Chapter 44: The Return
The throne room erupted in noise.
After hearing Ashur's request, there were various officials whispering to each other as they looked at Ashur.
They thought that his request would be instantly rejected, but a minute pass by with Larfal not saying anything, they were shocked, and one of the officials said "Your Majesty, you can't be seriously considering his request!"
Another one also chimed in and said "Yeah, Your Majesty, you can't be-" but was immediately silenced as Larfal waved his hand and said "Quiet" and the throne room was immediately plunged into silence.
Looking down at Ashur, Larfal said "Before I consider your request, I have two questions."
"Please ask away Your Majesty," said Ashur as he looked up at Larfal.
Noting how relaxed Ashur seemed to be, Larfal started asking his first question. "First off, please tell me about origin"
"Your Majesty, my name is Ashur, and up until now, I have been living alone with my father in a small house deep inside a forest. It is located near a small village that we would sometimes go to for supplies. For as long as I could remember, my father would teach me fighting skills such as swordsmanship and other fighting skills. But he also didn't just teach me fighting skills, but other things such as etiquette, cooking, and survival skills, among others.
But unfortunately, about two months ago, my father had suddenly fallen ill and was bedridden.
I tried everything, I could to find a way to cure him, I really did!" said Ashur now with a few tears in his eyes as he continued "But it never worked! His condition kept deteriorating as time went on.... Day by day, I saw him get frailer and frailer as he eventually stopped eating entirely..... and later passed away just a few days later.....But before he passed away, he told me to go out and explore the world and told me to first come to Alf's Royal Forest to experience elven culture and my heritage. So after I gave my father a proper burial, I packed up my things and left." explained Ashur as he wiped his tears and said, "I'm sorry for showing you such an unsightly appearance Your Majesty."
"It's fine," said Larfal.
Although Larfal felt sorry for him, he didn't let Ashur's story affect him much, and still calmly analyzed Ashur's story.
Ashur's explanation was indeed plausible, as some High elves that left the forest did indeed return for many similar reasons, like returning to learn about elven traditions and their heritage, or to visit a friend or family member, or to simply return because they were homesick. There were many reasons why High Elves returned back to Alf's Royal Forest, and Ashur's explanation did not stand out very much.
"Let's move onto my second question," said Larfal as he squinted his eyes and stared at Ashur "How did you acquire your strength? Have you joined a god's Familia? Because you're surely not going to tell me you fought those slave traders who have been blessed by a god and defeated one of my knights with just sword skills?"
"Surely not, Your Majesty," said Ashur. "Your Majesty must know that spirits can give blessings similar god's, right?"
"Indeed, but there are not many who choose to receive a spirit's blessing, as it is much weaker than a god's blessing. Even so, there are a few, such as my knights who have contracted with spirits to received their blessings" said Larfal. "Are you saying that you have contracted with a spirit, and received their blessing?"
"I am Your Majesty," said Ashur as he suddenly pulled something out of his pocket.
"Your Majesty, this is Ene, the spirit that I am contracted with," said Ashur as he held his phone out towards him.
On the throne, Larfal saw Ashur pull out a small rectangular box from his pocket, and then held it up, and inside that rectangular box, was a tiny girl dressed in foreign all blue looking back at him.
"Hey!" said Ene as she waived at him.
"This is a spirit?" asked Larfal strangely with surprise.
"Yes Your Majesty, you should be aware that after contracting with someone, some spirits have the ability to turn into items, but most choose not to"
"I am, but only High-Class Spirit's or Grand Class Spirit's have the ability to do such a transformation, are you saying that she is a High or Grand Class Spirit?"
"Yes Your Majesty, Ene is a Grand-class Spirit and I have received her blessing, which is comparable to a god's blessing," said Ashur.
"This girl is a Grand Class Spirit?" Larfal asked, a little shocked. Although he had seen a few Grand Class Spirits in his life due to his long life and status, they were extremely rare, and he could count how many he had personally met with one hand. This was the first time he was actually seeing such a unique spirit, especially one that had transformed into an item. He only knew that it was possible from the records and stories, such as the popular story of Argonaut, and how the spirit that was contracted with Argonaut had turned into a sword to aid him with his fights. He was also a little confused why Ene was in the shape of some kind of small tablet but decided to ignore it, as all grand Class spirits were unique.
"I see.. I have personally met only a few Grand Spirit's in my lifetime, but only one of them had signed a contract and given their blessing in their life, you are truly lucky" said Larfal.
"I am indeed very fortunate to have met Ene, Your Majesty" Ashur said truthfully.
"You are Indeed," said Larfal calmly, but his calm face suddenly became serious as he said, "I am now finished with my two questions, but before whether or not I will allow your request of being Riveria's personal bodyguard, you must first pass a test."
"A test?" Ashur asked.
"Yes, a test to determine your skills if you are to protect Riveria, if you pass, I'll agree to your request," said Larfal.
"I understand, Thank you, Your Majesty," said Ashur as he put his arm over his chest before bowing.
"Then the test shall commence tomorrow morning, prepare yourself then."
"I will" Ashur replied.
"But before you leave, I have something to ask you," said Larfal.
"What is it, Your Majesty?"
"Does this item belong to you?" asked Larfal as a knight suddenly came forward from the side.
The knight unhurriedly walked before everyone, holding something long wrapped in white cloth in his hands.
Not delaying anything, the knight started unwrapping the cloth before presenting a thick metal rod in front of everyone.
After Ashur turned to look at what was presented, he was a little shocked. It was his 'Justice stick' that he lost after he was captured by the slave traders.
"It does, Your Majesty. I had thought I lost it to the slave traders, but who would have thought it would be in the hands of Your Majesty" said Ashur.
"You may have it back, I will not take what is yours," said Larfal. "It was found at the scene of a battle, which was identified as the scene where you clashed with those scum."
"Thank you Your Majesty for returning this to me, it is very precious to me," said Ashur sincerely.
Larfal then motioned for the knight to give it to Ashur.
"But I must ask, where did you get an adamantite rod of such purity?" Larfal curiously asked.
To acquire something like this, one had to go deepest into the depths of the dungeon one can go, and successfully mine it while also holding off the swarms of monsters from coming close. They also had to find a suitable blacksmith that was capable of processing such purity of adamantite.
There were only a few Familia's who could pull this off. Such Familia's like the Zeus and Hera Familia's.
"Your Majesty, it can be said to be a family heirloom. It was given to me by my father. He wanted me to find a suitable blacksmith and make a suitable weapon out of it" replied Ashur.
"I see"
This fitted what he thought about Ashur. He must have come from a family of adventurers, and he figured that Ashur was probably the son of some high-level adventurer who probably came from Alf's Royal Forest.
Larfal came to this conclusion due to a few things, the first was that he said that he was trained to fight since childhood, and was indeed quite skilled. The second was the adamantite rod in his possession. Only high-level adventurers could get their hand's on something like this, or someone who was very rich, but considering how Ashur said he grew up, Larfal thought it was the former.
For as who Ashur could be the son of, he had no idea. This was because Larfal was ignorant about the outside world.
There was once a time where he desired to explore the outside world, but he wasn't able to overcome the responsibilities of being a member of the royal family and gave up his wish, instead, he became the current High Elf king and focused entirely on his duties, and decided to ignore anything about the outside world.
Weekly Power Status
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