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“Well that’s because the room they were in had a bunch of magical arrays installed that could transmit images and sounds.” Paliseth broke into a cheeky grin as she said that. “You have no idea how much effort I had to go through to get those arrays from the Wood Elves…”

“So you’re saying that you were there with them from start to finish…”

Paliseth merely nodded to that, and I couldn’t help but answer with my own silence as well.

I had to admit, her way of thinking was borderline stalker, and she even succeeded too…

“Wait, so why didn’t you stop them then?”

“Why should I stop them? Letting Jezsere out into the world might even cause her to mature.”

“I…” I just want to say: that’s awfully big-hearted of you. But I guess she did come back in the end, I can’t deny that. In that case, she’s kind of right…

“I also dispatched some of my elite spies to tail them. They were equipped with magical tools to help disguise themselves when they infiltrated the Western Human Realms so the surveillance wasn’t an issue at all. I even told them to pretend to be pursuers and periodically leak out rumors of their pursuit. All to simulate a sense of urgency. They even faked a few fights to reinforce this point too. Later on, I learnt that the two of them came to a rest at a human village. That was when I had the spies halt their antics for a moment, seeing as they seemed to have taken a liking to that place.”

I… I… Those spies you keep talking about… aren’t they assassins? The world famous Dark Elven assassins that were rumored to be able to kill anyone below the level of a Demigod? So you sent a bunch of world-class assassins to stalk your kids…

Naturally, saying that the assassins groomed by the Dark Elves could kill anyone below the level of a Demigod was slightly exaggerating. Killing an Overlord level target was still an extremely difficult task. If an assassin was tenacious and proficient enough, there was bound to be a time when even an Overlord would let his guard down. However, that didn’t mean they would want to do that either. The fact of the matter was that Overlords were extremely powerful beings. If the Dark Elves routinely hunt down such beings, it would easily earn them the collective ire of every other Overlord.

“My little son, Reyage, is definitely a genius, but he still isn’t strong enough to stand up against an Eight-star assassin, and certainly not a whole squad of them.”

That remark was to remind me that if she really wanted to hunt them down, there was no way they would ever survive for over a year like that.

To be honest, ever since coming into contact with the Shadowhunter Clan, I was starting to realise how unusual Reyage and Jezsere’s stint in Plateau Village was. Given how efficient and merciless these Dark Elves were, there was no way those siblings could ever hide out in a single spot for so long without being found. In fact, I was starting to suspect that Reyage realised this as well, and only Jezsere was still in the dark about this. Why else would that sister-loving Dark Elf allow his beloved little sister to return to the Underdepths so easily, even if they had my medium.

Now that I had grasped the basic facts of their journey in the Western Human Realms, it was time to answer another burning question of mine.

“There’s another matter I would like to ask about as well.” I looked Paliseth right in the eyes and said, “why wasn’t Jezsere the one conducting my summoning ritual?”

“Well… I might have gathered some information about your holiness’s strangeness amongst Devils, but I still wasn’t too comfortable with letting her take this risk…” She smiled apologetically at that point. “My intentions were to first subjugate whatever Devil it was that came out, then hand it over to Jezsere. I ended up summoning your holiness in the end and the rest is as your holiness knows…”

‘The rest’ referred to me being turned into a sacrifice for Lolthe and somehow ending up as her godson… no wonder there’s a saying: nothing is certain in life. Anyway, even if the story isn’t exactly as she says, there’s no way for me to tell at this point. So there’s no point wracking my brain over this matter. But how exactly is Jezsere going to deal with being a Matriarch? Putting aside the question of the Clan’s future development, there was a more basic question of whether or not she is even safe in that position.

“I know what your holiness is worried about, but Paliseth has actually made plans before coming to this decision.” While I might not have said anything yet, she could tell from a glance what my next question was. “In actuality, I had already planned for Reyage to do the actual management once Jezsere takes up power. To that end, I’ve groomed a number of trusted subordinates that can support Reyage.”

Support Reyage? Don’t you mean Jezsere? I get it now, so your plan is actually to have Reyage be the true clan leader!

“So you want Jezsere to be the leader on the surface while Reyage is actually the one who holds the power.”

“That’s basically it. Because of our customs and all that…”

The customs of the Dark Elves…

The Dark Elves had always been a matriarchal society. Males were technically not slaves, but they weren’t exactly the most respected either -truly an awkward position to be in.

Unlike the humans, it was the females who held the power, both literally and figuratively. Dark Elven females tended to be more talented than their male counterparts and also formed the bulk of the population. I found that last point to be particularly interesting. Back on Earth, under the star-spangled red banner, this gender disparity was reversed and had led to females enjoying more leeway than they otherwise would have -what’s the saying again? The monks are many but the porridge scarce, if you snooze, you lose.

The opposite was true for the Dark Elves. Their females did not have to necessarily mate with their males, a humanoid shape was the only requirement… and sometimes that wasn’t even a requirement. Since they were weaker and not necessary as well, the males in Dark Elven society truly had an awkward position even at the best of times.

“But if you Dark Elves are against a male leading the clan, how can you be sure that those trusted subordinates of yours will even be loyal to Reyage?” To be honest, having a bunch of treacherous-by-nature female Dark Elves serve a male whom they looked down upon just didn’t sound like a feasible plan. The fact was that males were despised in their society.

At that point, Paliseth’s expression became a little stiff. There was that same expression of longing and resentment I had seen in her not too long ago.

“To be frank… those trusted subordinates were all chosen because of one commonality… they had all seen my husband’s colosseum matches… some had even fought with him in the ring…”

“Your husband?”

“Solar.”

“…” Alright, that’s reason enough for me then. I totally get it. This is Solar-sama we are talking about. Of course, he can easily handle a bunch of Dark Elf females. In fact, why did I even question this plan? Solar-sama is a god amongst men! The manliest of the Chads! I should start taking notes on this. Maybe it might come out in the next exam.

“So you’re pushing the idea of Reyage being his father’s replacement?”

“The both of them look very similar… except for their hair colors…” Paliseth lowered her head and left those words hanging. In all likelihood, she was beginning to miss her husband again.

At the very least, the whole story made sense now. Jezsere was to only be a figurehead while the true target of this convoluted plan was Reyage.

Her plan was to make use of the fact that Solar once mesmerized the Dark Elves to push Reyage’s leadership as a pseudo-replacement for his father’s presence. This plan which wouldn’t have been out of place in a harem novel was to continue until he had solidified his position, at which point Jezsere could just step down for her talented older brother.

Ah Solar-sama… saving the day without even being here…

“In short, you’re trying to create a Dark Elven King?”

Paliseth smiled slyly and said no more.

To which I had this to say: please stop smiling, it’s giving me goosebumps…

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

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If you liked my work translating Devil’s Evolution Catalog, feel free to check out Song of Adolescence. Also, every comment is appreciated even though I might not reply. I do read them.