Even though Leona's lips were curled in a polite smile as Julius talked endlessly about how spectacular the human continent was, her eyes betrayed her.

They looked utterly exhausted, the kind of tiredness that came from years of pretending to listen.

She nodded now and then, murmuring polite acknowledgments. But her expression was detached, hollow, like she was somewhere else entirely.

"…and then, Leona." Julius was saying, his voice booming with pride. "You wouldn't believe the markets there! The humans have so many inventions, so many customs—it's almost like they live in a different era altogether! The food, the music, the architecture—magnificent, truly magnificent!"

Nyx, standing beside her, joined in now and then with exaggerated politeness.

"Oh? Is that so? I see, I see! How fascinating." She said with a half-smile that looked rehearsed.

But behind her bright tone, her eyes held the same weariness—a quiet resignation, as if she was just entertaining him out of obligation rather than genuine interest.

Finally, Leona's patience ran thin. Her polite smile faded just slightly as she spoke.

"Julius." She began, her tone calm but edged with restrained irritation. "Leaving aside how amazing the human continent is, could you please tell me why you've come back here again?"

The sudden seriousness in her voice made several nearby elves glance toward them nervously.

"If it's just to visit the village, then fine—you may do as you please." She continued.

"But I'll remind you once again what I said the last time you came. I don't want any of the male elves interacting directly with the female villagers. They're still...uncomfortable around you."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"I would appreciate it if you respected that this time. Everyone's been complaining. It's becoming increasingly difficult to keep the peace if you continue ignoring their boundaries."

Julius blinked for a moment, then smiled casually as if she had just asked him to fetch some fruit.

"Of course, Leona, of course."

He said smoothly. Then, turning to the group of male elves behind him, he spread his arms wide in mock dismay.

"Come now, gentlemen, you heard your matriarch! Be good boys and keep to yourselves, yes? No pestering the ladies, no lingering stares, no flirting."

The men behind him chuckled, completely disregarding his feigned command.

One of them laughed loudly and said. "Not my fault! I thought one of the girls over there was calling for me! She kept looking this way. I thought she missed me."

Another added, grinning, "Same here! I figured it'd been so long since they'd seen any real men that I might as well comfort them a little."

"Ha!" another barked, elbowing his friend. "You mean you were the one who couldn't resist flirting first."

Their laughter spread like wildfire among the group.

And istead of scolding them, Julius simply chuckled and raised his hands.

"Alright, alright, I get it. I understand." He gave them a playful grin. "But still, try not to make too much trouble. Be a little more obedient, hmm?"

The men smirked and waved him off.

"Okay, okay, anything you say, Julius." One said mockingly. "You're the boss."

It was clear none of them were taking Leona's words seriously and their casual, mocking tone made her lips tighten for a brief moment, but she exhaled and steadied herself.

Her voice, when she spoke again, was not angry but cold.

"Anyway...just keep away from the villagers. Especially the children. They scare easily, and I don't want them having nightmares because of your presence. Please follow what I've said."

She then turned gracefully, her cloak brushing the ground as she began to leave. Nyx followed right behind her, clearly eager to escape the charade of politeness.

But before they could take more than a few steps, Julius called out.

"Hold up, Leona—hold up!"

The sound of his voice made both sisters pause.

Julius smiled that charming, too-bright smile of his.

"I didn't just come here for nostalgia's sake, or to look around the village. Well—partly, yes." He said with a little laugh, scratching his cheek. "But that's not the main reason."

Leona's eyes narrowed again. "…Then why did you come?"

Julius didn't answer right away.

He looked around, scanning the gathered elves, almost theatrically, as if searching for something or someone.

Then his gaze stopped, and his eyes lit up with a sharp, knowing gleam.

Finally, he pointed straight ahead and said clearly.

"I came here for you."

The crowd murmured in surprise as all eyes turned in the direction of his finger.

Suprisingly, it was directed toward Luca.

"I came here..." Julius continued, his voice rising proudly. "...for the hero—the one who was summoned to save the demi-human continent."

A collective gasp rippled through the elves.

"Why did he point at the hero?" One elf whispered.

"Is he going to insult him?" Murmured another.

"He's on the human side, isn't he? Is he trying to start a fight?"

The female elves instinctively stepped aside, parting to reveal Luca standing among them and Luca himself narrowed his eyes, readying himself mentally.

From everything he'd heard, Julius was manipulative and tricky.

A man who'd betrayed his own kind and allied with the humans.

If this confrontation was about pride, he was ready to stand his ground. He expected Julius to mock him, insult him, perhaps even challenge him.

But then, to everyone's surprise—Julius suddenly stepped forward with a wide, genuine-looking smile and declared loudly something they never would've expected.

"Ah, the mighty hero himself!" He declared, voice booming with excitement. "I've been waiting for this moment! You don't understand how happy I am to meet you."

He clasped his hands together dramatically.

"Since your arrival, the dark clouds that hung over this land have finally cleared! The skies have brightened, the seas have calmed—it's as if the very world rejoiced when you set foot here!"

"…What?"

Luca blinked in disbelief, but Julius just continued, grinning ear to ear.

"You truly are a man of destiny! With your strength alone, you have stopped the human advance! You've brought peace to the continent! The demi-humans owe you their freedom!"

He laughed warmly, shaking his head in admiration.

"I just have to say, man to man, I truly respect what you've done. To turn back the humans all on your own—that's no small feat!"

The entire clearing fell silent.

Even Leona and Nyx looked visibly confused.

Luna whispered to Lulu. "This isn't how this was supposed to go, right?"

Lulu whispered back. "Not at all. He's...actually praising him?"

Luca himself was caught off guard, blinking slowly as Julius kept showering him in compliments.

'What the hell is this guy playing at?' He thought. 'Is he serious?'

Before he could respond, one of the female elves finally spoke up hesitantly.

"Wait...Did you just say the hero really pushed back the human army? Completely?"

Julius turned toward her with a confident grin.

"Of course! Didn't you know?"

She shook her head quickly.

"He told us yesterday that he fought the humans and forced them to retreat, but...we haven't had confirmation yet. The scouts haven't returned with any reports, and the Matriarch hasn't made an announcement, so we weren't sure."

Julius laughed lightly.

"Well, you can rest easy! I can confirm it myself. He really did it! The human armies have been utterly defeated. They're licking their wounds behind their borders, too frightened to even step into the sea!"

The crowd gasped. Excited murmurs filled the air as the news spread.

"So it's true…?"

"He really did it?"

"The war...it's over?"

Julius nodded proudly, gesturing toward Luca.

"Indeed. The war is over. The humans have been driven back, and the demi-humans stand victorious—all thanks to this man."

The clearing erupted in mixed shock and joy. Even those who had been doubtful moments ago now looked at Luca with awe and relief.

And before anyone could stop themselves, one of the younger elves blurted out eagerly.

"Can we ask how did he do it? How did one man manage to defeat the entire human army?"

Julius didn't even let the question hang for long. He spread his arms theatrically, his face lighting up with enthusiasm.

"Of course, I can tell you!" He declared. "It's such a legendary story that I'm practically dying to share it!"

He turned his gaze toward Luca, that bright grin never fading—yet there was something else there now, a glint of sharp intelligence, as though behind the showmanship he was measuring every flicker of Luca's expression.

"You see..." Julius began, pacing a little as he spoke. "Our hero here isn't just incredibly strong—no, no, no—he's also frighteningly smart. Strategic. Efficient."

He raised a finger, pointing skyward.

"Because unlike us, who would have waged war the old-fashioned way—through the endless ranks of soldiers, mercenaries, and common fighters—he took a completely different approach."

He gestured dramatically toward Luca.

"Instead of slashing through endless pawns to reach the kings, he went straight for the source of the problem. The root of the corruption. The ones pulling the strings."

The audience murmured among themselves.

Luna's lips parted slightly in awe, while Lulu's eyes were wide, glittering with anticipation.

"Yes!" Julius declared, his tone swelling with energy. "He didn't waste time slaying the weak. He went after the true culprits—the ones who created the war, the ones who fed it!"

"He destroyed the nobles and the rich merchants who funded the bloodshed, the family heads who supplied arms and ships, the councilmen who wrote laws to justify invasion, and even the ones who forged the weapons used against the demi-humans!"

The elves gasped, several clutching their mouths.

"And do you know." Julius said, leaning forward with an almost secretive grin. "What's the most shocking part of all this?"

A dozen voices echoed. "What? What is it?"

Julius straightened, his voice dropping to a dramatic hush before booming again.

"He didn't stop with the nobles or the merchants! Oh no, no—our glorious hero here went even higher. He took down the royal family itself! The ruling house of the human continent—gone! Wiped out in a single night!"

The crowd gasped in unison, their collective shock almost tangible. Some elves blinked in disbelief, others whispered frantically to one another.

"You mean...he defeated the royals?"

"The human kings and queens?"

"All of them?"

Julius nodded solemnly, letting the tension build before continuing.

"Yes. He started at the top. The very first blow he struck was against the crown itself. And once the royals fell, everything beneath them crumbled. The war leaders, the armies, the funding—gone. With a single stroke, he cut off the head of the serpent!"

The elves erupted into awed murmurs, admiration flooding through them.

Luna and Lulu were practically glowing.

Lulu grabbed Luca by the shoulders and shook him wildly, eyes sparkling.

"You're so powerful, Luca! So damn powerful!" She squealed. "That's it! You're officially my bodyguard now! You get the honor of protecting Princess Lulu from now on!"

Luna didn't speak, but her eyes were gleaming too—filled with admiration, pride and a quiet, unspoken warmth as she gazed at him.

Luca, however, was scratching his head awkwardly, clearly overwhelmed by all the attention.

Still, as he saw the awe in their faces, he couldn't help but think that maybe Julius wasn't such a bad guy after all.

'Maybe.' He thought. 'The dude still has some pride as an elf. Maybe he's not trying to betray his own people, after all.'

Julius's words seemed genuine. Perhaps, now that the tides had turned, he was trying to make amends.

To stand with them once more.

For a fleeting second, Luca even considered thanking him for the support.

He opened his mouth slightly, ready to speak—

—but then Julius's entire demeanor changed.

The brightness vanished from his face like a candle snuffed out. His eyes narrowed, their warmth replaced by suspicion by something almost cold and accusing.

He spoke again, but now his voice had dropped an octave "But…"

The crowd quieted instantly.

"…even though I've praised you, Hero..."

Julius said, his tone suddenly heavy.

"And even though your accomplishments are indeed worthy of recognition, there's something I cannot agree with."

He paused, tilting his head slightly.

"No, actually, there are many things I cannot agree with."

Luca's brow furrowed. A faint prickle of unease ran down his neck. 'Here it comes.' He thought grimly.

Still, he maintained a polite smile.

"And what exactly would that be?" He asked calmly. "What don't you agree with in what I've done?"

Julius sighed heavily, almost theatrically, placing a hand over his heart as if burdened by grief.

"Ah...where do I even begin?"

He shook his head in sorrow.

"It's the sheer brutality of it, my friend. The utter massacres—the genocide—that you unleashed upon the human continent."

His tone turned almost mournful as he went on to say,

"Yes, they were our enemies...but to think you would slaughter over fifteen thousand people for the sake of peace…" He looked up at Luca with feigned pity. "I don't even know if I should call that peace...or simply terror wrapped in victory."

The elves' faces went pale. Gasps of shock filled the clearing.

"What…?"

"Fifteen thousand?!"

"That can't be true…"

"That's not war! That's slaughter!"

Only Leona and Nyx remained composed; they already knew. But for the rest, the revelation hit like a thunderclap.

Julius, clearly pleased by their reaction, continued in a grave, dramatic voice.

"Yes. Rivers of blood flowed through the human cities. The streets were painted red. The air was thick with smoke and ash. There were mountains—mountains of corpses."

He raised his hands as if to display the horror before him.

"And all of it...done by this one man."

Some of the elves trembled, others whispered prayers under their breath.

Julius went on mercilessly.

"The bloodshed was so great that they couldn't even bury the dead. There were too many. The bodies had to be piled up—piled like lumber and burned. If you've noticed the air tasting strange lately..."

He said suddenly, looking around.

"...that's probably because you've been breathing in the ashes of the dead!"

A collective gasp went through the crowd. Several elves covered their mouths in horror, some choking at the mere thought.

But Julius wasn't finished. Not by a long shot.

"And it wasn't just how many he killed." He said darkly. "It was how he killed them."

The crowd's fear deepened. Someone whispered.

"How...He killed them?"

Julius nodded gravely.

"He didn't give them clean deaths. No stabs to the heart. No swift cuts to the neck. No arrows to the chest. No, what he did was beyond comprehension. He tore them apart."

"What?" Someone gasped. "Tore them apart? What does that even mean?"

Julius's expression turned grim.

"Exactly as it sounds. The bodies found in the aftermath weren't even whole. Arms on one side of the street, legs on the other."

"Heads missing entirely. Ribcages smashed into fragments. Entire torsos ripped in half. The remains...were unrecognizable."

The elves went deathly pale. Some took a step back from Luca without realizing it.

"And the worst part..." Julius continued, lowering his voice as though sharing a terrible secret. "...was that there were so many bodies, so many torn apart that they couldn't even be properly prepared for burial. The morticians had to sew them together."

He leaned forward slightly, voice almost whispering now.

"And do you know why the price of sewing thread has gone up recently?"

No one dared to answer.

Julius grimaced and said softly,

"Because they needed so much of it to stitch the dead back together."

A ripple of nausea passed through the crowd and a few elves actually gagged, the horror vivid in their minds.

Even Lulu looked shaken, clutching her lollipop nervously. Luna's expression was unreadable, caught between disbelief and dread.

And through it all, Julius wore that same tragic, pitying expression like a saint mourning a devil.

But even with all he said, Luca stood there silently, watching Julius.

And then, slowly, very slowly a small, cold smile crept onto his lips.

Because now, he understood exactly what Julius was doing and he could see what sort of person he was.

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