NPC Code: Red Riding Hood

Chapter 35 - The Assembly

La Finta's Point of View

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Slight recap. Remember that Guinevere and La Finta went to the meeting room? Well! I will tell you what happened there! You might think this chapter is a filler chapter, but, no! I guess? I believe this is an important part of the story~ Chapter recap is around chapter 23

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"The elders and I will hold a meeting soon. I invite you as the representative of humanity and provide your insights into the assembly," I expressed. "You are their last hope, so your words can affect the rise or fall of your kingdom."

After the long talk, I led Queen Guinevere to the opposite gate, leaving Red and Match inside the hall. They planned on visiting the garden. As long as a ranger was guarding them, nothing would come out wrong.

I requested a warden near the gates. The range rushed to Eve's aid and carried her towards her room. I had taken care of Guinevere's daughter, so we proceeded to our destination.

The door shut behind us as we headed forward to the meeting room. We soon entered a divine place that my eyes could never tire of seeing.

The world changed into the recognisable mini-forest that my granddaughter had made and decorated. She wanted to have something green filled with fleeting leaves and trees, like the woodland outside the cave. My granddaughter even brought wild animals from here and there, nestled in the corner. Further towards the aisle was the board for our meeting.

A short elf girl with long ears sat on the bench, fiddling with the cocoons in her hands. She had golden hair fluttering behind her. The elf girl wore an emerald tunic with intricate patterns drawn in the middle. After a few moments, the girl finally noticed us approaching her way.

The figure was Elina, my granddaughter, waiting in a chair for us to arrive.

"My dear, what are you doing here? I told you to stay in your bed. There are guests in the hall. You should meet those lovely humans, Elina." I called out her name.

The tiny girl swivelled her head and met my eyes. With a giddy hop, Elina stood from her seat and raced in my direction.

"Where have you been! I was waiting for you the entire day!"

Elina squinted and narrowed her eyes. Her lips curled downwards, telling me she was in a furious expression.

I nudged her shoulders and replied, "You know I'm busy, dear."

I glanced at my side and addressed Queen Guinevere. The crowned human bowed her head and exchanged introductions with Elina. With my hand waved in her way, I introduced her to my granddaughter.

Elina did the same and made a brief introduction to her name.

"You brought a human inside the kingdom, grandma?" Elina reacted.

Her eyes wandered everywhere, hoping that this situation would cease to happen. However, Elina met my gaze and placed up a stern look on her face.

"Elina! Didn't I tell you to address me as your Grandmother in front of an audience, not grandma?" I scolded her. "I told you a million times already, yet you would not listen!"

She rolled her eyes and answered, "But grandma, you told me that humans are frightening species, ruler of the four continents. They're smelly, disgusting, and even puny animals-!"

I gave her the leer, but her eyes were closed while saying all of those. Elina only stopped her sentence midway after feeling a sudden pain surging through her skin.

My hands went for her hips and pinched her sides. Elina jerked upwards and swatted my hand. With eyes sending lighting strikes, she grunted and left with an exhale.

"Eek! What was that for?" She screamed.

Queen Guinevere chuckled while she watched our horseplay.

"Kids. I know. They're really energetic," she murmured.

I heaved out a sigh and expressed my apologies for Guinevere.

"I'm sorry for Elina's behaviour. It does not look like it, but she is eighty years old." I explained to Guinevere, who had her eyes widened in shock.

She quivered her hands from side to side, telling me it was alright. Guinevere understood my feelings. And the only thing that she did not understand was the age gap between her and Elina. Guinevere's kids were around eight years old. Mine was ten times more than Eve.

The crowned human wanted to say something, but kept her words behind her tongue. Guinevere did not want to offend my granddaughter or me, so keeping everything in silence was the best option she could offer.

"Can I join your meeting?" Elina broke the silence.

Her sudden question left me motionless. Upon turning around, Elina had her eyes drooping on the ground, wanting to cry. Although this girl acts like a spoiled brat, Elina knew about the situation we were in right now.

Elina was the general of our army, despite her young age. She was a talented mage. The first time we saw her wielding a stave was around seventy years old. Nobody could cast any abilities until the age of fifty except for her.

These gullible characteristics we saw right now were her act. Deep inside her heart, Elina was still a child. However, her brain outmatched any other veterans on the battlefield. After her parents died, she remained secluded inside this empire.

Elina's parents died from a party of players. We apprehended those adventurers and seized them. However, I cannot bring myself to tell her that grim story.

"You cannot be a part of this meeting. Now, scurry along!" I pushed her aside, hoping she would listen.

But Elina fought back and returned my effort. She yearned to listen and take part in the assembly.

"What if there is some vital information that I needed to know but didn't, since I cannot attend this meeting? I wished for that information, Grandmother." Her nonchalant eyes became round and piercing.

Elina's sudden change of behaviour made our atmosphere tense. Guinevere even felt the aura shifted as she spotted my granddaughter's shift in tone. Elina was not like this unless dealing with prominent topics such as this war.

With a defeated sigh, I pulled a chair to her side and invited her to sit. "But you need to be quiet as a snake, got it?"

Elina feverishly nodded her head and perched on the wooden bench. I checked her behaviour once again, hoping she would show discipline and honour me in front of Guinevere. Much to my surprise, Elina did nothing to make me feel ashamed.

I rolled the scroll to the table and activated its runes. After a few seconds, beeping sounds reverberate inside the mini-forest, alerting the elders for the meeting.

Twelve elves appeared before us. Each of them wore a different colour of tunic, portraying their power. Their colours were close to the green hue, but my granddaughter and I had the emerald one.

We had more authority than all of them combined.

The elders stole a glance at my side, scrutinising Elina for attending such a royal assembly. Their eyes wandered for more and spotted Queen Guinevere. With chilling eyes, five of them stood up and retorted.

"Why is the Mainland's queen here with us?"

"Crowned Ruler of Mainland, why are you taking part in this meeting?"

"What happened to the Mainland?"

"I knew the players were behind this!"

"Is the Mainland scheming for our demise?"

Those were the words spewed from their mouths. With one wave of my hand, I silenced their quacking lips.

"We do not show ignorance in front of her majesty." I gave my respect to Queen Guinevere and introduced her to the elders.

Guinevere knew the twelve, so she lowered her head and greeted each of them. As soon as she finished her introductory, I explained the situation to the elders. I told them everything that had happened, especially the war.

All the elders had their faces carved with shock or dread. Their wrinkles showed on their face as they continued listening to the story. Even Elina, who got rarely dazed to hear something, had her mouth left hanging near the board.

"It is true. A player killed my husband, King Arthur,." Guinevere seconded my statement.

Everybody knew that the meeting was about our movements. Even before starting this assembly, I placed my quest on the obelisk and posted the war. We needed to preserve our species and kill most players.

The elves will not sit idly and watch our brethren die in vain.

"We already killed most Elven players in our empire. However, we did not want to cause an uproar, so we left a few inside the dungeon." I explained.

The players were more advanced than us. However, we were ten steps ahead of them.

"What do you suggest, elders, since you are wise and old," I asked.

None of them gave me a reply. One elder tried speaking out of his mind but retracted his claim. Although we started the war, we cannot just play the part of becoming villains inside this world. We killed the players to instil fear from the players, not the other way around.

They killed the Mainland's king. Those players will come and murder the succeeding rulers inside this planet.

"Why not ask the dragonewt and dwarves for an alliance? If we know these players would wage war against us, we need to ask for their support, do we not?" Elina was the one who spoke.

All of our eyes gazed upon her figure standing from her seat. Elina's voice brought power and tranquillity to the conversation. I knew she was the driving force of our kingdom.

"We should contact them now and send them a request. All of you are not against this, right?" I asked them a question while summoning a text message.

It was like Elina had mentioned. We need more force to win against these players. Long-eared elves could destroy a town with our enchanted arrows. However, players can destroy a kingdom with just a flick of their fingers if they wanted to.

"We also need to strengthen our defences on the gates. We need to ask for more sentries and guard the outposts in the forest. I deduced those players would come charging towards our kingdom. Since that is going to happen, we should barricade our castle and look out for any intruders creeping inside our palace." Elina continued her explanation.

"How can you tell that they are going to attack right now?" An elder reacted, voicing his uncertainties from my granddaughter's statement.

"If my Grandmother got kidnapped, I would definitely charge forward and rescue her blindly. I wouldn't wait for the backup forces to arrive. So do those players."

Speaking of the devil, a violent eruption disrupted our meeting.