My last morning in Dormou had finally arrived, and despite the few hours of soothing slumber, I was still feeling rather sleep deprived. I sluggishly crawled out of bed, spending several minutes stretching in attempt to invigorate myself. And as if she were waiting for that exact moment for me to finish—as usual—the sound of a knock at my door came the second I decided to sit back down on the bed.

“Sir Albel?”

Like every morning, this perceptive maid could practically sense everything from the other side.

I swear, does she have her ears to the door every morning or something? Well, it’s not like I actually mind.

“Yes, I’m awake. You can come on in.”

“Understood. Good morning, Sir Albel.”

“Morning, Amara. Thanks again for the assistance, as always. Same goes for last night’s escorting. It was nice to finally have a chance revisit the rooftop before I set out.”

Amara placed the usual water basin on the table nearby. She then turned toward me with the same old, stoic expression that rarely left her face.

“No, it seems I still have much to learn after last night’s development.”

“Hm? What do you mean by that?”

“Had I not intervened between you and Lady Marna last night, maybe something more could have flourished underneath the stars. Please accept my sincerest apol—”

“Are you still going on about that?!”

Even with her expressionless delivery, she was certainly one cheeky maid. If anything, it felt as if her words were at least a bit more expressive now.

Anyways, I should start getting ready. I don’t want to be late for my last breakfast together with everyone before I leave. But before that.

My eyes met Amara’s in lingering silence. She didn’t budge, wink, flinch or even attempt to look away. I knew that she fully understood what my stare had implied, and yet, she completely ignored it. I squinted with a creased brow in regard to her feigned obliviousness, and seconds went by before I had seemingly won out in the end.

“I see, so Sir Albel still refrains from changing in front of me. And here I was, under the impression that our bonding from last night would have possibly changed that. Such a foolish thought.”

“Amara... Just...how in the world would a heart-to-heart talk lead to something of that nature?!”

“Well, Lady Marna said—”

“Marna, huh? Of course, that mouthy Princess... That’s all I needed to know. Now, if you would so kindly, please...”

As I gestured toward the doorway, Amara finally grasped the notion that I wouldn’t back down—no matter what. She then gave a short bow and headed for the doorway, but not before murmuring something to herself that I could still hear loud and clear somehow.

“What an intriguing dilemma...”

From a state of listlessness to a pensive expression, she exited the room. I sighed aloud as I decided to continue my usual morning routine of freshening up and changing. Quickly finishing, I made my way out into the hallway where Amara was on standby and we finally headed toward the dining area together.

In the distance, I could see a few maids who were quickly and hectically coming in and out of the room. With concrete reasoning, I could only imagine Marna and her usual insatiable appetite being the cause for it. As we entered, I was immediately greeted by said glutton and one other.

“Mm! There he finally is. Good morning, Sir Albel. I’m glad you were able to make it here fairly quickly this morning.”

“You sure took your sweet time, human mage. You should know better than to be late on a day like this.”

Like always, I took my seat directly across from Marna and Captain Vaalyun at the table.

“Ah, morning, you two. Are we really that late, Captain? It didn’t feel like it...”

I could see that the Captain was in a bit of an ill-tempered mood due to the fact that he was currently scowling. It kind of reminded me a bit of the morning of my second day in Dormou, right before he insisted on us having a duel before our breakfast. In thinking such, I could feel the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.

He better not even think about it!

“You two aren’t late at all, Sir Albel. Vaalyun here is just being a bit more moody than usual, since he’ll be losing out on his sparring partner after today.”

“Indeed, it’s quite vexing...”

“Eh? C-Captain...?!”

Another shiver rippled across my skin in response to his startling words. I had a bad feeling now.

“Oh! Look who's finally being upfront about his feelings—”

“To think that the human mage would leave before I could beat him at his best! Enough!! Stand, human mage! We shall settle this today! Right here, and right now, if we have to!”

“Denied, Vaalyun!”

“Ugh. I knew it...”

It was truly an everyday occurrence with the Captain. He couldn’t allow for a single day to slip by.

There’s just no saving this muscle-headed Captain, is there?

Marna was quick and efficient in her ability to calm the Captain down. As I watched on in silence, another voice had forced its way into our usual morning antics—unannounced. One I hadn’t ever heard prior to today.

“Ha ha! It’s quite delightful seeing how well acquainted you all are to each other!”

I gave a short and quick glance around our immediate area, but couldn’t see anyone but Marna and the Captain on the opposite side of me, whereas Amara was standing some distance behind myself. A few of the usual maids were still coming in and out, but I didn’t recall any of them having such a brawny tone to their voices either. Not only that, the two before me didn’t seem to notice the voice as Marna continued to scold a now sitting and dejected Captain Vaalyun.

Am I just hearing things? Ah, maybe it’s my sleep deprivation finally getting to me, is that it?

That thought immediately became disproved as I followed where one of the hastened maids were heading to. I had originally thought it was in result of Marna just being herself, but instead, they were focusing on attending to the far left-side end of the table today. A side that I had previously ignored due to the fact that we only ever used the opposite end.

Who...? No, when did he even get there?! I didn’t notice him when I walked in...

As my eyes found their way to that side of the table, a traditionally dressed, older man was currently shoveling down food—plate after plate—as a series of maids were replenishing his table side’s supply. It was seemingly someone whom shared Marna’s distinct and bottomless way of eating. Only one person came to mind.

“Father! It’s fine that you’ve decided to finally eat with us today, but I don’t appreciate the fact that you’re hoarding all the food! Silla, Ilyana, Myrrh, Celae—you may stop attending to him this instant.”

Marna waved off the few maids at the man’s side, and they gave a deep bow before leaving the room. I couldn’t help but interject in response to what she had called the man.

“No, no, no, can’t we at least address that no one said anything about the Elven King eating with us today?! Someone who I hadn’t even laid eyes on until just a second ago! Marna!?”

“Mm? Sorry, Sir Albel, it was just a last-minute inclusion. Father rarely ever leaves his quarters, so it also surprised me that he decided to come out today. There’s no need to fret about it too much though, he’s just a hermit who means no one any harm.”

I was still stuck in a state of bewilderment by the situation before me. That man was Marna’s father—the Elven King. He held a rather imposing stature; broad shoulders and his hair was a mesh of dulled pink and white. More than anything, now that I was aware of his presence, something felt incredibly peculiar about him.

I couldn’t feel anything from him. It was similar to how one rarely ever gives a second thought toward the shadow at their own feet, or the trees that surrounded them daily. His presence felt eerily natural.

If he hadn’t said a single thing, would I have walked out of here without ever noticing him...?

With that in mind, I immediately activated my [Investigate] skill on whim and curiosity.

Name: [Lorcan]

Rank: [Elven]

Level: [60 (MAX)]

Class: [Warden/Barbarian]

Alignment: [Lawful Good]

INFO:

Titles - [Elven King]

[Warden of the Woods]

“Wha...?!”

I couldn’t help but express my surprise audibly. He was the first person in the world in whom I’d seen with a maxed Level. The Elven King, Lorcan. Going off of how strong Captain Vaalyun was despite being several levels lower, I could only imagine just how strong the Elven King actually was. It wouldn’t come to a surprise if I’d have a hard time against him even with Divination magic.

No, I feel as if he’d probably push me to my limits or beyond that either way...

“Ha ha! Are you done investigating, Diviner?”

“?!”

My title, [The Diviner], one in which I hadn’t shared to anyone as of yet. Not even Marna was aware that I held such a title despite all the time we had spent together. She had only known about my Unique SKILL, my Class and my Level. I didn’t deem it necessary at first, so I decided against telling anyone about [The Diviner] and [Goddess’ Token]. In fact, I had completely forgotten that I hadn’t told her until now. And yet, this man before me was able to call me such during our first meeting.

“...I guess my investigation hadn't just been one-sided, is that it...?”

“Oh? Quite observant of you to immediately assume that. Maybe I was just informed ahead of time by my lovely daughter, no?”

“Sorry, but as lovely as she is, she doesn’t have any abilities to see that direct information, as far as I know...”

The Elven King’s smile widened toward my words, as an abrupt laughing fit erupted from his side of the table.

“Ha ha! My mistake! Seems like you two aren’t as close as I had initially thought! Well, there’s nothing wrong with either of you keeping some secrets from each other.”

“Father!!”

Marna had finally decided to angrily chime in, and in doing so, the Elven King gave an indifferent shrug and lifted himself from his seat. As he made his way to me, I also decided to rise from my own. We now stood a short distance apart from each other as his stature easily dwarfed my own completely. He even held a build larger than that of the Captain’s.

“Now that I have seen you in person, I’m quite regretful that I didn’t come to greet you earlier, Diviner.”

“Ah, seems like I should have paid my respects to the Elven King early on as well. That’s my mistake.”

“We’ll just have to settle for a nice, long chat the next time you come and visit then, hm?”

“Seems so. I’ll be looking forward to it, Elven King, Lorcan.”

With an outstretched palm now, my eyes remained fixated and unblinking on his own. Lorcan made a short exhale through his noise and his face seemingly eased, as he then grabbed my hand in return. Our audience was in apparent puzzlement as they watched on from across the table.

“...What exactly is this exchange, Vaalyun?”

“This is a man’s battle, Princess.”

“Is that so? Seems like it was rather foolish of me to ask you anything. Amara?”

“Sir Albel is currently fighting a quiet and grueling battle with you in mind, Lady Marna.”

“E-eh?! Ehehe, I see... Is that so...?”

“Yes.”

“...Princess, just because she answered with something you’d rather hear over the actual truth, that doesn’t make it correct—”

“Shush, you!”

Several seconds after, Lorcan finally released my hand after a firm hold and began walking toward the left-side exit. Though, he had no intention of leaving without one last remake first.

“Ha ha! Just don’t go dying before then, Diviner!”

The moment the door closed behind him, I immediately slumped backward into my seat, taking a long breath of required air. The Elven King, Lorcan, was a man that could feel like the equivalent of nothing from a distance, and yet, held a colossal presence when met face-to-face. The jittering in my legs spoke volumes.

To think there was someone like that in this world, or even Dormou at that. I was under the impression that the Captain was the strongest in this city. That’s definitely one way to find out how wrong you are about something.

The rest of our meal time had ended rather uneventful as Marna spent a moderate portion of it apologizing for father’s abrupt behavior and actions. It was nothing she needed to apologize for to begin with, so I simply let it rest. It was easy to see the familial connection between the two after that, since Lorcan seemed like the kind of man that wouldn’t allow himself to be told what he could or couldn’t do. As Marna moved at her own pace, so did her father.

“Mm, we should...probably start heading for the gate now, hm, Sir Albel?”

Marna was the first to bring up that it was finally time. I had made plans on leaving early since, according to the map provided to me, it would take a week to get to the split in the mountains. That split would allow me to exit the Outer Region and enter the Central Region where the first human town, Druhwood, would be located. It was the only path available to take in order to get to the other side.

“Ah, seems like now’s as good a time as any. I’m ready.”

I changed into my normal robes and we headed toward the castle’s main pathway. I couldn’t help but stop momentarily as I turned back toward the castle’s front entrance. A single individual who had no intention on following us beyond that point was now standing there.

“Amara.”

“Is there a problem, Sir Albel?”

“I had almost forgotten to say this before I left. You’ve been attending to me since the first day I arrived, so I wanted to thank you for that. Thank you, Amara. I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me thus far. I look forward to seeing you again when I return.”

As her normally stoic expression transformed, she gifted me a rather rare, soft smile as she took a deep bow and bid me farewell.

“No, the pleasure was all mine. It was an honor serving you, Sir Albel. I also look forward to serving you once more on your return. Safe travels.”

As Amara waved me goodbye from a distance, Marna and the Captain accompanied me to the front gate of Dormou. Along the way, several familiar residents also waved my way and called out to me. Waving back, I could notice Marna chuckling softly at my side. As we finally reached the gate, I took a short glance around. The only times where I had left this gate were whenever an increase in monster activity took place. It would be quite a long time before I ever saw this gate again, surely. I made my way outside the gate, and turned toward the two usual faces. Captain Vaalyun was the first one to step forth.

“Human mage, I want you to have this.”

He handed me a long staff, one that was seemingly an enchanted quarterstaff that had enhanced properties. Before I could even ask why, he continued.

“During our fight, you weren’t able to defend yourself properly when I reached you. In the event where you’re unable to access your Divination arts, you’ll be left undefended, no? If that’s the case, learn how to use that quarterstaff then. It should help you drastically.”

Unexpected, his advice was sound.

“Ah, you’re right. It definitely was frustrating not being able to react properly to your attacks yesterday. A quarterstaff though, huh? All right, I’ll do my best to learn how to use it then. Thanks, Captain.”

As I moved my right hand toward him, he grabbed it and immediately began his usual spiel without me having to even prompt him to.

“Just don’t forget, human mage! On your next return, our duels won’t result in my defeat anymore! I’ll make sure to train until the point where even your Divination arts will be pointless against me! I’ll show you what it means to be—”

“Yes, yes.”

“Hey! Don’t just brush aside my declaration and resolve, human mage!”

He continued his exaggerated uproar, and I simply just let him speak until he finally settled down. As he did, he begrudgingly returned back to Marna’s side, who in turn, then decided to slowly step forth as well. Her eyes were at a downcast as she situated herself right in front of me, remaining oddly quiet.

She then took hold of my right hand with both of hers, catching me off guard. In my bare palm, she placed something at its center. It was a ring that held three separate gemstones. Yet, the moment it made contact with my skin; I could immediately tell what it potentially was.

“This is...?!”

“Ehehe, as expected of Sir Albel. You already have an idea of what it could be, correct?”

“Ah. I can feel three separate instances of energy swirling around in each of the gems. It feels like a ring that holds all three main power sources, is that what it really is?!”

“Mm! It’s a family heirloom, one that’s never held a real purpose before. It’s currently only seen in high regard as a “ring of status” more than anything these days. It was given to me by my mother.”

She began making small circles around the ring in my palm, tracing an aimless path. Despite staring at my hand, her gazed seemed to reach beyond that. It felt distant.

“I’d normally have to give it to my first daughter, who would earn the title of First Princess after me. It dates back centuries and has the ability to slowly take in the wielder's main power source. And that dormant power within has never been released before either.”

She became lost in thought for several seconds, and I could see her expression change. One that resembled last night’s as she then evidently shook it off with a slight shaking motion of her head. Her solemn tone continued as she finally matched my gaze.

“Your experiment the other day reminded me of it. So, I’m sure you’ll be able to find... You’ll definitely use it for what it’s meant for.”

“...Are you sure, Marna? This doesn’t seem like something you should just give away on a whim, you know?”

She closed her eyes and shook her head once more, returning her golden stare back at me with a rather saddened smile this time around. Her reply slowly shifted back to her usual demeanor, as if by force.

“It’s not just a simple whim, Sir Albel. That is the only option I have toward protecting you... Mm! That’s what it is. It’s a sign of my protection! A good luck charm! So, make sure you don’t lose it, okay? Promise me!”

Releasing my hand, she created some distance between us as she placed her arms behind her own back. She had seemingly swallowed whatever it was that she truly wanted to say, and yet, I had no intention on delving anymore deeper than a curious thought. Like Lorcan had stated earlier; there was nothing wrong with either of us holding back some secrets between each other. And I trusted the person before me—simple as that.

“Ah, I understand. I promise you. I’ll cherish and take proper care of it. Thank you, for everything, Marna.”

“Mm! As you should. And whenever you wish to return—at any time—you'll always have a home here. Ready and waiting for you. So...be safe, okay?”

“I will, and be sure to do the same. Until next time then.”

“Mm...”

As our eyes lingered on each other for several more seconds, I then gave a nod to both of them as I finally turned around and headed out. Creating distance between the gate and myself, I turned around one last time and waved toward them—continuing on my way.

“Princess, are you sure about this?”

“It doesn’t matter what my opinion of all this is, Vaalyun. All we can do is wait and prepare now...”

As Princess Marna interlocked her fingers, she lifted her hands and pressed them against her lips in preparation for her whispered, audible prayer.

“...I’ll leave him in your hands... Please...”