A Treacherous Courtier Manages the Empire Well

96 – Oh, This Is a Gun

The Lan Tribe’s Chertu was strolling through the dark alleyways of Lord Elond’s (formerly known as Byeonchangbaek Lord, but everyone had become accustomed to calling him Lord Elond) once again today.

With her rank, she could have comfortably stayed at her desk, but unlike Seoric, such desk work didn’t suit her temperament. Therefore, she often took on patrol duties performed by regular guards through her own will.

Having received some training, she preferred to discreetly watch people from rooftop to rooftop in the guard’s attire rather than openly strolling the streets. Thanks to this, Elond’s alleyways had ironically become one of the places where secret deals or criminal activities were less likely to occur.

“Oh, Lady Chertu. Are you on patrol again today?”

As she crossed from rooftop to rooftop, citizens often recognized her and greeted her.

“Have some! We baked these today!”

“Thank you.”

Sometimes, she even received food or fruits through windows. While snacking, she suddenly caught a peculiar scent in the dark alleyway tonight as she strolled meticulously.

“Hm!”

She wrinkled her nose and looked in a certain direction.

It wasn’t a familiar scent.

It wasn’t the scent of people from Ailam or Karamba. Yet, it wasn’t the scent of beasts or monsters from the Larko Mountains either.

“What is this?”

Crushed wood and forest. And strangely, a refreshing smell of air. Hastily following the scented trail, Chertu’s instincts told her this was a new prey.

As she hurriedly followed the scent, it abruptly vanished. Her eyes narrowed.

“Is this fellow playing games?”

Whoever it was, they sensed her pursuit from a distance, erased their traces, even the scent marks, with such precision. It seemed highly skilled. Unless it was during Sultan Saladin’s time, she had never encountered such a meticulous being. A smile crept up on Chertu’s lips.

“How intriguing.”

Since the scent disappeared, tracking was impossible, but she was not without means.

She growled softly towards a dense shadow that appeared in various parts of the city as night fell.

“What’s going on?”

Upon hearing the sound, someone emerged from the shadow.

A figure holding a long monster-hunting rifle on their shoulder. They were one of the Southern hunters.

“Here. Read the memories.”

Without asking any questions, the Southern hunter immediately began using dark magic to read the memories at her request, cutting through the past and present. Soon after, the hunter’s face contorted.

“This is an unfamiliar being. Knows how to handle the darkness. There are traces of memories deleted within the darkness.”

“What? Is there someone capable of that?”

“Judging by this mana response, it’s not sorcery. Not a wizard either. In that case… it’s spirit magic. Used dark spirits to erase.”

“Spirits. But who, exactly?”

As Cherthu was taken aback, the Southern hunter drew his rifle and loaded 13mm monster rounds into the chamber with a click before turning it towards Cherthu.

“This is no ordinary fellow. I will call for reinforcements immediately. Cherthu, you should hurry as well.”

“Understood.”

As the hunter disappeared into the shadows, Cherthu took a deep breath and let out a howl.

“Awooo!!!!!”

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A tremendous howling spread throughout the area. Upon hearing it, another howl erupted nearby simultaneously. Everyone knew what this howling meant. Soon, the entire Elond Lordship would mobilize the alliance of humans and Southern hunters to encircle the intruder detected by the dense surveillance network.

Though it was unclear who the intruder was.

“We’ve stirred up trouble.”

The joint pursuit of the assassination unit and the relentless tracking and killing by the hardened Southern hunters would not be easy to withstand.

“Is that so?”

An elf, cloaked in the darkness spirit, flinched.

Someone was following.

There were blatant movements following the scent, discreetly pursuing with the ability to manipulate darkness and read its memories.

“Annoying.”

She didn’t want to engage in a fight unless necessary. Confirming the existence of the second World Tree as soon as possible was urgent. Thus, she imbued her feet with the spirit of the wind and began moving swiftly from rooftop to rooftop.

Rather than jumping tens of meters at once, her movement was more akin to gliding.

As she swiftly crossed the Elond Lordship to evade pursuit, she suddenly realized the encirclement tightening with the sound of wolf howls.

“What are these fellows up to?”

The presence of highly skilled individuals, working as guards in such large numbers, was unlike the human security she had only heard of in records. It was a stern security situation that had drastically changed.

Humans were believed to be inferior, short-lived creatures who only fought for dominance, but experiencing it firsthand proved otherwise.

“They are quite skilled.”

With such skilled individuals, it seemed worth her precious time to engage in conversation. She paused to initiate dialogue.

The encirclement that was closing in tightly enveloped her in an instant.

Southern hunters sprang from the shadows, several lupine beings leaped near her, and Cherthu, the leader of the pursuit, growled as he approached the elf.

“You smell new. Who are you? Reveal your identity.”

Upon hearing the unfamiliar Aylam language, the elf momentarily cast an interpreting spell to understand the language.

Then she skillfully replied in fluent Aylam.

“Of the Fae and humans.”

The very refined Aylam flowed from the elf’s lips.

“I ask. Are you esteemed beings in this place?”

In a dignified tone, Chertu frowned.

Who was this figure, completely covered in a hood, concealing their entire body and face?

“Since I am in charge of the guard duties, one could say I hold a certain position of authority.”

“I could have reprimanded you for blocking my path, but instead, I show mercy.”

Chertu’s initial surprise at the arrogance oozing from the figure’s speech faded, but the elf remained unfazed.

“I seek the World Tree. Even the most clueless humans might have heard of such a unique tree. Do you know where it grows?”

“The World Tree?”

At the mention of those words, Chertu’s expression contorted.

“How do you know about that?”

Officially, information about the World Tree had not been disclosed. The Emperor had prohibited its public announcement until the exact effects of the World Tree growing in the Rimnakal Plains were known. Therefore, only a select few were aware of this fact.

So, when someone unfamiliar inquired about it, it was indeed surprising.

“Ah! So, you knew about the World Tree? Fine. Tell me its location, and I shall not punish you for impeding my progress.”

As the elf hesitated and inquired back, Chertu’s expression wrinkled.

“You must answer. How do you know that information? How are you aware of something the Emperor has not yet disclosed? Who are you, exactly…?”

Chertu stopped mid-sentence, taken aback.

A being who erased dark magic, scent, used excessively dignified speech, covered their entire body with a hood, and leaped dozens of meters effortlessly. Not Caramba, not Aylam, but an entity emitting a strange odor.

There was only one possibility she could think of.

“Surely not, an elf?”

Chertu looked at the woman as if disbelieving. In response, the elf shot back a word of annoyance at Chertu.

“I cannot reveal my identity. If you simply disclose the location, I shall refrain from punishment. Time is of the essence due to my mercy.”

Chertu, taken aback, stepped back.

This was not covered in the protocol.

There was no manual on how to handle an elf’s arrival.

Naturally, in this case.

“Wait, Elf. I must consult Lord Landor. This is not a matter I can decide upon.”

Consulting a superior was necessary. In this situation, the appropriate superior was Elond Changebaek Landor.

It was a very reasonable approach, and if the other party had been a Caramba, there might have been some displeasure with the appropriate measures, but there would not have been any dissatisfaction with the handling of the matter.

However, the counterpart was an elf.

A being whose logic was vastly different from humans.

She felt a serious sense of offense and discomfort at the beings who were holding her back for information on an undisclosed subject, stealing her time.

“Do you think a useless puppet can compel me? Since you seem to know the location, I must extract the information from you immediately.”

“Huh?”

The elf sent a gust of wind spirit towards Chertu, wrapping around her body and pulling her towards herself. She was determined to extract the location of the World Tree, even if it meant breaking limbs or torturing her.

And she would have succeeded as she desired.

If only she had not overlooked two crucial factors.

One.

The power of the subhumans, including Chertu, was beyond conventional levels.

Two.

The guard uniforms worn by the elves were fundamentally designed for anti-magic to deter Caramba’s sorcerers, equipped with high-purity magic stones and high-capacity mana batteries like those of Aylam’s army. Upon detecting an attack response, the mana battery and high-purity magic stones reacted, dispersing the mana response, causing the elf’s spirits to weaken and dissipate due to lack of power.

“….No?”

In the midst of the surprised elf,

“They attacked! Subdue them!!!”

Chertu had no choice but to order an attack against the intruder who had attacked him recklessly.

The gun barrels of the Southern hunters were aimed at the elf, and the humanoid creatures began to exhale frost from their fingertips.

“These foolish beings dare!!!”

She started to exhale life towards the humanoids and Southern hunters who were aggressively poised for attack towards her.

Around her, spirits began to manifest.

“Mercy is over! You will now pay the price of arrogance!!”

“Commence fire!!!”

Gunshots erupted, and the humanoids began to rush towards the elf.

In response, the spirits twisted into a spiral and aggressively launched their attacks.

“Do not subdue them! You foolish beings!!”

The elf shouted, starting the fight fiercely.

And 10 minutes later.

“Re, release this! I said release this! You fools! Ugh!!”

“Cuff her and take her to Lord Randor.”

The elf was subdued and taken away.

Her whole body and face were covered in deep bruises, and her body was full of traces of struggle.

The cause of defeat was simple.

“W, where did they get such unheard-of weapons! This is cheating!”

“Oh. This is a ＜gun＞. Damn it. Take her away!”

“aaargh!”

The 13mm monster hunting rifle rounds, even blocked by spirits, were shockingly powerful enough to leave an impression, and the Ora weapons made from mana batteries and high-purity mana crystals, the essence of Matap technology, were strong enough to slice through spirits.

That was it.

After thousands of years, humanity had become terrifyingly powerful once again.