447: Chapter 432 A Competent Older Sister?

The three Elf Elders departed, and Zhang Mu and Gezhe returned to the base of the tree.

Zhang Mu watched as the figures of the three Elves vanished into the depths of the forest and asked, "I thought they supported that Sinéad person ascending the throne, but based on those few sentences just now, it seems things aren't that simple."

"The voices were too low; I only heard less than half of it. Did you hear clearly?"

"Frederica traded her status as heir to the throne for command of an Elven legion, then traveled far to Lake to save a heretic."

"They believe this act angered the gods and brought about disaster."

"Haha—so that's how it is." Zhang Mu's expression was extremely complex, with a hint of shock amidst the strangeness.

Worrying that Gezhe might notice, he quickly composed himself. "Speaking of the heretic, have you seen him?"

"To be personally judged a heretic by a god, he must be quite terrifying."

"I'm not sure. I've only heard that the heretic's name is Zhang Mu."

"Oh, I see."

The confusion Zhang Mu had buried deep in his heart for so long was resolved, and his worries vanished simultaneously. His mindset relaxed as he looked around.

"They won't set up the Magic Array for four days. Are we just going to wait here for four days?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Gezhe didn't answer and instead asked doubtfully, "Do you have business elsewhere?"

"I figured I should get familiar with the terrain so that when you guys start fighting, I won't get lost while running for my life."

"I told you, I won't hurt you."

"Big brother, when two Gods Blessings fight with all their strength, even the edge of the aftershocks isn't something I can withstand."

Gezhe was stunned for a moment, then raised a hand to cast a barrier on him. "Go then. As long as you don't get too close to the Elf King and the Elders, no one will discover you."

"Thanks!"

Zhang Mu thanked him and turned to walk toward the Elf Clan's living area. His purpose, of course, had nothing to do with getting familiar with the terrain.

With the panel's resurrection function, dying once wasn't a particularly painful price to pay, and at most, he would only die once.

If he were truly unfortunate enough to be killed by the collateral damage of a Gods Blessing battle, Zhang Mu could remain in soul form and wait for the battle to end before resurrecting safely.

He was taking the risk of being suspected by Gezhe to act alone because his goal was to investigate the cause of the life tree's withering.

If the life tree died, Frederica wouldn't live much longer either.

Thinking of this, Zhang Mu put his hands behind his back and muttered under his breath.

"I was wondering why the Elf Clan inexplicably went on an expedition to Lake and then inexplicably turned back halfway..."

"This female Elf, is there something wrong with her head?"

"Did I need you to save me? Was I worth saving? Are we even that close?"

As he spoke, Zhang Mu couldn't help but start cursing, yet his pace didn't stop—he even sped up, quickly leaving the forest.

Scanning the area, he frowned. "I said I'd investigate... but I have no clue at all."

The Elf Clan themselves had tried their best to investigate for a year and remained helpless. He knew nothing about the life tree's origin, function, or state of existence. How was he supposed to find the culprit in four days?

"Let's just try my luck." Zhang Mu looked around and picked a direction at random.

...

The next morning.

Frederica returned to the Magic Array facing the morning sun and headed all the way back to her palace.

Tossing the Storage Pouch containing the materials onto the table, she stripped off her leather armor, changed into casual clothes, and crawled into bed to rest.

Excluding the final day, she only had three days left to collect the materials. Because the matter had to be kept secret, she had to act at night; having nothing to do during the day, she could only sleep.

After closing her eyes for a while, her consciousness gradually drifted into sleep.

Two days passed like this.

Frederica stayed in her room during the day and went out at night to gather materials; two days passed peacefully for her. However, for the Elves in the clan lands, it was the opposite—the atmosphere was restless.

After Anna revealed the truth she had learned, all seventeen Elders joined forces with her. Even the Third Elder, who was Frederica's teacher, changed his stance. These nineteen people were a very powerful force.

The power structure of the Elf Clan, according to a pyramid model, was roughly divided into four layers.

The bottom layer consisted of numerous high-level Professionals and below. In the second layer were a few High-tier Professional Elves. Standing on the third layer were the nineteen Elders.

And standing at the very first layer, the peak of the pyramid, there was only one—the Elf King.

The nineteen people from the second layer, when united, were enough to be above tens of thousands while below only one in the Elf Clan.

When such a force united to secretly push a certain plan, the progress was predictably rapid.

In two days, the rumor that "Frederica disregarded the lives of her clansmen and defied the gods to rescue a heretic, bringing about a clan-destroying catastrophe" spread throughout the entire tribe.

Anna then instructed her confidants to incite the clansmen to go and question Frederica.

The clansmen hesitated, not daring to. Frederica's display of authority at the meeting had been very effective; the clansmen's impression of her had shifted from "coward and useless" to "competent Crown Prince," so how could they dare be disrespectful?

The confidant was not discouraged. Under his efforts, the clansmen were successfully provoked, and surging anger overwhelmed their reason.

They gathered before the gates of the palace built into a hollowed-out tree trunk, kneeling and refusing to leave, requesting an audience with the Elf King in hopes of hearing the truth of the rumors from the King's own mouth.

If the Elf King were truly moved to investigate, the truth could be easily revealed. The Saul Continent was a world where strength determined the extent of power; as a Gods Blessing, the Elf King held absolute rule over his tribe, and it wouldn't be difficult to uncover the details of a conspiracy.

The Elves still had some logic remaining at this point; if the truth were announced, the public anger could easily be pacified.

However, Anna had already taken this into account. Deciding the sacrifice candidate through a contest was something she had lured an Elder into proposing to the Elf King.

On the day of the meeting, she had jumped out to challenge the fairness of the contest on the grounds that "Sinéad was heavily injured." To ensure fairness, the Elf King would definitely personally heal Sinéad.

Sinéad's injuries could only be completely cured by using a secret technique.

The preparations for using the secret technique were very tedious and even dangerous. The Elf King had to cut off his communication with the outside world and focus his attention entirely on it; the clansmen's requests would not reach his ears.

According to normal procedures, an Elder should have stepped forward at this time to explain. Once informed of the situation, the clansmen would naturally disperse and wait peacefully for the King to emerge.

But... would the Elders who had already been swayed by Anna step forward?

The answer was obviously no.

The clansmen knelt before the palace gates from day until late at night, yet the King still did not appear. Thus, a misunderstanding was successfully created.

In the eyes of the clansmen, the King closing his doors and refusing to see his subjects, ignoring their suspicions—what was that? That was a guilty conscience!

It was equivalent to confirming the truth of the rumors and confirming Frederica's guilt.

Their anger was ignited, yet they still loved and respected their King. They did not vent in a rebellious manner but instead knelt and bowed incessantly, their foreheads striking the ground, hoping the vibration of the impact would earn them an audience with the King.

However, the palace gates gave no response, remaining tightly shut.

The Elves gazed blankly at the silent palace gates. Facing the King's "selfishness," their eyes revealed a despair as deep as falling into an abyss.

Anna, observing in secret, grew excited. The time had come!

She sent a message to her confidant to proceed according to the original plan.

The confidant kneeling in the crowd received the order and immediately stood up. Feigning an expression of rage, he roared to incite the clansmen to go and question Frederica, demanding she take responsibility for her crimes.

In the past, the clansmen wouldn't have had the courage to offend the Crown Prince, but today they had suffered blow after blow. Especially since they felt they had been betrayed by the King, their reason had completely failed. They all stood up and set off for Frederica's palace.

A few clear-headed ones, after some consideration, also followed the main group—they felt that doing this might force the King to appear.

They headed along the corridors toward their destination.

The Elf Clan's living area was not like that of humans, where the ground was leveled, foundations were laid, and tall buildings were erected; they integrated with nature and the primitive.

Their houses were all built by hollowing out the trunks of ancient trees that were tens of thousands of years old and then refining them. The carved corridors passed by every door, extending in all directions, finally converging at the exit at the base of the tree.

To maximize the space of the rooms, the width of the corridors was squeezed to the limit, barely enough for three people to walk side by side.

The Elves gathered this time were less than a tenth of the total population, but there were still several thousand people.

The crowd was grand and imposing, filling the corridors. The line stretched out; while the front reached the door of Frederica's palace, the end was over a hundred meters away. Their vision was blocked by the clansmen in front of them, so they couldn't see the situation at the door.

The leading Elf knocked on the door. Footsteps sounded inside, gradually approaching, and a few seconds later, the door was pulled open from within.

The Elves outside were momentarily stunned. The one who opened the door wasn't Frederica, but Sinéad, dressed in casual clothes.

"Your Highness Sinéad." They bowed in greeting.

"You all..." Sinéad looked left and right at the crowd filling the corridor, a look of confusion on her face. "What happened?"

"We are here to—"

"Sinéad, step aside."

She stepped to the side, and Frederica walked to the door, looking calmly at the clansmen. "Is something the matter?"

The leading Elf faced the Crown Prince. The class concepts deeply ingrained in his mind made him instinctively want to flee, but after just a moment of hesitation, thinking that he couldn't back down now that things had come to this, he gritted his teeth and finally launched his questioning: "Your Highness Frederica, we hope you will provide an explanation for the rumors of the past few days."

"Rumors?" Sinéad looked at him blankly, then glanced at her sister, completely bewildered.

"Explain what?" Frederica asked with her hands behind her back.

"You led the legion on an expedition to Lake, but it was actually to rescue a heretic!" He felt he held the moral high ground; courage tore through his cowardice, and his chest puffed out.

Sinéad was dazed for a few seconds, seemingly understanding something. Her already pale face turned even paler.

Frederica patted her shoulder comfortingly, then asked the leading Elf with a smile, "Is there evidence?"

His expression froze; he didn't seem to have any evidence. Instantly remembering the reason he came to block the door, he said loudly, "We requested the King to uncover the truth, but the King refused to come out. This is enough to prove that Your Highness..."

"Wait," Frederica interrupted him and asked doubtfully, "Father is currently in the secret chamber adjusting his physical state to perform the secret healing technique for Sinéad and is seeing no one. Didn't the Elders tell you?"

The crowd heard this and immediately began to whisper.

"Is that so? Why didn't the Elders appear?"

"Are the Elders assisting the King in adjusting his body? Otherwise, there's no reason not a single Elder would step forward."

Finding the reason for his questioning a bit forced, the leading Elf and everyone else showed hesitation, wondering if they had misunderstood something.

Suddenly, a loud shout rang out from somewhere in the crowd: "Using the secret technique doesn't require any preparation at all. Your Highness, you are lying!"

Frederica stood on her tiptoes to look. The people at the back of the line were trying to get closer to the palace door, and the crowd was still pushing forward. She could no longer find the fellow who harbored ill intentions and was trying to incite the clansmen to continue causing trouble.

However, by this time, the clansmen had calmed down, and plus his rhetoric was too clumsy, no one echoed him.

"That's not right. If this weren't the case, the Elders would have arrived long ago."

"Yes, we've been kneeling at the palace gates for a day. If the Elders were in their rooms, they definitely would have rushed over long ago."

The Elves cleared their thoughts and basically believed Frederica's explanation. Realizing they had misunderstood Her Highness, they awkwardly backed away. But the corridor was packed behind them, and they couldn't move at all, so they could only wring their hands and lower their heads.

Frederica thought about it and didn't scold them. "Go back."

The Elves at the front who understood the situation felt as if they had been granted a great pardon. While struggling to turn around, they shouted to the Elves at the back of the line to stop pushing forward and to hurry up and turn back.

Frederica ignored them and closed the door.

"Sis, sister, I..." Sinéad gripped her sleeve with both hands.

"I know, it wasn't you." She placed her right hand over the back of Sinéad's hand to soothe her emotions.

"Your Highness." Saldari and Alice walked side by side from the side door into the main hall and came before the two.

Alice's tone was light: "The trouble should be resolved."

"No." Saldari shook his head with a grave expression. "The hidden hand in the shadows definitely has more than just this one trick. And... the rumors... they aren't actually rumors."

He had looked into the details of the rumors. From beginning to end, they only stated the fact that Frederica had led the legion to support Zhang Mu.

As for "the disaster being caused by this matter," that was a speculation by the clansmen under the guidance of someone with ulterior motives.

Sinéad carefully observed the expressions of the three and said guiltily, "The information must have leaked from my side. I'm sorry, sister, I..."

"Your Highness Sinéad." Alice stepped forward to hug her. "You didn't know Mr. Zhang Mu's name. This has nothing to do with you."

The comfort was ineffective; instead, it deepened her guilt. Sinéad's shoulders trembled slightly as she sobbed quietly.

Saldari also spoke words of comfort.

After a long time, her trembling finally ceased. Seemingly feeling unable to face her sister, she gently pushed Alice away, wiped her tears, and pushed open the door to walk out.

Alice sighed. "Your Highness, next we..."

She stopped mid-sentence and, along with Saldari, waited for Frederica's instructions.

Frederica remained silent, staring at the door as if seeing Sinéad's back through it, watching her walk away.

"Alice, Saldari."

"Yes."

"Tell me, am I a competent older sister?"

They thought she was going to give an order, but hearing such a bewildering question, the two fell into a daze for several seconds. Finally, Saldari was the first to snap out of it.

"Your Highness, you are naturally a competent older sister."

"Alice agrees."

Frederica's eyes narrowed slightly, her emerald pupils contracting a bit. "I think... I'm probably not."

"Ah?" The two looked at each other in confusion.

Without waiting for them to think further, Frederica turned around and said, "The collection of materials is temporarily suspended. Saldari, go to the life tree tonight."

"To do what?"

"Search carefully around the tree to see if there are any traces of a Magic Array."

"As you command!"

"Also, Saldari is right; the hidden hand will definitely continue to make moves. Alice, you are responsible for gathering intelligence."

"As you command!"