Expected guest

Arthur, together with Livia and the Elchvolk, went into the forest in search of the bodies of the monsters discarded by the Schmetterling. On the way, some animals attacked them, but they were not a problem for the group.

Finally, the further they walked, Varek noticed that the animals had stopped attacking them; no, more precisely, they had not encountered any animals for quite a while. The vegetation in their path also began to look drier and more withered. Until they finally came to an area where all the trees and plants were rotten, along with an unpleasant feeling in the air.

"Well...here they are."

Several stacked, rotting corpses of monsters were piled up in a grotesque mountain; the stench coming from it was so unpleasant that several of the guards accompanying them could not contain their vomit.

Varek was silent watching this scene, but if one listened carefully, a faint sound could be heard.

Strrrr-

It was the sound of Varek's fists that were clenched so tightly that the veins on his dorsal side seemed about to burst.

"Those sons of bitches..."

He said it dryly, but the anger and killing intent were clearly noticeable in every word. 

With a shake of his head, he looked at Arthur standing behind him and spoke a simple sentence.

"Let's kill those bastards."

***

Back in the Elchvolk village, Arthur, Livia, Nimara, Varek, and other important people of the village gathered.

"In a short, that's the situation."

Varek said to those present to whom he had told everything that had happened so far.

Bam-!

"Those damn cowards!"

One of the elders hit the wall next to him furiously, causing it to crack.

"Calm down, Galdor."

Said one of his companions to him.

"Calm down? How can you want me to calm down knowing what those bastards have been doing!?"

"I know, I'm furious too, but what are you planning to do? Just lunge headlong into their base? That's just suicide."

Said the man with a firm tone as he looked him straight in the eyes. This seemed to calm him down, as he let out a sigh and apologized.

"Sorry about that."

"No one blames you, Galdor."

Varek said lightening the mood; after everyone calmed down, he spoke again.

"Our priorities at the moment are to locate the places where they have been disposing of the monsters' bodies and stop the contamination of the environmental blanket, but that will only be a temporary solution."

He said heavily: after all, the mana was already heavily polluted; it would be years before it was naturally purified. It would take a light magic user to be able to completely purify the area, but obviously there was no light magic user among the Elchvolk or in any of the other tribes.

"The best they could do was to get an artificial purifier."

A purifier was a magical artifact that could gather mana from an infected area and purify it, although its price was at least 20,000 gold coins and the process was much slower than using light magic.

"The best we can do now is to slow down the contamination as much as possible and prevent it from spreading as far as possible, but for this we will have to stop the Schmetterling from continuing to dump the bodies in the forest."

When Varek said that, he turned his gaze to me, and everyone in the room followed suit.

"What's the plan you got, kid?"

Varek asked, and the others looked curious as well.

"Well, the first thing I would like to comment on is that before you, I contacted the Fuchsvolk, and they agreed to cooperate."

"Those sneaky foxes? I'm surprised they agreed."

Said the elder Galdor, and Varek followed suit.

"That's good; as for sneaking and hiding, those guys are better than us; from what I understand, you humans love surprise attacks."

"You're not wrong, and in fact, that's exactly what we're going to do."

Arthur said with a smile.

"The Rose Festival is near, so the Schmetterling will be busier than usual; when the time is right, we will launch a direct attack to decimate them."

"Didn't you say it would be a surprise attack? That sounds pretty direct; they'll figure it out before we launch the attack."

"That's something that already has a solution; it's just not ready yet."

The talk with the Elchvolk continued productively, and they agreed that they would contact the Fuchsvolk to confirm their support. They were also promised a shipment of weapons and supplies so that they could be as prepared as possible for the day they would attack.

Finally, as the sun began to set, Livia and Arthur left the Elchvolk village and returned to the city.

"All the pieces are already on the board; only one last thing is missing to set things in motion."

Christa Schmetterling.

She would be the key to making this plan work.

***

Two carriages stopped in front of the gate leading into the city of Rosenheim.

The guards saw it and stopped it and asked to search it, but the coachman instead of allowing it handed a letter to the guard.

He took it, and his expression changed completely when he saw the seal of the Athena Academy. He instantly called out to his companions, and they made way for the carriages to enter.

"Wow, the academy sure has clout, huh?"

"Sure does; it's the best academy in the human realm; you probably don't know that because you come from another realm."

Inside one of the carriages were three people who would make anyone nervous to see them together. Not only because of their exceptional beauty, but also because of their status.

They were the princess of the Human Kingdom, Beatrice, and the princess of the Elven Kingdom, Freydis, and the daughter of the sword master of the Pendragon family. Leticia Pendragon

"In the Elven Kingdom there is also something similar to the Athena Academy, the Grand Academy of Elven Magic, though they only teach Elven magic and not as varied content as in the Athena Academy."

Freydis said as she absently looked at the window.

"That sounds interesting; I wish you could tell me more about the elven realm; I've never been there."

"Sure, I can tell you anything you want!"

They continued talking animatedly until the carriage stopped. Leticia opened the door and helped Beatrice out. The coachman was going to do the same with Freydis, but Freydis got off before he succeeded and looked curiously all around. They were in front of a huge mansion that could almost be called a castle. The garden decorations at the entrance were beautiful, with beautifully manicured flowers, mostly roses.

"You shouldn't act like that; you're still a princess even though you're not in your kingdom."

Said a voice that Freydis found especially irritating. Turning around in annoyance, she glared at Alexander, Akiyama, and Kein, who had gotten off the other carriage.

"What's it to you?"

"Hmp, I'm just saying, if you want to embarrass the elven royal family, that's your business."

Freydis was visibly annoyed at that comment, and as she was about to insult Alexander, Beatrice grabbed her shoulder.

"Stop, we're not here for this, although those comments were out of line, Alexander."

This one thought nothing of it and just snorted and walked towards the mansion.

"Tsk, what's wrong with him?"

"Leave him alone; that's his attitude."

Said Kein, who had approached them.

"Well, what a shitty attitude."

"Although he seems to have been more irritable since he left the academy, I wonder why?"

"Who cares? If he keeps acting like that, I'll punch him in the face."

Freydis said in annoyance and walked towards the mansion along with the others.

They were greeted by servants who opened the doors for them and led them through the mansion to an office. The servants opened the door, and on the other side they could see a middle-aged man with white hair and yellow eyes.

"It's good to see you students; did you have any complications on your trip?" 

"It is also good to see you, Count Schmetterling, and no, our trip was very comfortable thanks to the carriages I send to the academy."

The man in front of them was Dieter Schmetterling, the ruler of the city of Rosenheim and Arthur's target.

After returning his greeting, Beatrice spoke to the important point and why they were there.

"As you surely must know, we are here on a mission to catch the criminal Arthur Reclesia, who is suspected to have gone into hiding in your city; if you have any clues that could point us to his whereabouts, I would be grateful if you would share them."

"Oh yes, I have heard of that; unfortunately, I have no clue where he might be hiding."

"I see..."

Beatrice said with disappointment: Finding and catching Arthur as quickly as possible was essential, as they didn't know when he might leave town.

"But rest assured that I will lend you all my help in catching that criminal; if you need anything, let me know and I will deliver it to you."

"Thank you very much for your consideration, Count Schmetterling."

"Haha, please, just call me Dieter."

"Okay, Count Dieter, thank you for your help."

"No problem, you must be very tired from the long journey; follow the servants. "They will guide you to your rooms."

After they finished their discussion, the servants led everyone to their rooms so they could rest. They were all exhausted from the journey and really needed sleep.

This was also the case for Freydis, but even though she was tired, she could not fall asleep.

"I don't like that guy at all."

That Count Dieter had a very dark aura around him, which was not a good indication at all.

"I have to find Arthur fast."

She didn't think Arthur could be harmed by that count, and he sure was already planning something. That guy is always planning things. But she had to warn him anyway that they were looking for him.

"But where should I start looking? This city is huge.".

She had no clues or hints as to where Arthur might be; if she just randomly searched the city, she would never find him.

"What a headache..."

Exhaustion finally hit Freydis, and she slowly closed her eyes, falling fast asleep.

***

"Thank you very much, Mr. Schneider; your suits are of high quality as always."

Said a man as he picked up a bag handed over by Arthur, or rather Johann.

"No, thank you, Mr. Weber, for shopping at our tailor shop."

With that, he dismissed the man, and one more order was filled.

"Phew, that was the fifth one of the day; I think it's time for a break."

He walked inside the store, and, as if she had read his thoughts, Livia already had the table set with tea and sandwiches.

"What a sweet wife I have."

"It's the least I can do for my hardworking husband."

"You're not embarrassed anymore, huh? If I'm being honest, I'm a little disappointed.".

"Hmp, I won't give you the pleasure of bothering me again."

They exchanged a couple of pleasantries and sat down to enjoy some hot tea.

"When will we put our plan into action? It's been several days since we communicated with the Elchvolk, and we haven't done anything so far."

"We need one last piece before we start; if my calculations are correct, it shouldn't take long to arrive."

"What piece?"

Ding~

Livia asked, but the doorbell interrupted their conversation. Arthur got up and walked to the counter. When he opened the door and saw the person who had entered, a smile couldn't help but appear on his face.

"Good morning, how may I help you."

White hair combed to the sides with the bangs up; she was dressed in black pants that settled her curves and a white shirt with ruffles on the sleeves. The most striking features were the patch that covered much of his left side and the elegant cane with a raven's head design on the tip. Her yellow eyes, or in this case, eye, and his smiling expression exuded an air of confidence and rebellion.

"Hi, I heard that this tailor shop made quality clothes, and I wanted to see if it was true."

"I assure you that everything you hear is true, Miss. Would you like to review our products?"

Crista Schmetterling, the person he wanted within his group and the last piece to put the plan into motion