Unfortunately, the elves still really hate humans. So, the moment Arthur steps into the elf village, he’s caught and held at sword point. He looks to Tessia for help, hoping she’ll speak up for him. But to his surprise, Tessia just stares at him coldly and says nothing. Seeing this, Arthur thinks she has betrayed him and set him up to be killed. He can’t believe he was foolish enough to think anyone would want to be his friend. After all, he’s been betrayed many times in his past life.
The elves are just about to cut off his head while Tessia watches silently. It turns out she wasn’t part of the plan, though it’s unclear why she didn’t speak up earlier. As soon as she hears the guards mention killing Arthur, she tells them to stop. One of the guards warns her that Arthur is a dangerous human, but Tessia says he’s not dangerous at all—in fact, he’s the only reason she made it back home safely.
Her words should have made the guard think twice, but instead, he accuses Arthur of brainwashing her and still wants to kill him. Before anything happens, a man shows up and orders them to let Arthur go. His name is Virion, Tessia’s grandfather and the former king of the elf tribe. He’s much more reasonable and believes Tessia when she says Arthur saved her. He also apologizes to Arthur for how he was treated, although it did seem suspicious that the missing princess returned with a random human.
Arthur feels relieved that he’s no longer in danger but is shocked to learn that Tessia is actually a princess—something she never told him, even after traveling together for days. Right then, Tessia’s parents arrive after hearing that their daughter has returned. She runs to hug them, clearly happy to see them. If Tessia is a princess, that means her parents are the king and queen of Elenoir, but they aren’t as calm as Virion.
As soon as Tessia’s father sees Arthur, he demands to know why a human is in his kingdom and tells his soldiers to kill him. But no one moves because Virion had already told them to leave Arthur alone, and they’re all scared of him. Virion explains to the king that Arthur is the one who saved Tessia, so he shouldn’t be treated like a criminal. Tessia also asks that Arthur be welcomed into the castle as a guest.
Her father is unsure since humans are normally banned from even entering Elenoir, let alone the royal castle. But not wanting to upset Tessia, he agrees. Now that everything is cleared up, everyone prepares to go to the castle. Before they leave, Virion tells Arthur he wants to speak with him later. Arthur is a little cautious since he can tell Virion is very powerful, but he doesn’t have time to think about it because Tessia drags him off to show him around.
It’s the first time Arthur has seen the elf kingdom, and he’s amazed by how different it is from the human world. But the hatred for humans is still strong—every elf stops and stares at him as he walks through the village with Tessia. Still, no one dares say anything rude since Arthur is now an official guest of the royal family. The only one treating him kindly is Tessia, but Arthur still wonders why she waited so long to help him when he was about to be killed.
Suddenly, the pain in Arthur’s chest returns—it keeps getting worse, and he still doesn’t know why. When they reach the castle, Tessia is warmly greeted by her servants and tells them to treat Arthur with kindness and respect, even though he’s a human. Once that’s settled, she asks Arthur if he wants to play with her. But Arthur says he needs to talk to her parents first—they probably want to know what happened to Tessia and how they got back.
They all go into the meeting room, and Tessia joins because she doesn’t want to be left out. She even suggests getting snacks, so it almost feels like a tea party. But they still have serious things to discuss. Tessia’s father finally introduces himself. His name is Alduin, the king of Elenoir. His wife is Merial, and his father is Virion. Arthur introduces himself as a humble commoner from the kingdom of Sapin, and he knows that someone like him would normally never be allowed in Elenoir, let alone inside the royal palace.
Arthur appreciates their kindness. Alduin is surprised by how mature Arthur is, despite being just a child. But more importantly, he wants to know what exactly happened with Tessia and how she went missing. Arthur explains everything—how he got separated from his family during a bandit attack and ended up in the Elven Forest. He leaves out the part about meeting Sylvia in the cave. Then he explains how he found Tessia being kidnapped by slave traders.
Alduin is furious that humans tried to sell his daughter into slavery, but Arthur reminds him that elves have done the same thing, so it’s not just a human crime. Moving on, Virion asks how Arthur managed to save Tessia, and Arthur says he killed the slave traders. One of the guards yells that a child couldn’t possibly do that, but Virion shuts him up and says he’ll lose his job if he keeps talking. Arthur doesn’t seem like he’s lying, so Alduin says he believes him.
Now that they understand the situation, Arthur makes a request. Since he got stuck in the forest after the bandit attack, he asks if they can help him get home. Alduin is angry that a human would ask a favor from the elven royal family, but since Arthur went out of his way to escort Tessia home, it’s only fair. Plus, if he refuses, he’ll have to deal with Tessia’s temper, which he really doesn’t want. So, he agrees to help.
However, the teleportation gate that leads to Sapin is sealed and only opens once every seven years during a meeting between the three tribes. That meeting happened two years ago, so the gate won’t open again for another five years. Arthur doesn’t want to wait that long, and Alduin also doesn’t like the idea of a human staying in Elenoir for five years. So, he says he’ll send soldiers to escort Arthur back to Sapin. Since it’s already late, Arthur can rest in the castle and leave the next morning. Arthur thanks Alduin, but his chest pain is getting worse, and Virion notices something is wrong.
Later, a room is prepared for Arthur, and he takes a bath. But the pain keeps getting worse, and Arthur starts to fear he might die. After his bath, he steps onto the balcony for fresh air. It helps a little, but he knows he needs to figure out what’s causing the pain. Then he looks up and sees Tessia with her parents on the balcony above. This makes him think of his own parents. He doesn’t know if Reynold and Alice survived the bandit attack, but he believes they did—they’re strong.
Still, he really wishes he could talk to them. Tessia sees that Arthur looks sad and goes to speak with him after finishing her talk with her parents. She apologizes for how her father treated him, but Arthur says he understands. Decades of war between elves and humans make it hard to trust, especially when it comes to someone’s daughter. Talking about parents reminds Arthur of how far away he is from his own, and he worries they might blame him. He also blames himself for not being able to protect them during the bandit attack.
But Tessia grabs his face and shakes his head. She says she doesn’t know much about his parents, but if they’re like hers, they’ll be happy to see him again. Then, the corridor fills with glowing fireflies. Surrounded by light, Arthur remembers his parents’ smiling faces. They’ve never shown him anything but love, so why does he think they’ll hate him now? He realizes his trauma from his past life has made him overly suspicious—even of Tessia, who clearly cares for him.
Suddenly, Arthur senses a projectile coming at Tessia. He catches it and charges his mana to strike the attacker. But to his surprise, the attacker is Virion. Arthur can’t believe he’d try to harm his own granddaughter, but Virion explains that he only threw a couple of fireflies to test Arthur’s reflexes. He’s impressed that Arthur reacted so fast. He just wanted to see if Arthur really had the strength to defeat those slave traders. Tessia tells her grandfather to stop messing around, but Virion says that’s not the only reason he’s here.
He wants to have a sparring match with Arthur to test his strength. Virion uses magic to create a sword for Arthur and lifts Tessia out of harm’s way. Arthur agrees and charges at Virion, but he’s too fast. Even with mana-boosted speed, Arthur can’t keep up. When he thinks he has an opening, Virion shatters Arthur’s wooden sword with his palm. A piece flies toward Tessia, so Arthur throws the rest of his sword to stop it.
Then Arthur attacks with pure mana, but Virion counters easily. Virion’s strength is overwhelming, but Arthur doesn’t give up. After being knocked back, he charges again and manages to land a small hit on Virion’s forehead. It doesn’t hurt much, but Virion is impressed that Arthur got past his defenses. He wants to keep going, but Tessia pinches him and tells him to stop bothering Arthur.
Arthur says it’s okay—he’s honored that someone as powerful as Virion wanted to spar with him. Then Virion says he wants to take Arthur as his disciple. Arthur is shocked and asks if he’s serious. Virion says he is and asks if Arthur accepts. Arthur hesitates, since he still hasn’t contacted his parents. But Virion says he knows a way for Arthur to talk to them right now. Before Arthur can respond, another sharp chest pain hits him, and Virion tells him he knows the cause.
He says Arthur has inherited a beast will. And unless he agrees to become Virion’s disciple, the beast will is going to kill him. This was the end of episode 5. Subscribe to not miss the next
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