Chapter 77: Feast
Night soon fell, and the city came alive with lights as every resident of the City of Light gathered around the grand plaza at the city’s center.
Tables and chairs filled the plaza and the surrounding streets, while Elves hurried back and forth, busy preparing the feast.
Before long, everyone had taken their seats, food was served to all, and several thousand Elves remained on their feet to serve the others and replace dishes as they ran out.
In the grand plaza, Rios sat at the main table with Elena beside him. Nearby sat Thandria and Etham, while the nobles and the city’s elite occupied the surrounding seats.
Behind them sat the common people and the poor.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Rios tapped the glass before him several times with the golden spoon in his hand, immediately drawing everyone’s attention.
The Light Elves instantly used their abilities, projecting Rios’s image onto several enormous screens suspended in the sky so everyone could see him clearly.
"Welcome, everyone, to this humble feast."
Rios smiled and spread his arms slightly.
"Long live His Majesty the King!"
"May the God bless the King’s life!"
"May the God bless the King’s bloodline!"
"May the God preserve the King’s reign!"
Cheers erupted throughout the crowd as the Elves gazed at Rios’s image on the giant light screens.
Their eyes were filled with love and unwavering devotion toward him...
No, it had gone far beyond mere devotion and reverence.
When rumors spread a few days earlier that Rios had healed tens of thousands of Elves, most had refused to believe them, dismissing them as nothing more than propaganda.
How could someone who had lost a limb grow it back?
How could the blind see again?
How could the deaf hear once more, or the mute speak?
Yet truth always stood above everything else.
Those who had been healed were not one or two individuals.
They were tens of thousands.
Many of them were well-known among the Elves.
So once they returned home, walked through the streets, and were seen by everyone else...
Every last Elf immediately believed the rumors.
Rios’s popularity had reached its absolute peak...
But not every Elf felt that way.
A humble feast? You’ve emptied the city’s food reserves, and you call this a humble feast?
Many people muttered angrily from different corners of the crowd.
If not for Rios’s overwhelming strength, they would have attacked him on the spot.
"Your Majesty, we thank you for all this food, and we truly appreciate your kindness and generosity toward us."
A red-haired Elf stood up and spoke politely. It was obvious he was a Fire Elf.
His voice gradually grew louder as he turned toward the surrounding crowd so everyone could hear him.
Immediately, the Light Elves shifted the giant screens to focus on him.
"We all know the city’s food reserves are nearly exhausted."
"But if we ration them carefully, they’ll at least support us for more than two weeks."
"During those two weeks, we can organize hunting parties."
"But at this rate of wasteful consumption..."
"...our reserves won’t even last two days."
So you’ve finally shown your true colors.
I was wondering when you’d make your move.
Rios sneered inwardly as he watched the Elf for a moment before narrowing his eyes.
He had long known there were traitors within the city.
Over the past few days, numerous reports had reached him about suspicious individuals being captured.
Yet before they could even be interrogated, they would immediately kill themselves using a deadly poison that claimed their lives in an instant.
This feast had been arranged for several reasons.
But above all...
It was meant to deliver a certain message to those traitors—and to the rest of the Elves.
His gaze slowly swept across the crowd before he finally smiled.
"If your only concern is food, then there’s no need to be afraid."
"And there’s no need to go hunting either."
"I’ve already taken care of the food supply."
"The City of Light will never know hunger again."
"Otherwise, I would never have gathered you all for such a feast, regardless of the reason."
Rios’s voice echoed through the giant light screens overhead.
Everyone’s eyes widened in astonishment.
"With all due respect, Your Majesty..."
Another Elf stood up, this one with blue hair. Clearly, he was a Water Elf.
"Those are merely claims without evidence."
"If you’ll allow me to ask..."
"Where exactly did you obtain enough food to support more than two million people for such a long time when none of us saw you leave the royal palace over the past two days?"
"And I mean no disrespect..."
"But food doesn’t simply fall from the sky."
The Water Elf smiled mockingly before continuing.
"So why don’t you show us this food you claim to have secured?"
"The food that will supposedly ensure the City of Light never suffers from hunger again."
Yes... yes... that’s it.
Come. One after another.
Come out of your holes.
You’ll save me the trouble of dragging you out myself.
The sneer on Rios’s face deepened inwardly.
To him...
Those fools were already dead.
"Hahahaha..."
"So it seems I’m being watched."
Rios’s laughter echoed across the plaza.
Then he looked at the Water Elf with an icy expression.
"And you called it a claim?"
"Do you think I’m lying?"
His cold voice thundered through the crowd.
"N-No... Of course I didn’t mean that, Yo—"
The Water Elf hurriedly waved his hands in denial, sweat breaking across his forehead.
Before he could finish...
Rios raised a hand, cutting him off.
"I protected you from the Centaur race."
"I healed your sick."
"I gave those who had lost all hope in life a new purpose to keep living."
"And I did all of that..."
"...without gaining a single thing from you."
"I have no need for any of you."
Rios’s cold voice echoed throughout the plaza, shattering the Elves’ pride.
He leaned back in his chair, resting his cheek against his fist as disgust filled his voice.
"With my strength alone, I can destroy every one of you."
"With my strength alone, I can conquer cities far stronger and greater than your crumbling one."
"With my strength alone, I can build a kingdom from nothing that surpasses your kingdom at the height of its glory."
"A kingdom greater..."
"And stronger."
"So I have no reason to lie to you."
"And I certainly have no obligation to explain myself."
"I’ve said what I came to say."
"Believe it if you wish."
"And if you don’t..."
"...then find another city to protect you."
Rios’s voice rose sharply.
It even seemed as though every plant throughout the City of Light was repeating his words, carrying them to every corner in reverence.
Everyone who heard him felt their chests tighten and their breathing grow heavy.
Not because of how loud his voice was...
But because of the overwhelming aura carried by every word.
"My city?"
"Then I don’t think there’s any reason for this feast to continue..."
"...until we receive a proper explanation!"
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