As I eyed the beer swimming in my cup, I wondered where had common sense gone to?

Hello, Mr. Common Sense? Can you come back from your vacation? Maybe you liked Vallen Empire’s weather so much that you decided to permanently settle there?

The road to Greeningsrad was long, and even with the elves getting us a carriage pulled by bears, it was still uncomfortable. I’d rather ride on a bear than be stuck inside with Ellysa.

The queen sitting opposite of me looked at me with a smug that would put all other smugs to shame. She took a sip from her cup, and raised her head proudly.

“Your Majesty, this beer…”

I was about to ask when I was cut off by the dwarven queen. “Are you surprised?”

I hesitated for a moment then answered, “Yes?”

Ellysa chuckled then continued, “My husband-to-be demanded that I make beer, not tea. If he likes it, so too shall I. How else would I show how devoted I am to my one and only consort?”

I simply nodded even though I couldn’t understand a thing. Best not infuriate the queen…

Our carriage suddenly stopped on our path, causing Ellysa to be slightly irritated. Every moment we spent wasting was a moment being far from her husband-to-be, or so she claimed. If slaughtering a horde of elves was what it would take to get to her target faster, so be it.

Worried for the safety of the elves, I quickly got out of the carriage to find out why we stopped.

“What’s going on?” I asked the nearby officer.

“This…We’ve already explained that Greeningsrad is under control of the rebels, but even when we told of your arrival, they still refused to open the gates,” the elf replied.

“This is a problem, isn’t it?” I muttered.

“Vah, comrade…” The elf sighed.

“Ho? What could be a problem, I wonder?” A familiar scary voice sent shivers down my spine. No, wait! I could feel mana stirring in the air! My spine literally shivered from magic!

The nearby elves froze in terror as the temperature dropped drastically. Even though elves naturally had high resistance to the cold, they still feared the infamous vampire lords.

“Y-Your M-Majesty, the r-rebels…” I was trying to explain. I didn’t want to see another bloodbath.

At least don’t do it in front of me, alright?

Ellysa jumped off the carriage then started walking towards the city. In front of the city was a republican encampment filled with weary and tired soldiers. The elves had been fighting for some time now, and sieging wasn’t an option against elves.

I followed the queen just in case.

“What is this?” she asked the republican general inside the command tent. The elf’s white beard and eye-patch gave him a stern look of a war-hardened veteran. His cold demeanor showed that he had seen war at its purest form, and his feelings were fully replaced with just pure utter bloodshed. Only the freezing winds could keep him calm.

“Er...I… I don’t know. I’ve never fought a war before, comrade. I was a mill worker....” the elf general stammered.

…

Maybe I should stop judging books by their cover.

The elf general explained their situation to the queen as much as he could. Elves on the defense were always a headache to beat, and most of the elf tactics were nulled by the fact that both sides were from the same nation that taught the same tactics.

The republicans hoped that, by telling the rebels there was a vampire lady coming, they would at least let her pass. Unexpectedly, the rebels refused, thinking it was a trap.

“So now, we’re just hurling insults at them to demoralize them…” the elf general concluded.

Ellysa and I looked at the front and saw a few elves using amplifier orbs to yell insults at the rebels holed up in the city.

“Your mother had a bank account!” the officer shouted.

“No, way, Bushikov! That’s an insult that even I won’t be able to handle!” a soldier cheered.

The city fought back with their own assault, “I bet your father bought your shoes, you seska!”

The officer fell on his knees, then spat fresh blood from his mouth. The snow were dyed in crimson as the skirmish continued.

“This sounds like fun, mind if I try?” Ellysa pushed the elven general aside and strolled to the front. Grabbing a sound amplifier, I warned the nearby elves to cover their ears.

Ellysa took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. The city continued to bombard insults, but the republicans quieted down in anticipation.

“Your babuyiskiv went to a temple and your father was allergic to potatoes! Your brothers-...” the city’s insult was cut off when Ellysa opened her mouth.

It was like a bat screeching right into my ears. I kept my ears safe by conjuring protective barriers to muffle the sound, but the elves were unlucky and their ears bled. When Ellysa was done, she dropped the orb and clapped her hands.

“Come, spirit. Let us enter the city,” Ellysa ordered.

“B-but Your Majesty, the rebels…”

“You dare question me?” Ellysa looked at me with a smile on her face.

“Of course not! Ahahaha! I was saying that I… uh… liked how pretty your dress is!” I clenched my teeth together as I faked a smile.

“Why, thank you! You’ll live for a day longer,” Ellysa said.

O-one more day?!

As ordered by the queen, the carriage began moving towards the city. The republican guards were reluctant at first, but continued to escort Ellysa’s carriage despite the risks. After all, these were the hardy and courageous elves, they would carry on their task through thick and thin.

The elves opened the gate to find out all the rebels were frozen in place. They all had a shocked expression, but there were no life to them. Republican soldiers passed by the elven statues, not knowing what to feel.

A soldier tapped a rebel’s shoulder, but it feel like he was touching stone. He pushed the same rebel again, and it dropped onto the floor hard. It seemed that the whole army was wiped out by a single shriek.

Greeningsrad had already been fought over for quite some time, causing an accumulation of essence of death. Necromancers and the undead were known to thrive in wars of attrition, because normal rules of war never applied to them.

Instead of weakening as the war goes on, they only got stronger. As the number of casualties their forces suffer goes up, the stronger they get.

Ugh….

That reminds me of the war in the south… Much of the frontline nations had already fallen to the demons... I even heard that the rogue undead had thrown their lot in with the demons.

Once Ellysa’s carriage reached the port, we got off and met with the republican general once more.

“I require a ship going to the Sorcerer City States. Much of the civilian population was spared, so in return for my infinite mercy, I demand a ship.” Ellysa was quick to the point, and the general had nothing against it.

It didn’t take long for us to get a passenger ship just for the queen. It was luxurious, with the compartments were spacious. This must had been one of elven official’s private ship, but then again, he might have been killed when the rebels stormed the city.

As the city of the Greeningsrad disappeared from sight, I was left in the middle of the ocean with the queen and her entourage of dwarven maids.

Ellysa relaxed on the front deck with maids tending to her, so I was left alone. With free time for myself at last, I decided to take out my communication skull.

“Hey, Yomi? You there?” I called out to the skull.

Green flame alighted in both of the eye sockets, indicating that Yomi was on the other side.

“Mauri! You wouldn’t believe this! I found a really, really strong mage!” Yomi shouted.

“Calm down. Tell me of this mage,” I replied.

“He… he could use magic without saying any chants and stuff! Even Kendra was able to summon fireballs with just a snap! Snap snap!” Yomi began making her snapping fingers, irritating me slightly.

“Alright, alright…”

“He agreed to be a teacher, though only temporarily…” Yomi continued.

“Really? Why’d he agree?” I asked.

“Well, first, he said he wanted to learn necromancy…” Yomi began explaining,

“You what? That’s dangerous!”

“It’s fine! He’s very open! He believes necromancy could be used in the field of medicine!” Yomi argued.

I felt a cold hand gripping my shoulder, causing me to stammer.

“Mauri…?” Yomi asked after I went silent.

“Why hello there. I am Queen Ellysa VI, Sovereign of the United Fortresses,” Ellysa introduced herself.

“O-oh?! A q-queen?! I’m pleased to meet you, Your Majesty! Mauri, why is the dwarven queen with you?!” Yomi replied.

“This is a very interesting device you have. What is this?” Ellysa grabbed the skull from my hand and began studying it.

“T-this isn’t made with n-necromancy I swear!” Yomi stammered.

Yomi, you’re not very helpful.

“It’s fine. Your Majesty is a vampire lady,” I explained,

After a minute long silence, Yomi finally replied, “EEEEEEEEEEH?”

“How annoying. Let’s talk about this… tool… later. Can you please describe that ‘powerful mage’ to me?” Ellysa asked.

“O-of course, Your Undeady Goodness! He wears full white robes…”

A slight simper…

“... he’s really thin…”

A grin that could kill....

“... and wears a mask!”

A love-stricken smile that would make one think that the owner of this smile should be locked up in an mental asylum.

“Where is he?” Ellysa asked as her fingers wrapped around the skull trembled. Drool was flooding out of her mouth while her breathing was obviously loud and erratic.

“I-I’m on my way to Cahalot with him, Your Undead Corpseyness! I-Is there a reason why you’re asking me?” Yomi replied promptly.

Ellysa kicked her feet up on the front deck railings, then pointed forward. Her eyes were filled with determination, and her fangs were twinkling brightly.

“WE SAIL FOR CAHALOT!” Ellysa declared.

Oh, boy. Home.