Elementalists
Chapter 27 - Uninvited Guest

The fact that Alalea was the Elf she saw at the time of the first Elementalist Trial with Asuna was actually only recently discovered by Arya, he made sure of that just a moment ago while walking with Alalea. The sound of Alalea's footsteps was very distinctive, and there was no way Arya could forget. That was why Arya felt familiar the first time she saw Alalea she was the throne room that time.

Arya didn't think too much about it, but she was sure Alalea wouldn't be able to sleep quietly tonight. While thinking like that without realizing a satisfied smile on his face, he finally landed on the ground after jumping between the trees for some time. He put on the hood of his robe and took out a card from his pocket to ascertain if he had reached the right place.

Arya walked unhesitatingly towards a gate as tall as her body, it was filled with colorful cloths that decorated it. The gate is an entrance to a small settlement, the settlement is surrounded by fences less than one meter high. What is different from the settlement is the residence of its residents in the form of tents, the place looks less in accordance with locations such as Fairy Forest.

Not long after entering the settlement, Arya began to hear voices from its residents. A Dwarf boy ran in excitement towards Arya without realizing her existence, swiftly the child's mother immediately pulled the child into her arms. He looked at Arya with a guilty look then bowed while apologizing and immediately stepped away from Arya.

Arya can see the fear in the eyes of the child's mother, but Arya is not too concerned about it and continues to move on. Sure enough after the incident, the atmosphere of the place became quiet, some adult Dwarves were seen watching Arya from the front of their respective tents. Their gazes were filled with respect, vigilance, and fear that mixed into one. Arya did not know how, maybe that was the attitude of the Dwarves towards the Elves.

After a long time he finally found a tent that became his destination, the tent had a door made of oak with a golden door knocker shaped lion head. Arya immediately knocked on the door three times, a few minutes later there was a grumbling sound from inside the tent that was getting closer and closer.

"Can't you read the writing? It says it's clear that we've already......." The dwarf did not manage to finish his words after seeing the guest waiting for him outside the door.

Arya returned her surprised look with a warm smile as she said "I'm sorry I came so suddenly, am I interrupting?"

"A...Ah it turns out young master, forgive my impoliteness. I just didn't expect to see you this soon" he replied quickly as he lifted his hat.

Then the Dwarf immediately let Arya in, but Arya immediately refused by saying that he came here to ask the Dwarf for help. Hearing that the Dwarf looked at Arya with an interested look.

"Mmm then...what can this old Klug do for you young master?" he asked while stroking his white beard.

"Alright Klug, I don't really want to bother you too much. But can you take me to your Tribal Chief?"

Hearing that Klug looked very surprised, he looked doubtful. Whether he has to fulfill Arya's request or not, it feels a little impolite to refuse the request of the person who has helped you right? That was what Arya could read from Klug's confused expression, finally there was a voice from inside the tent that resuscitated the confused Dwarf.

"No need to worry like that, he just wanted to meet me. Get away Klug"

"T..t..but Chief-"

"Nothing, I also want to see with my own eyes what kind of person an Elf has helped a Dwarf"

Then Klug stepped away from the door, a Dwarf who looked very old appeared from inside the tent. The dwarf was very old, his face was full of wrinkles and he walked bent over carrying a cane as a walking aid, but what caught Arya's attention was her long white beard that was so long that it was dragged on the floor.

Arya nodded while saluting the Dwarf, she smiled back at Arya. Her eyes showed warmth that Arya had never seen in the eyes of people she had met before. "Include me as Tribal Chief here, my name is Stmmig. What can this old man do for you young master?"

"Hello Chief Stmmig, I'm not here to ask you for help. But I'm here to show you something" Arya replied as she unfastened her cloak hood.

Arya then poked her right fist towards Stmmig, as if to give something. Then he slowly opened his palm, then slowly an ice crystal emerged from Arya's palm. After that a cold aura immediately spread around the place. Stmmig's eyes widened to see that, then tears began to appear from the corner of his eyes.

He immediately bent his knees while giving a very deep respect to Arya, seeing their Chief doing so the other Dwarves also immediately did the same thing "We've been waiting for the return of all of you for a long time, My master. Living for Elementalists"

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Arya left the Dwarf settlement after the sun sank, originally she wanted to go straight home to the Eridan residence. But in the end he decided to see the atmosphere of Mediopolis at night, Aryapun began to jump from one tree to another while observing the activities of the people around him.

The night atmosphere was very crowded, many Elves who had tired of working in the morning went to find fatigue relief. But there are also those who just start their work when the sun goes down, many places that look like taverns that are always filled with customers. The sound of laughter mixed with beautiful music mostly comes from there. Not too different from the night atmosphere Elemental City thought Arya.

After quite satisfied looking around the city and preparing to return, he somehow wanted to see the Arboles castle just to pass by for no apparent reason. When Arya arrived there amazed to see a giant tree that had been transformed into a castle by the Elves, warm yellow light emanated from the windows, and, such a sight he would not be able to enjoy anywhere else. That's what Arya thought.

Around the castle of Arboles is also filled with people, the effect of the Queen's birthday celebration is felt especially in this place. Then slowly Arya surrounded the castle, amid the activities of fun it was suddenly something hard fell on his head.

"Aww...ish..what the fuck is this" he said slowly while rubbing his head that feels pain.

He then immediately lowered his head and picked up the object that had just fallen on his head, Arya then looked up and noticed the veranda which he thought was where it came from. His gaze moved from the object in his hand with the veranda, then his eyes sparkled to show that he had realized something.

Aryapun cleared his throat slowly and kept the thing under his cloak while hissing "It seems like something interesting will happen, but somehow I have a bad feeling about this. And unfortunately, my bad feeling is almost always right"

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Arya, Rena, and Eridan left together that morning. The three of them were invited to come to the Queen's birthday banquet, the banquet was held in a field that had been prepared in advance. A canopy made of leaves stretched out above their heads, from which Arya saw it seemed like the place could hold more than a thousand people.

This place is only devoted to the invited guests of the Queen, so that those who can attend are not random people. Arya had thought about whether Eudart would also come, but it seemed that she did not need to question such an obvious thing. Seeing from his nature, Eudart is the type of person who does not really like things that smell like parties and celebrations.

Invitation guests have arrived, they wear their best clothes. Arya and Rena can only be amazed to see the beauty of the Elf fashion, inversely proportional to all of them who show their clothes. Arya and Rena hid their clothes under their burlap-colored robes, which immediately invited displeased gazes from the other guests.

Eridan had actually advised them not to do so, but Arya did not care about it and still asked Rena to bring her cloak as well.

"Have I lost, why did you guys wear hooded robes like that at the party? I really don't understand Humans" Eridan commented as he looked at the two of them.

"You don't need to understand the Eridan Man, you just need to ignore him" Arya replied with a relaxed smile.

They finally arrived at a line of people waiting in line to give gifts to the Queen, the three of them lined up. Right in front of the row were three seats that had been provided. Diana, the birthday Queen sat in the middle with her throne flanked by Azalea and Alalea on each side.

Upon seeing Aryan's group marching along, Azalea immediately waved at them excitedly, whereas Alalea immediately threw away her face as she did not want to see Aryan's face. Arya replied to Azalea's longing with a warm smile, when it was their turn to give gifts, Arya and Rena immediately came forward and put their gifts in the place that had been provided. They then faced the Queen while saluting.

"May Your Majesty always be healthy and long-lived"

Diana only nodded softly, Arya and Rena immediately retreated to let Eridan place her gift and salute. The gift that Arya gave the Queen was not really special, Arya told Astral about this birthday some time ago. The day after Arya sent the message, an Elf courier from Pax came to Eridan's residence and gave him a bottle of wine from Elemental City, along with parchment containing a message from Astral to give the drink to the Queen.

When all the guests were present and all the gifts had been given, the Queen stood up from her throne and spread her hands saying "The party begins!!!"

As soon as the beautiful music and the sound of laughter filled the place, all the guests immediately crowded around the five long tables where food and drinks had been provided. Arya immediately looked for a seat in the corner followed by Rena and Eridan, Eridan offered them a meal. But immediately rejected by Arya, a few minutes later Reiss came to them.

As they were engrossed in conversation, Rena could not take her eyes off the beautiful dress that Diana, Azalea, and Alalea were wearing. The dress was white and gave off a glittering light that was very beautiful, Arya immediately poked Rena's hand. He immediately regained his senses and threw a shameless look at Arya. They kept talking for quite a long time, maybe only the four of them had not touched the dish from the party.

Then after a long time the Queen finally stood up again from her singgan, this time she lifted a beautiful cup that was scattered with red precious stones. Seeing that everyone immediately took their drinks, including Arya's group. After everything was ready, Arya heard someone shouting from the crowd of guests.

"Life to Queen Diana! A toast!"

"Return!" sounds from all over.

Diana immediately sat back on her throne, just before the cup she was holding touched her lips. Very quickly Arya grabbed Diana's hand and held her back from continuing what she wanted to do, Arya moved so fast that her cloak fluttered to reveal herself carrying the full equipment to the party.

"Don't drink, it's poisonous"

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Immediately there were cries of anger from all the guests, Diana looked at Arya with a calm look. But Azalea and Alalea who were next to him looked surprised, Alalea immediately stood up from her seat and pointed to Arya "You, how dare you do such a thing to the Queen"

"You're the one who has to guard your mouth" Daemord said.

"The guards caught him!" shouted a guest that Arya recognized as the fat noble Rodria she had met before.

Then in the blink of an eye, two Elf bodyguards with full equipment flanked Arya. Arya deftly snatched the cup from Diana's hand and poured it into the ground. The liquid in the cup hit a plant, the plant soon withered and died. Everyone's eyes widened after seeing that. The atmosphere immediately became silent after seeing the incident.

The silence was broken by Alalea who with a murderous gaze pointed at Arya with the most hatred "You, how dare you try to kill the Queen!"

"Huh...? Can you not make such a stupid statement, why would I save the person I want to kill?" arya said while sighing.

"It could be just to make an alibi, because I knew that the drink my grandmother would drink was a gift from YOU!!!"

Whispering filled the place again, Arya immediately walked up to pick up the bottle of wine she had given the Queen. Then calling Eridan to come next to him, Eridan with a puzzled face looked at him in surprise.

"Drink this" Aryan orders.

"DANISH!!!" there was a cry of disbelief from everyone.

"But sir, didn't you just prove that the drink was poisonous" replied Eridan weakly.

"I've never done anything like that, I'm just proving the drink the Queen is going to drink is poisonous. Not the drink on this bottle" Arya replied calmly.

"Why don't you drink it!" shouts Audax.

"I don't drink wine, after all if neither I nor Eridan drank it the result would be the same" said Arya with a disgusted expression.

Then Eridan, forced to take a bottle in Arya's hand and gulp it down, everyone fell silent and waited for Eridan's reaction. But in the end nothing happened.

"Happy?" arya said while smiling mockingly at Alalea.

"Then how can it be?" azalea was confused.

"What I want to show you is. The fact that the cup used by the Queen contains poison, not the drink in it"

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The commotion again sounded from the entire room, all of them cursing Arya for daring to say that.

"Right boy, your words just now are the same as accusing Princess Alalea of being the culprit" cried Audax.

"Ahh so this is your birthday present?" arya asked while looking at Alalea.

"You still dare to talk to......."

"SILENCE!!!" snapped Diana.

The voice boomed and made the feathers of everyone who was there stand up, the atmosphere became quiet again.

"Let him finish his words, and for you Tiron. Once again you cut off the conversation, your head will be the payoff" whispered the Queen as she pointed at the fat Rodria nobleman.

No one dared to refute, then Diana went back silent and looked at Arya with an expressionless face.

"I'm actually a little confused as to whether all of you are deaf or how, I've never accused Princess Alalea of being the culprit. I just said that the owner of this cup is the real culprit" continued Arya.

"Your statement is the same as accusing me of being the culprit" whispered Alalea as she gritted her teeth in annoyance.

"That's why I asked if you're deaf or what? In fact, there is an interesting fact. A few days ago I found the exact same cup falling right on my head" Arya said, pulling out a cup from under her cloak.

The two cups were exactly the same, there was not the slightest difference between the two. Everyone took a long breath of surprise. Diana, Azalea, and Alalea looked surprised at the cup Arya had just taken out.

"Well, if this is the case, will the Princess be able to tell which cups are poisonous or non-toxic?" arya asked with a smile.

With a heavy heart Alalea shook her head slowly but surely, her eyes increasingly radiating confusion and hatred towards Arya.

"Hahahaha of course you cannot, because you are not the actual owner of this cup" continued Arya while chuckling amusedly.

Arya then immediately jumped near one of the long tables where food and drinks were served, her eyes quickly searching and constantly looking for something. When he finally found a small jar filled with lemon-scented drinks, he immediately filled the two cups he was handling with the drink.

"Then let me do an experiment to find out who the owner of this poisonous cup really is, does anyone want to help me" Arya asked enthusiastically.

No one answered Arya's question, they all looked a little scared because they couldn't tell which cup was poisonous and which one wasn't.

"none? There ain't? Mmm alright then how about I take people at random? Mmm what about you then?" show Arya to one of the guests.

Alalea immediately approached Arya with a single leap, standing next to Arya while whispering cynically "What are you planning?!"

"It's okay Alalea, if with my help it can help find the culprit then I'm also happy" said Daemord, who Arya just pointed out.

"You hear? I just want Mr. Daemord to help me in this experiment" Arya replied guiltlessly.

Hearing that Alalea increasingly looks upset, Arya then put the cup on the table. And covered him with the cloth of his robe. Quickly moving the two cups from left to right, he kept ruffling the positions of the two cups to the point that he himself did not know which side the poison cup was on.

Then when Arya lifted her robe no one could distinguish the cup except the owner. "Alright, please choose a cup Mr. Daemord"

Daemord very carefully pointed at the cup on the right, Arya then took the cup and handed another cup to Daemord. Daemord looked surprised by that.

"You didn't ask me to drink the cup I chose?" tanyanya astonishment.

"No need, because I think if I do that. Then the offender will choose a poisoned cup, it is done to make an alibi. And also I'm pretty sure you have the antidote" Arya replied as she poured out the contents of the cup she was holding.

Just as the liquid on the cup hit the ground, the color of the ground turned black as if dead. Arya then said with a smile "Because of you"

Instantly thirty black shadows appeared from various directions, all the guests who were there suddenly fell down and were unable to move. The only ones that can still move are Arya, Rena, Eridan, Reiss, Diana, Azalea, Alalea, and Daemord. From the black shadow appeared a pale black-robed figure, the robed men immediately surrounded them. Five black-robed people surrounded Diana and Azalea.

Five others besieged Rena, Eridan, and Reiss. And about ten men surrounded Arya, and without guilt Daemord pressed a black dagger against Alalea's neck. Alalea who realized that looked at Daemord with a look of disbelief, all the guests there were paralyzed unable to move. Even the guards there were unable to move.

The remaining ten black-robed people surrounded the field, there was the sound of satisfied chuckles from all of them. Daemord showed a cruel smile to Arya, then suddenly someone appeared from behind the trees where the shadows came from. A man with pale skin wearing black noble clothes, he had shoulder-length white hair with blood-red eyes.

"Wah wah seems like our plan failed" said while showing his canines.

"Cih....Vampires" whispered Arya with an icy tone of voice.