Taste of Magic: Ambassador's Voice

Elowen's grip loosened from the strike of the invisible knife, and his sword fell to the ground. Melina inadvertently rushed forward, her mind trying to think of a way to protect the elf and reveal the hidden spy simultaneously.

But Knight reacted before her, letting out an angry snarl and kicking into seemingly empty space. However, his hooves connected with something, as evidenced by a pained grunt and a loud thump against one of the nearby walls. Alistair charged into the space where the invisible spy was and struck with his sword.

There was a scream, and as blood gushed around Alistair's sword, the spy became visible again. It turned out that Alistair had driven his sword through his arm, keeping him in place.

"We have you now," the nobleman snarled.

"Never!" The spy spat and tried to kick Alistair.

He jumped back but left his sword embedded in the spy's arm. Knight angrily and mercilessly stomped down on the spies' legs. At this point, Melina was rushing towards the scene as quickly as she could. She knew that if the spy felt that he was cornered, he would kill himself.

So before he could do that, she pushed past Knight and Alistair and pressed her palm against the spy's forehead. His eyes opened wide, and she saw that his jaw clenched. He was about to bite down on a suicide pill. But she wouldn't let him—she flooded his body mana. Such a sudden intrusion made his muscles spasm and seize up.

"Quickly! Stuff his mouth!" She commanded, while continuing to pour mana into his body.

Alistair grabbed one of the clothes that the spy had previously discarded, made it into a tight ball, and stuffed it in his mouth, so he couldn't move it at all. He then removed his sword and grabbed both of the spy's arms from behind. At this point, Melina released him and backed away.

The spy was thrown to the ground, and Alistair pressed his knee into his back and held his arm, so he wouldn't be able to move anymore.

"Got him!" He announced.

Melina let out a sigh of relief, then turned to Elowen, who was clutching at his shoulder.

"How bad is it? Is it poisoned?" Melina asked nervously, checking the wound. She didn't dare to remove the dagger, in case it would cause more bleeding.

"Yeah… System says it's poisoned…" he muttered weakly, his complexion growing increasingly more pale.

"Dammit! We need to get to the Guild!" Melina huffed, then sent a mental signal to Sienna.

The wyrm was next to her within a minute, an echo of disappointed grunts resounding behind her. Remi followed closely behind.

"What happened?" The elf asked, looking at the scene in horror.

"We caught the spy, but Elowen is poisoned!" Melina explained, beckoning Sienna to lie down. She guided Elowen onto her back, then sat behind him.

"Can I help here?" Remi asked.

"Run ahead to the Guild and explain the situation to the Guildmaster!" Alistair said. Remi nodded and ran off.

Meanwhile, Alistair secured the struggling spy with some rope and hauled him onto Knight's back. Once he was ready, they took off. Melina did her best to hold Elowen stable, but she could feel how he was growing weaker by the minute. They needed an antidote and quickly.

The question was whether they'd even have the antidote. Melina still hadn't been able to create anything that could deal with potent poisons, only minor ones. Her stomach lurched with worry, but all she could do was pray that the Guild had an antidote in stock.

The townspeople watched in horror as the two of them dashed past. However, they also made sure to move aside, allowing them to reach the Guild quickly. The Guildmaster, along with a group of armed adventurers, was already waiting for them.

They grabbed the spy right away, adding another layer of bindings on him and then dragging him away.

"Seriously, you two! This spy has been here for a long time, and nobody has done anything. Why do you guys make this mess today? And what happened to Elowen?"

"Poison! We need to take care of it quickly!" Melina said, trying to gently get him off Sienna's back.

But he staggered and nearly fell. Thankfully, Alistair managed to catch him before then.

"Somebody, go get Heilia!" The Guildmaster commanded, and Remi rushed away.

Melina and Alistair guided Elowen to the infirmary, carefully laying him down on the bed. At this point, he was fading in and out of consciousness, sweat forming on his skin. The poison was working quickly.

"Bring any antidotes we have," the Guildmaster barked.

One of the nurses soon came, holding several bottles and Melina's healing waffles.

"Is this the best we have?" Arianne asked in shock.

"There have been a lot of poisonous monsters coming from the Monster Realm lately. We've used up the best antidotes for this month."

The Guildmaster cursed, muttering something about the lack of supplies. The nurses, meanwhile, got to work. They pulled out the dagger, instantly pouring the potion over the wound. The other nurse first gave Elowen one of the antidotes, then made him eat Melina's healing waffle.

"Elowen, are you still poisoned?" Melina asked nervously. She could see that the wound had closed up nicely, but would the weak antidote effect on her waffles be enough?

"Y-Yes," the elf muttered, his body shivering.

"Dammit! We need better supplies!" The Guildmaster cursed.

Melina felt partially guilty. She should have found the time to create that antidote pastry. She'd been so focused on the reopening that she's been putting it off. But it was clear that Sunglow needed it.

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Thankfully, Heilia arrived at the Guild infirmary soon after and took over the healing process. Using some herbs as well as her healing ability, she was able to purge the poison from Elowen's body. Unfortunately, it did leave him severely weakened, and he fell unconscious soon after.

The Guildmaster commanded Melina and Alistair into her office. Melina, meanwhile, asked Barrett to fetch the suitcase from the bakery.

"Okay, now tell me, why did you decide to attack this guy? Did you not think that the Church might not be happy about one of their people being attacked? This could bring big problems to Sunglow," the Guildmaster asked.

"Because the Church knows too much. We've basically confirmed that Bishop Heiliger remembers the past timeline and is actively working to realize her vision again," Melina said, and then explained the incident in Pertia with Adrien. She told her about the conversation she had with the spy this morning.

"Even so, capturing him brutally like this is going overboard. You scared half the town! I mean, they're no Church supporters, but nobody has ever dared to attack them directly like this," Arianne growled.

"I believe you'll realize that we didn't have much of a choice once Barrett brings the suitcase," Alistair said.

They didn't have to wait long. Soon, there was a knock on the door, and Barrett came to him, carrying the aforementioned suitcase.

"Alright, let's see what's so bad about this," Guildmaster said, and began looking through it.

Melina and Alistair remained silent, allowing her to absorb the information. The frown on her forehead grew increasingly deeper the more she read.

"What the hell? This guy has been writing down everything! He even knows about Master Gilbert and about you. I thought he'd just glean some surface-level information, but he even knows the inner workings of the Guild. How?!" Arianne growled, slamming the papers down on her table.

"I don't know how, but I think it is certain that the Church is planning to do something in Sunglow. After seeing these detailed reports and accounts, we decided that it was for the best that the Church never received them," Melina said.

"Not to mention that we could try to interrogate the spy for information. He may know something about their plans. He tried to kill himself, the moment it was clear that he couldn't overpower us," Alistair added.

Guildmaster Arianne pressed her chin into her hands, her mind clearly thinking through the information presented to her. After a moment of heavy silence, she finally nodded. "Yes, you're right. We need to find out what they're trying to do. But we can't take on the Church with just our own. Captain, you must get in contact with your father and tell him everything that happened here."

Alistair frowned, but nodded. Melina knew that he didn't want to get in contact with his father if he could help it. But Sunglow was under Duke Sinclair's jurisdiction. He needed to know about what was happening here.

"Alright, you two are dismissed! We'll try to see what we can get out of the spy," Arianna said, rubbing her temples.

They rose to leave, but then the Guildmaster spoke up again. "Oh, and Melina, we need some serious antidotes. The supplies we receive aren't enough with the increased monster activity. Heck, even if we need to, my fighters can't keep chugging potions every day. Ideally, I'd like something to prevent them from getting hurt in the first place."

Melina thought about it for a moment. Something to protect them. Some potions could boost defenses and even create an impenetrable layer of mana around a person for a short while. But could she recreate something like that in pastry form? She didn't even have the ingredients.

"I'd have to head into the Monster Realm again," she said.

Alistair instantly objected. "It's far too dangerous! Who knows what Monster Lord will do if you set foot there?"

"I know we're asking a lot, but the situation isn't going to get any better. We need more fighters, more supplies. Any little bit helps. I'm ready to send my best fighters to help you secure the ingredients," Arianne said.

"Melina!" Alistair warned.

"We'll talk this out," Melina said to the Guildmaster, while gently pushing Alistair towards the exit.

While she knew that convincing him would be difficult, she had to acquire the ingredients somehow. Perhaps, if she prepared well in advance, she'd be able to slip into the Monster Realm and get what she needed. Melina knew it was a stretch. The confrontation with Monster Lord was almost inevitable the moment she appeared in the Monster Realm.

But she couldn't just stand by and watch Sunglow struggle. Especially when there was a good chance that it would be wiped out.

"Leliana, won't you tell me… What happened to your hometown?" Elowen asked the red-haired woman.

They were sitting at the campfire, the scenery around them dark. Leaves on nearby trees were brown, many of them shriveled up before even having a chance to grow to the proper size. The grass was short and yellow, and the land was dry.

"Why are you suddenly asking me that? It was such a long time ago," Leliana responded, poking the firewood with a stick. Elowen could see the fire reflecting in her tired eyes.

"I'm just hoping to make sense of when this whole mess started. It was before the Realms were split apart, right?" He prompted.

Leliana let out a heavy sigh. "I still don't really understand what happened. It was a day just like any other. Middle of the summer. My sisters had gone to the market to buy groceries for dinner. I was working in the fields."

She clenched her fist and let out another deep sigh. "Then suddenly there was a loud noise, like an explosion. After that came a powerful shockwave which knocked me off my feet. Sand and debris were flying everywhere for a good while. I didn't dare to get off the ground, worried that something might strike me."

"Once it settled down, my first thought was to search for my sisters. But when I looked up, Sunglow was… no more. The end of the street where the houses of our neighbors stood wasn't there anymore. Instead, it was replaced by a completely foreign scenery."

"I don't know how long I went through those crazy forests, trying to find any semblance of Sunglow I knew. But all the people, except for those living on the very outskirts, disappeared. In their place came monsters. The Guild was gone. There was nobody left to defend us. When the Church came, we hoped that they'd help us. But they only made everything worse…"

A lone teardrop rolled down her cheeks and fell onto her hand. Elowen reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, stroking it in a soothing motion. Her teardrops kept falling, but he didn't ask any more questions.

With a jolt, Elowen woke up, finding himself in the Guild Infirmary. It took a moment for him to ground himself from the memory—it had been so vivid. He could still smell the decay of the dying world in his control. Still feel the gentle shaking of Leliana's body.

"You're awake!" Leliana said, moving closer to the bed. She had been sitting on a stool next to his bed. It was a relief to see her young face again, devoid of that pain that was ever present with Leliana in his memories.

"How long was I out?" Elowen asked, remembering the whole incident with the spy. Melina and Alistair had managed to capture him in the end. But Elowen wished he had been more careful. He should have known that the spy would have a way to stay hidden. How else could he have obtained all that information unnoticed?

"About a day," Leliana noted, then brought out a box. Inside was an array of Melina's pastries—cream puffs, muffins, and a lamb pastry. "Eat these. You'll feel better."

Elowen realized that he felt quite hungry. He ate the lamb pastry first, letting the meaty filling sate his hunger. After that, he ate the cream puff and muffin. One successfully got rid of any residual pain, while the other instantly made him feel more alive, rather than an elf with one foot in the grave.

"Feeling better now?" Leliana asked.

"Yes. Has anything happened while I was asleep?" He asked, hoping to understand how the townspeople reacted to the sudden capture of the Church spy.

"Well, Erina is throwing a huge party to celebrate the capture of the spy. Everyone is more fired up than ever to resist the Church. Everyone's talking about how we could get rid of their expedition when it comes later this summer," Leliana explained.

Elowen furrowed his brow. Sunglowers rallying behind their cause was a good thing, of course. However, their being so openly hostile towards Church officials wasn't good. It could easily lead to a bloody conflict. Judging from the memory he just saw, the Church was never inclined to save people in the Sunglow from the Monster Realm anyway.

Although Leliana had remained vague, the fact that they chose not to help Sunglowers after the passageway went berserk spoke volumes about their true intentions. He had to inform Melina, Sinclair, and Guildmaster that a passageway near Sunglow will be built sometime in the future. He wouldn't let Leliana lose her family again.