33. Jing-Jing (Spirit Sprite)

"Which three Archmagi are absent, exactly?" Saul asked urgently.

"It is... Archmage Gutt of the School of Evocation. Archmage Helen of the School of Transmutation. And the Archmage of the School of Abjuration, Lord Kade."

Seeing General Saul suddenly spring from his chair, his subordinate replied with trepidation.

"It’s those three."

"This is trouble!"

Saul knew that within the Imperial Council, these were the very three who had voiced the most criticism regarding Aelian’s reforms and the spread of magic to the commoners.

Saul still remembered that a few months ago, when His Majesty Aelian proposed at the council to lead troops to purge the orc tribes, those Archmagi had assumed the attitude of onlookers waiting for a show.

They were clearly waiting for Aelian to suffer a defeat in the war, resulting in heavy casualties among the Empire's elite battle-mages!

They would then use that as a pretext to make a grand issue of it, forcing Aelian to resign from his positions as "Supreme Mage" and "Arcane Emperor."

Saul estimated that if Aelian did not yield, they might conspire to subdue him or assassinate him in secret.

To everyone's surprise, under Aelian’s command, the battle-mages had succeeded in driving out the orc clans that had plagued Eldoron for three centuries with almost no casualties, achieving an unprecedented victory in the history of the Empire!

Moreover, over the past six months, Aelian himself had remained almost constantly with him and other mage guards, never once being left alone.

For such a long time, His Majesty Aelian had not encountered any accidents, and the teaching at the surface magic schools had proceeded quite smoothly.

The reforms were moving forward steadily. In many schools, students had already successfully cast cantrips, and becoming formal First-Circle mages was merely a matter of time.

Therefore, Saul had gradually set his mind at ease.

He believed that even the dissenters had likely abandoned their original intentions and accepted the reality.

Unexpectedly, now...

"How could this be? The Emperor's reforms have been in effect for over half a year, and most of the opposition has slowly faded away!"

"Why would they choose to strike at this critical moment?"

Saul was exceptionally anxious—

Among the three Archmagi, Gutt and Helen were both Ninth-Circle Archmagi, and Kade was a top-tier Eighth-Circle mage; they were almost the three strongest individuals in the current Imperial Council, aside from Aelian!

He tried to send a message to Aelian using magic, but it yielded no results. He had no choice but to summon a subordinate skilled in divination magic.

"Quickly, help me locate His Majesty Aelian's current position."

"We must find the Emperor immediately!"

The subordinate immediately produced a crystal ball and began to chant a spell.

However, the surface of the crystalline sphere showed only a hazy grey mist, making it impossible to see anything clearly.

"It’s no use, Lord Saul. I cannot detect any information."

"It is possible that His Majesty Aelian himself has shielded his location, or perhaps there is interference from other forces..."

"Damn it!" Saul paced the room anxiously.

"His Majesty Aelian is in grave danger!"

"Immediately assemble a team of mid-to-high-level mages to accompany me to the surface."

"We must find him before any harm befalls His Majesty Aelian!"

...

Aelian led little Gretel down from the brilliant night sky, landing in front of a village.

"This is the westernmost village of Eldoron—Elf Village."

"Elf Village?" Little Gretel felt the name was quite strange. "Do only elves live here?"

He had heard from bards and Master Joseph that elves were a noble race born with magical powers, possessing long lifespans and viewing themselves as superior.

Centuries ago, it was precisely some idle individuals among the elven race who, with the playful mindset of teasing monkeys, had taught magic to humans.

Aelian shook his head:

"No. Everyone in the village is a human, just like you."

Seeing Gretel's puzzled expression, Aelian led him closer.

Standing on a small hill, they looked into the village at night; the sparse pedestrians were indeed all human in appearance.

But most of these humans wore pointed, elongated ornaments on their ears, making them look like long, elven ears.

"What are they doing?"

Little Gretel understood less and less.

Aelian explained:

"As the westernmost village in Eldoron, Elf Village is closest to the western Elven Royal Court, and as such, they have seen the existence of elves with their own eyes."

"The people of Elf Village believe that humans are a lowly race, lacking innate magic or extraordinary lifespans, devoid of strong physiques or superhuman agility, and most importantly, lacking the protection of ancestral gods!"

"And that elves are the noblest race."

"Therefore, they decorate their ears to imitate the pointed ears of elves, learn elven diet and culture, and mimic elves in every possible way."

"They believe that as long as they spend their lives revering and imitating elves, their souls can enter the Elven Kingdom, and they will be reincarnated as true elves in the next life, completely shedding their lowly human status."

So that was it... Little Gretel gradually understood the customs of this strange village.

Only then did he notice that the architectural style of this village was also worlds apart from Rolling Stone Village.

Many "houses" were actually hollowed-out large trees; people lived inside tree holes just like that. Others were deliberately constructed of snow-white stone in a fragile, delicate style, with cramped interior spaces that clearly ignored practicality.

According to the stories little Gretel had heard, elven architecture should be beautiful and elegant, but these buildings had an indescribable strangeness, and their styles were uncoordinated with one another.

Perhaps the villagers were only intentionally mimicking the elven style, but were incapable of truly achieving it.

"Then, if they do this, will they really become elves in their next life?" Gretel asked.

Aelian smiled and shook his head:

"Of course not; true elves merely treat them as a joke."

"In fact, no matter how one mimics elves, even if one uses magic to transform into an elf, the Elven Kingdom of Arvandor will never accept the souls of humans."

Aelian’s tone while recounting all of this was as calm as ever.

But little Gretel felt a bit uneasy hearing it.

He instinctively felt that what the humans in this village were doing was wrong.

He remembered how his father and mother had fought bravely against goblins, and how his uncle had sacrificed himself heroically in the resistance against the orc invasion.

This was a sense of racial identity—something that distinguished "us" from "them," "humans" from "other races."

Back when he listened to the bards tell those legendary tales in the tavern, little Gretel had not only heard of the miracles of mages but also the legends of those noble and beautiful elves.

But he had always only longed to become a mage; he had never once thought of becoming an elf.

—It was not the same thing at all!

"Then, great Emperor. For humans in such a village, must we still build schools and send mages to teach them magic?" Little Gretel muttered.

He instinctively felt that the villagers were traitors to humanity.

Or at least, they were beyond edification and redemption.