“Hut—! Isn't this all Ashur's fault!? Years we have endured! Yet! To have the scant remainder of our lives cut short because he had fumbled!? And those other old men! How could they do this to us!?”

“Calm down, elder Elam. Pointing fingers right now would do nothing to lighten our situation.”

“—! Pointing fingers is exactly what we should do, elder Arpaschad! If only you, our eldest, had become the high elder then none of this would have even happened! It is because you lack commitment that our youngest—”

“Enough! I take full responsibility for this, elder Elam! Cease your berating of our eldest!”

“Y-You, Ashur! Because of you—! Forget it...“

Peering through a gap between the double door, Urie saw an elegantly furnished room with large bookcases and a wide woolen carpet covering most of the flooring. Seated on top of the carpet were five people, two of which he immediately recognized, no— three, four, five, all of them seemed familiar?

“—With our purpose compromised, the council as of now has ceased to exist. There is no point in continuing with our titles. How about it, my brothers?”

“T-There is still a chance if we could persuade our youngest—!”

“It is too late, eld—brother Aram! The others have been convinced without our knowing. The youngest must have planned this thoroughly.”

Three people had spoken up, though once they did, Urie's recognition of them immediately gained a sense of disconnection. Urie glanced at the fourth who he assumed had spoken before he had taken a look through the door.

“That must be grandpa Ashur. ”

Four elderly elves with light brown hair, wearing distinct robes and garments; eyes filled with bright viridescence, noticeable tall noses, and slight angular jaws. If he observed them more closely, there might be distinguishing traits but from a distance like this— nothing apart from their voices made them discernible. Brothers as they were, one of them had mentioned, their looks shared close resemblance with one another.

Creak! The door sounded as it was slowly opened. Before they got into another heated argument, Urie entered and made his presence known. Confusion, surprise, and relief, he was welcomed by three such expressions from the five who had their limbs bound by braided ropes— make that four since one of them appeared to be unconscious.

“Who—!? white hair!?”

“I-It's you?”

“Child, why are you here?”

Urie scratched his cheek lightly and spoke with a smile, “I guess... I'm here to rescue you? I heard you were locked up, grandpa.”

He knelt down and prioritized untying Ashur and the unconscious Elliot. Grateful, Ashur smiled and ruffled Urie's hair as he replied, “But from who—? How did you know I was here?”

“I escaped from the house and followed a few of the elven guards to this location,” giving an explanation about 'World of Flames' didn't seem suitable for the situation so Urie chose to answer vaguely. He then asked, “What's happening, grandpa Ashur? Why are you all tied up?”

“Hut—! Little lamb who has strayed from its flock, our matters need not your concern! In fact, everything that's happened so far was because of your unwelcomed arrival!” One of the men who resembled Ashur exclaimed loudly while directing a menacing glare towards Urie.

“I-It is not the lamb's fault, b-brother E-Elam. This was bound to happen eventually.”

“—Aram!”

“Brother Aram is correct, Elam. The elves have long been on a tipping point. The lamb's appearance just made for a good excuse to commence their plan.”

Aram, Elam, and Arpa— something. Urie felt slight discomfort at being called a lamb and alternated his gaze between the three elderly Ashur lookalikes. In the order that they spoke— Aram was soft-spoken, Elam was loud, and the one they called the eldest resembled Ashur's calm manner of speech.

Even before he had arrived, they have been in the middle of another argument. The cause— it appeared as if he had a stake in the blame. Though hesitant, Urie's curiosity pushed him to ask, “Could—Could someone explain to me what this is all about?”

He prepared to step back in case it was the loud Elam that would reply but it was Ashur who was beside him that answered.

“Child, this relates to the matter of which we had discussed the day before, but let us continue after we have released everyone from their bindings,” Ashur instructed, as he went over to his brothers one by one and untied them with Urie's help.

“Yesterday? Oh right, the mirror thief! Elliot!” Urie was reminded of the slumbering elven boy, “He said it was 'Ashur' that had given him information about Neia's mirror and that he had passed it to him right after stealing it! Was it truly you, grandpa Ashur?”

“It was not I, child. Rather, it was the youngest of us siblings passing himself off as me.”

“Youngest? Why? You should know—“ Urie pointed towards Elliot, “He—Elliot was tricked into thinking that stealing that mirror would save his sister—! His sister is...“

“Right,” Ashur answered, as if he had already known, “He was taken in by the Elven Guard yesterday and was used as a witness to place suspicion and blame upon me as well as my brothers. The night before... He had been too unruly and was fed herbs to keep him relaxed.”

“Yesterday? Could it have been after I had visited?” right after he had promised not to turn him in? Urie felt apologetic. “But isn't Elliot an elf? How couldn't he tell you all apart and point out the person that had tricked him?”

Ashur didn't give an immediate reply but reached into the collar of his robe to pull out a small object. It was a wood-carved medallion tied to a necklace around his neck.

Elam who had been watching this straightened his posture and spoke aloud in admonishment, “Hut—! Ashur! Have you been freely giving out our secrets like this to this lamb!?”

“Brother Elam, this isn't exactly a secret. And besides, I trust this child well enough.”

“Trust—!? You have known this lamb for two years! And if it were not any worse, he is human!”

“Human...? Is our refuge not something that the humans have granted us? Brother Elam, have we not lived long enough among them to forget past aggressions?” Ashur spoke with resolve.

“So—“ Urie interjected before they could begin another argument, “—this is?” he asked, after being handed the medallion.

Elder Elam bit his lip and no longer spoke. He allowed Ashur to continue, “Child, that is a hunter's medallion. An elven artifact— there are only two like it currently within Daerin. Though it is but a simple trinket used to mask one's mana signature to hide from beasts, magic creatures and the like during a hunt.”

“Masking one's mana signature...” that would prevent a magic creature from identifying Ashur through his mana. Urie thought, magic creatures... that would include elves as well, wouldn't it?

“There being only one pair— one is given to the highest seated elder within the council, and the other to the captain of the Elven Guard.”

“Then that would mean...?”

“The captain of the Elven Guard is our youngest, Lud. Wearing both his hunter's medallion and my appearance as a guise, it was likely him that this child, Elliot, had seen. He plotted against us and has won over the rest of the elders from the council. Though we may not be privy to their plan, I can only guess that now they wish to use Neia's mirror to unlock the tower's seal.”

“Are—Are they right in the head!?” Urie exclaimed, “Do they not know? Or could they have chosen to disregard it?”

...Two years ago the Flame Brigade had also attempted such a thing and they barely managed to come out unscathed thanks to the presence of the greater fire spirit.

“Hut—! Those younglings have no clue!” spat the loud Elam, “If they did, they would run back to this hollow with their tail between their legs!”

“The elders that know have given their tacit approval since they've already gone with them.” Arpaschad, the eldest of them, stated.

“We—We have to go after them, we must convince our youngest, Lud, to return to his senses!”

“Hut—! We go outside and then what, brother Aram? Become food for those things we cannot even see? I'd rather stay here and have them face the consequences of their actions.”

While Elam and Aram went back and forth on the topic of whether they should go or not, the eldest, Arpaschad stood up by himself and walked towards the door.

“Both of you need not risk yourselves outside. Brother Ashur, I trust we are of the same intentions?”

“We are, brother Arpaschad. Come, child. Let us enlist the help of the Flame Brigade” Ashur, who was already standing, accompanied Arpaschad through the door.

“Huh?” Urie was about to follow when his arm was unexpectedly held back. There was a young glow to the hand that had grabbed him, similar to his own.

“Sorry, I thought you had turned me in...”

It was the young elf, Elliot. His face was ridden with the look of guilt, it seemed he had been awake. Although, Urie was unsure of whether Elliot had been conscious since he had first arrived.

“Elliot, you were awake?”

“...It was my fault, even though I promised not to mention elder Ashur's name. I thought—”

“Don't mind it!” Urie reassuringly smiled and gave him a pat on his head, “We're going out now. If you'd like, we can drop you off at your house on the way.”

“Thank you... uhm... U...Urie.”

Urie didn't comment about how Elliot almost forgot his name.

After leaving the assembly building, no carriages were available since it seemed the streets were cleared of people, so they continued on foot. It was as usual for him— being exposed and out in the open, but Urie noticed his company running with hesitant strides as they glanced repeatedly at the silhouettes of the surroundings.

Urie whispered— “World of Flames.” and placed himself ahead of the group.

Ashur noticed Urie's unusual conduct and asked, “Child, why do you close your eyes when you run?”

“Huh? Oh— when I do this, I can sense whenever there are Nifyr nearby.”

Saying so earned a profound reaction from Ashur—a look of wonder and intrigue as almost inaudibly, Urie heard him mutter, “That man-child, Luca, couldn't do this...”

Urie continued, “You guys don't have to be cautious, there aren't any around.” and although he was successful in easing Arpaschad and Elliot's worried expressions, he noticed Ashur exuding a calmer disposition, “Grandpa, how come you don't seem too concerned?”

“Child, it's because of his hunter's medallion,” Arpaschad answered for the still pondering Ashur, “Remember how it masks oneself from magic creatures? Within this sealed region, it has attained another, rather important use.”

“Hiding from magic creatures... Don't tell me, it hides you from the Nifyr?”

How surprising, Urie thought. No wonder that despite how adverse the elves were about leaving their homes protected by fire spirits, and without any guards to guarantee his safety— Ashur kept visiting the Varethe residence.

Urie knew... Ashur's frequent schooling visits for him— in the beginning, were nothing more than clumsy attempts to get closer to his children, Stella and Simone. He went along with it regardless but slowly, he did feel Ashur's slight indifference towards him turn into genuine intimacy.

In turn, Urie reciprocated that feeling and treated him as he would a family member. He began to enjoy Ashur's frequent visits.

Ashur becoming the high elder— although it was what caused his relationship with his children to grow sour, it was also because of the position he held that he could make use of the hunter's medallion to walk without fear within the city and visit them.

Along this train of thought... a few points clicked in his mind and came together to form an idea.

Urie then made a conjecture, “Uhm... grandpa Arpaschad—“

The way the little lamb had referred to him caused Arpaschad's eyes to widen though he did not react unfavorably and gave him a listen.

“—Before, you were all having an argument. Grandpa Elam said that you were supposed to become the high elder?“

“That is... As the eldest, I am responsible— for the elves, and more importantly for my family.”

Arpaschad answered rather roughly, but it was enough to add credibility to what Urie had thought up, “Then did you kno—?“

Before he could continue, however, he cut his query short. Something had stolen his attention.

Urie— not only him, but also Arpaschad, Ashur, and Elliot, all of them gaped as their line of sight converged towards a single direction.

A towering structure with its height imperceptible from their current position. Along with a glow that had, for a couple of seconds, filled their vision with nothing but a blinding white.

Erden's Tower had begun to hum resoundingly.

And at the same time, the darkness that had remained in perpetual immobility—

The shadows of Daerin had begun to move.