Chapter 138 - 40
From within the darkness Laurel walked towards Ziel and Lilith. Her face was not very visible at night, but Ziel knew that she was in a rage right now.
"Good evening Miss Laurel. Are you patrolling this place?" Ziel greeted her politely. He pretended not to hear what Laurel said earlier.
"You're right. By chance, I was patrolling this place and came across the two of you. What are you two doing in this place at night?" Laurel smiled but her face said that she was ready to eat Ziel.
"Shouldn't we be given an hour to go around the city? I don't think our time is up yet and this girl is my academy mate. Is there a problem with that?" Ziel still doesn't know the reason why Laurel suddenly got angry with him.
"Hee...so you had an affair with another girl at night and you said it's okay?" Laurel no longer concealed her killing intent. Her voice turned cold when Ziel didn't want to admit his mistake.
"I do not understand what you mean." Ziel shook his head at Laurel's words. He never thought that Kalya would tell Laurel about him.
"You don't have to pretend in front of me. You already have a girlfriend and now you're having an affair with another girl? You bastard! I don't know what Princess Cattleya saw in you." Laurel shouted venting her anger on him. Ziel who heard Kalya's name mentioned instantly realized that Laurel was misunderstanding him right now. The silver-haired elf knows Ziel's relationship with Kalya.
"You misunderstood. You can ask Leya about this girl." Ziel didn't have time to explain to her. The time allotted for the students to go around the city was almost up. It would be even more troublesome if another elf knight saw him still hanging around.
"Do you think I will be deceived by your words!? And you dare to call Princess Cattleya's name so intimately! I will make you aware of your place!" Laurel doesn't want to listen to Ziel's excuses. She was currently consumed by her anger. Silver-colored spirit power began to overflow from her body. She drew the silver sword at her waist and readied to attack Ziel.
Ziel frowned when he saw Laurel intending to attack him. They would make a fuss if they fought in that place. This will provoke other elven knights to come there.
"Why do elves love to misunderstand other people?" Ziel remembers when he first met Kalya. At that time she also attacked Ziel suddenly because she misunderstood him.
"You bothered me first, so don't blame me." Ziel mumbled and disappeared from his place. He reappeared right in front of Laurel.
(So fast! I can't even see the movement! Undine help me!)
Laurel was surprised that Ziel suddenly appeared in front of her. She asked for help from her contracted spirit, undine.
(Sorry Laurel. We won't be on time)
Undine said apologetically. She can also feel Ziel's power just like Silphy. But the difference is, Undine doesn't want to tell Laurel. After all, she knew Ziel had no ill will towards Laurel.
Ziel extended his hand towards Laurel's face.
"Aah!" Laurel couldn't help but close her eyes and resign herself to Ziel's attack that came at her. But Ziel didn't hit her. He just flicked his finger on Laurel's forehead and disappeared from the place along with Lilith. After that, Ziel's voice directly rang in Laurel's ears.
"I only gave that punishment because you're close to Leya. Ah...as a reminder, the lump on your forehead won't go away even if you use magic to heal it. The lump will go away on its own in 3 days. So no need to do anything in vain."
After that, Ziel's voice was no longer heard. Laurel slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She couldn't find or feel the presence of Ziel and Lilith at all.
"Where is he going?" Laurel asked Undine in her body.
(They seem to have returned to where they lived)
Undine couldn't sense them either. That meant Ziel and Lilith were already beyond her detection range.
"I'm going after them!" Laurel gritted her teeth and prepared to go to the building where the students lived.
(Stop Laurel! You better take care of your forehead first)
Undine sighed and reminded Laurel.
"Eh? What's wrong with my forehead..." Laurel touched her forehead and felt a lump on it. She quickly took out a mirror from her space storage and looked at her face. Right in the middle of her forehead was a very noticeable red lump. Laurel cast healing magic on the lump but her efforts were in vain. The lump didn't even shrink one bit.
(Everything you did was in vain. Didn't he say it already?)
Undine sighed a second time after seeing Laurel trying to heal the lump.
"What should I do?" Laurel frantically asked Undine. She can't see others seeing her like this especially Kalya. She was the knight commander of the Elven Kingdom. If anyone saw that lump on her forehead, she will become a laughing stock.
(As he said, you just have to wait for 3 days. Hang on!)
Undine cheered Laurel and suddenly fell silent. But Laurel could sense that Undine was holding back her laughter.
"I promise to repay what you did to me!!" Laurel's roar echoed in the sky of the Elven Kingdom.
In front of the building where the academy students were staying, Ziel and Lilith heard Laurel's scream.
"You seem to be a bit too much for her." Lilith smiled at him and walked into the center building. Ziel just shrugged his shoulders and walked towards the left building after Lilith disappeared from his sight.
***
The next day after the banquet in the Elven Kingdom, the academy students were bored from not having any activities there. Unlike in the Dwarven Kingdom, they weren't here for a study tour. They also couldn't roam around without an escort from the Elven Kingdom. The students could have quarreled with the elves because some of them hated humans so much.
In the building where the teachers lived, Merlick had a meeting in the morning. The teachers, including Regza, had gathered. King Gustave was also beside him.
"I gathered you at this time because I wanted to talk about what we will do in the future. As you already know that communication to the human region is currently cut off. Because of that, we can't give news of our whereabouts there. If what Carkas said is true, about the barrier that divides the human and demi-human regions then it is certain that no one will pick us up until the barrier is gone. I want to hear your opinion about what we should do now?" Merlick looked at the teachers one by one. He and King Gustave were also confused about their plans.
"Is there no way to get our message across to the human region?" Flavio was the first to speak among the other teachers.
"Nothing for now." King Gustave answered his question. He had also been looking for a way but couldn't find it at all. Communication was still possible but only in the demi-humans region.
"Can we ask the Elven Kingdom's permission to do a study tour here?" Beatrix asked Merlick but her eyes drifted to Kalya. The other teachers also glanced at her.
"Don't look at me. I'm no longer royalty." Kalya smiled bitterly in response to their gazes.
"But, aren't you the younger sister of the current Queen? Can't you help us recommend to her?" Ashley tries to persuade Kalya. But Kalya's face was suddenly gloomy after she brought up the name of Queen Jasmine.
"Our relationship is a bit complicated so please don't say that again. I can't help you with this. I'm sorry." Kalya is no longer a princess now. Moreover, after realizing that she was not the biological daughter of the previous queen, she felt that she no longer had any ties to the Elven Royal Family.
"But..." Ashley was still trying to persuade her but was stopped by Merlick.
"Okay, we'll find another way. We can't force that on Kalya. She must have her reasons." Merlick knew the problems of the two sisters so he couldn't leave this matter to Kalya.
"Do you have any other opinion?" Merlick added his words.
"I think for the time being we can only stay in this place. Make sure the students don't wander around, let alone make a fuss." King Gustave spoke after seeing that all the teachers were silent.
"I think that's all we can do. All right, let's end this meeting. If you have any other opinion you can tell me straight away. You can leave now." Merlick ended their meeting because the teachers didn't seem to have any other ideas and they had reached a dead-end in the conversation.
The teachers started to leave the room one by one. Merlick could only massage his forehead seeing their current situation.
"Gustave... Looks like the best thing for us to do is try to contact the human region so they can figure out how to get us from here." Merlick looked at King Gustave who was also dizzy at the thought of this matter.
"I will try to get out of this place and find out the real situation on this continent." King Gustave also agreed with Merlick's opinion. They couldn't stay in the Elven Kingdom for long.
"You have to be careful." Merlick nodded and closed his eyes to calm his mind.
***
After finishing her meeting with the other teachers, Kalya walked out of the building where she lived. In front of the building, she saw Laurel waving at her. Kalya couldn't help but smile a little and waved back at her. When Kalya approached her, she was confused by the headband that Laurel was currently wearing. It didn't seem right for her.
"What happened to your head?" Kalya asked worriedly.
"Don't remind me of that. I'm waiting for you here because I want you to take me to meet your little sweetheart." Laurel had been waiting quite a while in front of the building. He felt it would be rude to enter the building that was currently occupied by people from the human academy.
"I already told you, our relationship is currently in trouble. I can't even reach him." Kalya's face becomes sad after remembering about Ziel.
"No wonder he was with another girl last night." Laurel subconsciously said what happened last night.
"Eh? Another girl? Who is that person? How does she look? Where did you meet them?" Kalya quickly started to interrogate her after hearing the news.
"Ah, calm down. I did see him with another girl last night. The girl is very beautiful and has a whitish purple hair color. I met them in front of the world tree." Laurel told her honestly what she had seen. She was afraid that Kalya would be sad after hearing that. But Laurel didn't want to lie to her childhood friend.
Kalya was silent after hearing her explanation. Laurel became worried for Kalya. She thought at this time Kalya must be hurt and disappointed in Ziel.
Laurel didn't know what Kalya was thinking right now was Ziel's purpose of being there. Ziel couldn't have come to that place without any reason. This made her very curious. Then kalya remembered something and looked at Laurel's head, her forehead to be exact. Kalya noticed a lump behind her headband.
"What exactly are you hiding behind that headband of yours?" Kalya asked Laurel curiously. Laurel's face darkened after hearing this question.
"This is what your little sweetheart did! He flicked my forehead and made a lump that even healing magic couldn't get rid of!" Laurel shyly opens her headband and shows her forehead to Kalya. Red lumps look very conspicuous on her forehead.
"Pfft...you better wear your headband again. It's dangerous if your subordinates see it. Pfft..." Kalya covered her mouth to hold back her laughter. But her voice was still heard by Laurel in front of her. Not only Kalya but also Silphy and Undine burst out laughing.
"You... I shouldn't have shown it to you!" Laurel's face was bright red. She was very embarrassed at this time and quickly put her headband back on.
"Pfft...well, I'm sorry. Then let's go to the center building." Kalya stops her laughter and starts talking seriously.
"To the center building? Isn't that where the female students live? Shouldn't it be the building on the left?" Laurel thinks Kalya forgot where Ziel lives.
"No, we'll find someone else who can reach him." Kalya smiled sadly and took Laurel's hand towards the central building.. Laurel just followed her away and didn't ask much after seeing Kalya's face.