"Wait, what?" Teddy blurted out. "We're just starting again. Why, vice-captain? What about the girl?"
He frowned deeply.
"An elf entered human territory, acted arrogantly, and tried to judge us on land we govern. How could we just let her walk away? I don't understand."
Blondie glanced at him, almost tired.
"If you studied more," he said calmly, "you'd understand exactly why we let her go."
Teddy stiffened. "Then explain."
"The Royal Court," Blondie replied. "It grants absolute protection to minors."
The room quieted.
"That," Blondie continued, "is why the royal elf family survived for hundreds, no, thousands of years. Why they remained royalty despite endless wars, purges, and near-extinction events."
He folded his arms.
"Even when their numbers were reduced to almost nothing, their children survived. And those children grew stronger. Their abilities sharpened. Evolved."
The Vice Captain nodded slowly.
"And she isn't just a minor," he added. "She's an orphan."
That word landed heavily.
"An orphan?" someone muttered.
Confusion rippled through the room.
The troll stepped forward hesitantly. "That… would explain the contradiction," he said. "An elf of royal blood, yet a survivor from the Kingdom of Coexisting. Those facts shouldn't align."
The Vice Captain's gaze darkened.
"They do," he said quietly, "once you remember who founded that kingdom."
Silence.
"The younger brother of the current Elf Emperor," the Vice Captain continued. "He abandoned the royal family. Rejected their oppression of other races. And built his own nation, one where all were equal."
Understanding dawned.
"This girl," the Vice Captain said, eyes narrowing, "is likely his daughter… or his granddaughter."
"What does her being an orphan have to do with anything?" Mi asked, frowning.
The Vice Captain answered calmly.
"The Royal Court ability didn't appear overnight. It evolved over hundreds of thousands of years. It's hereditary, refined generation after generation in response to extinction-level threats."
He paused, letting the weight of it settle.
"When the royal elves were driven to the brink of annihilation, the ability adapted. It added layers."
He raised a finger.
"One of those layers activates when the bearer is a minor."
Another finger.
"Another activates when that minor is an orphan."
Murmurs rippled through the hall.
"An orphaned child of royal blood represents the absolute failure of a species to protect itself," the Vice Captain continued. "So, the Court responds accordingly."
He met their eyes.
"That little elf isn't protected once."
"She's protected twice."
Silence followed.
"And the more desperate the bloodline's history," he finished, "the more ruthless the protection becomes."
"Absolute protection?" Teddy asked, still stuck on it. "Isn't that… overpowered? What if she starts insulting me? Spitting at me? Hitting me? How does that work, Vice-Captain?"
The Vice Captain answered without pause.
"If she insults you," he said calmly, "you can insult her back."
Teddy frowned. "That's it?"
"That's not 'it,'" the Vice Captain replied. "It's the trap. The moment you respond with aggression, physical aggression, you place yourself in grave danger."
He leaned back slightly.
"You can swallow the insult. You can ignore it. You can leave. You can insult back. But you do not strike a protected minor because your pride was bruised."
Teddy hesitated. "And if she hits me first?"
"Then it depends on the phase," the Vice Captain said.
"Phase One, Fair Court recognizes self-defense."
Teddy blinked. "So, I can fight back?"
"If she attacks you physically," the Vice Captain confirmed, "you may respond, because it is self-defense, and Fair Court permits it."
"But do not misunderstand what 'permitted' means," he added. "It must remain defense. Not punishment. Not revenge."
Teddy swallowed. "And Phase Two? Phase Three?"
The Vice Captain's eyes narrowed slightly.
"In Phase Two or Phase Three," he said, "the Court is no longer fair."
Silence tightened.
"If she strikes you under Biased Court or Royal Court, you cannot retaliate," he continued. "Not unless the attack is deadly."
Teddy's voice dropped. "Deadly how?"
"The kind that will kill you," the Vice Captain replied flatly. "The kind where restraint becomes suicide."
He paused, then finished coldly:
"So, remember this,in Fair Court, self-defense is allowed.In Biased Court and Royal Court, self-defense becomes a crime, unless you are already at death's door."
The knights announced their return as they entered the hall, dragging the remaining prisoners behind them.
The Vice Captain studied the scene in silence for a long moment.
Then he exhaled.
"I'm… bored," he said at last, almost thoughtfully. "Perhaps it's because of everything that just happened. But we've already spoken to them. There's nothing left to hear."
Mi looked at him. "Then what should we do with them, Vice-Captain?"
The Vice Captain tilted his head slightly, considering.
"Hm. Letting them go would only invite more attackers."
He paused.
"Very well."
His voice hardened.
"Execute two thousand of them."
The hall went still.
"And send the remaining three thousand to the captain's domain," he continued calmly. "The Banished Kingdom."
He rose from his seat.
"We need strong bodies there."
No one questioned the order.
The knights moved at once, seizing them and dragging them back out, waiting in silence for the final execution order.
A howl was cut short by a sudden, booming voice.
"Vice-Captain, Vice-Captain!"
A knight rushed into the hall, breathless. "A message," he said urgently. "A message from the captain."
In his hands rested a small bird.
The knight released it.
The bird struck the floor and twisted.
Bones cracked. Feathers dissolved into flesh. In a blink, the creature reshaped itself into a heavily wounded orc, collapsing onto the stone, blood pooling beneath him.
With what little strength remained, the orc lifted his head and spoke.
"Begin preparations," he rasped. "Await my orders."
He gasped once more.
"Equip… the Moon."
The moment the words left his mouth, his body ruptured, collapsing into a mass of blood before evaporating into nothingness.
Silence swallowed the hall.
The Vice Captain stared at the spot where the messenger had been.
"One thing after another," he said quietly. "What a poor way to begin my return home."
He straightened.
"Well," he continued, voice steady once more, "it seems we have a change of plans."