Roka tries to follow me wherever I go. When I said I would meet Lady Rowena alone, she absolutely refused to let me go.
“She might attack you, Master.”
She strained her brain to come up with a reason why she should stay by my side. Of course, I can’t say there’s no possibility of that happening. But it’s not something to worry about.
“Roka, this is a meeting where I’m going to offer an apology. It has nothing to do with you, and there’s no need for you to use force.”
…Right?
However, what I’m going to convey to Lady Rowena this time isn’t just a simple apology. The Angel has presented me with a new possibility—a chance to restore those who have already been corrupted.
“This is my responsibility. So, let me handle it.”
Of course, I can’t completely undo everything as if nothing happened.
Even if the corrupted can be purified and restored, the slaughter and destruction they committed cannot be undone. Those who have already been slain and corrupted have no hope of revival.
So even if I succeed in cleansing the corrupted elves, it’s nothing more than scooping up a little of the spilled water. In the end, the need to apologize remains unchanged.
“I’m coming with you.”
“Roka.”
I placed my hand on Roka’s shoulder, who was visibly upset, and simply looked at her. Honestly, if this child insists on sticking by my side, I have no way to stop her. It’s not like I can overpower Roka with force.
However, authority doesn’t come from force but from conduct. Roka still respects my authority.
Instead, she tried to persuade me with her sparkling eyes, unable to let go of her attachment. No matter how wide you open your eyes, it won’t work. What exactly did you learn from Lady Kisea?
Speaking of Lady Kisea, she has temporarily left our side to undergo the procedures for receiving a title. So, for the first time in a while, it’s just me and Roka left alone.
The child seemed really displeased with wasting such an opportunity like this, her face filled with disappointment. Still, she eventually understood me.
“Then I’ll come back later. But if you do anything weird with that elf, I won’t forgive you.”
Weird things, huh.
Well, if I come back without getting slapped, I’ll consider it a win.
*
I thought Lady Rowena resided inside the Imperial Palace, but that wasn’t the case. Thinking about it, she is, after all, a diplomat. It would be stranger for her to live in the Imperial Palace.
The guide assigned by His Majesty led me to the diplomatic quarter outside the palace. With the chaos in the Capital, diplomats from various countries remained silent, not venturing outside their residences.
The eerily quiet street had only the two of us. Among the buildings, the guide led me to a wooden mansion, and after finishing the tour, he advised me.
“His Majesty has already contacted the Ambassador, but please be careful. In my experience, elves are not a group to associate with, even in normal times. The most troublesome individuals our Foreign Affairs officials deal with are the elves from Elvenheim.”
“Is that so? Ambassador Rowena doesn’t seem to have received such evaluations.”
“That’s why she’s the Ambassador. She’s the most decent. At least she tries to do something resembling work. The others? They’re all about using diplomatic immunity to legally indulge in pleasure. Even in normal times.”
He lowered his voice as if revealing some great secret.
“In times like these, it’s likely to be worse, not better.”
“I can’t believe my ears…”
“Believe it. A friend from the Imperial Enforcement Bureau once uncovered a massive drug smuggling operation. He was confident that following the trail would lead to a big bust and a promotion. Do you know where those drugs came from?”
I gulped. Of course, I don’t know where the drugs were produced.
But somehow, I had a feeling. He waited for me to swallow before adding.
“Exactly as you guessed. Right here. They were protected by diplomatic immunity, so we only caught a few small fry. Personally, I don’t understand why they’re even diplomats.”
He grumbled, and I was left speechless.
“Rumors are already spreading. These so-called diplomats are nothing more than a drug cartel, selling pure Elvenheim drugs for profit. They use the money from selling drugs to Imperial citizens to buy Imperial goods and supply them to Elvenheim.”
“Haha…”
“If I say this, I might be punished…”
He looked around and whispered in an extremely low voice. It seemed to me that he just needed someone to vent to.
“I don’t see the Death God’s destruction of Elvenheim as a bad thing. In my eyes, that place only brings harm to the Empire. It’s the largest and most overwhelming drug production site we know.”
Lady Rowena asked me to save such a place.
No matter how I look at it, this person I just met has no reason to lie to me. It’s just a complaint. Who would lie in a complaint made to a stranger?
“Please be careful. Some say elves value life, but that’s just a misconception based on their appearance. The Empire’s drug industry is now controlled by elf cartels.”
Still, speaking so negatively made me suspicious. His Majesty isn’t a fool, so if the elves are causing so much harm, why does he still grant them diplomatic privileges?
“Actually, that’s something we wonder about too. We always report to the higher-ups that the Elvenheim diplomats are unqualified. But when the higher-ups tell us not to push further, what can we do? We just have to believe that the higher-ups have their reasons.”
A benefit greater than the loss of turning Imperial citizens into drug addicts. It makes sense that Elvenheim provides something like that to the Empire.
I don’t know what it is, but there must be a reason why the current relationship is maintained.
“Please don’t get buried in a ditch and come back alive.”
As if he no longer wanted to be here, the man bid me farewell and left. I slightly, very slightly, wondered if leaving Roka behind was a mistake.
I shook my head and knocked on the door. Is anyone there? I’ve come to see Ambassador Rowena.
But no matter how much I knocked, there was no response. It’s not that she’s avoiding me. There’s simply no sign of anyone. Even when I listened closely, it was eerily quiet.
Click.
Just in case, I tried turning the doorknob, and the door opened. The door, along with its multiple locks, seemed designed to prevent intrusion.
But all the security measures were disengaged, leaving it wide open. As if there was nothing left to protect.
‘Elf.’
Not Lady Rowena, but an elf I’ve never seen before, lay collapsed in the hallway, appearing to be dead.
No, I should rephrase that. Not appearing to be dead, but dead as if asleep.
Placing a trembling hand on their cheek, it was ice cold. No blood vessels, no bloodstains, no external injuries.
Suicide. The most peaceful form of suicide. In their hand was a handful of unknown pills.
‘Drugs.’
I didn’t need to taste them. It seemed like they had overdosed on drugs.
I hurried deeper inside. As if designed to prevent intrusion, the maze-like corridors were filled with piles of bodies. My expression grew increasingly disturbed.
“What… is this…”
All these people, no, elves, committed suicide? No matter how I look at it, it’s hard to accept.
But it’s also hard to believe that someone drugged their meals to cause this. There’s no motive, and even if there were, several points don’t add up.
Would all these elves have eaten drugged meals without suspicion? Moreover, all the elves were smiling.
They died smiling. But why do those smiles seem forced? As if they were trying to escape something terrifying.
“Ambassador Rowena.”
That question was answered when I saw Lady Rowena again. She too lay peacefully, with a forced smile, as if she had fallen asleep at her desk.
I should have come sooner. I regret having attended to various matters at the Imperial Palace, thinking nothing would happen in such a short time.
If I had come earlier, perhaps I could have prevented her from making this choice.
On the desk was a notebook. Opening it, I saw hastily written notes. Now I understood why they chose death.
[I feel time gnawing at us.]
[No matter how far away, I can’t ignore it. The World Tree has collapsed. It no longer exists.]
The elves, who lived with the power of the World Tree, outside the flow of time, enjoying a near-immortal lifespan.
They could no longer enjoy the same privileges as before.
[Everyone is afraid. We’ve lost control. Honestly, I am too. I’m scared. I’m scared.]
[I feel that youth is not eternal. We will surely die. We’ll grow old until the moment of death, just like humans. How can humans calmly accept all this?]
[I need to take the drug. Maybe it’ll make me feel better.]
As I read what seemed to be a diary, I could only sigh. I’ve heard that some drugs have intense pain-relieving effects.
So intense that they alleviate pains we don’t even normally feel.
The pain of clapping hands. The pain of feet being pressed while walking. The pain of muscles and bones moving. Unless the body is truly in pain, we usually don’t feel it.
Taking the drug makes all those pains disappear, creating a state of unparalleled comfort.
But the effects aren’t eternal. When the drug wears off, the pains we didn’t know existed return.
Having tasted paradise, the pain of feet being pressed while walking becomes unbearable. Eventually, one can’t endure without taking more drugs.
The elves, intoxicated by the World Tree, believed its effects were eternal. Now that the protection is gone, the pains they never knew have arrived.
Humans, from birth to death, naturally endure pains they don’t even recognize as pains.
The pain of aging over time. The pain of inevitably facing death. The pain of losing loved ones due to limited lifespans. The pain of illness tormenting them.
All pains one must face while living.
The elves were exposed to these pains bare. Unable to endure, they sought drugs. Desperately swallowing drugs to escape fear. But the drug’s effects aren’t eternal.
When the effects wore off, they swallowed more drugs. Originally, this wouldn’t be a problem. The World Tree’s blessing always protected the elves’ health.
But now the World Tree is gone. Whether it was the Death God or the Demon King, one of them destroyed it. The law that protected the elves disappeared, and the concept of a lethal dose emerged.
Overdosing on drugs as they used to would, like humans, inevitably lead to death.
“Sigh.”
It’s truly a sigh-inducing affair.
In the end, I failed to keep my promise. In many ways.
