28 Snow Elf

Entering the dusty interior of the building which would house Regulus for the next four years at Karta Academy, Regulus couldn't help but catch his breath.

'How can a room possibly be so full of dust.'

Containing primarily nobles glancing around the musty hallway Regulus guessed it had been years since the last clean.

With Azrael nervously glancing around as if anticipating a ghost leaping from the walls, Regulus forged deeper into the abode. One doorway appeared different from the rest of the house.

'It appears we've found another Joker.'

Shadows danced on the wall, cast by the light of a fire. Regulus could hear crackling within the room. Following the light, he found himself facing an oddly familiar site.

'It's this girl again, does she ever stop reading.'

Sitting on a drab couch before the smouldering flame was the girl Regulus had encountered under a tree when looking for directions. Despite her snow white hair and glacial eyes the most memorable feature was her pointed ears.

'A snow elf ended up in the Joker class? That shouldn't be possible.'

Unlike before, when Regulus was ignorant of Immisso's ways, he easily recognised the girl as a snow elf, the last remaining species of elf.

Even Regulus couldn't help but scowl in displeasure as he remembered how such an outcome came to be.

'Even in my last life, such genocides would be considered atrocities.'

Constant clashing among the elves occurred for thousands of years due to the prevailing belief in each tribe that they were the original elves.

Just when it appeared the green elves had found some proof of their origins, the snow elves launched a preemptive strike on the other tribes. In just one night, thousands of long-lived elves were impaled by ice.

Appaled by the actions of the snow elves, an alliance was made to repel their invasion. Yet, like a crucible of blood, the snow elves prevailed and reached new heights, stepping on corpses.

'Since then, the standard of snow elves has greatly surpassed humanity, slowly approaching the mythical status of dragons and unicorns.'

Yet before Regulus, a snow elf sat peacefully in the Joker house, her eyes never leaving the ancient tome she had been studying the last time Regulus saw her.

"So you ended up as a Joker as well?"

Her eyes turned away from the scroll for a mere instant at Regulus's words. He caught a slight glimpse of recognition in her glance before she once more turned to the scroll with a simple nod.

'Hmm, it appears she's not the biggest fan of speaking.'

Thinking the obvious, Regulus could only walk out of the room once more, where he saw his friend Azrael still looking, scared of everything that moved.

"Do you know who she is?"

Regulus knew that Azrael's information web spanned far and wide, hence prompting him to question the nervous angel. Freed from his stupor by Regulus's words, Azrael glanced in the direction he was pointing.

Seeing a snow elf sitting on the couch and remembering the stories of the elf racial war, Azrael almost had a heart attack but was quickly able to recover upon seeing the ancient tome the girl was gripping.

'She's from that fallen house. How tragic.'

Losing their combat capability and searching for a way to survive, the angels had entered the sphere of information broking in order to stay afloat. The snow elves, being such a prominent threat, were an often investigated race, allowing Azrael to identify the girl.

At his signal, the two moved out of earshot before Azrael began sharing his information with Regulus, whispering in a low tone as he did.

"It's likely she's the sole remaining direct descendant of the former Ducal Glace family from the snow elf kingdom."

As Azrael spoke, he suddenly froze up as he remembered who he was speaking to, a member of the fallen Cosmos family, who were in an identical situation.

"Obviously, I didn't mean to-"

"Azrael, don't worry about me. Carry on."

Preventing Azrael from profusely apologising due to his body's former situation, Regulus still couldn't help but feel a sense of connection to the snow elf in the other room.

'Everyone in the Joker class seems to carry a sorry story with them.'

Seeing Regulus's unperturbed expression, Azrael could finally breathe a sigh of relief before carrying on with his explanation.

"The Glace family head stumbled across an ancient ruin from the time of the high snow elves and gathered all his wealth and men to launch an exhibition into it."

Azrael took one more glance towards the room the snow elf was presiding in before speaking in an even lower tone.

"Weeks passed with no sign of them resurfacing until Duke Glace finally appeared alone, hanging onto his final breath.

Despite the weeks of excavation, the only thing he held was a signal ancient tome of seemingly little value, which his sole daughter, Aylin Glace, is still attempting to decipher to this day."

Despite growing up as a dark elf, even Azrael felt his heartstrings tightening a bit whilst recounting the tragedy of the Glace family, which fell from nobility due to a single decision of Duke Glace.

---

Aylin Glace sat by the fire, her pointed ears twitching slightly. Despite her apparent focus on the ancient tome in front of her, in actuality, Aylin's mind was elsewhere.

Azrael had greatly underestimated the enhanced hearing of an elf due to his unfamiliarity with them. Every word he spoke was being monitored by Aylin's keen hearing.

She had heard people recounting her family's tragedy hundreds of times after the event, the laughter and sneering of others becoming the background music which accompanied her childhood.

From the highest people to the lowest, she was an easy target; even commoners enjoyed watching a great family fall from grace.

Yet strangely, hearing Azrael and Regulus discuss her past felt different. Their words were clear and devoid of judgment or mocking. Yet more surprisingly to Aylin, their words were also not laced with the pity she loathed so much.

'No, they would never pity me, seeing as they are in a similar position to my own.'

It didn't take long for Aylin to recall who was talking about her: the spawn of the disgraced Cosmos family and a cursed dark angel.

'Maybe being at Karta Academy won't be the worst thing after all.'

Despite the twisted nature of such thoughts, Aylin was truly glad to be surrounded by people just as well miserable as her in the Joker class.