Taste of Magic: Ambassador's Voice

Elowen groaned as bright sunlight filtered through the curtains of his room. Once again, he woke up with an unpleasant headache as more and more of his old memories returned. It was this way ever since Melina admitted the truth about her past and what she had done. As if her words had unlocked his memories.

He'd be happy about it if they weren't so overwhelming. Twenty years' worth of memories suddenly flooding in one's head wasn't a pleasant experience. Doubly so, because the memories weren't exactly happy.

The ones where he initially met Melina and Alistair were hopeful. While two were clearly working for the Church, they were interested in finding a compromise between elves and humans. With their help, Elowen tried to narrow the bridge between the two races. Hence, his skill was called the .

But all his efforts had gone to waste when the Church decided to separate the realms. Even his closest allies turned their backs on him and plunged the world into chaos despite his pleas.

He grabbed his throbbing head. The elf didn't want to rely on Melina and Sinclair. He didn't trust them. Sure, they seemed like changed people. Melina at least seemed changed as she had tried to reverse the tragedy. But who was to say that her heart wouldn't be swayed again?

The nobleman Elowen didn't trust in the slightest. He clearly put Melina above anything else and would defer to her judgment. So if her mind changed, Sinclair would follow.

Unfortunately, Elowen didn't have much choice. He needed allies who understood the inner workings of the Church. He needed humans to understand that separating the realms would be a horrible mistake, and he couldn't do it on his own. So he'd start with Melina and Sinclair and try to gain more human allies.

It's a good thing that there's a lot of time before the disaster. Although there will be a different [Archmage], I doubt they'll be able to train them any faster than they trained Melina. Her skill with magic is still exceptional if she was able to keep poison away from Sienna's vitals purely through channeling foreign mana. Even I can't do that.

With a groan, Elowen got out of bed and got dressed. It was his free day, since he spent most of the festival patrolling the road from Sunglow to Pertia. His plan after breakfast was to meet with Melina and hopefully glean some more information about the Church from her.

But that would be after breakfast and after his headache settled a little. If it settled...

This was not how Elowen expected his day to go. He had wanted to discuss things with Melina, yet somehow he ended up in the inn cafeteria sitting across from a very eager-looking red-haired girl.

"It is very nice to meet you. My name is Leliana," the red-haired girl said with a charming smile. As far as humans went, she was certainly attractive, at least in Elowen's opinion. She certainly had more charm than Melina, who looked demure by comparison.

But Elowen still didn't understand why he was having dinner with this human girl.

"Likewise. I am Elowen. May I inquire as to the reason for this meeting?" He asked as he peered cautiously around the cafeteria. He was hoping to see Melina or Sinclair since they promised to come too, but the pair was nowhere in sight.

"I was hoping that you could help me in an important matter," Leliana said with a serious expression.

Elowen cocked his head curiously. What could this human girl want from an elf?

"I'll try to help if I can, but I'm currently rather busy with my own matters and don't have much spare time."

"Will you at least hear me out?" She pleaded, batting her eyelashes at him.

The gesture was foreign to him, but Elowen noticed that the men sitting at the nearby tables flushed red and leaned closer. Some were even glaring at him. So this girl must be considered attractive among humans as well.

"Very well," Elowen nodded.

"I'm currently trying to grow fruits from Monster Realm in the Human Realm, but so far I haven't had much luck in getting things to sprout. Out of all the seeds I've planted, which include feyfruit, sapmelon, and most recently zephyr plant and scorchvine pepper, I've only managed to get a few feyfruit sprouts," she said.

Elowen was glad he wasn't drinking anything at the moment; otherwise, he would have choked. "You managed to get feyfruit to sprout in the Human Realm?"

"Yes, but only a few sprouts, and they're not growing much larger. I was hoping that as an elf, you'd be able to help me since your race understands these plants much better than we do," she explained.

He was genuinely impressed. Many elves have tried growing plants from the Monster Realm in the Human Realm. They've managed to cultivate feyberry bushes by infusing them with vast amounts of mana, but larger plants like feyfruit often refused to sprout. Yet this human had managed to sprout a few of them all on her own, likely without any mana to supplement them.

"Can you use magic?" Elowen questioned.

"Magic? No. Leon is the only one who can use magic in Sunglow," Leliana shook her head. "Would you be able to help?"

Elowen scratched his chin thoughtfully. Maybe this was exactly the kind of thing that he needed. If human could grow more accustomed to fruits from Monster Realm, then they'd be more reluctant to separate the realms. But venturing into the Monster Realm to get these fruits was dangerous. It would be far more beneficial if it were possible to grow even a small quantity of them in the Human Realm.

"Why haven't you asked other elves for help?" He asked. Surely she'd be more comfortable working with an elf she was already familiar with. There was no shortage of them in Sunglow.

"I figured somebody who has lived in an elf city all his life would be more familiar with the intricacies of the Monster Realm rather than the local elves who have lived in Sunglow for a long time," she replied confidently.

"Valid point. Very well, I shall try to help you, but I don't make any promises to my success," Elowen replied.

"That's alright. I'll take any help I can get," Leliana replied with a wide smile on her face. She must be really excited about the prospect of growing these plants. He was about to ask her what exactly she did when she planted the seeds, when he heard familiar voices whispering nearby.

"I can't believe it actually worked," Melina muttered to Alistair, peeking into the cafeteria.

"Why exactly are you setting up a meeting between Leliana and Elowen again?" Alistair asked curiously.

"I promised her to introduce him to her," she whispered.

"Wait… is she trying to pursue an elf now?" Alistair raised an eyebrow.

"Shh! Elves have great hearing," Melina warned, diving behind the wall when she noticed Elowen perk up. "That appears to be the case."

Stolen novel; please report. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"That girl is always aiming for the big fish. Although I am relieved that I won't have to fight off her advances anymore," Alistair said.

"Yeah, me too," Melina nodded absentmindedly, peeking behind the corner again to observe Leliana and Elowen. Their conversation seemed to be going well, judging by the fact that the elf hadn't left yet.

"Did you ever feel jealous when Leliana did that?" Alistair suddenly asked.

Melina looked at him. "Of course, I did! You weren't doing much to get her off you either."

Alistair grinned victoriously. "I just didn't want to be rude. Don't worry, I'm going to keep far away from any other women. I have a good excuse now."

He then pulled Melina closer and nuzzled his face into her hair.

"Not in public!" She hissed.

"You two sure have gotten bold," Erina whistled from behind, and Melina hurriedly untangled herself from Alistair, who let out a disappointed groan.

"Sorry, Erina! We didn't mean to bother you or your customers," she apologized.

"Don't mind me. I certainly have no objection to. It's like watching a romance novel unfold live," Erina cackled. "But I am curious why you two keep peeking into the cafeteria?"

"They were probably searching for me. Isn't that right?" Elowen suddenly appeared, smiling at Melina and Alistair. But the smile didn't reach his eyes. In fact, Melina was sure that he was angry.

"Oh, yes… I'm terribly sorry for the wait," Melina muttered in a hurry.

"My apologies. I seem to have distracted Melina," Alistair said smugly. Melina suddenly got the urge to elbow him.

When did this man grow so bold? She had expected him to be far more secretive about their relationship, but he was basically announcing it to the whole world. Wouldn't this cause problems if this reached Duke's ear? Which it undoubtedly would sooner or later. If it hadn't already.

"Since we are here, we might as well eat lunch, no? Would you mind if we joined you and Leliana?" Alistair asked.

"No, not at all," Elowen said, although he did look a bit annoyed.

When Melina and Alistair joined their table, Leliana also looked annoyed, shooting Melina a "why are you interfering?" look. Melina mouthed "later" at her, hoping that the girl would be understanding. Thankfully, she seemed to settle down.

Melina suspected it was because Elowen had to move his plate to sit next to Leliana. It was clear that Alistair wouldn't sit anywhere else except next to Melina. His affection was almost suffocating in this regard. Many people in the cafeteria were staring at them with curious looks. Melina felt like she was doing something bad by being so close to him.

"It's okay. Don't mind them. We're just eating lunch," Alistair soothed her, likely having picked up on her thoughts.

"How's Sienna doing?" Leliana asked, furrowing her eyebrows. "I heard she got badly injured while defending you from a monster."

"She's doing much better now," Melina said, and outstretched her palm towards Lelina. Sienna wiggled her way out of Melina's sleeve and chittered at the red-haired girl happily.

"Aww, I'm glad you're doing well, little cutie," Leliana said and scratched Sienna's head.

"You're not afraid of her?" Elowen asked in surprise.

"No. She's so cute," Leliana said, letting Sienna jump into her palm.

The little wyrm had grown used to getting handled by various people, although Leliana was one of the first ones to accept her. She took a piece of chicken from her plate and offered it to Sienna, who ate it eagerly.

"I'm pleasantly surprised by how open-minded the people of Sunglow are. Not only accepting elves but even monsters among their midst," Elowen said, watching Leliana feed Sienna.

I think she just managed to score some points with him. Wouldn't that be a pair?

Melina chuckled inwardly and dismissed the thought. A human and an elf union was a very unlikely pair. Even if Sunglowers were accepting of them, the cultural differences, as well as large gaps in lifespans, were difficult hurdles to overcome. After all, no elf would want to watch their lover age and die before them.

But that didn't mean that Leliana and Elowen getting along was a bad thing. In fact, it would do wonders to improve the relationship between humans and elves. Something that was likely crucial if they were to prevent the disaster from happening again.

The lunch passed by in pleasant conversation, as Elowen asked various things about Sunglow and how humans here got along with elves. Leliana was eager to answer his question, while Melina and Alistair mostly observed the conversation, talking only when Leliana couldn't answer.

They found out that Elowen had promised to help Leliana with her Monster Realm fruit-growing project. Melina wondered whether she should get involved, too. Initially, she thought it was a fruitless endeavour, but if Leliana could actually succeed, the benefits of that could be enormous. Clearly, Elowen had recognized that, too.

After lunch, Leliana reluctantly went home while Alistair turned to head for the Guild. He had an afternoon patrol, but he was even more reluctant to leave Melina than Leliana had been.

"Will you be fine?" He whispered, cautiously looking at Elowen.

"I'm not going to hurt her if that's what you're implying," Elowen said, having heard him despite standing a few meters away. "Although I don't trust you two, I have no intention of causing war between humans and elves. My goal is for our races to cooperate to prevent the disaster."

"It'll be fine. I've got Sienna," Melina soothed Alistair, gently rubbing his shoulder.

"Go to the bakery where Master Gilbert is."

"I will," she confirmed.

"Alright. I'll come see you once my patrol is over," he planted a kiss on her forehead, shot a warning glare in Elowen's direction, and left, occasionally glancing back at Melina.

"I don't remember him being so openly affectionate," Elowen said. "Although he is just as overbearingly protective as always."

"Well, it's something new, so don't mind him so much. I'm sure he'll be calmer after a while. You did threaten to kill me after all," she retorted.

"As long as you don't intend to aid the Church in separating the realms, then I shall do you no harm," Elowen said.

"No, that is the last thing that I want. Quite honestly, I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around the fact that it could happen again…" Melina shuddered, remembering the desolate world that was left behind. The death, the famine, the destruction. It made her stomach lurch.

"It will happen again. Why else would the Architect interfere so directly with us?" Elowen noted and pointed in the direction of the bakery. They began walking at a slow pace. "So I'm hoping you could tell me more about the inner workings of the Church. How was it that you came to be the Archmage and not somebody else? Perhaps, you even have an idea of who could be the new Archmage."

Melina thought about her days in the Church and how it all began. "I don't think I was chosen as an Archmage right away. I certainly didn't get any special treatment. Just like other commoner children who were discovered to have the System, I was placed in a room not so different from the one in the orphanage."

"In fact, I was treated worse than others initially, because I had no parents who could send me any money or clothes for support. So I was looked down on by my peers. The Church however, didn't care much for the internal squabbles of their apprentices and only cared for our skill. When I showed better aptitude for magic than others, I was placed in a more advanced group."

"So I kept climbing from one training group to the next, making my way up until I eventually was regarded as equal to even nobility. But it certainly wasn't a fast process. It took me years to climb this hierarchy that the Church had established."

"So they valued skill over everything else?" Elowen questioned.

"I believe it's better to call it fighting prowess. People who could do good support magic and healing were still regarded well, but they would never climb to the highest ranks. Meanwhile, those who weren't good at fighting couldn't advance at all, even if they were good at other things like crafting or cooking."

Elowen frowned. "It's like they are deliberately training soldiers. This is not how it is done among elves."

"How do you do it?" Melina asked curiously.

"When first awakened to the System, an elf goes to various training sessions for a wide variety of skills, including crafting, cooking, fighting, supporting, and so on. Some elves already have a good idea of what they excel at before they even awaken to the System and often just pursue their passion afterwards."

"So you must have more people with unusual classes. Have you heard of [Arcane Baker] perhaps?" Melina asked curiously.

"No, not that one. But I have met an [Arcane Cook] and [Arcane Tailor]," Elowen explained.

Melina felt a bit shocked. To think that such classes existed, but Melina hadn't even heard of them. It was scary how deeply the Church had ingrained the idea that everyone needed to pursue a combat class.

"So do you have any clue who could potentially become the new [Archmage]?" Elowen asked.

Melina thought about it for a moment. There had been several candidates who could have taken the position in her place. It was likely that one of these runner-ups would take her position this time around.

"I think I have an idea. But how does knowing that help us?" Melina asked.

"We'll remove them from the equation," Elowen said in a cold whisper.