The Magic Empire for 20,000 years

Chapter 34, Section 33: Jingjing (Spiritual Spirit)
"Which three chiefs are missing?" Thor asked anxiously.

"Yes... the chief of the Evolution School, Lord Gutt. The chief of the Transformation School, Lord Helen. The chief of the Protection School, Lord Card."

The subordinate saw General Saul suddenly rise from his seat and answer tremblingly.
"It was actually the three of them."

"Now we're in trouble!"

Thor knew that these three were among the most vocal critics in the Imperial Council regarding Elian's reforms and the popularization of magic among the common people.

Thor remembered that a few months ago, when His Majesty Elion proposed in the council to lead troops to wipe out the orc tribes, the chiefs all adopted a "let's watch the show" attitude.

They were clearly waiting for Elion to suffer a defeat in the war, resulting in heavy casualties among the Empire's elite battle mages!

Using this as a pretext, they made a big fuss and forced Elion to resign from his positions as "Supreme Mage" and "Arcane Emperor".

Saul estimated that if Elian did not submit, they might join forces to subdue him or assassinate him secretly.

To everyone's delight, under Elion's command, the battle mages managed to drive out the orc clans that had plagued Eldoron for three centuries with almost no casualties, achieving an unprecedented victory in the history of the empire!

Moreover, in the past six months, Elion himself has been with himself and his other mage guards almost the entire time, and has never been alone.

For all this time, His Majesty Elion has not encountered any accidents, and the teaching at the Surface Magic School has been quite smooth.

The reforms are progressing smoothly. In many schools, students have already successfully performed zero-ring spells, and it's only a matter of time before they become official first-ring mages.

Therefore, Thor gradually felt relieved.

He believes that even the opponents have probably given up their original ideas and accepted reality.

Unexpectedly, now...

"How could this be? His Majesty's reforms have been in place for more than half a year now, and most of the dissenting voices have gradually disappeared!"

"Why would they want to make a move at this critical juncture!"

Thor was extremely anxious—

Of the three chiefs, Gutt and Helen are both ninth-ring archmages, and Kade is a top-tier eighth-ring mage. They are practically the three strongest members of the Imperial Council besides Elion!
He tried to send a message to Elian using magic, but to no avail, so he summoned a subordinate skilled in divination:
"Quickly, find out where His Majesty El-Erian is right now."

"His Majesty must be found immediately!"

The subordinate immediately took out a crystal ball and began chanting a spell.

However, the surface of the crystal ball was covered only by a hazy gray mist, making it difficult to see clearly.

"No, Lord Thor. No information can be detected."

"Perhaps His Majesty El-Erian himself blocked the detection, or perhaps there is some other force interfering..."

"Damn it!" Thor paced anxiously around the room.

"His Majesty El-Erian is in grave danger!"

"Immediately gather a team of mid-to-high-level mages and come with me to the surface."

"We must find His Majesty El-Erian before he meets with any mishap!"

……

Elian led little Grete down from the brilliant night sky and landed in front of a village.

"This is the westernmost village of Eldoron—the Elf Village."

"Elf Village?" Little Gret found the name very strange. "Are all the people living here elves?"

He had heard from bards and his teacher Joseph that elves were a noble race born with magical powers, possessing long lifespans and considering themselves extraordinary.

Centuries ago, it was some idle people among the elves who, with the intention of playing with monkeys, taught magic to humans.

Elian shook his head:

"No. The people in the village are all humans just like you."

Seeing the puzzled look on little Gretel's face, Elian led him a little closer.

Standing on the hill, they could see in the distance that the sparse pedestrians in the village at night were indeed human.

But most of these humans had sharp, elongated ornaments covering their ears, making them look like long ears. "What are they?"

Little Greta was increasingly confused.

El-Erian explained:

"As the westernmost village of Eldoron, Elf Village is closest to the Western Elf Royal Court, and therefore has seen elves with its own eyes."

"The people of the elven village believe that humans are a lowly race, lacking innate magic and extraordinary lifespan, without strong physique or superhuman dexterity, and most importantly, without the protection of a racial deity!"

"And elves are the noblest race."

"Therefore, they adorned their ears, imitating the pointed ears of elves, and learned the diet and culture of elves, imitating elves everywhere."

"They believed that as long as they devoted their lives to worshipping and imitating elves, their souls could enter the elven kingdom and be reborn as true elves in the next life, completely shedding their lowly human identity."

So that's how it is... Little Grete gradually understood the customs of this strange village.

He then discovered that the architectural style of this village was also quite different from that of Rolling Stone Village.

Many of these "houses" are actually hollowed-out trees, with people living inside the tree hollows. Other houses are deliberately built with snow-white stones in a fragile and delicate style, with very small interior spaces, clearly neglecting practicality.

According to the stories Little Gretel had heard, elf architecture should be beautiful and elegant, but these buildings had an inexplicable strangeness and their styles were very inconsistent with each other.

Perhaps the villagers were just trying to imitate the elves' style, but they couldn't quite do it exactly the same.

"If they do this, will they really become elves in their next life?" Grete asked.

El-Erian smiled and shook his head:
"Of course not, the real elves only regard them as a joke."

"In fact, no matter how one imitates elves, or even transforms into an elf using magic, the elven kingdom of Avando will not accept human souls."

Elian recounted all of this in his usual calm tone.

But little Greta felt a little uncomfortable hearing this.

He instinctively felt that what the people in this village were doing was wrong.

He remembered how his father and mother fought bravely against the goblins, and how his uncle sacrificed himself heroically in the fight against the orc invasion.

This is the sense of racial identity that distinguishes "us" from "them," "humans" from "other races."

Back then, when he listened to the bards tell those legendary stories in the tavern, young Gretel not only heard about the magic of the wizards, but also about the legends of those noble and beautiful elves.

But he had always only longed to be a mage, never to become an elf.

—That's not the same thing at all!

"Then, Your Majesty, for a village like this, do we really need to build a school and send mages to teach magic?" Little Grete muttered.

He instinctively felt that the villagers were traitors to humanity.

Or at least, they are beyond redemption and edification.

……

[Requesting monthly votes on Monday!]

To be honest, spirits really do exist in reality.

It's the real Earth.

I've seen a few in fantasy and tabletop RPG groups who rave about elves and think they're amazing. They're mainly talking about elves from Forgotten Realms.

This includes the creators of those settings.

Typically, these stories about fairies deliberately criticize humans as a contrast.

Are there any creators of world settings who aren't human? (x)

This is different from the Trisolarans, since Alpha Centauri is a real planet. (x)

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(End of this chapter)