< Episode 40. grand welcome ceremony. >

"Father. While I'm asking you, can I ask you one more favor?"

"Huh? Again, again?... What else?..."

Count Egor's expression turned dumb.

He thought he had already given him a great gift.

However, it seemed that it was still not enough for Pelas.

Seeing him release a new request more naturally.

"Please send me two talented Assassins under my father's command. Two will suffice."

"Huh? That's why..."

"Anyway, since it is a newly created organization, shouldn't there be veterans? If it's my father's Assassins who have already been sufficiently proven, there won't be any teachers as trustworthy as that."

"Okay..."

Earl Egor's pain leaked out without even realizing it.

Each and every Assassin was a great asset.

In some ways, it was as expensive and time consuming as developing great articles.

It was the eldest son who secretly praised and tried to rip off everything he could subtly rip off.

Besides, I pretended to be bold and now I can't take it back...

Count Egor closed his eyes and answered.

"Yeah, that's it."

"Thank you! Then I'll report back after I've counted the number of people through Havertz!"

Quick reply from Pelas.

"Yeah, yes."

Fellas stood up from his seat with a big smile because everything worked out the way he wanted.

Hurry up, afraid that Count Egor will change his mind in the meantime.

"I'll step back, Father."

"Oh, come."

"yep!"

thud...

After Pelas is out.

Count Egor murmured, secretly wiping the sweat on his forehead.

"Ohhh... I raised a dragon cub, not a cub of a silver lion..."

Count Egor shook his head.

However, he had already been robbed as much as he could.

* * *

Pelas was the first heir in the history of Count DiMeo to have two subordinate organizations.

There were a few people who had multiple organizations, including the Knights, as the family head.

However, Pelas was the only heir.

Templars and Assassins.

Having both at the same time.

Thanks to this, rumors of Pelas began to spread throughout the kingdom.

Wasn't the eldest son of the Dimeo family, who was thought to be a fool, was actually hiding that power?

The story of the next head of the rapidly growing count family was a good subject to attract people's attention.

Such rumors were now coming into the wider information network of Pelas.

'This is unintentional, it's become a breather.'

Pelas looked over the reports on his desk.

But rumors like that weren't important right now.

What mattered to him was the future schedule.

The schedule that will depart today.

Heading to the land of the elves with Aeria.

That was it.

"It's finally today."

Havertz, who was guarding Pelas' side, nodded.

"I see. Time seems to go by very quickly."

After Aria's recovery is complete.

Pellas and Aeria had prepared this itinerary to go to the land of the elves.

At that time, there were several days, so the date seemed a bit loose.

But before I knew it, that day had become today.

Pellas was already outfitted and ready to go.

He said as he put the silver moon ring on his finger for the last time.

"Come on, let's go."

* * *

The scale of the expedition to the land of the elves was insignificant compared to the time of Vatinova.

That was Aria's opinion.

In the first place, it was not very common for humans to enter the land of elves.

But the knights rushed in there?

It was unbelievable.

Unless you were thinking of starting a war, it wasn't a good idea.

Even if they were invited by Aria.

Because of this, most of the members of the Knights Templar had no choice but to remain with Count DiMeo.

All they could do was see off the expedition preparing for departure.

"Felas-sama is coming down!"

The knights of the Calat Knights lined up on the left and right, waiting for Pelas.

I didn't ask for anything, but everything came voluntarily.

Pelas looked them in the face and clicked his tongue.

"You bastards. They told me to train during this time."

"If Pellas leaves, I will train you to die right away!"

One of the knights answered loudly.

Pelas sighed and mounted his horse.

"You talk well. You guys, I'll order Havertz to watch you, so just goof around."

"I won't let you down!!"

"okay."

Pelas, who got on the horse, looked over the number of people to be with him.

The expedition was narrowed down to just four people.

Including Aeria and Pellas, Roben, who quickly became well with his insane recovery power, and Werner, the deputy commander of the Knights of Calat.

They were the total members of this expedition.

Havertz was a Pellas left for the growth of the Assassins.

Although they had taken out two veterans from among Count Egor's Assassins, it was not easy to quickly complete the Assassins with only those two.

Completing the Assassins is something that takes time and progress slowly.

However, with one more veteran like Havertz, the speed would be much faster.

So, unfortunately, it was Havertz who was not with us on this journey.

Seeing that Pelas was ready, Aria looked at Robben and Werner.

"Is everyone ready?"

At Aria's question, the two nodded.

"No problem."

"I'm ready."

She now turned her gaze to Pelas.

Because he was the one who would shout the final start of this expedition.

Pelas nodded and exclaimed.

"depart!!"

"yes!"

Thus began an expedition after nearly a hundred years.

An expedition by humans to the land of the elves.

* * *

Count Egor watched through the window as Pelas's expedition departed.

Hans, who was pouring tea beside him, asked cautiously.

"Is it okay if you don't go downstairs?"

"Hmm. What am I going to do after I go down? There are already so many people watching and worrying about Pelas."

As Count Egor had said, there were already many people around Pelas.

Members of the Knights of Calat.

The servants open their hearts to Pelas, whose personality has changed.

And the Assassins, who were his assassins.

They all gathered and exchanged greetings, hoping for Pelas' safe return.

Now, by Pelas' side, Havertz was becoming less and less everything.

New people were gradually flocking to him.

Hans sneakily examined Count Egor's face.

"You say that, but your expression looks lonely."

Count Egor cleared his throat at Hans' sudden attack.

"Keuheum! That's it. That guy, Pelas, has been spending so much money lately..."

Count Egor tries to change the subject to another story due to an unexpected attack.

But Hans responded with a smile even to his new subject.

"Pellas-nim has also developed an eye for items. Among the equipment that my family has purchased over the past decade, all of the finest pieces of equipment were purchased by Pelas-nim."

"Hmm? Is that so?"

"Yes. Thanks to that, the family's funds have become quite affordable. It's thanks to the decrease in useless discarded items."

Deep down, Count Egor couldn't help but be surprised.

It was not difficult to buy items that were shiny on the outside at random.

However, even if the appearance is rough, choosing a real exhaust item was one of the things that only the born could do.

Most noble families, including Count Egor's family, even had item appraisers.

Even if you use such experts, there were frequent cases of failure when purchasing expensive items.

Meanwhile, Pellas alone broke the record of the last decade.

These days, it felt as if the name of Pelas was mentioned no matter what was said.

It must have been the first time that such praise had come from Hans' lips.

It must have been strange that Count Egor was not surprised.

"...I didn't know that."

"I always told you. The big boy's bowl is different."

Count Egor turned his gaze to the back of Pelas, who had already turned into a dot and receded.

When I was a little boy, that small child had grown as big as me before I knew it, and was getting farther away.

as you go your own way.

"That's right...you're right."

* * *

one week.

Long if long, short if short.

It was the time it took for Pelas and his party to reach the land of the elves.

"It's all here."

Aeria grabbed the horse's reins.

Her words stopped, and a mysterious forest appeared in the distance.

Robben and Werner involuntarily swallowed dry saliva.

"That place...is the land of the elves."

"That's right. The atmosphere itself is a different place."

On the other hand, Pelas was watching the forest with a bright expression rather than nervousness.

'Yeah. I thought I would actually see this scenery, not on a monitor.'

Even if they were the same, they couldn't be the same.

If I took a picture of this scenery unfolding in front of Pelas right now, it seemed like it would be the scenery in the Winter War.

As a huge fan of the Winter War series, these moments were the most exciting Fellas.

Aeria, who looked at the various expressions of the party with interest, pulled the horse's reins again.

"Now. Welcome. All of you who came to the land of elves!"

* * *

Pelas was glaring at Aeria with a blunt tone.

"Welcome?"

"Uh... that, that... It's been so long since I've come back, I didn't know that none of the children knew my face."

Aria couldn't speak easily.

The elves still showed their hostility while surrounding Pelas' party.

In the midst of them, Pelas and his party were being dragged along, chained to a rope.

There was no intention of causing a disturbance here, so Pelas and the others quietly obeyed their control.

But it was unavoidable to be stunned.

Pelas shook his head.

"It's the first time I've ever had a welcome ceremony like this."

At Pelas's sighed words, Aria couldn't answer.

The one who answered was the elf who was leading them.

"Be quiet, you bastards! If you talk one more time, I'll tear your mouth out."

"Oops. Nunge, Nunge, I get it."

Felas's cold eyes attacked Aeria's eyes.

"M-I'm sorry..."

Aeria lowered her eyes and just walked silently.

at that time.

A voice called out to her.

"Huh? Aren't you Aria?"

< Episode 40. grand welcome ceremony. >end