Chapter 546: Refugee
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Baery and Kumaraghosha's forces had swept over almost half of the entire Shansa Empire. Edward the Eighth had not made any moves to defend the other provinces from invasion and instead concentrated all of his troops near Diamond City.
As more and more cities fell to the Maho armies' invasions, Edward the Eighth was forced to ask the Ellisen Empire for help. The Ellisen court became divided on the matter. Half of the court supported sending troops while the other half did not.
The Ellisen Empire was not doing well while not under invasion either. It had lost several important mages and did not want to get involved in another war, especially not against the Maho Empire.
Many of the generals in the Ellisen Empire believed that Yolanthe wanted to see how the Ellisen Empire would have reacted, which was why he didn't make any further moves after he took the Morro Province. He must have had a plan on how to deal with the Ellisen Empire if it ever decided to help the Shansa Empire.
The nobles knew that the only hope they had was Scarlet. She had the support of the Church of Light, the mercenaries, and the druids. The Shansa Empire provided everything to fight the last battle. Scarlet was the only one that was able to halt the invading armies of the Maho Empire. Without her, there was no hope for the Shansa Empire. The Ellisen nobles were well aware of this, which was why they did not want to help the Shansa Empire.
For the mercenaries in the League, it was less like a war and more like traveling. The League was met with little resistance and any resistance was easily repressed. Before anyone realized it, summer was nearing its end.
At dusk, Anfey strolled through the yard of the house he was occupying. Four elves heard him coming and hurried out into the yard.
"You're back, sir," Yalbevin said with a small bow. "Dinner is ready."
Anfey never had servants and the sudden addition made him uncomfortable. However, what happened a few weeks ago changed his mind. A few mercenaries got drunk and tried to assault the elves. Luckily, they were easily subdued and caused no further damage.
Burzuryano was around when it happened. When he heard about it, he was offended and asked Anfey to do something about it. Anfey was very interested in Paglia and decided to let the elves live with him for a while so he could keep an eye on her.
"Is it the same thing as yesterday?" Anfey asked. The elves had a routine and did not like deviating from it. This meant that dinner was the same every single day. Elves were very close to nature and the food they prepared reflected it. The dishes were made of fruits and flowers and were not seasoned. Luckily, he did not need to eat that often so he did not need much food.
Yalbevin hesitated and nodded. "Would you like to switch it up, sir?"
Anfey sighed and shook his head. "Don't worry about it," he said. He went inside and saw dishes of fruits and jars of honey sitting on the table. There were three chairs around the table, and a unicorn occupied one of them. Seeing Anfey made the unicorn snicker happily.
Anfey sighed and sat down in one of the chairs. He grabbed an apple and played with it. He knew Alice was holding a feast. Maybe he should have gone to check out the feast. As he was about to take a bite out of the apple, he realized something was off about the fruit. He turned it around and saw it was missing a chuck. He frowned and checked the other apples on the table and realized all the apples were missing a chuck or two. He knew the elves would never have served food like this. He turned to the unicorn. "Did you do this?" he asked, shaking his head.
The unicorn stood up on its hind legs and stared at Anfey with its bright blue eyes.
"Did you steal food again?" one of the elves came up and asked, giving the unicorn a light smack on the head.
The unicorn whined and swung its legs. It was becoming anxious and wanted to eat.
"He's getting smarter," Anfey said, patting the unicorn's head. "At least he knows how to hide his crimes."
Yalbevin smiled. "Of course," she said. "He will grow into a top-level magic beast."
Anfey pushed his dish over to the unicorn. "Eat," he said. "Hopefully I will live to see that day." The unicorn snickered happily and delved into the food. Anfey turned to the elves and asked, "Do you not need salt?"
The elves shook their heads.
Anfey smiled. "It seems like we are very different, after all," he said. "I can't always eat food with no flavor."
"I will speak with Lord Feller tomorrow," Paglia said. "Maybe he can find you a few cooks, sir."
Anfey nodded and smiled at Paglia.
Just then, someone came into the yard. Yalbevin hurried out to greet the newcomer. "Welcome back, my lady."
"Is Anfey back?"
"He is inside, my lady."
A few moments later, Suzanna came into the room. Anfey smiled. "Come join me," he said.
Suzanna glanced at the food and frowned. "You have the unicorn," she said. She was a swordsman and needed actual food to sustain her. The elven food was far from enough to do so.
"Come on," Anfey said. "Please."
"Never," Suzanna said, rolling her eyes.
"You're back early," Anfey said, standing up.
"Alice has a feast tonight," Suzanna said. "I wasn't needed there. I will go back later." She paused, then said, "Another thing. Douminge's students got out of Diamond City."
"His students?"
Suzanna nodded. "They just arrived. Six of them to be exact. They have information. Alice and Douminge are speaking with them."
"What about?"
"Edward the Eighth is focusing all of his armies on Diamond City," Suzanna said. "He has a lot of food and magic crystals prepared." She sighed and shook her head. "This war has created many refugees. They are heading this way as well."
"Suzanna, what do you mean those students got out of Diamond City?"
"Edward the Eighth kept them as prisoners after Douminge joined us."
Anfey sighed and shook his head. "Come on, Suzanna," he said. "I want to go talk to them. Maybe we can get some real food as well."
Suzanna glanced at the untouched food on the table and giggled. "Alright," she said. "Let's go."