I Became a Retired Warrior Who Suffered NTR in the Novel

26 – Follow-up

“But… Holy Lady… Will the hero accept that? Was there an incident before?”

“Isn’t that why I didn’t visit the high priest like this? The high priest spoke well to the hero and asked him to accept me as a party member…”

“Saint. Now that the saintess has retired, she will soon become the empress of this empire. But why do you want to re-enter the hero’s party?”

High Priest Radbod is well aware of the incident three years ago,

She couldn’t understand her intentions because the path she was going to take now was not to go on a tough adventure with her warriors, but to become the empress who rules the empire.

“Don’t you know where I am right now!?”

“It’s only for a moment. If the crown prince ascends to the position of emperor…”

“Even now, in the imperial palace, the voices of nobles are constantly calling for me to be kicked out because of what happened three years ago. But how long can I really hold out?”

High Priest Radbod was not unaware of Emilia’s current location in the imperial palace.

Just a few months ago…

Until the demon king reappeared, her future path was smooth,

After the appearance of the new demon king, the voice of the warrior grew louder and created the current crisis.

If I had known this would happen, I would have tried to stop her at least once when the saintess abandoned the hero three years ago, or at least persuaded them to part ways.

It was already too late.

“Don’t worry about that. Saintess. Our Great Hall is standing behind the Holy Maiden, the Crown Princess, so what can the nobles say?

“However, the Demon King’s army is gradually coming in, the neighboring countries are collapsing one by one, the hero doesn’t come to support… All of this is now my fault!”

“How could that be the saintess’ fault? Even if it’s true, if you know the people’s sentiment as a majesty, you won’t be able to throw it out.”

“…..?”

“Holy Lady, it is said that the number of believers registered in temples all over the continent is rapidly increasing after the demon army reappeared. What would that be? The worse the situation gets, the more the number of believers will increase, and the more we do, the more our Great War will gain more power than the Empire!”

“That means…”

It is unknown whether the words spoken by the High Priest Rad Board were for Emilia or for her own ambitions, but

Any of the two was good news for Emilia.

“Hold on a little longer. I’ll talk about the warrior party problem, so don’t worry too much if it doesn’t work. Saintess.”

“Yes. Thank you. Minister instead. But… What if the hero finds the apprentice saintess?”

“I have thought about that, so please don’t worry about the affairs of the Great Temple here, saintess, and leave everything to me. We will give you good news soon.”

As High Priest Rad Board finished his speech and smiled,

Only then did Emilia’s hardened face straighten out, and as if her worries that had been oppressing her were blown away, her face gradually changed to a comfortable one.

“Then I will only trust the high priest.”

*****

Due to the demon army that appeared after 3 years, the continent fell into extreme anxiety,

While humans are in chaos, either stocking up on food to prepare for war or praying to the gods at a temple,

The kingdom of the elves in the woodlands of the northern part of the continent did not show any disturbance.

As long as they have the protection of the Elf Queen, who is like the representative of the goddess, and the dryad, the spirit and guardian of the forest,

Even if the Demon King’s army came all the way to the forest, there was nothing to be afraid of.

Except for one person.

From a peaceful morning, a woman with a sharp voice that I don’t want to hear was shouting…

“That… Is that true!!?”

“Yes. Princess.”

“If you lie, I will dig out your eyes and throw them to the crows! Tell the truth!”

“Yes. It’s true! I saw it with my own two eyes!”

Iluen, who returned to the kingdom after sending the warriors away from the elven forest near the border of the Fjord Empire, was listening to Ard, the knight commander who arrived late, about the local situation…

There was a report coming up that made her doubt her ears…

It was a report that the half-elf who was with the hero had summoned Elaim, the water spirit king.

Of the numerous races living in this world, the High Elves are the only High Elves who pride themselves on being second only to Dragons in affinity with spirits…

The fact that a half-elf born of mixed blood with a human and not a normal elf summoned the water spirit king was news that could turn the entire kingdom of elves upside down.

Until now, the standard for dividing high elves, ordinary elves, and half elves has been divided into nobles, commoners, and slaves, as proof that only pure-blood high elves have lifespans, abilities, and affinity with spirits close to those of ancient elves.

However, the fact that the half-elf, who was being treated as a slave, summoned a spirit king that even the queen couldn’t summon, would bring more confusion to the elven kingdom than the appearance of the demon king’s army.

“So… What happened after that?”

“She summoned Elaim and put out all the fires in the forest in an instant.”

Director Ard, who was reporting, continued to speak, holding back his words, as if the vivid memories of that time were still flickering in front of his eyes.

“That… A big fire alone…?”

“Yes. I’ve only heard of it as a legend… I never dreamed that the King of Spirits would actually exist like that. He caused heavy rains and dumped large amounts of water, which in an instant turned the forest into a sea of water.”

A normal spirit could never achieve this…

There was no way she would tell lies to Illuen, who is a princess and will soon become the next queen.

Moreover, at that time, in addition to Captain Ard, he witnessed a lot of elven knights under his command and elves living in the forest…

“How many people were there at the time?”

“Since our knights and everyone in the village who knew how to summon water spirits went, there must have been about 300 of them.”

“…..Damn it…”

Abusive words that the noble high elf princess, with her culture and grace, would never utter out of her mouth…

Elfs I didn’t know would have been stunned and surprised if they had heard this, but Captain Ard didn’t show any change in expression as if he was used to it.

On the contrary, he was worried that Iluen might be having strange thoughts…

He was engulfed in fear to such an extent that his feet on one knee trembled as he was in the mood to punish all those who had seen the water spirit king at the site.

“You must have thoroughly cracked down on the people in that village, right?”

“Yes. I spoke so that I could understand.”

“Damn it… It’s such a mean thing… I should have just killed them all on the spot…”

Iluen feared the rumor that it was the half-elf who summoned it more than the spirit king.

Because if rumors spread to other places, starting with the villagers, there could be a setback in his right to succeed to the throne.

And after hesitating for a long time to see if the report wasn’t over yet, leader Ard struggled to open his mouth…

“Me… And… Princess.”

“What else?”

“It seems that the villagers are suspicious that the forest is on fire.”

“What!!?”

“That day, the only ones who entered the Fjord Empire entrance were the princess and us…”

The fire he had set out to capture the hero spread more than expected and caused extreme damage to the forest, but Iluen held his head with his hands as if tearing it apart.

The forest was famous for being so beautiful that even the queen went there every vacation season, and if the queen hears that she destroyed it by setting fire to it… No…

Before that, if the dryad, the spirit and guardian of the forest, found out about this news, he was in a situation where he did not know what kind of trouble he would cause with the elven kingdom.

In the worst case, the dryad will leave the forest and there will be no more dryad protection here.

Forests that have been maintained luxuriantly without pests and pests until now will become dry and devastated in an instant.

“It should never go viral. Even if it means annihilating all the villagers!”

“Yes? Mo… Extermination…?”

“Yes! If it spreads right away, you and your family won’t survive, let alone me, but do you still want it to spread!!?”

“Muh.. I understand what you mean. I will take care of it myself.”

To him, the pride of being the leader of the knights led by the princess, and the sight of his family living in the kingdom flickering in front of him, reminded him of what he had to do.

Smart.

At the time Iluen and Ard were talking,

At the sound of knocking on the princess’s bedroom door, an elf who seemed to have been sent by the queen greeted them politely.

“Princess Iluen, Her Majesty is looking for you.”

“Me… Me…?”

“Yes.”

3 Years ago, the incident at the warriors’ party, and the recent incident in Horon Kingdom where she went out to command the allied forces and then annihilated them, the queen’s call that she hadn’t found…

If she didn’t do anything wrong, her queen’s call would be good news…

She was not stabbed once or twice, so she couldn’t help her feel uncomfortable.

“Ah.. Got it. Bar… I’ll go right away.”

“I’m sorry, but Her Majesty the Queen has ordered you to come in with me right now…”

“……”

It was one of two things that the Queen had said this far.

I wonder if there is urgent news enough to find it urgently, or if you know about any of the events in the elven village.

“Ah… I see…”

Iluen followed her sent by her queen towards her queen’s office,

Captain Ard, who had been squatting down while reporting, got up from his seat,

He headed to the knights’ barracks to implement his own solution.