Taste of Magic: Ambassador's Voice

Melina had a very long night after the day's events. There was a lot of information to digest, and she wasn't even sure where to begin. Outside the bakery, she heard the distant chatter and cheer coming from the festival. Apparently, once the Quake Mammoth was gone, the Duke himself went and reassured people that everything was safe.

Since nobody would dare object to the Duke, the festivities were resumed, and outside the bakery, it felt like nothing bad had happened. Part of her hoped to forget, too. But that was impossible. She had to carefully think through what happened and decide what to do next.

Her body ached, and Sienna was in no condition to move around. Rolled up in her trough, the wyrm slept with a hearty meat pie and feyfruit in front of her. Gilbert had prepared them to help her recover, and Sienna finished two pies right away and left the third one for later. At least her appetite was good.

Alright, let's start with the first big problem. The Monster Lord tried to assassinate me.

Melina sighed. Out of all people who remembered the past, this one was the worst. Aside from Heiliger. The consequences of her remembering would impact the whole Alemahria, not just Melina. Monster Lord, on the other hand, was definitely going to concentrate his rage on Melina. Maybe Alistair, too, although judging how he had chosen to target her, he probably considers her to be a bigger threat.

She couldn't even blame him. Melina killed him because he was the entity that kept the realms connected. To split the realms, he had to die first. She still remembered how she wavered before delivering the finishing blow. But in the end, she had done it anyway.

What was I thinking at the time? Simply because the King and the Church were pressuring me, I killed the most important entity in the Monster Realm. The closest thing our two worlds have to a god.

Melina felt revolted. She didn't even have the right to fight back. Imagine being in the shoes of the Monster Lord. She'd try to get rid of herself, too.

Maybe I can try to talk to him? Convince him that I have no intention of reliving the past?

Melina imagined the scenario and laughed at the ridiculousness of it. Who'd even believe her? Today, she had proved that even without her magic power, she was still a threat due to the allies she had acquired.

Sienna chittered, feeling Melina's distress through their link.

"Sorry, Sienna. I just… I don't think I can set this right? Who'd forgive the person who murdered them? I certainly wouldn't," she said.

Sienna lowered her head. She didn't have an answer either.

The best I can do for the time being is try to keep Monster Lord focused on me instead of the townspeople or Alistair. Also, I shouldn't kill any monsters he sends after me if I can avoid it.

Melina sank deeper into her bed and set the problem aside. There wasn't anything she could do about it at that moment. She had to focus on more immediate problems. Namely, Elowen.

He saw her channeling mana. There was no way to write that off as something she could do just because she had a familiar. Elowen wasn't a fool. He had undoubtedly realized that Melina remembered more of the past than she initially led him to believe.

For a while, Melina wondered how she could lessen the fallout from this situation. Was there any lie she could weave that could perhaps give her more time? But no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't come up with anything.

I have to tell him the truth. I'm so tired of all these lies. When have they ever done me any favors? Also, Elowen deserves to know after everything that I have done. Even if he decides to attack me—well, I kind of deserve it.

Part of Melina thought that perhaps it would have been better if Monster Lord's assassination had succeeded.

Elowen had barely managed to make it back to his room in the Guild. In a rush, he slammed the door shut and crumpled to the floor a moment after. He cradled his pulsating head as a flurry of memories flooded his mind, threatening to break it open.

When he saw Melina bent over Sienna, channeling mana from her master, who had a whole different persona to his name, to save her familiar, it felt like something unlocked within him.

[Your skill has ranked up. is now Rank C.]

He remembered Melina. The most powerful Archmage he or any of the Elders had ever met. He remembered how even Elders couldn't believe how powerful she had been. How Melina had accomplished magical feats that seemingly nobody else could.

It was always known that humans were incredibly adaptable and fast learners to boot. It would take an elf about a year to learn something that a human could learn in a month. Nobody really understood how this worked exactly, but it was likely linked to their lifespans.

Humans could endure high-stress situations far better than elves, not to mention that mentally they recovered much more quickly. Force an elf to study all day, and he won't be able to look at a book for the next two weeks. But humans—they had schools where children were forced to study five days each week. And they did it without much issue.

It was why humans were considered adults at the age of 18, a fact proved by the System, since elves only gained access to it on their 50th birthday. So for Elowen's mind to suddenly be flooded with all this information felt like torture.

He had wanted to remember Melina, but all of these events were overwhelming. Most of them were just fragments, making the whole thing even worse.

But he did remember the most crucial part. Melina had defeated Monster Lord and split the realms apart. If it weren't for the horrible headache, he likely would have set sail back to Euroa to report this to the Elders. The vague fragments also showed him brief results of realms being split. Calling them catastrophic was an understatement.

But as things stood, Elowen barely managed to crawl to the bed. The headache was so powerful, it made him want to puke.

"What do I do?" He asked himself, helplessly looking up at the wooden ceiling.

His logic told him that a human who tore realms apart should be killed before she could do it again. Yet here she was, an all-powerful mage, hidden away in some remote town, making magical pastries out of all things. She had even tamed a wyrm. Judging by how desperately she was trying to save her familiar, their bond was very strong.

It wasn't the same fearsome mage he'd seen in his visions. At least it didn't feel that way. This Melina was different.

I don't have enough memories yet to make any crucial decisions. I should at least hear out what she has to say. Lord Sinclair promised that she'd talk to me tomorrow.

With a heavy mind, Elowen somehow managed to fall asleep. Even if he was still painfully aware of the uncomfortable bed humans so loved to sleep on. He'd have to set up his hammock in this room.

When Melina woke up in the morning, she still ached all over, but it was bearable enough for her to move around. Sienna appeared to have recovered a bit, too, being strong enough to sit on Melina's shoulder. But their overall condition wasn't great.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

As Melina descended to the kitchen, she was surprised to find Barrett eating breakfast along with Master Gilbert. Why did people always insert themselves during breakfast? It must be because of Gilbert's amazing cooking.

"Good morning, Master and Sir Barrett. What has brought you here so early on the festival day?" She asked as she slowly made her way to the kitchen table.

"Captain sent me to watch over you. Said you might get targeted by some monsters," Barrett said and stuffed his mouth full of Master Gilbert's fluffy pancakes. It appeared he had no objections to this arrangement.

"Apparently, your boyfriend had to settle something with his father, so he couldn't stay," Gilbert explained.

"I see…" Melina said thoughtfully, sitting down at the table and cutting up pancakes for Sienna to eat. Gilbert placed a scorchvine pepper on Sienna's pancake. Only then did her brain finally process his words. "He's not my boyfriend, and suggesting that is rude towards Alistair."

Gilbert arched his eyebrow skeptically, and even Barrett didn't look convinced.

"He really isn't!" Melina objected, her cheeks flushing bright red.

"I give it one month tops," the old baker retorted, putting a cup of tea in front of Melina. "In either case, I wouldn't worry about him now. Your issue is the elf."

"The elf?" Barrett asked with his mouth full of pancakes.

"I… I promised to talk to Elowen after yesterday's events," Melina said evasively. She wasn't sure how much Barrett knew.

"He's worried about the wyrm. Blamed Melina for Sienna getting injured during the attack," Gilbert said.

"You mean when that monster appeared near the bakery?" Barrett asked, and Melina suppressed the urge to cock her head quizzically.

"Yes, the large bug monster landing right in our backyard out of all places. The damned thing must have been attracted to all the feyfruit we have in the storage," Gilbert said, looking meaningfully at Melina. So that was the cover story. She nodded.

"Boy, am I glad that you've decided to bring Sienna back. Who knows what would have happened without her around? Everyone else was too busy fighting that… that…"

"Mammoth?" Gilbert added.

"Yes, that! Geez, I never want to see one of those again. Cragjaw drake looked positively mild compared to that woolly thing with its giant nose."

"Trunk," Gilbert corrected.

"Yes, that!"

Melina continued eating in silence as she processed the information. It appeared that the official story involved two monsters. The mammoth, which attacked outside the city and kept all of the adventurers busy, and a made-up flying bug monster. Sienna had been made into a hero as she had defeated the monster to protect Melina while suffering horrible injuries herself. That wasn't too far from the truth.

I understand why nobody wants to announce that it was a drow who attacked. That would make many people suspicious of Etrian. But I'm fairly certain that he rushed to help Sienna yesterday, along with the elves. It is unlikely that he is involved with this drow. At least… I hope not.

After they ate breakfast, Barrett escorted her to the Guild, where Elowen had reserved a meeting room for them. Much to her surprise and relief, Alistair was waiting for her at the entrance.

"Melina, good morning, how are you? Sorry, I couldn't stay yesterday. Had to settle the matters around town along with my father," Alistair said, looking guilty.

"You don't have to apologize to me." Melina hastily shook her head, then looked around nervously. "Where is Etrian?"

Alistair's expression hardened. "Waiting upstairs. I'll lead you to him."

"You'd better tell him that Sienna getting injured wasn't your fault at all. Sienna protected you all on her own," Barrett said it with such conviction as if he had seen the whole thing himself.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll resolve this misunderstanding quickly enough," Alistair said and took Melina's hand.

She flinched at the gesture. It didn't seem appropriate for her to hold his hand so openly. But Alistair's gentle smile didn't leave much room for arguments. Not to mention that she was worried about how things would go with Elowen. Worst-case scenario, they might start fighting right in the middle of the Guild.

The likelihood of that happening was low. Elowen wouldn't attack in a place with all these adventurers around who would see any attack towards Melina as an unprovoked act of aggression. Within these walls, she was more or less safe. But having both elves and the Monster Lord coming for her life certainly wouldn't make things easy for her.

So much for just settling down and making pastries. I must be some magnet for trouble. Then again, I likely create that trouble myself.

When Melina and Alistair entered one of the rooms with privacy wards, she saw that Elowen was already there. To say that he looked angry would be an understatement. She didn't know the silver elf could make such a sour expression.

I am screwed.

"Good morning, Lord Sinclair, Melina," he greeted them in a gruff voice.

"Good morning?" Melina questioned. It certainly didn't sound like a good morning to him. Alistair also tensed up.

"We have a lot to discuss. Please sit," Elowen said, a deep frown on his face.

Melina and Alistair both sat. He didn't release the hold on her hand, making her feel slightly uncomfortable. Oddly enough, Elowen didn't seem to notice that or chose to ignore it.

"Let's just get to the heart of the matter. I remember that you're the Archmage who tore realms apart," Elowen said coldly.

Melina couldn't believe that he said it so bluntly. It wasn't like Elowen at all. She'd expect him to try to probe her for information first–that's how elves usually did things. This kind of bluntness was something she'd expect from a dwarf.

Melina felt like she'd been doused with cold water. Perhaps, he said it like that to declare open war on her. To say that he'd take her down before she plunged the world into catastrophe. One thing was clear—denying the fact would be utterly pointless.

"Yes, that was me," she admitted, and Alistair glanced at her in shock. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Elowen looked a bit surprised for a moment, but then hardened his expression again. "Are you going to do it this time around, too?"

"No," she said, and then told him everything.

Absolutely everything. How she, along with Alistair, had been searching for a way to undo their horrible mistake. How she had managed to piece together the time rewind ritual thanks to Alistair's selfless sacrifice. How she had given up all of her magic to rewind time and save the world from its inevitable demise.

This time, it was much easier to retell these painful events. When she had told this story to Gilbert and Alistair, Melina broke down in tears. Admitting to her heinous crime didn't feel nice. It was still difficult to talk about it. However, she was able to keep her emotions in check.

Perhaps it was largely due to Alistair's comforting hand. As she retold the events, he would gently rub her palm with his thumb, giving her much-needed comfort to finish her story without breaking down.

Surprisingly, Elowen listened to the story patiently, not interrupting her once, merely nodding with his head here and there to show that he was listening.

"Once I awoke as an eighteen-year-old girl with a System, my first thought was to get as far away from Church as possible. I wanted to stay away from everything that could lead to that disaster and live a simple life where nobody would find me. But… I've been rather failing at doing that…" she admitted.

"So to get this clear—you have no intention of separating the realms again?" Elowen asked.

"No! I would never. In the first place, I don't think I could! And even if I could, I wouldn't! I'd do anything to stop those events happening again," Melina said firmly, squeezing Alistair's hand.

"What about you, Lord Sinclair?" Elowen turned to Alistair.

"Obviously, I wouldn't want those events to happen again!"

"What if Melina were to go down the same path? Would you stop her?" The elf challenged.

"She wouldn't!" Alistair said stubbornly.

"Entertain the idea for just a moment. What if she would?" Elowen persisted.

"There is nothing to entertain. I know Melina wouldn't do such a horrible thing. In the first place, we broke the realms apart, because we thought it would be for the best. We thought monsters would live peacefully in their world, while we would live peacefully in ours. Nobody knew that the connection between realms was so crucial to their and our survival."

Melina didn't know whether she should feel touched or worried about Alistair's blind faith in her. It was nice that he trusted her, but in the what if scenario that Melina tried to separate realms again, he should definitely try to stop her.

"Very well. I can't say that I trust you two fully, but for the time being, you're the best chance we all have. Your actions so far haven't suggested that you intend to go down the same path," Elowen said, pausing for a brief moment. "I'm going to need your help to prevent the disaster from happening again."

"What? What do you mean happening again?" Melina asked in surprise. "I said, I wouldn't do it. I can't even do it."

"Do you really think you're the only one capable of tearing realms apart?" Elowen questioned.