The girls continued wandering around the Elf Country
They visited several stores and bought a few souvenirs along the way
After a while, Sylffie suddenly asked something to the other
"Hey, are you guys close with Auel?"
"Auel?" Helen answered first "Ah, I think you misunderstood something. We're actually from different parties."
"I, Ashley, Gramm, and Gill are one party. Erin is the one who's in the same party as Auel"
"So, if you want to know about him, Erin is the best person to ask"
Sylffie turned toward Erin
"W-well, I think we've been together for a while" Erin said
"How long?"
"Umm… I think it's already 2 months"
"2 months…" Sylffie looked surprised "Does he always have that gloomy look on his face?"
Erin thought for a moment
"Y-Yeah. Since the first day we met, he's always been like that"
"B-but he is not a bad guy"
"Why are you asking?" Ashley said with a grin
"Are you interested in him?"
Helen immediately joined in
"Are you interested with him?" Helen continued
"Oh? Is our little patrol captain in love?"
"W-What?! No!"
"It's nothing like that" Sylffie answered "He reminds me of someone"
"Someone from the past?"
"…Yeah"
Meanwhile, back at the inn, the boys were still waiting
Rikka looked like he was about to die from boredom
Then the front door finally opened, it was Veyn
"Hi, good morning, everyone" He greeted
"Where the hell have you been?" Rikka immediately shouted. "We've been waiting forever!"
Veyn just laughed awkwardly
"Sorry, sorry. I got home really late after talking with the Cardinals and accidentally overslept."
"So, what's the result?" Gramm asked, "Did you manage to convince them?"
"Well…" Veyn scratched his cheek "I couldn't convince them"
"What!?" Rikka said
"I tried my best, okay? It's not easy convincing them"
"Then what are we supposed to do now?"
"Well…" Veyn smiled "They agreed to meet you."
Silence
"Wait," Rikka said "You want us to convince them ourselves?"
"Pretty much"
"That's ridiculous"
"Hey, getting a chance to meet the Cardinals is already a miracle. Especially for humans"
"Because they hate outsiders?" Gramm asked
"…Yeah"
Veyn sighed
"They've always been like that"
"So, what do you think? Can you guys convince them?"
The boys fell silence for a while
The boys became silent
Finally, Auel spoke
"We don't really have a choice"
Everyone looked at him
"If we can't convince them, we can't finish this quest"
"Great let's go and meet them"
Before leaving, Veyn looked around
"By the way, where are the girls?"
"They went sightseeing," Gill answered
"By themselves? "
"No, Sylffie is with them, she is becoming their tour guide"
"Sylffie?" Veyn blinked "What is that girl doing here? "
"I don't know"
"Meh… let them having fun in the country, let's convince the Cardinals"
The boys finally left the inn and headed toward the Royal Palace
Along the way, Rikka looked at Veyn
"Hey… is Sylffie always weird like this?"
"Weird?"
"You know… following us around"
Veyn thought for a moment
"I don't think so. Because I already know her for a long time and I think it's the first time I saw her doing something like that"
"Hmm… that's weird"
"…I think I know the reason"
Everyone looked at him
"What is it?"
"Because you look like her friend" Veyn said while looking at Auel
"What!?" Rikka shocked
"What are you talking about, I've never met an elf in my life" Auel denied
"Of course, it's not like that"
"You see… a long time ago, Sylffie used to be an adventurer"
"She traveled outside the Elf Country and formed a party"
"But during one of their quests… her entire party was wiped out"
The atmosphere suddenly became heavy
"She was left all alone"
"And then something strange happened"
"What?" Rikka asked
"One day, while she was crying at the guild, someone approached her and invited her to join his party"
"He looked exactly like the leader of her previous party"
The group fell silent
"Aren't that just a coincidence, meeting someone who looked alike is not that hard" Auel said
"Well…You're not wrong" Veyn nodded
"But it didn't happen only once"
Everyone looked at him again
"After that party ended…"
"She met another person with the exact same face"
"And then another"
"And another"
"Every time she lost her party…"
"She met someone who looked exactly the same"
"Every time she found that person, she formed a new party, she created new memories"
"And every time…"
"She lost them again"
No one said anything
"Eventually, she couldn't take it anymore"
"So, she retired from adventuring and became a city patrol instead"
"So, you're saying…"
"She stopped adventuring…"
"And then suddenly met another person with that same face"
"I would say yes"
Auel looked completely uninterested
"Sounds troublesome"
"…That's your reaction?"
"What else am I supposed to say?"
Rikka looked disappointed
"I don't even know her"
Eventually, they arrived at the Royal Sector
In the Royal Sector there were only elves, not a single outsider over there
And almost everyone was staring at them
"I don't think it's a good idea that we're here, everyone is looking at us" Rikka said
"It's fine" Veyn said calmly
As they walked, Gramm asked another question
"By the way, I want to ask about the Cardinals" Gramm asked "Is it really this difficult to speak with the cardinals?"
"Well… if we talk about these cardinals then yes"
"'These' Cardinals?" Rikka asked
"The Cardinals change every hundred years"
"And the current generation…"
"They're probably the strictest ones we've ever had"
"They really hate outsiders"
"Wait, who chose the cardinals?" Gill asked
"Umm… it's the king"
"What!?" Rikka shouted
"Hey, don't look at me like that"
Veyn laughed
"The King isn't like them"
"He actually wants elves and other races to get along"
"Then why the king chose these cardinals?" Rikka asked
"Because he doesn't have complete control over it"
"The candidates are chosen by the people first"
"The King only makes the final selection"
"So, he can't simply pick whoever he wants"
Then Gramm asked another question
"What about the King himself? Does he get replaced every hundred years too?"
"Mmm… it's hard to explain"
Veyn scratched his head
"The Elf King isn't chosen by the people"
"He's chosen by the Crown"
"…The Crown?" Rikka repeated
"To become the Elf King, two things are needed"
"First, the Crown itself"
"Second…"
"The Crown has to acknowledge you"
"Wait… the crown? You mean the crown from the Sovereign?" Gramm asked
"Yes, I mean what else"
Gill's eyes widened "Wait, they are really"
"Sovereign, what is that?" Rikka asked
"It's hard to explain, but long ago, there were four great guardians of the world"
"The Forest Elk, protector of the forests"
"The Giant Whale, protector of the seas"
"The Bahamut, protector of the mountains"
"And the Black Dragon, protector of the skies"
"The Forest Elk cannot protect the forest alone therefore it gave its power to some race so they could help in protecting the forest"
"And then the Elf was chosen"
"It created a Crown and placed a portion of its power inside it"
"And whoever wore the Crown became the Elf King"
"But if that's the case, wouldn't everyone fight over it?" Rikka asked
"Exactly"
"So, the Crown only responds to elves it considers worthy"
"They gained immersive power and changed their appearance"
"And then they became the King"
"So, that's mean as long as the king still worthy the elf king will not change?" Rikka asked
"Well, yes… or he died and the crown resonate with another elves"
"But it's needed a long time because the crown doesn't only give immersive power, but also extend the king's life"
"Normally elves could live for 500 years, but elf king could life for 1000 years"
"But, now that the elf king is gone, where is the Sovereign, does it won't help to find the king?" Gill asked
"Umm… honestly I don't know, we haven't met the Sovereign for a really long time"
"And also, the elf forest, is not the only forest that need protection, right?"
"There must be a lot of forest that needs help and doesn't have a king like this forest"
Rikka walked closer to Auel and whispered
"Hey, I think something is off"
"If Sihr really a Batara and the story that he told was real, then why he never mentions anything about the Sovereign?"
After a moment, he sighed
"I don't know, that guy must be hiding something"
"And a lot"