"Had Charron not been toying with us for the most part, and Aelinor sacrificing her lifespan to help, the three of us would have died since"

Bowing his head in guilt and sorrow, Damien's emotions of loss and confusion resonated in the room.

And feeling this, the girls who had once been cheerfully rushing to meet him stopped.

Truth be told, although they tried their best not to show it, the three of them were going through all kinds of internal pain and thoughts.

Lyra, having watched hundreds, if not thousands, of her elf brethren die in this war.

Isabelle, being severely injured, and watching her young master also get injured once again, questioned her usefulness

And Leona, having been told before this by the doctors that she might never be able to wield a sword again, was internally broken.

All her life, even before being a slave, as a lion tribe beast man, all she knew how to do was fight; now that important part of her was gone forever.

"Silence…."

For a while, silence dominated the room as neither side had anything to say.

At least that was until Lyra finally acted.

*Bang!*

Mustering up all her strength, she managed to shoot a mana arrow directly over Damien's head.

"Shut up! How dare you apologise!" Lowering her head, tears welled up in her eyes.

"This was all my fault!"

"If I hadn't dragged you all into this, none of you would be this injured!"

"Leona, just look at yourself, after being freed from slavery, you haven't even spent a month before being in a worse condition"

"And you, Damien and Isabelle, after I knew that your father couldn't come, I should never have taken you with me"

"Now, even if we won, but at what cost?"

"Even if the twilight church is gone? But the whole reason we went was for the slave traders attacking the elves; what happened here was a surprise"

Remembering the broken carriages and human corpses they saw on the way here, Lyra figured it was probably because the twilight church had already gotten to them.

"arghh!…"

"Damn humans! Damn twilight church! Damn demon worshipers!"

Recalling the lifeless bodies of her brethren being cleaned up all around the capital, fist clenched, tears falling from her eyes.

"So how dare you apologise! It's not your fault, it's mine, it's theirs! It's the world!"

Looking at the downcast Damien with tears in her eyes, it finally came to her mind that this was a twelve-year-old kid.

Although sometimes he was cold, calculating and mysterious, other times he was cheerful, proud and fun.

However, now all this was gone.

Like a child who had done something wrong, Damien's head hung down, unable to lift it under the sheer amount of guilt.

"Yes, young master! Don't feel bad!"

"Where is the young master who promised to change the world with me back when we left the Voss house?"

"The young master who swore to fight against the void demon god, save his family and be the strongest?"

"Are you throwing everything away now just because of a few losses?"

Shouting at Damien, Isabelle couldn't tell if she was shouting at Damien or herself.

With her words ridden in emotion, she struggled to control herself as, at some points, flames had appeared over her hands, burning her bandages, and her horns were tearing through them.

Leona, also, as if not to be left behind, seeing both of them like this, also voiced her thoughts.

Although the youngest to join the group, she felt her connection to Damien might be no less than Isabelle's.

Struggling to wear a smile, similar to the others, with tears in her eyes, she began to pour out her heart.

"Young lord, do not be sad"

"Leona thinks everything is fine!" she smiled

"We saved the elves, we beat that big bone guy, we won!"

"So why is everyone sad?"

"Haha! Shouldn't we celebrate?"

Not talking about her own cripling injuries, Leona spoke genuinely happy that her young lord's plan had succeeded

He was the one who freed her from that hell like place at the slave fortress.

He was currently her guiding light, and now such a guiding light had completed his goal.

Did it matter if she was crippled? The only thing that made her sad was that after this, she most likely wouldn't be able to follow him or help him anymore.

Thinking of this, her eyes suddenly turned red.

In an instant, the atmosphere of the room became worse as no one knew what to say.

They were all confused. Should they be happy? Should they be sad?

Should they be angry?

Lost in thought, they didn't know what to do, and their leader, who should have said something, was also currently in doubt.

Fortunately, just as all four of them were at a loss for words, a familiar and unfamiliar-looking elf made her way into the room.

"Oh? It seems like all four of you are awake?"

"However, the mood doesn't seem to be so good?"

Walking into the room, her blond hair now grey from the loss of life span, her face that was once perfect, had some wrinkles here and there.

Aelinor, with her now grey eyes, made her way into the room with a smile on her face.

Looking at the four of them, she knew that this was probably their first major battle.

In this fight, they had lost a lot, and it was probably their first time experiencing such.

In a way, their reactions now reminded her of her younger days when she first began adventuring.

Back then, a few times she had wanted to give up, even end her own life in the face of some threats.

However, it's because she didn't do that that she can be here today as the queen of elves.

Knowing this, she decided to help them out.

"All four of you, take a seat, I want to tell you a story!" she said.

Not giving them a chance to react, she instantly conjured up a wooden bench, chair and sat down on it.

"A long time ago, there was once a hopeless little elf…"

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