Titania’s curvaceous body was on full display.
Her nipples were hard, and love juice was trickling down from her pussy.
It was a lewd sight, one you would never expect from the noble queen who reigned over the elves.
“You’ve come, Kerry.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Kerry stepped casually into Titania’s bedroom.
But then he noticed something different about her today.
She was as lewd as ever, but her light, mint-green hair had been cut short into a bob.
Just like Arwen.
“What do you think? I tried cutting my hair short.”
“...”
“You don’t like it, I see. It’s fine. I can always change it back.”
Anyone could see she was copying Arwen’s hairstyle.
The mother and daughter already looked so much alike; with similar haircuts, Arwen’s image kept overlapping with hers.
The image of Arwen, wearing a fishnet suit. It seemed he and Titania had a lot to talk about today.