Fortunately, Serah was on my side. With that in mind, I looked at the other three. They also nodded in response, flashing me their looks of support.

‘Alright! Looks like I still have their trust.’

“Fabian Lestrome and Damien Lawcroft, I would advise that you control your dissatisfactions. Believe it or not, the Elves are also doing their best to control themselves.”

Fabian instantly made to attack me with his words once more, but I raised my hand to shush him.

“I’ve had enough time to relax and collect my thoughts. I’ll be heading off to fetch the Elf Backup. That way, we can quicken the process of seeing the Queen.”

Fabian glared at me at that moment, but Damien quickly tapped the shoulder of his prince.

Somehow, that was able to shut Fabian up, as he only kept glaring and gritting his teeth at me.

“Now, then, if you’ll excuse me…” I opened the door to the room and left everyone behind.

For a moment, I got a slight headache, causing me to grab my head a bit.

‘Sigh…’

It had been a while since I functioned in a group where I had superiors and equals serving for the same cause.

The last time that happened was in my past life—when I was a member of the Heroes’ Party.

After getting reincarnated, I had established groups—especially during the Demonic Disturbance—but, I was the leader.

No one could question my orders, and they had no choice but to follow my rationale.

Unlike back then, things weren’t so simple.

‘I thought I would be able to handle it, but… I’m a bit rusty.’

Either way, I just had to endure for a while longer.

‘Let’s go find Freya…’

****************************

After walking down the corridor and turning to the right, I arrived at the lounge where I was told to stay once I was ready to depart.

When we concluded our meeting, they decided to show us to a temporary resting area where we could rest before a better place could be provided.

However, I told them not to bother preparing anywhere better.

After all, we weren’t going to be spending very long here.

Once that was settled, they took us to the area where everyone currently was. Freya told me to converse with my fellow group members, as well as gather my thoughts, before we headed to fetch the Backup that was sent.

I would have loved to go immediately, but I understood that her advice was also in consideration for her own end of the discussion.

She was probably also exhausted and needed time to prepare.

With that in mind, I decided to waste precious time doing nothing but listening to Fabian’s words of complaint, as well as Damien’s incessant support of his tantrums.

‘Well, maybe there was a little advantage of being there…’ I secretly smiled.

Once I entered the Lounge, I found no one there, so I sat and waited for the Princess. Since Freya heeded my suggestion, we would be going together.

Not long after, she arrived.

“I apologize for being late. Did you wait long?” She flashed me a smile.

It wasn’t entirely sincere, but the face behind it held no malice. That was enough for me.

“You should have been able to detect that, right? Is there any point in asking that, Princess?” I spoke, rising from my seat.

My question shocked her—both my brazenness and the truth I had just stated.

“What do you mean?” As expected, her words hardly faltered as she maintained her position.

“Please, Princess. I understand these things well enough. The Elf Race has a deep connection to their environment. Your connection to every nook and cranny of this place is more than enough to detect even the slightest movement.”

She must have been aware of how long I was waiting. That was most likely why she was already here so soon.

But, that wasn’t all…

“I have to apologize as well. Forgive my comrades for their rude statements concerning you and your people.” I bowed slightly.

I could sense it more clearly now—her flustered emotion.

“So, you knew…?” Freya whispered.

“Indeed.”

Since Elves had a special connection with their environment through Mana, they could easily monitor and listen in to conversations.

Damien’s Interference Magic was absolutely useless in the face of their deep connection to Mana.

As long as this was their territory, and Mana existed all around them, they could sense everything!

“Then, why did you not try to warn them? If you had used Telepathic Magic to warn your allies, we wouldn’t have been able to listen in to your conversation.”

Freya knew her stuff indeed.

That’s right! The Elves were listening to every single word spoken among us. All of Fabian’s complaints, every single inciting statement of Damien.

They heard everything.

“You are right. I could have… but didn’t.”

“Why? Are you not afraid to lose our goodwill?” Freya narrowed her gaze.

Sure, this was a perfect diplomatic card she could use against us. We couldn’t exactly say it was wrong for them to listen in to our conversations, considering the fact that we were in their territory.

These were factors well within my calculations.

“Not exactly. While we operated as a group, the ones who actually rescued you are Serah Crimson and me. Besides, only two members expressed dissatisfaction with you and your people.”

“But, one of them was your leader.”

“I admit he made an error in judgment, but I would like to appeal that his aggravated emotion was a severe misunderstanding on his part. I am certain your end also has some dissatisfactions with us as well.”

Once I said this, Freya gave me a piercing smile.

“You have quite a way with words, don’t you?”

For the first time since the conversation started, I was finally seeing the Elf beyond her diplomatic mask.

Her gaze was sharp and fearless, and her smile was brazen.

It wasn’t a bad look.

“Not at all. I just want what is best for everyone…”

“Really? And how exactly should we go about that?” At this point, Freya began moving closer to me.

‘Welp… there’s no going back from this point on. I might as well go for it!’