Free Web NovelAfternoon.
The blazing sun hung high in the sky, scorching and fierce.
After accompanying the slime mother and daughter for lunch, Aislin set off for Mirror Lake. Naturally, Vieya followed along as well.
She wasn’t worried about the elven princess failing halfway through her venture before it even took off; she was simply curious about the manifested afterimages of past Elven Queens.
If those afterimages, after tens of thousands of years, could still retain their own consciousness and cognition, then she felt she could be a bit more confident about resurrecting Flaviel.
“Aislin-sis, if you become the Elven Queen, will you also leave your own afterimage on that... whatever altar it is?” the slime asked curiously.
Aislin fell silent for a moment. Only after confirming that there was nothing but pure curiosity in Vieya’s eyes did she slowly speak,
“I’m sorry, but only Elven Queens who have died can leave an afterimage on the Moonlight Altar. If you want to see my afterimage there, first I’d have to ascend the throne, then wait tens of thousands of years until the day I die of old age—or if I meet an accident and die midway. Only then would you be able to see my afterimage.”
The explanation was very detailed. Next time, please don’t explain.
Vieya wisely shut her mouth, realizing she had asked something she really shouldn’t have.
Who in their right mind would, on the night before someone’s college entrance exam, ask whether they planned to tighten screws or become one in the future?
Mirror Lake.
It was a lake located at the center of the forest, so clear it was like a mirror, reflecting blue skies, white clouds, and layered green mountains. That was why the elves had, for generations, called it Mirror Lake.
“Huh, why is it so cold by this lake?” Vieya rubbed her arms and looked around.
Despite being an important examination site, there wasn’t a single elf in sight. The shores on both sides of Mirror Lake were overgrown with weeds, and towering trees grew wildly, their branches and leaves blocking out the sky. At a glance, it was obvious no elf had come to trim or maintain the place for a long time.
Seeming to notice the curiosity in the slime’s eyes, Aislin didn’t wait for her to ask this time and explained in advance,
“The смена of Elven Queens in our race takes a very long time—at the shortest, several hundred years; at the longest, several thousand. So normally, very few elves come here.”
“Even so, they should at least clean it up for the few days when it’s needed...” Vieya’s lips twitched.
“In principle, yes.” Aislin nodded, then shook her head. “But recently, the elven race has been celebrating the Starlight Dew Festival. Everyone needs to rest and relax, to leave time for themselves. Besides, there are elders here—”
“...That sounds amazing. I want to be an elf too,” Vieya was momentarily left speechless.
This time, however, Aislin didn’t pick up her words. Instead, she quickened her pace.
The next second—
A great elf with beautiful silver-gray hair appeared in front of them, yawning as she scribbled something into a small notebook.
“Eh, this elf with really heavy dark circles looks familiar. Haven’t we seen her somewhere... in that quest reception office?” Vieya asked.
“She’s the guardian here, the grand clan elder of the [Ba] Clan. When you meet her, you should call her Sister Kui,” Aislin replied.
With that, Aislin proactively went over to greet the gray-haired elf, confirm identities, and register information.
“Oh, Her Highness the Princess arrived quite early.”
Kui rubbed her eyes. [N O V E L I G H T] Her voice was drowsy and muddled, yet gentle.
“Your Highness is the first to arrive... sigh. Elves these days are really getting lazier and lazier. They can’t even show up early for an assessment—dragging their feet, lacking ambition. With elves like this allowed to participate in the queen’s election... sigh, how are we supposed to manage the future of our Elven Royal Court?”
The gray-haired elf sighed again and again.
“That’s why, among this generation of elves, the one I’m most optimistic about is you. Coming diligently to take quests even so late—honorable Princess, you must win.”
“Thank you. I’ll do my best.”
Receiving praise and affirmation from an elder, Aislin sounded happy, her mood brightening.
“But this is all thanks to my good friend Vieya. Sister Kui, let me introduce you...”
After that, the two elves engaged in quite a bit of friendly chatter, even steering the topic toward the slime.
Watching this scene, Vieya cast a sidelong glance. This elven race really was blessed by land and people—there were lazy dogs, and there were corporate slaves too.
Seeing that there was still more than half an hour before the official start, Kui left behind a wooden clone and personally led Aislin and Vieya around to familiarize them with the venue, introducing the angles from which the afterimages posed questions during past elections.
Opening a back door—blatantly opening a back door.
Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye. All ten elves were present. To Vieya’s surprise, Sul arrived right on the dot.
But what was even stranger was that Sul hurried over, whispered something to Kui, the chief examiner in charge of this assessment, and then hurriedly ran off again, leaving Mirror Lake.
Did something happen over at the Elven Royal Court? Vieya looked in the direction Sul left, sinking into thought.
A moment later, Kui stepped forward and announced to all elves that the head of the [Yan] Clan, Sul, had withdrawn from this assessment and given up her candidacy for the position of Elven Queen.
Hearing this, the elves stirred briefly, but quickly quieted down again, devoting themselves fully to the trial at hand.
The next second— freewёbnoνel.com
The ground trembled. A stone altar slowly rose from the bottom of Mirror Lake. Hazy moonlight descended in broad daylight, falling from the sky like countless silver-white ribbons carrying mist, draping down. Dreamlike, fantastical, incomparably beautiful.
At this moment, the sky looked like a gradient oil painting. Fiery gold and sacred silver intertwined, dyeing the clouds, as if a god of painting were splashing pigments across the heavens, creating at will!
In an instant, the vicious golden sun was completely cut off by the moonlight.
The ancient altar emerged from the center of Mirror Lake. The water on it rapidly evaporated and vanished, as though licked away by some invisible existence.
Aislin’s consciousness stalled for a moment. When she came back to herself, all the other elves beside her had disappeared—and Vieya, who had been standing next to her, was gone as well.
At the same time—
The voices of past Elven Queens sounded from all directions. Pleasant and melodious, rich with rhythm and cadence, they were like chanting, like a grand symphony, and yet also like questioning—
“—Why do you covet the crown?”
Aislin abruptly turned around, meeting the eyes of one Elven Queen after another. They stood silently around the altar, encircling Aislin in the center. Their gazes were calm and gentle, as if in expectation— fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
“—What are you willing to relinquish for your people?”
......
“So... does this mean their trial has already begun?” Vieya frowned.
The nine elves present were now all shrouded in radiance, like glowing cocoons of light.
She wanted to reach out and touch them, but was stopped by Kui.
“Every drop of water in Mirror Lake is high-concentration Truth Dew. Like water, it can evaporate into the air and then be absorbed by elves through breathing.”
Kui explained softly. “That is to say, their trials have begun. Disturbing them now might cause the trial to be interrupted.”
“Eh? It already started...”
Vieya looked disappointed.
“I thought I’d be able to see those afterimages of past Elven Queens too, maybe even talk with them.”
Why would you want to talk with the afterimages of past Elven Queens? You’re not here to run for the throne.
Kui found this very strange.
She didn’t speak, but her eyes had already asked the question she wanted to ask—
【Aren’t you here to accompany the Princess?】
Perhaps her gaze was too meaningful. Vieya also lifted her head to look at Kui, her expression innocent as she said,
“Being able to speak face-to-face with the past sages of the elven race counts as one of my small wishes. What, is there a problem with that?”
“No.”
After a long silence, Kui finally replied to Vieya in a dry, reluctant voice,
“...No problem.”
