История Королевы Эльфов / The story of the Elf Queen: Глава четырнадцатая. Отдых Героя Королевы Эльфов

Chapter fourteen. Rest of the Hero of the Elven Queen

Camrad_RIP 04.04.25 в 18:14

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Camrad_RIP 04.04.25 в 18:14

The spacious and secure office where the top brass of the Secret Guard Corps met to search for Master had become almost a second workplace for Sivila. The Queen of the Forest spent more time in it than she did in her home office. The fact that it wasn't just for her was little consolation. In addition to Sivila, the next urgent and unscheduled meeting was attended by nearly a third of the Forest's top leadership, who had been forced to postpone their current affairs. Sitting in the center of the large conference table, First, clasping his hands together in front of him and staring intently at the volumetric projection of the “Guest”, said in a dry and infinitely tired voice:

Camrad_RIP 11.04.25 в 17:13

"So, let's sum it up. What do we have?"

Camrad_RIP 08.04.25 в 17:31

Looking around at her relatives gathered at the table, who were in no hurry to speak, Sivila coughed and said:

Camrad_RIP 08.04.25 в 17:31

"First. Master is alive. Second, he knows that the "Guest" is alive. Third. For some reason, he decided to tell us about it by sending a message using the power of the Soul Tablet."

Camrad_RIP 08.04.25 в 17:32

First, who still hadn’t taken his eyes off the projection of the “Guest”, asked laconically:

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"Conclusions?"

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The Queen exchanged glances with the Elder Enchantress sitting next to her, and she cautiously suggested:

Camrad_RIP 08.04.25 в 17:36

"Perhaps the power of the Soul Tablet had gone to his head too much and he had become overconfident?"

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"Or, he want to provoke us into some kind of response" Ziandar suggested.

Camrad_RIP 08.04.25 в 17:38

"Or, he wanted to provoke the "Guest" to certain actions, taking into account... the "peculiarities" of the gift sent," Darendil suggested.

Camrad_RIP 08.04.25 в 17:44

After listening silently to a few more suggestions, First asked briefly:

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"What do you say?"

Camrad_RIP 08.04.25 в 17:42

Third, who was sitting to his right and was also carefully examining the projection of the "Guest", said slowly and thoughtfully:

Camrad_RIP 08.04.25 в 17:44

"I don't like all this. I really don't like it."

Camrad_RIP 08.04.25 в 17:45

First, who nodded to himself barely noticeably, continued to say briefly:

Camrad_RIP 08.04.25 в 17:45

"Explain."

Camrad_RIP 08.04.25 в 17:45

His student and protégé looked at the other elves, who were looking at him with interest, with a keen gaze and began to explain:

Camrad_RIP 08.04.25 в 17:48

This whole situation looks, in my opinion, very strange and completely illogical. After the battle with the Terror of Diyarten, which almost ended in disaster for us and our allies, Master's fate was not known for sure. We assumed that he had either died or managed to escape, but there was no guaranteed confirmation of either. And none of our allies, who are also searching for him, could say anything about it with certainty.

Camrad_RIP 11.04.25 в 17:14

Leaning back in his chair, Third continued to develop his thought:

Camrad_RIP 08.04.25 в 17:48

"We've been searching hard all this time. We did a lot of work. But there were no results. No trace, no leads. Nothing. Suppose Master survived and managed to escape through the portal. What is the most logical and correct thing for him to do?"

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Sivila, who had already understood what Third was getting at, answered in a thoughtful voice:

Camrad_RIP 08.04.25 в 17:49

"Lay low."

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The current Head of the Secret Guard nodded in agreement:

Camrad_RIP 08.04.25 в 17:50

"Exactly. Find yourself as safe a hiding place as you can and lay low. Wait for everyone to believe he's really dead. Wait for the search to die down. At the same time, he would gradually master the power of the Soul Tablet and accumulate its gifts. With the powers he already had, he would be able to entrench himself in the right place for a few years, so that he would be no easier to smoke out than Reistar the Apostate from his Dark Tower."

Camrad_RIP 11.04.25 в 17:19

First, who had been listening to his student, continued to look at the projection of the “Guest” and again nodded faintly to himself, while Third continued:

Camrad_RIP 11.04.25 в 17:20

"But instead, he suddenly sends “The Guest”, and in fact all of us, a message. And one that's so, uh. strange, let's call it. I could still understand the secret offer of negotiation. I could understand the threat to stop looking for him and stalking him. But something like this... outright mockery? It just doesn't make sense. Giving away your survival just for the sake of mockery? It's not even stupidity, it's sheer insanity. It doesn't fit with what we know about Master."

Camrad_RIP 11.04.25 в 17:21

The frowning Elder Enchantress, shifting her gaze from First to Third, asked in a strained voice:

Camrad_RIP 11.04.25 в 17:21

"What are you trying to say?"

Camrad_RIP 11.04.25 в 17:22

Throwing a brief glance at his mentor, Third said in a confident voice:

Camrad_RIP 11.04.25 в 17:23

"Perhaps the message was not from Master."

Camrad_RIP 08.04.25 в 17:50

There was silence in the office. A very tense silence. The corners of First's lips trembled faintly, forming a distant semblance of a smile. Or maybe it was just the play of shadows on his aged face. Meanwhile, Third continued to develop his thought:

Camrad_RIP 11.04.25 в 17:23

"Yes, I agree, it seems, at first glance, rather absurd. But what do we know for sure? Only one thing. “Guest” received an anonymous gift and a message from another owner of the Soul Tablet. That's it. There was no signature on the message. There's no way to know who “The Guest” said it was from. So how can we be sure it was from Master? There's no proof of that."

Camrad_RIP 11.04.25 в 17:24

The silence in the study became even more tense. Mirael asked incredulously, glancing at the queen and her fellow magicians:

Camrad_RIP 11.04.25 в 17:24

"Are you now really suggesting that there is someone else endowed with the Soul Tablet besides Master and the Guest?"

Camrad_RIP 11.04.25 в 17:26

Third nodded briefly in response:

Camrad_RIP 11.04.25 в 17:27

I'm not ruling out that possibility. Yes, I agree, it is negligible, but we cannot dismiss it as impossible until we get convincing evidence to the contrary. Just as I don't rule out the possibility that the Tablet's power really did intoxicate the Master so much that his self-confidence exceeded all common sense and caution. And so he decided to, uh... to taunt the Guest and challenge us at the same time.

Camrad_RIP 11.04.25 в 17:27

Silent sighs and barely audible curses and swear words, even to elven ears, were interrupted by First's voice, in which there was barely audible approval:

Camrad_RIP 11.04.25 в 17:28

"I see that you have learned something after all."

Camrad_RIP 14.04.25 в 09:38

Looking around the rest of the elves at the table with a cold and endlessly tired gaze, he continued in a dry voice:

Camrad_RIP 14.04.25 в 09:38

"From this moment and until we can reliably find out who sent the message to the "Guest", we will also consider the version that there is another owner of the Tablet."

Camrad_RIP 14.04.25 в 09:38

Turning to his student, he began to give instructions:

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Have the analysts check the reports of our intelligence agents working in the lands of the lesser races over the past few months. Have them look first for any unusual occurrences. As a reference point, let them rely on the selected examples of the most common patterns of behavior of other-worlders, which I have prepared. Guests from other worlds, who have received the power of the Soul Tablet, almost inevitably leave behind them noticeable traces. They gain power, in one form or another. If there is someone else besides the ‘Guest’ and Master, he or she should have most likely left traces behind.

Camrad_RIP 11.04.25 в 17:29

"It won't be easy, the analytical teams are already very busy, and it will take a lot of time to process all the reports we've received over the past few months," Third said thoughtfully, already estimating the amount of work to be done.

Camrad_RIP 11.04.25 в 17:31

"Then they'll have to do their best,“ said First, ”We should also instruct our intelligence agents to send separate reports on any unusual occurrences that they may have heard of but didn't mention because they weren't related to their work...."

Camrad_RIP 11.04.25 в 17:32

"Honorable First..."

Camrad_RIP 08.04.25 в 17:51

The Supreme Emissary's voice was full of respect, but extremely firm. Looking carefully into the eyes of First who turned to him, the chief diplomat of the Forest continued:

Camrad_RIP 09.04.25 в 19:19

"With all my boundless respect for your expertise, it seems to me that you are looking for secret meaning where none exists. What are the odds of even one otherworlder showing up in Beriadon? Extremely small. The likelihood of two at once is negligible, especially without us noticing. So I'm personally inclined to think that the message came from Master. Especially given its, uh... content."

Camrad_RIP 11.04.25 в 17:33

After looking carefully at the rest of his colleagues, the Supreme Emissary continued:

Camrad_RIP 08.04.25 в 17:53