"THE KING, HIS MAJESTY, IS HERE!"
The elves look at her with complex emotions— curiosity, wonder, expectations, and even suspicion. Even the princess is in a stupor at the sudden news.
Poruna realizes her folly too late. "F-forgive me, princess... I should have been more discreet..."
The elves as a whole are a very lax race and don't care much for hierarchies. By human standards, they are uneducated barbarians. Despite this, elves are actually people who are easy to accept things... this involves receiving knowledge... as long as it makes it easy for them, it is easily acceptable for them.
They are lazy to the core, and this has long been an established norm. The only thing stopping them from being lazy is their awareness.
It is only recently that a 'strict' hierarchy is structuring itself in the settlement. Yirlung and Allenwood are the few who promote the implementation of this hierarchy through example.
The only reason this rough royal hierarchy system is working is because of the danger that the humans present, and also the fact that it doesn't really differentiate from the work of a Village Chief.
It is just royal in name, but in essence, they are still using the Village Chieftain system.
Intelligence doesn't solely come from knowledge, though Poruna doesn't know this, it is a fact that she is smarter among her her fellow elves.
For the elves who are laboring on building the rafts, the return of the King doesn't really mean anything.
So at the mention of the King's return, it is not a big deal for the elves. However, it is different for those who are in the know. Kara is among them, and Poruna seems to detect this difficulty in Kara's eyes.
Poruna eagerly says to the princess. "Your highness! His majesty has achieved great victory!"
"Please explain to me in detail!" Kara impatiently asks her.
Poruna takes a deep breath as she speaks about what she is here for. "The old alchemist is tending wounds of his majesty. Please come with me. They are waiting for you."
Kara nods at her words.
Poruna leads the way, suppressing her excitement. The princess follows her with a little entourage of elves who are curious about what did occur.
Kara wants to complain that this is wrong as this is just a waste of time for the 'laborers', but in the end, she resists complaining. Her mentor always reminds her to respect the freedom of others, so she should adhere to these lessons as this will become the foundation of their Kingdom.
The old alchemist's hut is far from the Great Anisia River, so they had to walk for some distance.
Poruna recalls returning from her foraging of herbs for the old alchemist to use when she overhears the exchange of words between the elf woman 'Lameya', and the elf grandpa 'Yirlung' who dutifully now guards the hut.
"It is madness! The wounds they have are so many, so sca~ry! I cannot describe it. They must be great warriors!" She helplessly voices her admiration at the recollection of the two elf warriors, a man, and a woman, both possessing fearsome auras.
The elves are naturally resistant to flattery for unknown reasons, but Poruna is feeling boastful for some reason. She feels like praising the Elf King.
She shares what she overhears to her fellow elves, a strange energy accumulating at the core of her heart— pride.
"It is unbelievable! The King singlehandedly rushed at the human noble's territory and slaughtered the lords inside!
"With only twenty elves following him, they crushed the territory of a Count! I don't know what is a Count, but from what I hear, it is noble of high rank!
"We... we have been avenged..."
Poruna is like a little kid starting her puberty eagerly telling her favorite fairytale to her playmates. But she is not a kid anymore... she is an adult, thus explaining the impact of the things she heard.
Kara is calm, everything she is hearing is within her expectations, but there is an inkling of suspicion in her heart.
When they arrive at Allenwood's hut, they see Yirlung with his posse of soldiers guarding the hut.
Yirlung gives Poruna a stinging gaze. "Sigh..." The old hunter feels half of his lifespan vanishing to the wind. "I knew it. Poruna, you are such a loudmouth..."
Poruna freezes at the scolding about to hit her, but Kara saves her just in time by directly confronting Yirlung.
"What is the meaning of this? Since when did they arrive?"
Yirlung with an unchanging look plainly answers. "This dawn. We don't have time to inform you of the matter. I am sorry, your highness."
Addressing Kara so formally doesn't mean any good.
Kara clenches her fist. Though by human standards, she is ten years old, she is at least fifty years old by elf standards. So she has enough wisdom to judge the urgency of the matter. "How is he?"
Yirlung shakes his head revealing his emotion with his brief reply. "Terrible..." And with a reluctant gaze, he moves away from the hut's door.
Poruna watches the princess enter the old alchemist's hut. Poruna somehow feels saddened, and a desire to express this emotion shortly forms in her heart.
The elves shortly disperse when Kara didn't leave the hut for a long time.
As a helper to the old alchemist, Poruna returns to her own chores like distributing the nutritional supplements and caring for the elf patients.
The next day, it is as usual except for the new arrival of more elves counting an additional 203 elves. With the initial 88 elves, they now have a total of 291 elves.
Kara returns to her duties to oversee the elves as if nothing happened. Thoush the princess tries her best not to show it, to her acquaintances, it is obvious that something is bothering her.
Though Poruna is just a bystander and not really a close acquaintance of the princess, Poruna can clearly see what is wrong— it must be the King.
Later on, a week after, the remaining warrior elves return to the forest with the Elf General 'Trudviar' leading them. An uproar occurs among the elves as they realize not a single casualty is among the elf warriors. The few crippled elves and young elves make a commotion as they are the first settlers of their little settlement near the Great Anisia River.
Poruna frowns at this though as she recalls that there should be a half-elf among them. She didn't inquire afraid that she might ruin the celebratory mood of her fellow elves.
Some warrior elves who has acquaintances among their counterparts reunite with familiar kin. The reception is warm, and everyone is in disbelief at this great miracle.
The night after, at a big bonfire, the elves gather for a rare break to feast. There is boar meat, and all kinds of fruits, and even the amount of grains they are allowing consumption is quite enormous.
Though everyone is in a celebratory mood, the elf warriors including Allenwwod, Yirlung, and Kara are an exception.
These elf warriors' return signifies the truthfulness of the aforementioned 'victory', but in Poruna's heart, this doesn't feel right. At the return of the King, there are neither applauses nor shows of care, only a passing interest.
Though the Elf King should be a great elf, he doesn't receive the rightful recognition that he deserves.
"Come to think of it..." Poruna's declaration of victory is so out-of-place it is making her feel guilty. "Oh~ I must have done something unnecessary." It is not like she desires the attention, she is just too excited. What is so wrong with being a loudmouth? So what if she overheard it?
Maybe she is at fault for being a loudmouth. She looks at Kara, the princess. If there is someone who should declare 'victory', it should be her.
Poruna wants to help, she wants to contribute, and she wants to cheer the warrior elves who seem to have gloomy looks. Though they don't show it openly, she can easily tell.
Talking to the princess is the easy way out, but in terms of expressing emotions, just talking might not solve the problem.
So... Poruna chooses the hard way out.
"The world is burning..." Her sonorous voice echoes into the air discerning its melodious tune from the rowdy talking of the crowd. "Leaving nothing but ash."
Poruna has been thinking for some time about how she can 'express' her emotion since the King's return. She has a small guitar in her hand, something she finds idly lying on the smaller storage shed reserving for the other stuff.
"I hear them crying
At the dread cold night
Long ears quivering
Last did the elves fight"
Poruna strums her guitar, and in her humming, the silence grows deeper, her emotions starting to envelop the night's atmosphere.
Verse after verse comes out of her mouth like sacred texts detailing the stories she heard. The melody gets angry, calm, and then more.
The emotions swirl in chaotic flux.
"I know this isn't right
Only in vengeance, there is might
Never lose of sight
For only in us, there is light"
Poruna sings, her emotions are overflowing. The song is from the perspective of the Elf King, one that she puzzles together from the little stories she hears from her fellow elves.
Though she is not an original denizen of the Lorekleim forest, she can relate. After all, she is an elf.
The song continues, telling the Elf King's journey, and now... his return.
From the small hut, the silver-haired elf peeks from the window. He smiles with warmth, as the little bits of his consciousness support his motor functions.
Watching over his elf kin, the silver-haired elf sighs in complicated relief. "Thank you..." And his eyes are too dry, he cannot even shred a tear no more.