Chapter 193: Lies

"Why are you here?" Ari, asks me once I've satisfied Luctiana by answering her questions.

"You see," I say while adopting a troubled expression, "My sword seems to have fallen to this place."

"What?" Ari voices as a doubtful look appears on his face.

"Your sword?" Luctiana asks while glancing at Excalibur in my hands.

"Yes," I calmly reply, "That sword is a special one that's endued with enchantments for the specific purpose of slaying dragons."

"Dragons?!" both elves exclaim in unison upon hearing my claim.

"That's right," I say with a somewhat melancholic expression, "I'm afraid the princess will be disappointed by this, so I can't return until I've found it.

"Hold on a moment," Ari says as he squints his eyes, "How did your sword end up falling here?"

"That's simple," I respond, "I was riding my familiar to fight against one. During a clash, the sword was thrown into a distance which should be somewhere around here."

The two both remain silent for a few moments before Luctiana's expression turns to one of excitement as she asks,

"Did you just say you were riding a familiar?"

"Yes?"

"What kind of familiar is it? If it's able to help you in a battle against a dragon, then it must be a strong one right?!"

Seeing her practically brimming with excitement, I take a step back before saying,

"Well, I suppose so. My familiar is a dragon as well."

"Lies," Ari directly says, "Why would a dragon aid in killing its kin?"

"I don't know the answer to that," I say, "But if you want, I can show you my familiar."

"You will?" Luctiana says as her excitement seems to increase even further.

"I see no problem in doing so," I simply respond before muttering, "Tiamat, it's your turn."

[[Sure, sure.]]

The next moment, a bright light shines around us before going away and revealing a giant blue dragon right behind me.

Due to her size, Tiamat has broken a few trees by appearing in this location.

"You're as beautiful as ever," I say while inspecting her body.

As a response to my words, Tiamat exhales through her nose with enough force to push me back a little.

Shaking my head, I issue a light chuckle before turning to face the two elves who have been thrown to the ground and say,

"I apologize for her conduct, but she doesn't like revealing herself unless there is a battle to fight."

Having finished what I had to say, I observe their expression, as well as, the state of their body.

Seeing the fear and trepidation in Ari's eyes, I nod approvingly before looking over at Luctiana.

Unlike Ari, she has a look on her face that suggests she's about to burst with excitement.

What a peculiar elf. However, I like her attitude.

Now then, I've taken the first step in finding the location where most of the elves are staying at,

For the past few minutes, I had been trying to guide the conversation to Tiamat's existence.

The reason for that is because she's not something ordinary, which would 'prove' everything else that's unusual about me.

Not only that, but her appearance would startle the two elves to the point where their thinking will be somewhat limited, be it due to fear or overexcitement.

From the way the two elves are behaving right now, I'd say that I succeeded.

"I don't want to impose on you two," I say, "But, how about we head inside to properly converse?"

---

"I still don't believe you," Ari says once we've all taken a seat in the white horse's living room.

"Why is that?" I inquire as I inspect the interior of the house.

"There hasn't been any talk about dragons around here, and most wouldn't even be able to live in this environment," Ari says.

Seemingly agreeing with him, Luctiana nods her head as she looks into my eyes, awaiting my explanation.

"Well, this most likely happened because of the recent war," I say.

"Recent war?" Ari repeats with a confused expression.

"Yes, the one between Tristain and Gallia."

The two of them both still have a confused look on their faces, so I explain,

"Recently, the Kingdom of Gallia had been attacking Tristain. Due to the presence of an alliance, Albion decided to take part in the war.

"As such, the Crown Prince of Albion led an attack against Gallia right to its capital and only stopped once the king was killed."

"These savages," Ari mutters to himself.

"So, what does this have to do with the dragon?" Luctiana curiously asks.

"Right," I say, "On the way to the capital, the Crown Prince of Albion had come across two dragons. One of the two dragons was killed while the other escaped to the south-east.

"Later, I was tasked by the Crown Princess of Tristain to slay the dragon that had escaped here."

Once again, the two elves go silent before Ari looks me in the eyes and says,

"I had heard nothing about this. The last time I checked, Albion was in a dire state because of a rebellion, meanwhile, their prince was missing."

"That's correct," I say with a small smile on my lips, "However, some time ago, the prince reappeared and launched an attack against the rebellion and stabilized his position once more."

The whole time I have been speaking, Ari has been looking into my eyes quite intently, as if judging the credibility of my words from them.

Seemingly finding nothing false about my claims, Ari lets out a sigh and says,

"So, all you want to do is find your sword, right?"

"Yes," I say, "But, that's not all."

"Oh?" Ari says while squinting his eyes.

"The thing is, I have a cousin, and she happens to be a half-elf."

"A half-elf?" Luctiana says as her eyes widen.

"Yes," I respond, "Is it fine by you if I bring her over?"

"How far is she from here?" Luctiana asks.

"Oh, don't worry about that," I while preparing to use Norse Magic.

"I'm fine by it," Luctiana says before shifting her gaze to Ari who has a disgusted look on his face.

"Ari?"

"Fine," Ari scoffs before getting up from the sofa and leaving the room.

"Gabriel, inform Tiffania that she will be coming over alone for now. The rest of you are to do so at a later interval, due to an unexpected obstacle," I mutter in a low voice.

[Understood.]

Then, I act as if Luctiana isn't present in the room as I form a gateway directly connected to where Tiffa is.

Seeing a magical gate appear out of nowhere, Luctiana's expression changes to that of bewilderment.

The next moment, Tiffa walks through the gateway with a curious look on her face.

As soon as she steps in the room we're in, Tiffa shifts her sight to me and smiles.

"What is that?!" Luctiana's voice resounds within the whole room as she stares at the gateway.

Using telekinesis, I pull Tiffa into my embrace, get rid of the gateway, and say,

"Just a quick method of transportation through the use of magic."

"What kind of magic does that?!" another voice says as Ari steps back into the living room with a frown on his brows.

"Human magic," I say while grinning, "What, you elves aren't capable of this much?"

Before the situation can escalate, Luctiana steps forward and says,

"That's enough. Ari, stop being so rude already. Also, Mr…"

Seeing her confusion, I say,

"Victor. Victor Origo."

"Mr. Victor, please try to not tease my fiancé so much. He has a rather bad temper, but I genuinely hope you can cope with it."

Shrugging my shoulders, I say,

"If you say so."

Looks like they aren't aware of the significance of 'my' identity…