Chapter 68- I'm In Your Care, Partner
"What do you mean, your highness?" Damian asked with a mysterious tone. He knew that Elise was aware of Rin's powers so when she said that, he tried to read between the lines to unveil her meaning.
"It's as I said it, Duke Silvereye. These people can manipulate shadows and they are very good at doing that too. The fact that they were able to use it against someone as strong as his majesty the king is more than enough proof of how much they are dangerous."
Sighing, Damian tried to keep his composure and calm expression unless he wanted to arouse the suspicion of the other nobles around them. Even now, they are still looking shocked and confused.
They even started asking each other about this as they never heard of this power before and they wanted an explanation.
"How is that even possible? I have never heard of such a power before."
"Me too. Shadows? Is that even an element in nature?"
"It may be possible as her highness mentioned, they found a disfigured shadow with no owner thrown in the room. How can you explain that?"
"Maybe it was an illusion of some kind."
"I doubt that it was the case as illusion spells don't usually last that long."
Discussions went back and forth like that between everyone. They all wanted a clear explanation yet the only thing they got is even more mystery. Who were these people? Why did they kill the king? What were their intentions?
Such questions were left unanswered.
Sighing, Elise looked at her brother coldly. The latter flinched a little bit and then nodded his head. Her eyes said clearly 'take control of this conversation. I've had enough.'
"We can leave the matter of the investigation for later. We have invited you here to discuss another urgent problem. The succession…"
One word was more than enough to make everyone frown visibly. This matter was something they unconsciously wanted to avoid as it was too problematic and complicated. However, they had to find a solution eventually no matter how much they tried to run away from it.
"We have to start the campaigns for the new ruler as soon as possible and that's why we need your help to-"
However, before Arthur could finish his words, Elise cut him off.
"There is no need for that."
Everyone looked at her quizzically.
"I'm not going to fight for the throne. Arthur is more than capable of taking this responsibility." She said.
"Huh?" A weird sound escaped the mouth of multiple people.
Their minds didn't quite register what she said as it was way too shocking for them. Doesn't want to fight for the throne? What is this nonsense?
"What is the meaning of this, your highness?"
"I think I was clear with what I said. I do not want to become the next ruler of Aviresion."
Since the moment Elise was reincarnated in this body, she had already decided not to become the next queen. There were many reasons for that but the most important one is the fact that if she was to become the queen, she will lose her freedom completely. She will be shackled by responsibilities and work to the point where she will have to abandon her goal.
Besides, she knew that she didn't have the patience nor the desire to ever sit on the throne. Living a more simple and straightforward life was her desire and she won't change that for anything in this world.
In her mind, her ultimate goal (After achieving everything she desired.) was to buy a small house in a small village and live, a simple yet fulfilling life far from any pain, hardships, or sadness. She just wanted to be happy and that was all of it.
"How can you say that, your highness?" Viscount Eaglefield exclaimed with a distressed look.
Frankly, Viscount Eaglefield didn't like the idea of Arthur taking the throne. He knew about how incapable Arthur was. He liked to play with women, enjoy his time and live a lavish life to the point where he rarely goes back home and spends his time doing whatever he desired.
That's why, he trusted Elise more to be the next queen as he could feel her aura, her demeanor, and even her cleverness were all on point.
"I am not here to discuss this matter. It's a decision I took and I will never go back on it. I will leave the matter of the preparations for you all. As for the funeral, it will occur next week before my departure."
Yes, the start of the new academic year was only two weeks away so Elise had to leave the kingdom as soon as possible.
The academy was very far away from here, right in the heart of the continent, surrounded by all the empires and kingdoms as a form of protection shield in case of emergencies.
After that, Elise stood up and excused herself. She left the whole matter for the nobles without any hesitation. Even though many will find this attitude of hers rude but no one had the right to complain or say anything.
'I'm not in the mood nor the state of mind to care about politics.' Clicking her tongue, she walked in the corridor.
"Boo!"
Suddenly, a person appeared behind her and made a light sound close to her. Elise didn't turn around and continued walking as if nothing happened.
"Have you listened to the conversation?" She asked.
"Ah! I thought I got you. Hehehe!" Rin chuckled.
Elise merely eyed him silently to make him act more serious.
"Well, yes. I also checked the shadow myself."
"What do you think?"
"I, for sure, am still incapable of altering shadows' forms like that so whoever did that has more mastery over this element than me. But, there is still something bugging me." Rin said with a difficult look on his face.
"My system had stated clearly that no one in existence possesses this power except me. Yet, there is someone else who has it? This doesn't make sense at all."
Elise went silent for a few moments, seemingly deep in thought.
"What if they weren't actually users of that element?"
"What do you mea- Oh…" Rin was about to ask when the realization hit him.
"Another form of power that can affect shadows?" He voiced out his thoughts with squinted eyes.
"Correct. They must've used some kind of trick to do that. It is definitely within the realm of possibility. Except…"
"Except?"
"No, nothing. Anyway, our only lead, for now, is the Soul Eater. It's still not touched and could possibly contain their fingerprints. They can still be smart enough to hide those but I don't think they thought about that detail."
"But, Elise… We were there at the time when the crime happened. We were inside the treasury and the sword was still there at the time. How did they do it?"
"Considering the fact that they were able to control someone as powerful as the king and made him kill himself without as much as a small noise then hiding their presence from us isn't that hard to do."
"Fine, fine. But, how are we going to use their fingerprints? It's not earth here and they certainly do not possess the technology to identify these fingerprints."
"That's our problem. We have to find a way to extract that."
The two went silent for another minute as they continued walking.
"Let's put this on hold for now. This world is a vast place. I'm sure that there exists a method somewhere. Besides, I feel that something is going to happen."
Rin then advanced forward and continued.
"I don't think this will be our last interaction with these people. They will definitely appear again when we expect it the least."
"You sound confident."
"It's just a hunch. Anyway, I think it's time we focus on our next step, the academy. Don't forget that the whole plot starts there and our interactions with the main cast will increase. It's going to be extremely troublesome."
"I did some more in-depth research on the academy. Let's just say that we aren't going there to merely study. Most likely than not, we will get entangled with the main character and that will trigger many events and quests."
"Every world in TOI is like that. They are bizarre and ever-changing and now that a main key point of the story had been altered. We can only expect the worst, Elise. However…"
Turning around, Rin smiled at Elise and said.
"I'm in your care, partner."
He then extended his fist for her.
Looking at him silently, many emotions filled Elise's heart before they all were washed away with a mere look at his face. After that, she sighed and extended her arm too.
'You are weird… Rin. But… I weirdly don't hate that.'
(A//N: Finally, the official start of the academy arc. It will arguably be the biggest arc in this world. I have been preparing it for a long time. Also, don't worry about all the loose plot points I made in this part. It will all perfectly connect at the perfect time.)
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