7~ Spilling the Beans
“Guess there’s nothing we can do about it.” Princess Filisia shrugged her shoulders toward Tillysha, glancing sideways at the pile of luggage bags to the side. Without a doubt, the one that was the size of two adults was Filisia’s, and Tillysha could already picture the scene of Filisia single-handedly carrying this behemoth luggage bag all the way to the academy. The two nearby, engraved with adorable pink paw prints, naturally belonged to Wenfu—matching her petite and cute stature perfectly.
“Coincidentally bumped into Little Wenfu on the way, and we were heading back to the dorm together, but who would’ve thought we’d encounter a bunch of bloodied wretches along the way.”
“Wretches? You mean the imperial army?”
“Who else could it be? Those wretches were disheveled, faces full of terror, fleeing headlong from deep within the forest—glancing at them, I couldn’t even tell if they were human or ghosts.” Apparently, recalling the earlier scene made Filisia scowl in distaste.
“It gave Wenfu and me quite a fright—then we saw there were three orcs wielding weapons chasing them down.”
“Seriously, absolutely awful. These are supposed to be the empire’s regular troops, and yet more than ten of them were being chased by three orcs. No fighting spirit left. Embarrassing to the max!” Filisia said, full of disdain.
“Exactly those three?” Tillysha looked down at the corpses sprawled on the ground.
“That’s right.” Princess Filisia gave the orc corpses at her side a little kick. “These orcs are different from the usual. They were clad in proper battle armor, their weapons not the crude ones we’re used to seeing, and they’re wearing felt hats on their heads. I don’t even know what rank soldiers in the orc side wear felt hats, but they’re definitely part of the orcs’ regular army.”
“And it’s not just them. Earlier, I also heard other sounds in the jungle—several bulky figures dashing through the forest. I think they’re orcs too.”
“What’s going on in Coleman Forest recently? Why are there so many demon races creeping around?”
“I’m not very clear on the situation either.” Tillysha shook her head. “To think, after breaking through your limits, your strength has grown by leaps and bounds, Filisia.”
In the past, defeating these orcs was tough for Filisia, but now handling a regular army is effortless.
“That is all thanks to you, right?” Filisia gave Tillysha a teasing glance. “Had it not been for absorbing Tillysha’s saliva, I wouldn’t have completed the breakthrough so quickly—it’s all thanks to you, Tillysha.”
Of course, Tillysha knew that Filisia was deliberately making the situation ambiguous.
“Anytime, just a little saliva,” Tillysha said without hesitation, not the slightest bit flustered. “Feel free to come find me anytime, Filisia.”
“Then, can it not be used just for the breakthrough?” Filisia provocatively asked.
“Of course it can.”
“One word for it, then?”
Wenfu looked at the two smiling girls, her cheeks slightly flushed.
“You’ve improved a lot over the break, Tillysha.” Looking at the orcs directly killed by a single arrow, Filisia commented.
She remembered how before the break, Tillysha’s arrows struggled to break through these orcs’ defenses, but now it was a piece of cake.
She had this peculiar feeling that over the break, the one who had improved the most was not she, who spent the entire time working on her strength, but the blonde elf girl in front of her.
“We can’t leave for now. If other orcs lurking in the jungle run out, we’ll have a mess.” Filisia mentioned her concern. “It could harm Coleman City’s citizens and students. The residents of Coleman City will think a new demon invasion has begun, leading to a chaotic situation.”
When it comes to a sense of responsibility, Princess Filisia outdoes the imperial army by miles.
Tillysha closed her eyes, the seasonal breeze brushing past the trees, past her cheeks and hair, lifting the edges of her long hair.
The golden elf girl stood still, blending with the wind, searching for the traces left behind.
After a while, she opened her eyes and pointed toward the southeast.
“They’re over there.”
“The remaining orcs?” Filisia had heard that elves have a natural affinity with nature, making grass and trees their eyes and ears.
“Yeah, but it’s strange.” Tillysha tilted her head.
“Strange?”
“Different from human and elf smells, savage and murderous, heavy bodies—they are the orcs, no doubt. But their energy is very chaotic, like they’ve been fighting someone.”
“Is there any traveler in danger?”
“No, I don’t sense any human energy.” Tillysha shook her head.
No matter what, they had to go check what was going on.
So, the two left Wenfu behind to watch over the luggage, and the two of them, carrying their weapons, set off.
“I don’t think we need to do anything anymore.” Just as the overpowering smell of bl**d made her uncomfortable, Filisia suddenly heard Tillysha’s strange voice from behind.
“We don’t?” When Filisia parted the shrubs, she immediately understood what Tillysha meant.
The vast open field outside the jungle was soaked with bl**d, the ground dried a dark crimson, massive green corpses littered everywhere, the dark bl**d dripping causing the grass to wither and the soil to rot.
The tall and imposing orc soldiers were sprawled on the ground like trash, dead bodies everywhere, not a single one alive.
“They’re all dead?” Filisia’s eyes flashed a look of shock. Although the demon races and the Light Race have been irreconcilable enemies since forever, dead was dead—but who was competent enough to wipe out an entire orc regular army in less than ten minutes?
“I don’t think they were killed by humans.” While Filisia was bewildered, Tillysha had already squatted down to examine the corpses.
“They were killed by their own kin.”
“Look, most of the fatal wounds are caused by axes or war clubs, weapons seldom used by humans, and their size can only belong to orcs made weapons.” Tillysha pointed at the wounds and explained further.
“Also, look at these orcs—they are all Green Orcs, but their attire is inconsistent. Some wear leather armor and felt hats, while the others have nothing on but a loin cloth, with weapons that don’t seem like their own but probably taken from other orcs.” Tillysha poked the chest of one orc to emphasize.
Perhaps if she had seen this before the events of the empire, she wouldn’t have thought much about it, but after the empire incident, Tillysha had other thoughts.
“Orcs killing each other? Why?”
“I think their attire inconsistency has already explained the reason. Though they’re the same kin, they belong to two different factions, and once they meet, they’re natural enemies.”
“As for the orcs fleeing Coleman Forest, I think they just escaped by accident, not intentionally.”
“Because their battle between these two factions took place recently near Coleman Forest, resulting in panicked soldiers inadvertently escaping through Coleman Forest.”
“These bloodthirsty orc soldiers met imperial patrol soldiers, who had reasons to attack each other, which explains why lately Coleman Forest has been constantly leaking demon races.”
As Filisia listened to Tillysha’s analysis, it made perfect sense, but these were all speculations, without evidence to corroborate.
She still couldn’t understand why two groups of the same Green Orcs would clash so violently.
“Normal. If you’re confused, why not consider this: aren’t humans fighting among themselves too?” Tillysha asked Filisia.
“On hindsight, the fact that the same species can reach such conflicts makes it even more surprising.” Tillysha explained.
“After all, only humans understand humans best. Following that logic, these n*ked orcs might hate these armored orcs even more than humans.”
Filisia understood what she said, but at the same time felt uncertain.
“But, if there are two incompatible factions within the orcs, why didn’t I notice last time when I entered Ruglien?”
“Besides, this incident just emerged recently. If these two factions have been fighting for a long time, how could the matter just surface recently?” Filisia raised her doubts.
“Do you remember when we first entered Ruglien, we encountered the Greed Forest?”
“Of course.”
“I think the disappearance of the Greed Forest is somehow related.”
“Princess Filisia, would you, for personal gain, allow cruel oppression to persist?” Tillysha stood up and asked Filisia this question in an extremely formal tone.
“No.” Filisia answered without hesitation.
“That leads to my next question, one I hope isn’t too forward.”
“Calling it ‘forward’ makes it feel unnecessarily formal, Tillysha?”
“Then I’ll ask: if the oppressive regime stems from your father, the king, would you oppose him?” Tillysha stared calmly into Filisia’s eyes.
“Perhaps this isn’t quite reasonable, but I hope you can swear on the knight’s honor to not evade or lie about this question.”
“………..” This question left Filisia silent.
Because this question forced her to choose between impartial justice and familial bonds.
“My father would never do such a thing.” After a long while, Filisia only gave a response which wasn’t quite a response.
Hearing this, Tillysha nodded without saying more.
Just by that sentence, Tillysha understood that the princess was deliberately dodging the question, and if that was the case, forcing her further was pointless.
It’s natural for people—after all, truly impartial and just people are rare in this world. Impartiality often entails giving up many things that ordinary people can’t part with.
This might even lead to estrangement or even hostility between bl**d relatives and close friends, after all, truly righteous people are always the minority. To treat less-than-righteous family and friends with complete fairness and impartiality is truly difficult, and even if achieved, one will end up alienated.
From a family member’s standpoint, everyone wants a relative or friend who can provide shelter and support, not one who is overly upright and fair, because such a person will never favor them, or even turn a blind eye to their misdeeds.
There are too few people who can endure loneliness, misunderstanding, and yet stay steadfast to their principles.
Absolutely fair people are admirable, commendable, and even praiseworthy but also awe-inspiring.
On the way back, Tillysha helped carry Wenfu’s luggage, while in her heart pondering if it would be best to report this matter to Didelai. After all, the chaos occurring in Ruglien was a major event.
“Letting such an unstable Ruglien remain unchecked seems quite dangerous.” Filisia suddenly spoke up.
“Hmm? Then I have a suggestion.” Tillysha had been wondering how to explain to her teammates, and now, with the opportunity presenting itself, she decided not to hold back.
At this, both Filisia, who was sitting on her luggage being dragged by Tillysha, and Wenfu looked toward Tillysha in unison.
“Our practical course this semester will be another trip to Ruglien.”
“To find out exactly what’s wrong there.” Tillysha stated her objective.
“Do we have to go again?” Wenfu, hearing this, shrank back her ears.
“To be honest, besides that, I have another matter that requires me to go deep into Ruglien.” Tillysha didn’t intend to lie to her teammates. “Something mandatory.”
“Could you reveal what that matter is?” Filisia pondered for a moment and asked.
“To meet an old friend.”
“An old friend???” This left Wenfu and Filisia completely confused.
An old friend who lives deep within Ruglien? What sort of old friend is that?
So, why would an elf have an old friend deep within Ruglien? Too many red flags right there.
“This is a long story.” Tillysha considered this for a moment and couldn’t figure out where to start.
“Filisia, you once mentioned reading something in a royal library book—’the source of all power comes from visions’ right?”
“Yes, that’s correct.” Filisia was confused as to why Tillysha suddenly brought this up.
“Do you know where I was during the break?”
Wenfu tilted her head, and Filisia shook hers.
“I went to the empire.” After returning to Crown Manor and sitting on the lounge sofa, Tillysha revealed everything that had happened in the empire, along with her conclusions and viewpoints to Filisia and Wenfu.
She was always good at reading people, these two teammates being trustworthy. Besides, these events would be hard for ordinary people to believe anyway, and the empire had also concealed the news, so discussing this with them posed no issues.
“The reason for the endless cultists in the empire is that endless oppression has caused an extreme buildup of negative emotions among the populace???” Filisia furrowed her eyebrows, her expression flickering as she began to digest the meaning behind Tillysha’s words.
