"THEY DID WHAT?!"

The moment Rey uttered those words, feeling a boiling anger within him that threatened to destroy the massive and elaborate room he and Kara occupied, all of his rage instantly simmered away.

"G-guh" He held his chest, feeling the last bit of his anger flow away.

The very nature of it made him even more annoyed, but those emotions were also stolen from him in no time.

"Sir Rey, please calm yourself." Kara was not aware that Rey was already calmcalmer than everso she made a worried face as she spoke to him.

"The Elves made a terrible decision, but they mostly did so out of ignorance and their pre-existing bigotry. In fact, with all due respect, I would say all of this is due to the lack of attention you placed on Esme"

As soon as Rey heard this, his brows were raised and he stared Kara dead in her eyes, causing her to squeak even more.

"What do you mean by that?"

"The Elves respect and worship you, but it's not the same for her. If you paid her more attention, perhaps you'd have noticed how they treated her even after you took control of their Community."

"But I commanded them not to hurt or harm her."

"Indeed. The Elders will listen, but the Youngs are a lot more malleable than that, especially since their actions usually go without consequence."

"What are you implying?"

Kara sighed, flexing her glasses as she spoke up. "Your commands to not hurt Esme contradicts a pre-existing directive that tells the Elves to eliminate her. It's not enough that you gave them an instruction like that."

His intentions, his commandments those were never going to be enough to protect her.

"Haa I knew I shouldn't have brought her here." He sighed, sitting on the bed as he rubbed his face with his hand.

"Please do not say that, Sir Rey."

Rey turned to Kara, who seemed genuinely concerned about the whole matter despite having no real reason to be. He opened his lips to ask a question to that effect, but quickly thought against it, shaking his head in the process.

"You're right. Esme probably had the same line of thought after everything that has happened." He murmured. "Reinforcing it will only make things worse.

Jumping back to his feet, he ignored the frustrations he was feeling and activated [Dead Calm] to perfectly lock in to the situation and his objectives at the moment.

"I'm going to go look for her. There's no time to waste."

Not only did he desperately want to meet The Oracle as soon as possible, but he was genuinely worried about Esme. In fact, the latter was more of a driving force for him at this point.

"Thank you, Sir Rey." Kara bowed politely, and he shrugged.

"What about you? What have you been up to?"

"I have been conducting surveys on the Elves. I also plan to question the Esteemed Elders, but I'd like to have your direct permission and blessing so it can be produc"

~VWUSH!~

Before Kara completed her statement, the entire environment around both her and Rey shifted, and they were transported to the compound of the Shrine.

Unsurprisingly, the Esteemed Elders and all the other spectators were still in place. Just as he commanded, none of them had moved a single inch from where he commanded them to remain.

"tive. Ahh?" Kara's eyes widened as she suddenly found herself surrounded by unfamiliar territory, while being gazed upon by the widened eyes of the Esteemed Elders and the remnant Elves that watched from beyond the compound.

"Listen to me" Rey spoke, his tone low yet loud enough for everyone present to hear him perfectly well.

"You will cooperate completely with Kara, and you will answer all of her questions. Failure to meet my expectations will lead to severe punishments, do you understand?"

All of the Elveseven ones who were not Eldersnodded instantly.

"If you fully cooperate, then" Rey released some of his scent out to the Elves, and they instantly became weak in their legs.

Not to the point of kneeling, but they certainly felt ecstasy.

"I believe I have made myself perfectly clear." Rey sounded stern, but not because he was angry. That emotion was already deprived of him to a large extent.

No, Rey felt impatient.

Anxiety for the whereabouts of Esme plagued his thoughts, but all of those were dulled by [Dead Calm]. His actions only reflected the urgency of the situation, and once he got an affirmative response from the Elves before him, he proceeded to the next phase.

"I leave the rest to you." He turned to Kara, removing his eyepatch at that very instant.

Once more, the world became a lot more detailed, and he could see the flow of all Mana around. The effects were especially rich in such a place as the Elven Community.

With his ability to detect and follow the flow of Mana, he was able to catch traces of Esme's and then trace its direction.

'Where did you fly off to?' He wondered as he swiftly ascended to the sky and pursued the sparks of blue and white that glittered in the air.

'... Esme!'

************

As soon as Rey flew off, leaving Kara with the Esteemed Elders, who now stared at the girl in glasses with complicated expressions.

On one end, they despised heralmost to the point of giving her deadly staresbut they were also bound to obey their Lord. Kara easily perceived this and smiled, taking off her glasses as she clapped her hands.

"Here's what's going to happen" She began, taking steps forward while her fearless grin remained constant.

"You're going to tell me about a certain Elder that I've grown quite curious about." Kara reached the High Elder and whispered words into her ears.

"I'm referring to Ciela."

She noticed as the High Elder's body froze up, and the surrounding Esteemed Elders who heard this also had pale expressions on their faces.

'As expected there is indeed more to this story than I imagined.' Kara licked her lips as she thanked her lucky stars that Rey commanded them to cooperate with her.

'I don't need to use that other method anymore.'