## Chapter 3 – 03. Matching (3)
# 03. Matching (3)
The time was the day of the Pelletia Founding Festival, 200 years ago.
“Your Majesty.”
“Resilia?”
Iris, who was incredibly busy with the Founding Festival schedule, was approached by Chancellor Resilia.
“You look especially beautiful today.”
“Oh my, Resilia, such flattery. It seems the maids’ efforts since early this morning were worth it.”
Iris, who was fully adorned in traditional attire for the Founding Festival, smiled at Resilia’s rare compliment.
“But what brings you here? I heard you were busy with the Founding Festival preparations.”
“I’ve entrusted the preparations to my subordinate officials.”
“Hmm?”
Iris was puzzled by her words that she had left the Founding Festival preparations to someone else.
She, who couldn’t stand not managing and supervising every little detail herself due to her meticulous personality, had left the important Founding Festival preparations to someone else?
“I have something urgent to report to Your Majesty.”
“To me?”
“Yes, it’s something I must inform you of before the Founding Festival proceeds, so please forgive me for having no choice but to entrust the preparations to others.”
Iris, sensing her unusually serious demeanor, dismissed the maids and headed to a nearby room.
“I added two spoons of sugar, just as you usually have it.”
“Hehe, thank you.”
Iris took a sip of the black tea that Resilia had personally prepared and wore a satisfied expression.
However, as Resilia’s story continued, Iris’s expression grew increasingly grave.
“…The Northern Empire is preparing for war?”
“Yes, it’s information we’ve received from a reliable source.”
The word “war” made Iris’s head throb.
“They wouldn’t be targeting us… would they? Who is it?”
“The Santala Kingdom.”
“The Santala Kingdom?”
It didn’t make sense.
Even if the Northern Empire were to invade the Santala Kingdom at this time, they would lose more than they could gain.
“It’s said that a mithril vein was recently discovered near the capital of the Santala Kingdom.”
“Mithril…”
Mithril was a precious metal used in various fields, but it felt somewhat insufficient to warrant a war.
However, the discovery of a mithril vein also meant that there was a high possibility that adamantite was buried alongside it.
Adamantite, an essential material for creating holy relics, was a sufficient reward for the warmongering Ironblood Emperor to risk a war.
“Has the Santala Kingdom requested support?”
“Yes, they sent an envoy this morning with an unofficial request.”
That meant that the Santala Kingdom was already certain of war.
If they were requesting support from the neutral Pelletia, the Northern Empire must be preparing for an all-out war.
That such a problem would arise right before the Founding Festival, Iris had to swallow a heavy sigh inwardly.
“Refuse.”
“But Your Majesty, the Northern Empire is a military superpower that doesn’t adopt the Goddess Church as its state religion. If the Santala Kingdom falls into their grasp, the Northern Empire will border us.”
“Even so, we cannot. If we send support, our status as a neutral nation will become blurred. It’s more appropriate to establish a peace treaty with the Northern Empire through future talks.”
“…The Ironblood Emperor isn’t someone you can reason with.”
Iris rose from her seat with a resolute expression.
“Resilia, this matter is closed.”
After leaving the room, Iris felt that her head, which was already complicated with the Founding Festival preparations, had become even more tangled.
The Northern Empire was one of the great powers vying for hegemony on the continent. If a war broke out between such an empire and the Santala Kingdom, countless people would surely die.
Rivers and fields would be stained with blood, and the refugees created by the war would be beyond measure.
Iris had the means to prevent such a tragedy.
That was to send support to the Santala Kingdom.
If the Pelletia Kingdom sent support, other nations that adopted the Goddess Church as their state religion would also send support to the Santala Kingdom or criticize the Northern Empire.
No matter how powerful the Northern Empire was, it would be burdensome to make so many countries its enemies, so the scale of the war would be reduced, or the war itself might not even happen.
Knowing that, Iris couldn’t choose that option.
The status of a neutral nation is only maintained when it upholds its neutrality for all eternity.
Even if there were many human nations that revered elves and adopted the Goddess Church as their state religion right now, the time of humans and the time of elves were different.
Iris was certain that in the not-so-distant future for elves, the influence of the Goddess Church would diminish, and an era would come when humans no longer looked upon elves as objects of faith.
In preparation for such an era, she had to ignore this request for support from the Santala Kingdom.
In order not to give those who would one day bare their fangs at Pelletia a pretext for participating in the war, she had to turn a blind eye to a war with a predetermined, terrible ending.
Because she was the Queen of Pelletia and the leader of the elves chosen by the World Tree.
She had no choice but to make the choice to protect thousands of her own kind over the lives of tens of thousands of humans.
‘My choice is not wrong.’
Iris’s steps as she boarded the carriage seemed somewhat heavy.
As the carriage approached the holy ground, the streets became crowded with the people of Pelletia.
-Look over there! It’s the Queen’s carriage!
-Your Majesty!
-Kyaa!
-Thank you always, Your Majesty!
Iris reaffirmed that she was not wrong until the moment she got out of the carriage, encouraged by the bright voices of the people.
She raised her head towards the World Tree, a giant tree whose end could not be seen, the mother of the elves, and their one and only god, and carefully moved forward.
In front of the altar of the World Tree, Iris quietly knelt.
Then, thin branches extending from the World Tree formed a laurel wreath on her head.
The Pelletia Founding Festival was an important event to pray to their mother, the World Tree, their one and only god, for the following year’s abundance and peace.
On Pelletia’s most important day, which no one should interfere with, an unforeseen event occurred that no one could have predicted.
-Wh-what the…?!
-Huh? The World Tree is…??
-No way… It’s never done that before??
-Is something wrong??
-Your Majesty…
The crowd couldn’t hide their bewilderment and murmured incessantly.
“Wo-World Tree…?”
As if the World Tree was rejecting Iris, it was moving backward.
Iris had been on the throne and the Founding Festival had been held three times so far, but this had never happened before.
Iris reached out her trembling hand towards the World Tree like an abandoned child, but the World Tree still didn’t seem to want contact with her, only pulling its branches back.
The crowd’s murmuring grew even louder at the sight.
Just as the Knights Templar were about to calm the crowd, unable to stand by and watch the further chaos, a voice loud enough to echo throughout the holy ground was heard.
“She is a sinner!”
Everyone’s attention turned to the source of the voice, a blasphemous remark to utter towards the Queen.
Quite a few people couldn’t help but be shocked by the identity of the woman standing at the bottom of the stairs leading to the altar.
And that was the same for Iris.
“Re-Resilia…?”
Resilia, the kingdom’s chancellor, was glaring at Iris with a sword drawn.
“People of Pelletia! The World Tree is now facing a sinner so vile that it cannot associate with her and is filled with anger!”
The people lowered their heads, sensing the sudden appearance of a noble.
And the Knights Templar all released their killing intent towards Resilia.
The killing intent emitted by a knight who had reached the realm was an invisible blade that could lead a person to death.
But Resilia, who received the Knights Templar’s killing intent head-on, didn’t budge.
The knights doubted their eyes. This was not the chancellor, but a traitor. How could a mere civil official withstand the killing intent that was released with the intention to kill?
“You’ve finally gone mad!”
“Chancellor! Even if you are the chancellor, what disrespect is this towards Her Majesty the Queen!”
“Don’t try to distort the will of the World Tree!”
Several high-ranking nobles raised their voices, but Resilia paid no attention.
Rather, the sight of her calmly walking towards Iris was enough to make the Knights Templar’s eyes roll back. The enraged Knights Templar drew their swords and blocked her path.
“Stop! This place is only permitted to Her Majesty the Queen!”
“How dare you, a mere thing, set foot on the holy ground!”
“Traitor!”
A bluish aura formed on the swords of the three Knights Templar commanders who guarded the royal family.
Even in the face of the overwhelming evidence of a superhuman that ordinary people could never stand against, Resilia didn’t even blink an eye.
Rather, what appeared on her lips was not the kind smile she usually showed to the servants, but a sneer itself.
“Hmph, Queen my ass.”
“Yo-You… impious one!!!”
The face of the 1st Royal Knights Templar commander, who was famous for being gentle, was contorted into that of a demon.
The moment his sword, swung like a flash of light, was about to touch Resilia’s neck, a knight wearing a black cloak who appeared from somewhere blocked the Knights Templar commander’s sword.
“Resilia! You’ve finally gone mad! How dare you bring outsiders into the holy ground?!”
“Knights Templar commanders aren’t anything special either.”
“You fiend!!”
The enraged Knights Templar commander began to exchange blows with the unidentified knight in earnest.
Dozens more black-clad men appeared again in front of the Knights Templar who had stepped forward to join the fight.
The Knights Templar commanders were shocked by their appearance. Where did those things come from?
The Royal Knights Templar were a small elite force.
They were all skilled individuals who had reached the realm of awakening and emitting aura. But the enemies were also emitting the same aura as the Knights Templar members.
Moreover, about 3 people, including the man fighting the Knights Templar commander, were skilled individuals who had reached the same master level as the Knights Templar commanders.
“Stop them.”
“Yes.”
At Resilia’s command, the mysterious group rushed towards the Knights Templar.
At first glance, their numbers and skills seemed similar, but the gap was revealed as soon as they clashed.
Even if they emitted an expert-level aura, they were not at the same level as the Knights Templar members. At best, they were only capable of stalling for time.
Of course, that was Resilia’s purpose.
While they were blocking the Knights Templar, Resilia quickly reached Iris with swift movements.
“Resilia!”
Iris cherished Resilia more than anyone else, but she had already crossed a line that could be forgiven.
Iris was gentle, but she was the monarch of a nation.
She couldn’t rule the country with only kindness. Strictly punishing vassals who crossed the line was also a virtue as a monarch.
She was confused by the World Tree’s reaction, but she wasn’t about to condone Resilia’s atrocities.
“Don’t be too angry, Your Majesty.”
Her mouth was smiling, but her eyes were not. Resilia, who was wearing a sinister smile, suddenly committed an atrocity that no one had expected.
“Resilia!!”
An event occurred that shocked everyone, including Iris, the nobles, and even the people of Pelletia who were densely gathered in the plaza.
“So this is what it feels like, World Tree.”
An unprecedented event occurred in which an elf, who was merely a creature of God, directly touched the World Tree’s divine body.
It was a great crime that was far from being atoned for even by exterminating nine generations of her family, but the situation did not end there. Even more surprising things happened one after another.
“Th-the World Tree is?!”
“No way! How could it embrace such a woman!!”
The crowd was speechless at the sight of the branches extending from the World Tree embracing her as if to hug her.
“Now you can be angry, right? Iris.”
A sinister and ominous smile appeared on Resilia’s face as she looked at Iris.
