The Sword and The Shadow

Negotiations

The two angry women charged at him like wolves. In that second, Leguna felt like he was seeing things in slow motion. Innilis jumped at him with an agility magi shouldn't have.

She opened her lips wide and flashed her teeth in the light of the sun.

Eirinn also charged at him angrily and balled her right first. Though she had wanted to punch him in the face, she softened up and went for his chest instead. She used her left hand to pinch his arm, but a softy like her didn't dare to use too much force.

Leguna sighed before he was at the mercy of those two.When they were more or less settled with him, Annelotte said, "Angelista is a friend and guest of mine. She will be a teacher in Second Magic Academy."

"Friend?" Angelista felt a little weird hearing a word so rarely heard in the dark elven language.

"Eh?"

Upon hearing that, Eirinn carefully retracted her fist from Leguna's shoulder.

"Mmffh?" Innilis was gnawing at Leguna's arm. She let go and sucked her saliva back in.

I… I'm saved… he thought helplessly.

"Oh, so that was it! You should've said so earlier, Big Bro!" Innilis loosened her teeth and said without the slightest hint of apology.

"Then… I'll heal you and make sure no scar will be left," Eirinn said apologetically at the sight of the nail marks she accidentally gave him.

"Ith zhere a point in shaying zhat now?" he mumbled with his tongue hanging out.

Myr witnessed the whole thing with keen interest. The two girls were too terrifying. In five short minutes, they actually roughed Leguna up so badly that he was completely unrecognizable. It was a rare skill indeed.

The word 'haggard' wouldn't be enough to describe him now. His hair and clothes were completely messed up as if a wild beast had had its way with them.

When he opened his mouth just now to explain, Innilis jumped and rammed his mouth shut. The poor fellow bit onto his own tongue and sounded like he had burned his tongue.

"Seriously, explain it sooner. We're not unreasonable people," Eirinn said a little awkwardly as she tugged on the torn clothes on his arm. She then began praying to Pyro for healing.

As Leguna's wounds had mostly been caused by Innils's canines or Eirinn's fist, he wasn't that badly hurt. Only the tongue bite wound seemed more serious than the rest.

So, when Pyro's sacred energy flowed into him, his wounds gradually faded.

"You better remember!" Innilis said while wagging her finger as if she was lecturing Leguna, "Explain things sooner and we won't misunderstand. It's all your fault, Big Bro."

'fI wanted to explain almostfffff immediately! But did you two give me a chance? Not only that, those two behind me intentionally fanned the flames! You four must've talked about how to mess with me beforehand, have you?! You definitely did! Just you wait! If I catch you alone, I'll smack your rears to discipline you until you behave to vent my frustrations! You guys are going too far. It's about time I set some rules here!'

As if he would actually say that. He merely entertained the notion in his head. If he dared to promise the girls revenge, they might utterly murder him.

He scratched his head and helplessly said, "I'm sorry for speaking up so slowly…"

"Good. Now that the misunderstanding's resolved, let me heal you one more time!"

Eirinn wasn't as thick-skinned as Innilis. She blushed and wanted desperately to leave the place.

"Well, it's just a scratch that needs healing, not that big of a deal." Innilis tugged on Eirinn's sleeve and whispered beside her ear, "Maybe Sis Annie is just covering for him. We should keep our guards up."

Eirinn looked at Angelista before agreeing.

While Angelista was inferior to Annelotte, she was daring and loved to reveal herself. After calming down and looking properly, Eirinn only just realized what Angelista had been wearing. It was so skimpy it made her blush!

Eirinn believed Angelista was incredibly alluring to someone like Leguna. After all, he had been forced to keep his chastity thanks to Annelotte being around for years, so his pent up frustration wasn't hard to imagine. Innilis was right that they had to stay vigilant. Eirinn also wondered how it all went down in the Dusk Zone and whether Leguna met her parents.

With a tone of questions piling up in her head, Eirinn agreed with Innilis and didn't dally.

Myr took them to the guest room and stayed to listen to Leguna's experiences in the Dusk Zone.

Unlike his actual experience, he described the place as a bright, peaceful and welcoming place. He said that he had represented the empire to go to Darklight for a friendly exchange lasting 23 days.

According to him, House Elvin's matriarch, Brani received him warmly and began a series of talks towards the peace between Darklight and Hocke.

She also mentioned that cooperation between the allies on two plains was necessary to ensure a peaceful and lasting relationship. The dark elves understood that Hocke was in a crucial turning point. As good neighbors, they strongly condemned the Stokians' barbaric expansionist policies and would provide Hocke with moral and tangible support.

Hocke was really grateful for the kind help they offered and proclaimed during the meeting that the past millennia had proven that the dark elves and humans could coexist peacefully, so the two planes should interact more often and promote cultural exchange between the two races and strive towards maintaining a peaceful future.

Angelista furrowed her brows when she heard what he was saying, but Annelotte had told her to stay put beforehand so she didn't make a sound.

"All in all, it was a rather delightful trip," Leguna concluded, "Before we left, your sister had me invite you to a trip there next time! I'm sure she'll welcome you warmly there!"

"Really?" Eirinn said, her silver eyes glowing bright.

"Of course! When we're free, I'll take you three there!"

"Okay!" Eirinn nodded energetically. "Big Brother, why didn't you invite my sister to Melindor?"

"Ummm…" Leguna looked down awkwardly.

"Hmph! Why can't you take the initiative to be more friendly?" Eirinn puffed her mouth angrily.

"I'll tell her when we get the chance in the future then," he relented.

"Fine! I'll forgive you for now, but you have to apologize to my sister the next time!"

"I will."

Huh, this brat actually chose to describe the Dusk Zone this way… Myr yawned. He almost fell asleep at hearing all that idealistic talk about peace between the two planes.

He glanced at Angelista, who was wearing an odd expression, and asked,. "So, Annie, isn't it about time you introduced this dark elf to us?"

"Hi, old fogey." Angelista seemed completely at ease. "As you can see, I'm a female dark elf."

"Your gender won't get you any extra benefit here," Myr said. He knew that female dark elves enjoyed lots of privileges in the Dusk Zone, so he wanted to cut any notions she might have about that short sooner rather than later.

"Hmph! I know that!" she said a little emotionally. As a great female dark elf, she expected to be obeyed and respected by any male, yet that old man completely passed her off like she was nothing! She wondered if she should toy with him and eventually get him to lick her shoes.

However, she knew that she had to prove her worth as quickly as possible to be able to gain a firm position in human society. So, she revealed her silver mana rings. "I'm not only a woman, I'm also a 17th-stratum high-order magus as well as a soulgrasper!"