Nidavellir.
Some time later.
- "You know, your behavior gave me a strong sense of déjà vu," I said, taking a sip of coffee and looking at the surviving elder sitting across from me. "Would you like to tell me why you did that? As far as I remember, you are extremely reverent towards your laws and traditions, and I don't think that changing your faith is beyond their scope."
After everything had settled down, which only took a couple of hours, we moved to a spacious room where we could talk comfortably. Besides me and the elder, Lucretia, it seemed that the others were also there, that is, Mistiora behind me, Olga on the sofa to the side, and Chloe standing next to her queen. Only Zask was missing, locked in a dungeon, but I had other plans for him, so everything was fine.
- "As you wish," Lucretia nodded. "Yes, it's true. We have indeed honored our laws and traditions. This has allowed us to preserve our history and the unity of our people, and to live to see this day."
- "But at the same time, no queen has been able to give birth to the bearer of a giant's soul in the past thousand years," Olga smiled. "Every child died as soon as the soul tried to merge with his body."
I raised an eyebrow.
Really? I suppose it was because of the power of the soul itself, trapped in the artifact. It really belonged to a giant, as my eyes and 3rd magic told me, and if we were to evaluate it using the Servants' parameter system, the body would need at least a C-rank physique.
And I hadn't even mentioned the need for incredibly high compatibility, because if you take the same Servants, a suitable vessel can be found, God willing, one in a trillion or more, as in the case of Ishtar and Rin, and so on.
On the other hand, now I understood why Olga had a cold, detached, or even harsh temperament. Heh.
- "I foresee a 'but'," I said, prompting the elder to continue his story.
- "But now times have changed, and in order to survive, the dark elves must overcome their pride and let go of the past. We are weak, our kin are hunted by monsters, humans, everyone who lives out there. And that's not all. We have no political influence, and if one of the countries decides to attack, Nidavellir will surely fall."
Lucretia paused and looked at Olga.
- "Your words are also one of the reasons why the dark elves should change their established laws and traditions. The reborn giant would have led us to greatness, but that has not happened yet and is unlikely to happen," she said and turned her gaze to me. "I had a long-term plan, but then you appeared, Lord Romani, a powerful god supporting the returned Olga. I am not as foolish and young as the other elders, so I made a choice. Have I satisfied your curiosity?"
Oh? A revolutionary among conservatives? Heh. Déjà vu, indeed. Reminds me of Rea-chan.
But I must say, her motives are well-founded. Even considering the inaccessibility and closed fields protecting Nidavellir, several years of study by mages from any country would have yielded at least something. Besides, Olga's reputation was pretty lousy, so it's clear that the attitude towards dark elves would be appropriate. And also...
- "Let's say so," I shrugged. "So, your son was acting on your orders? Because I find it hard to believe that he could have pulled off what he did without support from above."
- "'Pulled off', Romani? Are you talking about the artifact?" Olga raised an eyebrow. "No, that's what he said. What does he mean, Lucretia?"
- "Yes, Lord Romani," the elder nodded calmly. "Zask acted according to my will, though he didn't even know it, as I had planned."
- "What are you two talking about?" Olga asked a little louder, but both Lucretia and I ignored her.
- "I have watched you since birth and therefore knew exactly how you would react to what happened," the elder began, looking at Olga and Mistiora. "Mistiora was the most convenient in this regard, for she would never have allowed the thought that this was planned in advance, and by the darkest elves of Nidavellir, no less. Olga, on the other hand, was neutral at best toward the position of queen and would have done the bare minimum out of a sense of duty to her homeland, which meant that the mission would have dragged on for centuries. That would have given me enough time to establish a new order here."
With every word she spoke, Olga's face showed more and more emotion, mostly anger and some resentment, which was understandable, since she had, in fact, been used as a political tool. Chloe felt something similar to her queen, but Mistiora... she just lowered her head, as if accepting everything as it was.
I smiled and looked at the elder with genuine interest.
- "You're a natural politician, Lucretia," I chuckled and was about to add a couple more compliments when Olga interrupted me.
- "Lucretia, you..." She clenched her fists and put on a cold, angry expression, while mana raged within her body, clearly preparing to be unleashed. "After saying all that, you really think you'll get out of here alive?"
- "Yes," the elder replied calmly again. "Whether you want it or not, you need me to rule Nidavellir. I am older, more experienced, and more influential than you, and without my support, the dark elves will become like human countries, where everyone looks out only for their own interests, not those of the people as a whole. Besides..."
- "Besides what?" Olga snarled. "Speak, you still can."
- "It's not up to you to decide whether I live or die," Lucretia continued, pointing at me with her eyes, causing Olga to turn sharply in my direction and look at me defiantly, realizing that the elder was right and obviously demanding my approval.
- "No, you can't, Olga-chan," I said, putting on the embarrassed face of a Japanese anime schoolgirl and tapping my index fingers in a corresponding gesture, to which Olga showed no visible reaction. "Whether you like it or not, she's right. If you don't want a split within the race, then Lucretia must live. However, it's up to you. Heh."
Olga glared at me while the others waited silently for her verdict.
Heh. Now I'm not even particularly interested in the family drama I had been hoping for earlier. At that moment, Lucretia was able to pull the blanket over herself, because she definitely knew what to do or say and when. It is noteworthy that not a single word she said was a lie, either now or in our previous meetings.
- "I..."
-0-
The next day.
Lying in the extremely luxurious chambers assigned to me, I twirled in my hands an artifact that was obviously no longer needed by either the dark elves or the world, although the latter point could be reconsidered.
So, what do we have? In essence, the giants of this world played the role of the Titans from Greek mythology, albeit with some differences. According to popular myth, the goddess Larentia, reincarnated as Celestine, created the races from the bodies of giants, but what exactly happened to the latter? Why did they suddenly die?
In general, my guess would be a world that, as it turns out, has consciousness and the ability to influence the gods. And this coincided with an extremely amusing and understandable theory, which stated that the giants did not submit to the world for one reason or another, and therefore the world decided to get rid of them, replacing them with gods capable of succumbing to its influence.
It sounds good, of course, but without confirmation, the theory remains just a theory, that is...
I used the third magic on the artifact and forcibly pulled the soul out of it. In the next moment, a translucent floating silhouette with human features appeared before me, and, interestingly, it was purple, the opposite color of the green that had spread across the world when it attacked me.
As I looked at it, it slowly opened its eyes and looked back at me, and then...
- "What do you want?" it asked with a hint of caution in its voice, to which I raised an eyebrow.
- "You're not even going to ask who I am? How nice of you."
- "You are a god, but not from here, for you have no blood of my kind or the vile energy of this world..." he began with a hint of hatred growing in his voice. "...you were able to force me out of the artifact, even though I resisted you, and your strange power... ...I don't know what you want, but I have a request for you..."
Oh? A request? From a giant who is overflowing with hatred? How interesting.
- "Well, I think we can help each other," I said with a smirk on my face, creating a cup of coffee and taking a sip. "Romani Archaman, Magician. And I'm listening to you carefully..."
-0-
A/N: How's the chapter? Give us your opinion. You may well be able to influence future chapters.
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