Claire's voice was as flat as it could be. To be honest, she rarely raised her voice. And if Ludwig heard her voice rising, he would just look at her with raised eyebrows. But when her voice dipped, it was a different story.
Even so… the fact that her body didn't lean forward and just stay the same as the previous second, raised an alarm in Ludwig's mind. He had learnt that It was a warning sign that she was about to commit something.
"Selena." She said started. "A leader does not move an entire village because she believes someone."
Selena's smile faded ever so slightly. Her brows creased and she looked like she had been insulted deeply.
"I believe him." She replied simply.
"I understand that." Claire answered. "But that is not the problem."
Greito's gaze moved between them, but he did not interrupt.
Then, Claire continued.
"You can trust him personally. You can even admire him. But your people do not live inside your trust. They live inside the consequences of your decisions."
The room stayed quiet as the words fell. In the meantime, Selena's fingers curled slightly against the table.
"If he says it is safe." She said, "Then it is likely safe."
Claire's brows raised after hearing that. It seemed like she understood what Ludwig had been experiencing from the succubus. "Likely, huh? Then let's break it down. Aside from your trust in him, what else makes you think so?"
No glimpse of concern even appeared on Selena's face. But she indeed became more thoughtful. Her gaze then shifted briefly to Ludwig before returning to Claire.
"He didn't abandon us." She said first. "When others who are stronger choose the easy way out, he chose to carry us as one of his burdens."
Her tone was even and calm. Still a tolerable limit in Ludwig's book. It's better than saying it with flame like she was preaching.
"When we asked him to help us because of our situation in the Demon Realm, he moved us here. He even set us up with a merchant that was willing to trade with us quietly. Not only that… the illusion rune around the city is also his work."
Before Claire could dismantle that answer from Selena, Ludwig jumped in.
"That Illusion rune is not my work. I commissioned someone to make it."
Selena's eyes left Claire and landed on Ludwig. Even Greito now paid more attention to him.
Realizing the question in their eyes, Ludwig continued. "It's Imelda's creation. I just made sure she didn't put any tracking rune there."
That answer opened the eyes of Greito and Selena wide. He hadn't told them about it, not because he intentionally did it but because he thought it was a given. He was not someone who was known for rune making. He could do the basic one, but the top tier stuff? That's way beyond him.
"That made more sense." Greito huffed. "You are… illiterate in higher rune creation. I made sure of that."
"So it was her creation…" Selena nodded. "Thank you for asking her to make it, Hero."
Ludwig's eyes lingered on Selena for a bit before he moved his hands to rub on his face. Far too trusting in him. Even a simple question like 'Are you sure it's safe?' would made Ludwig happy now.
Claire who also had been listening without interrupting sighed. In the meantime, Gretio just looked at Selena and shook his head.
"We'll get back to this later. But for now, let's get back to the topic in hand." Claire said. "Your answer before, so your trust is based on past behavior, yes?"
"Yes."
"Anything else?" Claire asked.
Selena's eyes flickered again to Ludwig.
"He is strong."
"The fact that 'he' is strong is not something you should put in calculation when hundreds of lives hang in your decision." Claire replied evenly. "Strong compared to what?"
Greito huffed quietly but said nothing while Selena did not hesitate.
"He is strong enough." She said.
Claire did not blink and sighed. "That is not an answer."
Selena's chin lifted slightly before her mouth opened.
"He defeated the Demon King, you know."
"That only measures him as a person, not whether the city you are going to move is safe or not." Claire replied.
Silence settled over the table. Selena's gaze returned to Ludwig, as if expecting him to clarify for her. But Ludwig didn't do that.
Meanwhile, the sharp administrator beside him noticed that.
"If you remove him from the equation." Claire continued, "What will you know about Tempest?"
Selena's lips parted then closed. Her gaze drifted briefly to Ludwig, almost instinctively, as if expecting him to fill the silence for her.
"He said it trades." She answered finally.
"That is what he told you." Claire replied evenly. "What do you know without him providing information?"
Selena's fingers tightened faintly on the edge of the table.
"He would not do that."
"That is still about him."
The words were not harsh. But it should sting the same.
Greito shifted slightly in his seat but remained silent. Then, Selena opened her mouth again.
"He defeated the Demon King. He carried us out of the Demon Realm. He asked an Archmage to craft our ward. He secured trade for us when no one else would." Selena tried to argue. But in truth, she was just parroting what everyone in the room heard a few seconds ago.
"That still about him." Claire said. "Not Tempest."
Silence followed after that as Selena looked at Ludwig again. Yet, he offered her nothing again.
"If tomorrow he tells you that a cliff is safe to step off because he believes there is ground below, would you do it?"
"Yes." Selena answered without hesitation.
The answer landed heavily in the room. Greito's jaw shifted while Claire did not react with shock.
"That." She said quietly, "You cannot behave like that."
Selena's brows tightened.
"You would jump, that is your choice." Claire continued, "But you know, that means you would also be asking the children outside and the old ones whose strength is fading to jump with you."
The air thickened after Claire said her piece.
"You are allowed to risk yourself. That's your rights" Claire said. "But you are not allowed to gamble with other's people lives without their consent."
Selena's fingers pressed harder into the table.
"I would not gamble on them."
"But you would follow his words without asking."
The correction from Claire came gently and strongly at the same time.
"If tomorrow he misjudges. If tomorrow the cliff doesn't have a ground below. If tomorrow what awaits you underneath that cliff is a dragon's den. It will not only be your bones breaking."
Selena's wings drew slightly closer to her back.
Claire's tone did not rise as she continued.
"A leader absorbs uncertainty before others have to. A leader should ask the uncomfortable questions so her people do not suffer afterwards."
Greito's gaze lowered briefly, then returned to Selena.
"You have children here." Claire continued. "You have elders who survived the Demon Realm. You have young ones who have never seen anything beyond this forest. Their future does not belong to your faith."
Selena's throat moved once as she swallowed.
"I trust him." she repeated, softer now.
"And you can." Claire said calmly. "But again, your villagers do not live inside your trust."
It was a repetition, but Ludwig knew why Claire choose to do that. You couldn't hope to break a thousand years boulder with one swing. You had to keep hitting it until it cracks.
"You are not only someone he saved." Claire added. "You are their leader."
Selena's eyes shifted toward the door, as if she could see through it to the clearing outside. To the children who had watched them walk in.
"Then, what should I do?" She asked.
Claire sat just like before.
"You have to ask questions for your villagers." She said. "Ask what their legal standing will be. Ask what happens if their ruler falls. Ask how disputes are settled. Ask what obligations come with residence. Ask what protections exist."
Each point landed, and Ludwig appreciated it.
"Even if you already trust the answer." Claire added, "You still ask."
Selena lowered her gaze briefly to the maps at the end of the table.
"I would still follow him." She said softly.
"I know." Ludwig replied. "But Selena, you cannot ask them to follow only because you would. You are far too trusting of me. I need input, not followers."
The words came from Ludwig this time.
"You are the one who knows this place the best. You are the one who knows the state of the demonkin here the best. Not me. So, when I came to you with something, I want you to put that knowledge to use, and help me to decide whether it's the best move or not."
Selena looked unsettled at Ludwig's words. Her fingers slowly loosened their grip on the table, though they did not fully relax. Her gaze stayed lowered for a moment longer, lingering on the maps near the edge.
"I…" Her voice paused, then steadied. "I never thought of it that way."
Greito shifted in his seat, but this time there was no scoff, no huff. Only attention.
Selena looked up at Ludwig.
"When we were in the Demon Realm we survived by following the strongest." She said slowly, "Those who hesitated died. Those who questioned openly were silenced."
Her wings twitched faintly behind her.
"When you appeared, you were stronger than all of them. But you did not silence us. You moved us. You asked nothing in return."
Her eyes did not burn with fervor. They held something simpler. Memory.
"So I decided." She continued, "That if it is you, then I would not question."
Claire did not interrupt that confession. And Ludwig let the silence stretch.
"That made sense then." He said quietly. "But, it does not have to make sense forever."
Ludwig shifted on his seat, tea already gone cold, forgotten.
In the meantime, Selena's lips pressed together.
"I do not worship blindly." She said, though the sentence lacked force.
Claire answered evenly.
"No. But you didn't even have a doubt when it came to him. And that's wrong."
Selena's gaze shifted briefly to the door again. To the clearing beyond it. To the people who would gather if she called.
"I trust him. And the demonkin outside trust me…" She murmured.
"Yes." Claire replied. "And that is why you must think for them when they cannot see beyond this forest."
Selena inhaled slowly. Her faith in Ludwig did not diminish. It did not fracture. It simply had something placed beside it now. Responsibility, named clearly.
"I will not stop trusting you, Hero." She said while looking at Ludwig.
"I will be lying if I say you should not stop trusting me. But, I will not ask you to."
"But I will… try to ask from now on." Selena's words came out in fragments.
At that moment, Claire gave her a small nod.
"That is enough for now."
Selena's shoulders eased slightly.
"I cannot promise I will change quickly." She admitted. "When you speak, my first instinct is to agree."
"I know." Ludwig said.
Greito finally spoke, voice low.
"We all know."
Selena glanced at him, then back at Ludwig.
"But, I'll try if that means easing your burdens."
To be honest, Ludwig wanted more. She just promised to ask questions. Not proactively seeking a way to help him when it came to the demonkin.
But he knew that forcing someone to change was hard. For now, what he could do was supporting them one step at a time, just like cooking.
So,
"That is all I need for now." Ludwig replied.
Selena gave a faint nod.
"I will try." She repeated.
Faith still did not disappear from her expression. But at the very least , it no longer stood alone.
One Bonus chapter for 50 powerstone.
Leave a review, ratings, a comment, or gib me your powerstone please~
And to those who want to read 50 chapters ahead, be my Patron at https://www.p*treon.com/c/imjustaboy_/membership
Or just search Imjustaboy_ in the search bar. Thankiess!