Silent Goodbye
The young man stood up. The results of the war turned out as he expected. The elves didn't retreat or fail. They, instead, hit back. The garrison soldiers had no clue what war was or how to do battle. When they didn't find any elves, they dropped their guard and became a tourist group. It was only a matter of time before the elves annihilated them when that was the sort of attitude they adopted. And, as expected, the elves decimated them.
The elves didn't give humanity a chance to breathe. Their envoy galloped straight to humanity's imperial palace. The elves had a communication device; hence, they had the ability to relay information promptly. The elves declared their victory to humanity and requested thirty thousand gold coins as a ransom for Queen Sisi. The entire imperial palace, by logic, should've been engulfed in anarchy.
News of Queen Sisi's capture as a prisoner of war completely defeated the ministers temporarily responsible for managing national affairs from the imperial palace. When Queen Sisi was on the throne, they held absolute power. Without their leader, Queen Sisi, they didn't know what to do. Thirty thousand gold coins certainly wasn't a small sum for humanity. Furthermore, since Queen Sisi was gone, who was going to pay the sum? Queen Sisi controlled the national treasury. The war had ended in failure, and the money owed to the bank needed to be repaid. Subsequently, somebody needed to step up.
The army had finished with their preparations. The soldiers thought they fought for Queen Sisi, and that was true. Actually, to be precise, they fought for humanity. This time, they were going to fight for humanity's future. Humanity didn't need a defeated Queen. A Queen, whose own hubris led to an army's annihilation, wasn't worthy of being a Queen. Humanity needed a more qualified Queen going forward.
The military's goal wasn't to destroy the elves. Their destination was the imperial capital. Without a leader, someone among humanity needed to step up and take the reins.
"I am the descendant of a noble military family. My ancestors' blood was spilt here in this empire, so I must take a stand even if I might be killed. This is my duty," reasoned the young man.
The military pushed open the castle doors. The young man rode on his steed at the forefront. He predicted Zero would try something. And he wasn't surprised to see Zero with the garrison soldiers there to block their path. The garrison soldiers seemed to still be delusional, thinking Queen Sisi could still return. Refusing to accept a new Queen was just being pedantic and foolish. The garrisons had no idea who they should've devoted their loyalty to. The bunch of artists, who knew nothing of battle, dared to block the military.
"Perfect. If I defeat the garrison soldiers' main force, nobody in the imperial capital will be able to question my authority. Therefore, no other military force will be able to stop me. I've never swung my sword at my own comrades, but since my hand has been forced, I won't hesitate," thought the young man.
The young man and Zero didn't exchange any words. Zero didn't actually lie. His child had just been born. His original mission was to bring reinforcements to the frontlines for Queen Sisi; however, reinforcements no longer served a purpose. Zero, therefore, chose to immediately run over to stop the young man. He predicted the field military would try something once Queen Sisi was gone, and he was right.
The skirmish between the two factions commenced. Neither side backed down; there was no fear or pity. Everyone knew that the battle was for humanity's future. They needed to step over their fallen comrades to reach the future, but nobody backed down or showed fear because such a scene was commonplace to humans.
========
I found Angelina and Leah. I told Angelina, "Angelina, help me take care of Leah. I'm going to the elven lands; I can't bring Leah."
Angelina stopped tearing a bed sheet to use as a bandage and looked back at me: "You're going to the elven lands?!! Are you going to save Queen Sisi? That's fine. You're on pretty good terms with Lucilia, so the elves definitely won't harm you, but… Leah can't leave you."
"I think it's best not to bring Leah this time. Having Leah around might make what I'm going to do be somewhat awkward." I scrubbed Leah's head: "Leah, I have no choice but to go to the elven lands this time to save Queen Sisi. I need to go and find your Sister Lucilia. It's very dangerous in the elven lands at the moment, so Papa can't bring you along. Therefore, stay at home and make sure to listen to Angelina and M-… Mama Veirya, okay?"
Apparently, Leah could tell that the situation was very urgent and, as such, didn't gripe. She, instead, nodded: "Okay, Papa; Leah will be a good girl… but… it's very dangerous there. Are you really not going to take Mama Veirya with you?"
"Don't want to." Perhaps my rejection was too strong, which would explain why Angelina looked was thrown off. I, consequently, changed my wording: "After all, the war was between humans and elves. Veirya is humanity's hero. In other words, the elves are likely to aim for her if she enters the forest. I'm different, though. The elves should be aware that I can't do anything; plus, I'm Lucilia's friend. The elves are unlikely to harm me. That's why I'll be going alone this time. I'll do my best to bring Queen Sisi back."
Angelina: "Queen Sisi is unmistakeably still alive. The elves won't kill a ruler. Further, they definitely want to use her to ask humanity for a ransom. It'll be on humanity whether or not they pay the ransom. Needless to say, you understand the minds of the elves. Go quickly; rescue Queen Sisi before she's tortured to death. If you don't succeed, Veirya will personally go there. So for her sake, you must successfully rescue Queen Sisi . Additionally, Queen Sisi is, at the end of the day, a qualified Queen. This failure doesn't prove anything. Go now."
I nodded. I then crouched down to kiss Leah on her forehead. I pulled her into my tight embrace. Leah hugged me around her neck tightly and kissed my cheek: "Papa, Leah will wait for you; Leah will always be waiting for you."
"Papa will definitely be back."
I stood up. When I left, I ran into Veirya, who came over. The two of us stopped in our tracks when our eyes met. Veirya appeared as though she wanted to say something, but I didn't stop for long. I looked down and quickly left. The two of us passed each other by without a word exchanged. That was probably the first time we did that.