Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Mr. Rhode, how did it go?”
Lize stood up hurriedly and said. Rhode spread his arms apart and shrugged. “Everything went well. If I wasn’t mistaken, we will resolve this troublesome problem soon.” Rhode casually glanced at the dagger hilts by his waist lightly.
“Let’s go. During this period, I will bring you girls to shop around the Elves’ gathering place. I’m sure you will be interested.”
Rhode turned to the towering oak that punctured through the clouds.
It seemed that there were many things required of them to handle.
As Rhode had imagined, the Elves scrambled into a complete mess after he left, which was rare for beings who loved silence. But even so, they didn’t kick up a fuss like the Humans. The Elves’ debate were basically done in calm whispers because they loads of time in their lives and they wouldn’t feel annoyed by an unresolved problem. If a problem couldn’t be resolved swiftly, they could leave it aside for months, years, or even decades. However, the Humans found this behavior annoying because they didn’t have the longevity to accompany the long-living Elves in discussing whether bread should be eaten sweet or salted. But on the contrary, this was viewed as impatience in the Elves’ eyes…
Sometimes, the barrier between cultures was truly difficult to eliminate.
Ranks weren’t as rigid among Elves. However, no one dared to misbehave before the Elf Queen. At this moment, the Elves had gathered into smaller groups and whispered about their concerns. The elderly Elves were concerned about why the extinct White Elves would suddenly reemerge after thousands of years, while the Elf Knights were curious about how the White Elves concealed themselves from their sharp senses. It wasn’t too ridiculous if the White Elves could conceal their own aura, but not anyone was capable of concealing themselves from the Elves’ vision.
However, the Elves were aware that their behavior was inappropriate before the Elf Queen and they swiftly retreated. The Elf Queen, Corina, Dale, and a few others remained. The Elf Queen had restored her usual peaceful expression, but her eyes were glinting in an unprecedented, intense radiance. No one knew what was going on in her mind.
As Rhode mentioned, the Carlesdine had vanished entirely after the Creation War. As a class among the Elf race that was unfit to be seen by the public, most Elves knew very little about them. Basically, there weren’t many Elves who knew about this class and it was due to this reason that the Elf Queen revealed a rare surprised look when she saw the two girls.
“Carlesdine…”
The Elf Queen murmured and let out a sigh.
Unlike the Dark Elves, the Carlesdine wasn’t considered a taboo among the Elf race. However, they were rarely mentioned by others. The assassination skills that the Dark Elves possessed wasn’t a result of their enlightenment after living in the underground. Instead, they were the fruit of labor refined from their hard work. But after the Creation War, the Carlesdine had vanished in the history of the Elf race. One of the reasons was that even though the Carlesdine were Elf Assassins, not every Elf was capable of becoming assassins.
“Your Majesty?”
Corina gazed at her dubiously. The Elf Queen had always presented a gentle, yet calm image, like this piece of vast land that contained every single thing. Corina had never seen the Elf Queen troubling over anything as far as she could remember and this was a first.
“Is there anything troubling you?”
“It’s nothing. I’m just feeling a little troubled, Corina.”
The Elf Queen revealed a warm smile. “I didn’t expect a day where I could see the Carlesdine again…”
“Your Majesty, what exactly is the Carlesdine?”
This time, Dale was the one who asked. He kept his smile and looked at the Elf Queen with a solemn expression. Corina was also curious to hear the answers to this question and it was also the biggest doubt in the hearts of all the Elves present. Almost all the Elves who witnessed the two girls were in the Legendary Stage. Their auras overlapped like radars with unique wave band functions enveloping everything, weaving into layers of gigantic nets where nothing could escape their senses. If they didn’t see it for themselves, perhaps none of them would have believed their words. But this was the first time they felt frightened.
Corina’s experience wasn’t an individual phenomenon. In fact, Dale also felt the same. As the most outstanding and powerful Elf Knight of the Elf Queen, he failed to lock on the position of the two girls even after they had appeared. Although Dale was able to locate the presence of the two girls using his eyes, he couldn’t lock on to them as though they didn’t exist. What astounded Dale the most was that he was incapable of sensing the spiritual undulation from the two girls.
This was entirely impossible because spiritual energy was the core in driving all living things in the world, where even the Undead Creatures of the Country of Darkness were no exception. However, the two girls were as though illusory and without any life or soul where everyone could only see the imaginary figures in their minds and not the actual presence.
If it weren’t for the fact that Rhode wasn’t a Mage, perhaps the Elves would believe that this young man had cast an illusion spell to trick their senses. However, even the Creator Dragon Soul couldn’t cast an illusion spell that could deceive the Elf Queen’s eyes.
“Carlesdine…”
The Elf Queen revealed a bitter smile. She turned to the azure sky with a sorrowful and helpless expression.
“… Is an ancient title for the Elves’ true heroes who had disappeared forever after the Creation War. It may be too distant for you guys. They have entirely been forgotten by our people, but we can’t deny their contributions for our entire Elf race.
The Elf Queen paused and muttered to herself irresolutely. Then, she continued.
“The Carlesdine were the assassins of the Elf race.”
“Eh?”
The Elves didn’t react any calmer than Lapis when she heard about this news from Rhode. Instead, they reacted much more drastically because they understood the honor and spirit of Elves more than anyone else. Assassins—a class that was related to darkness and evil and shouldn’t be present in the Elves at all. The Dark Elves unleashed the assassination techniques that they had learned from the Carlesdines to their maximum potential while the ordinary Elves would rather become Rangers or Foresters because assassins were a degrading symbolization.
But now, the Elf Queen’s words overwrote their thoughts.
“Y-Your Majesty? You must be kidding. How is this possible…”
Corina stammered and widened her eyes unbelievably. This news was much more shocking than when the Duke Fiend emerged before her eyes!
“I’m not joking, Corina.”
The Elf Queen said with a smile. Corina reminded the Elf Queen of herself when she first heard this news and she understood why Corina appeared so flabbergasted.
“All of you should remember that during the Creation War, we, Elves, almost faced the danger of extinction. Our proud techniques were useless in the face of the tyrannical and absolute strength of the enemies. In order to live on, we had no choice but to find everything within our grasp and save ourselves from vanishing in the terrifying war like insignificant, filthy dust. Of course, you know about the consequences too. Back then, some of the Elves sought stronger strength and chose to violate the path of nature while others chose to escape from the unbearable hardships…”
Corina and Dale knew how it all began for the Dark Elves. The Dark Elves’ aspiration to escape couldn’t be considered as sinister or corrupted. Back then, the Creation War was at its peak and the Elves were close to being demolished completely. It was due to immense pressure that some of them abandoned the war because they had suffered enough hardships and couldn’t see the glimmer of hope for the future anymore. They would rather be humiliated and leave a tinder for the Elves’ future.
Got to say, the Dark Elves’ aspirations weren’t wrong, but the pace in which they abandoned everything was too quick. The Elves on the surface were still fighting for their honor and glory while the Elves who were under tremendous pressure escaped to the underground and in order to survive, they took to unscrupulous means and even their minds and bodies were as though tainted by darkness. In the end, they abandoned their oath and served the Demons. This was the start of the war between the Elves on the surface and the Dark Elves.
However, the Elf Queen had no intentions of explaining this in detail.
“… But there were several Elves who fought bravely for us. In the end, they chose a different path and became the Carlesdines, Elves of the Wind. They were the assassins in the wind, silently seizing formidable lives that were threatening our race. But there was a price to pay.”
The Elf Queen paused and bit her lips gently. For the first time, the pair of eyes that had seen countless history and time revealed unparalleled sorrows.
“The Carlesdines possess a unique ability and I’m sure you’ve experienced it yourselves. They exist, but don’t exist, at the same time. No one can detect their presence or even spiritual undulations if they aren’t willing to reveal themselves. But not every Elf is capable of it. In fact, the Carlesdines were mainly made up of White Elves.”
“Why is that so, Your Majesty?”
Dale placed his hand against his chin.
“Because, in order to become a Carlesdine, one had to go through a holy, yet terrifying test.”
The Elf Queen let out a soft sigh.
” Elves who passed the test had their existences erased from this world entirely. In other words, when an Elf became a Carlesdine, their identity and entirety was abandoned. From then on, they would no longer be a member of this world and none of our skills or spells would be effective on them because they don’t belong in this world anymore. But there was also a horrifying side-effect. The Elves who became a Carlesdine couldn’t live for more than a century. Not only that, but they would also be erased and forgotten completely after they died and even their closest friends couldn’t remember that they existed.”
The Elf Queen revealed a sorrowful, bitter smile.
“And it’s the same for me. Although I’m the Queen of the Elves, I’m only aware that Carlesdines were a class that once existed. There might be a lot of powerful beings or heroes who have sacrificed their lives for the Elves among them, but no one knows about their names. Even those who knew their names would forget about them completely after they died.”
“…”
Corina fell into deep silence. She clenched her fists and laid them by her chest. She had never felt this pained. Don’t the Carlesdine who had abandoned everything for the sake of the Elves deserve the rights to be commemorated? Corina recalled Rhode’s request at this thought. Ivory Valley—the place that had buried all the Elves’ heroes. Will the forgotten Carlesdines be able to sleep in peace in the beautiful valley? No one commemorated them and no one felt sorrowful or pained for their sacrifices. The Elves didn’t even know that such heroes existed. Is this the right way?
“This is fascinating, Your Majesty.”
Dale’s voice sounded in her ear and Corina looked up subconsciously at his eyes that were glinting with amusement.
“If it was as what you’ve said, the Carlesdine had vanished from this world and couldn’t live for more than a century. So then, how did that young Human get into contact with them?”
“I’m not too sure about that too.”
The Elf Queen shook her head slightly.
“But I’m sure that the young man named Rhode has an out of the ordinary background. As for the two Carlesdine girls, I didn’t sense the aura of the Undead in them, so I’m sure that they aren’t Undead Creatures. But the Carlesdine has a unique skill to isolate themselves from all detection, which is why even I failed to verify their true identities…”
“This isn’t difficult, Your Majesty.”
Dale unrolled a graceful, confident smile.
“If you agree, it would be my honor to take up their challenge in the Sword Dance Rite.”
