novelraw Chapter 1262: The Lavender Guide
Chapter 1262: The Lavender Guide
[I’M CLOSE TO THE END. IN A FEW YEARS, I SHOULD HAVE MY ROOTS FULLY ENTRENCHED ACROSS THIS COUNTRY.
YOU CAN HELP SPEED THE PROCESS BY PLANTING SOME OF MY SEEDS IN LOCATIONS I HAVEN’T REACHED, SO MY POWER CAN ACCESS THEM MORE EASILY.]
Evan agreed without hesitation.
"No problem. Just give me the seeds."
[YOU HAVE TO COME TO MY MAIN BODY. WHAT YOU’RE LEANING ON RIGHT NOW IS ONLY A MEMBER OF MY SWARM VANGUARD, NOT EVEN A SWARM MOTHER. IT CAN’T PRODUCE THE NECESSARY SEEDS.]
Evan nodded, making a mental note to stop by the park where Triffid’s main body was while Laurene spoke with King Taher.
Then he said, "Once you’ve completely spread your roots, ’Aidos’ would know, so ’she’ would grant you access to ’her’ records. Begin connecting with them. While I’m in this country, I’ll find the person who’ll handle the soul backups.
As for spreading your roots across the continent, I’ll speak to this planet’s original World Tree and have them assist you with that."
With that, Evan began to will his consciousness back into his body, but just before he left Triffid’s mental space, the tree asked, [ARE YOU SURE THIS PLAN OF YOURS IS GOING TO WORK? THE OPPONENT IS—]
"It has to work," Evan said, cutting Triffid off. "Otherwise, this continent is done for."
Evan opened his eyes back in reality, stood up, tapped the tree behind him twice, and walked toward the main mansion of his new estate.
◇ ◇ ◇
Evan contacted Laurene, who was back on the Alpha continent, as well as Eliza, who was still in Isolon, and had both of them begin their trips to his newly acquired estate in Eblor within a week after he purchased it.
During that week, Evan had an official audience with King Taher regarding the situation with Sharon and the attempt on her life while they were on the Voyager, which was attended by many of the Aelum Kingdom’s higher nobles, most of whom were eager to meet Evan in person.
Not all were present, as some had territories too distant to attend, while others saw no reason to make the journey due to the distance and other pressing matters.
Eliza arrived within an hour of being contacted, while it took Laurene a full day to make her way over, as her guard detail needed to be arranged and gifts of goodwill prepared for King Taher.
Only after that did she use the teleportation waypoint already installed in the basement of Evan’s Oak Avenue Manor in the GWE, teleporting to the exit waypoint Evan had set up at his estate south of Eblor.
As a side note, Evan’s teleportation waypoints were, as the court mages of the Aelum Kingdom had observed, different from normal ones, and this was because they had all been created by Artemisia, specifically made following Evan’s earlier request to have waypoints installed in his properties.
While Laurene headed to speak with King Taher, Evan was in the National Park west of Eblor, meeting with Triffid’s main body. After collecting some white acorns, he leapt into the sky and activated Lethe, completely disappearing from the sight and perception of all the intelligence operatives monitoring his movements.
Evan ignored the issues his disappearance caused them as he left Eblor, travelling across various corners of the Aelum Kingdom and planting Triffid’s seeds in forests.
His actions effectively turned those forests into extensions of Triffid’s domain, converting the trees there into members of Triffid’s Swarm, as one ability of the Swarm Vanguard was the capacity to convert other plant life into members of the Swarm.
They could also convert corpses, as such, the corpses of monsters killed in territorial battles within some of those dangerous forests were turned into members of Triffid’s Swarm, which Evan instructed the tree to keep on standby, as a time would come when they would be required as combat forces.
Evan returned to the capital just as Laurene’s audience with the King was ending, and she then headed back to his estate south of the capital so they could discuss their plans and how they would proceed to the Elven Empire.
"You said this place belonged to a Noble? What Rank were they?" Laurene asked as she scanned the estate, spreading her magical power over the vast land area it covered.
"A Count. He was the brother of the former Duke Johnston," Evan said.
Laurene nodded lightly at the response, finding nothing particularly remarkable about it, which was understandable since she had no knowledge that 20 years ago, Evan had interfered in the succession battle of the Johnston Duchy. Not even King Taher was aware of this.
The only person who knew of Evan’s involvement was the current Duchess Johnston, Ciel, whose life Evan had saved when she was on the verge of being assassinated.
"Anyways, besides having me come along so I can check and confirm that Abigail is really Abigail and not Alissa in Abigail’s body, what else do we have to do in the Elven Empire?" Laurene asked.
Responding, Evan said, "I want to let you in on a little secret of this world, something you’ll discover if you use your Mystic Eyes on the World Tree when we get to the capital of the Elven Empire."
"A secret about the World Tree? It couldn’t possibly be damaged, could it?" Laurene asked, making a frighteningly accurate guess that made Evan laugh.
"Don’t worry, it’s not damaged," he said, pausing for a moment before adding in a low voice, "currently."
That extra word made Laurene stop in her tracks and turn a suspicious gaze toward him.
Evan, still laughing, raised his hands and clarified, "No, no, no, it’s not damaged. And it’s not going to get damaged in the future either. It was damaged in the past, but it’s fixed now."
Even though Evan’s words should have reassured her, the way he laughed while explaining still left Laurene with a bad feeling.
Evan chuckled at her obviously suspicious expression and was about to say something else when he suddenly raised an eyebrow and turned his gaze toward the estate entrance.
"Oh, Leoniel’s here."
Hearing his mutter, Laurene turned her gaze in that direction and said, "Leoniel? Ah, I heard that you and Marquis Franco have become rather fast friends."
Evan nodded with a smile. "Yeah, Leoniel’s a cool guy," he said, placing a hand on Laurene’s shoulder and activating Blink, teleporting both of them across the garden toward the entrance of the estate where Leoniel’s carriage was arriving.
The moment the man stepped down from the carriage, Laurene’s eyes widened in shock.
"Evan," she called.
"Yes, Laurene," Evan replied with a sheepish smile, already knowing what she was going to ask.
"Exactly what did you say was the name of the demonic hand’s next disaster? And which country is it targeting?"
"The Basilisk’s Stone Festival, and the target is Isolon."
Laurene silently clenched her fists at Evan’s response, lowering her gaze for a moment before looking back up at Leoniel.
However, what her Mystic Eyes of Truth revealed did not change.
Taking a deep breath, she finally asked her last question.
"Since when was Marquis Franco not human?"
Evan grinned widely and said, "Since the very beginning," then tapped her shoulder and stepped forward, spreading his arms as he said, "Leoniel! Welcome to my new house. Just in time for the housewarming party."
As Evan and Leoniel chatted, Laurene stood back and continued to watch Leoniel with her Mystic Eyes of Truth.
Thanks to her ability to see the ’Truth’ of all things, she could discern that Leoniel was not human, as his Status indicated and could see exactly what he was—a Basilisk.
She saw how the energies of the universal laws he could manipulate reacted to his presence, the core of his petrification ability, and exactly how much power he possessed, far greater than the public knew.
Leoniel’s concealment ability, which he had relied on to hide the fact that he had been a Basilisk for over seventy years, proved completely ineffective against Laurene’s Stage 4 Mystic Eyes of Truth.
Of course, the princess understood that Leoniel’s non-human identity was meant to remain a secret, so by the time he approached her with Evan, she had long since composed her expression and acted as if she was unaware, even deactivating her Mystic Eyes to ensure she didn’t accidentally see beyond his human transformation.
◇ ◇ ◇
After Leoniel arrived, the group spent only a single day at Evan’s estate before departing by train toward the country that bordered the Aelum Kingdom to the north, the largest nation on the Beta continent, even larger than the Desert Country of Tarse on the Alpha continent, which was the largest singular nation there, the Elven Empire.
As their train approached the official borders and began slowing for inspections, Laurene and Evan both turned their gazes toward the border, showing light surprise.
"Oh wow, this is quite the welcome," Evan said, and Laurene nodded silently.
Hearing this, Eliza, seated beside Evan in the luxury car of the train, looked up from her phone and asked, "What’s up?"
"You’ll understand soon enough," Evan replied, returning his attention to his crossword puzzle.
The train continued slowing and eventually came to a complete stop at the border, and while the soldiers conducted their security checks, several elves boarded, heading directly to the luxury car where Evan, Eliza, Laurene, and Leoniel were seated.
There was a knock on the door, and after Evan gave permission, it was opened, revealing a group of elves led by a woman recognised by everyone present.
She had long blonde hair tied up in a half-up, half-down style, with a few strands tucked neatly behind her pointed ears, framing a fair face with high cheekbones, a slender nose, and soft, arching eyebrows that highlighted her purple eyes.
Matching the colour of her eyes was her dress, a simple knee-length shirt-dress in a muted lavender that complemented her hair and eyes without clashing.
"Well, well, well, I was informed we were expecting one guest, and now I see there are three more," the woman said, sweeping her gaze across the room and smiling lightly when it met Laurene’s eyes.
"Yeah, we may have become a bit of a crowd on the way here," Evan replied with a chuckle, setting his phone down.
"A bit, huh?" the woman echoed, then shrugged lightly. "Well, it matters not. The Elverston Citadel is more than capable of accommodating you all."
Clapping lightly, she continued, "Now then, introductions should be unnecessary between us, but courtesy requires we at least go through the processes, given our stations."
She then curtsied lightly, a few strands of her hair falling at the sides of her face, which still bore a calm smile as she spoke.
"Welcome to the Elven Empire. His Majesty is already expecting you at the Elverston Citadel. Until you arrive there, I, Abigail Vanya Lowe, shall be your guide."