Her soft laugh cut through the tension, her voice carrying a surprising warmth despite the situation. “You’re an interesting one, Ludwig. Eyes that pierce through illusions and unravel lies… truly intriguing. Yes, I am Lorina Ulesse, the Princess of the Fallen Elven Race. Or as your kind prefers to call us, the traitors of humanity.”
The tone of her voice shifted, tinged with bitterness as though she were accustomed to such accusations. Ludwig’s brows furrowed slightly, his mind spinning with questions he chose not to voice. Instead, he observed her carefully, his instincts urging him to measure her words, her posture, and the subtle tension among her companions.
“You seem perplexed,” Lorina said, her sharp gaze catching his hesitation. “I suppose there’s much you don’t understand about our history. But that is a story for another time. For keeping quiet about us and allowing us to enjoy some of the shows here, please take this,” she said.
She reached into a small pouch hanging from her waist and withdrew an item that shimmered faintly even in the dim light—a golden acorn. Its surface was adorned with intricate patterns that seemed to glow faintly with an inner light.
Ludwig grabbed the item and asked, “What is this?”
“That would come in handy if you ever need help while you’re in the Evergreen, the Land of the Elves,” she said and gave Ludwig a courteous bow befitting a princess from a noble linage.
Ludwig weighed the acorn in his hand for a moment, its unexpected warmth tingling against his palm. He gave a faint nod and pocketed it without further question. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, Truth-Seeker,” she said once Ludwig accepted her gift.
[An Elven Princess has given you a title.]
[Truth-Seeker: No inherent bonuses.]
The notification hovered briefly in Ludwig’s vision before fading, leaving behind an odd sense of finality. Around him, the tension among the elf’s guards began to dissipate as their weapons lowered.
Ludwig nodded as he pocketed the acorn.
“Please visit us someday,” Lorina said, her voice softer now. “Though I hope it will be under better circumstances. For now, we must take our leave. You’ve already dealt with the greater threat we came here to resolve.”
“I suppose it had to do with the ritual,” Ludwig asked.
“Indeed, the Tree that you saw there, it was something that belonged to us, it was stolen and corrupted. Though sadly we couldn’t recover it, it is already too late for that tree to be saved, still you helped prevent a great calamity, Though I fear our kind will still bear the blame for its presence here.”
“You’ll only be blamed if someone sees you,” Ludwig replied bluntly. “The city’s on edge—if any trace of elves is found, they’ll jump to conclusions. You should leave before someone spots you.”
The princess’s expression hardened briefly before she nodded in agreement. “You’re right. Brothers, sisters, let us be swift.”
The other elves exchanged quick glances before vanishing into the rooftops above with fluid precision, their movements eerily silent. Only Lorina remained, pulling her cowl over her head.
She met Ludwig’s gaze one last time, her voice carrying a note of quiet resolve. “Let’s meet again, Truth-Seeker, under clearer skies.”
With a graceful leap, she was gone, leaving Ludwig alone in the now-deserted alley.
Ludwig then took a look at his hand that was grabbing the spirit, finding nothing there he realized that his small threat served no purpose. So, he just canceled his mana and smiled as he gazed up ahead.
The city lights glimmered faintly ahead, their warmth beckoning Ludwig forward. The streets were unnervingly quiet compared to the earlier chaos, though signs of the disruption remained. Guards patrolled in greater numbers, their eyes darting suspiciously toward every shadow.
Though everything that happened took about a couple of hours and some change, it was enough to cause a lot of issues within Rima. But thanks to the troops of the old man who everyone seemed to call a lord, the whole situation fell under control rather rapidly.
Ludwig walked through the streets of the city and was asked by a guard what he was doing there. After all, it was very strange for someone to be this badly worn at this time of day.
He just showed him his torn clothes, “Victim here, let me go and have a drink man,” Ludwig said in the most boring solemn way possible.
Another guard came rushing, “Let that boy through, the Lord himself asked us to be mindful of him, he’s actually the one who contributed the most into shutting down this whole fuck-fest.”
The first guard was surprised, “This boy did?” he obviously couldn’t believe it, especially how rugged Ludwig looked.
“Yeah, the whole squad is talking about it, they say even Banner the Giant gave him a word of praise for surviving a hoard of undead and killing the assailant…”
“Do you mind removing your mask? I wanna see a look at Rima’s hero,” the first guard asked.
“That’s rude,” the second one replied, “Sir, please go on ahead. Everyone here will be shortly informed of your current disposition and mask, you will get a pass free through all the city while the investigation and current martial law is in place.”
“Wait, there is a martial Law?” Ludwig asked.
“Yes, the lord enacted it, all facilities are to be closed… well two hours ago,” the guard said in an awkward manner.
“Shit, I need to get to an inn, my friends are there..” Ludwig cursed.
“Then please go on, if they’re in an inn they should probably still be there, inns and hotels and short-stay places have also been informed to keep their tenants there for the night.”
Ludwig nodded and hurried toward the Last Adventure Inn. Only then did he realize that the guards were right, though the lights of the city were still on, not a single store or shop was open and everyone had their homes closed for the night.
Ludwig arrived at the Last Adventure Inn and found its main door closed.
He knocked a couple of times, and a burly voice sounded from behind the door, “Who is it at this time? it’s martial law, and we aren’t serving drinks anymore.”
“I need to see a couple friends of mine, they’re inside,” Ludwig said.
“Ah it’s the customer from earlier,” he heard from above him, the busboy from this morning was peeking.
“Gramps, let him in, his friend already paid handsomely for the room and the food they ordered.”
The door creaked open, revealing the inn’s inside.
“Hurry up inside,” the burly man’s voice sounded, “I don’t want no trouble with the knights.”
“Thank you, sir,” Ludwig said as he walked through the now-opened door.
“Damn boy,” the burly voice owner said, looking to his left, Ludwig found the voice perfectly match the person, a quite large person almost as big as Banner himself standing behind the door. He had more gray than black hair on his head and seemed to have more muscle than any inn tenant should have. “You look like you crawled out of a battlefield,”
“Yeah, something like that happened…”
“You promise you’re no trouble, right?”
Ludwig held three fingers up, “Scout’s honor,” he said.
Confused at the gesture, the old man couldn’t help but sigh, “Just don’t cause any issues, or I’ll personally kick you out,” the old man said as he closed the door. “Your friends are upstairs, I’ll send for someone to fill a barrel of water for you to clean up,” he finalized.
“Thank you, I appreciate it,” Ludwig said as he made his way upstairs.
Surprisingly, there were still many people downstairs sitting around the tables, drinking and talking, and all of them seemed to take note of Ludwig’s current appearance.
‘I really need to change,’ he thought to himself.
Ludwig hurried up to the upper floor and was met with the same busboy from earlier. “Hello again,” he said in his same friendly tone, “Let me lead you to your friend’s room.”
“Lead the way then, I need to check up on them… and I really need a shower…” Ludwig said.
Of course, I’ll handle that for you,” he said then stopped and turned to face Ludwig when they were a few steps on the stairs and away from all praying eyes and ears, “although there is something I’d like to ask you first,” the busboy asked In a hushed tone.
“What is it?” Ludwig asked.
“How does it feel to be an Undead?” The busboy asked, smiles and all.