The meeting with the human group was fairly productive overall.

In one instance, they did ask for my help to defeat the Hero King. However, I had to reject their request because that was the heroes job to overthrow tyranny and help the people. If I happened to defeat the Hero King while trying to do something else, that was a different matter altogether.

My reply was simple. "I'm neither a hero nor a savior. You must sort the matter on your own. I saved you only on a whim because my child was also there."

One of them tried to complain but I silenced him with a intimidating glare.

I might have a bone to pick with that Hero King, but I wasn't going to side with anyone or any faction. As a mediator, my stance was to be neutral. In other words, I could be both an enemy and an ally depending on the situation.

Of all of them, surprisingly, no one wished to stay here. I knew my place was quite barren but it was definitely a safe haven for anyone wanting to live a peaceful life. Many of them wished to see their families or even rescue them from the iron claws of their tyrannical government and I had no reason to impede them in their endeavor.

Anyway, I promised them I would drop them off at locations requested to the best of my ability. Of course, for those who wanted to be dropped off in troublesome locations, I had to deny their requests. No matter what, military bases and top secret research facilities were not options I could offer. I had no reason to accommodate to that degree but at the bare minimum I provided a bottle of water and a strawberry jam filled sandwich. They should feel blessed by my unparalleled generosity.

The strawberry jam part was sort of an advertisement for my future business endeavor! I made sure to tell each of them the name of the jam and where they could buy them in the future which would be in Vera.

Done! I need to refresh myself with Smoothie.

When I had returned, I found Smoothie speaking in the beastfolk's native language.

She's bilingual, already? How envious.

Not everyone was present. Some took the opportunity to stroll around the premise, of course, monitored by me remotely through clones.

There were three individuals I wanted to speak with in private. One was the elf because elves were related to Smoothie in some way. The others being those fey beings resembling beastfolks. I was kind of surprised they weren't accidentally killed in that facility.

"Hey!"

I greeted the female elf who was by herself exploring the surroundings, and occasionally taking note of the remains of Smoothie's plant body. She didn't seem to get along with the others of the group.

"Eek!" She squeaked, startled by my sudden greeting from behind her.

"Sorry about that. Ahaha..." I apologized with a light chuckle.

In this world, elves had short stature. In general, they were at least a head or two below average humans. In this sense, I was towering over her. In addition, with her being in a foreign place, even the hardiest warriors would be on edge.

Actually, there was no excuse for me other than playing around to get some reactions out of others.

"I was told I can walk around..."

"That's fine. I just wanted a chat with you."

"Oh."  She sighed with a relieved expression.

Since I enjoyed throwing straight balls, I got right to the point.

"I saw your kin to the east of the human country. Elves live to the west, on the other side of Appallia. Tell me, what are elves doing over there?"

She was making a complicated expression as if to decide what she could share with me. Since she was taking her sweet time coming up with an reply, I added, "Does De Planck have anything to do with it?"

"N... How... You spoke his name?" The expression of shock was plastered all over her face.

"Yes. And by the way, what's your name?"

She paused a bit before answering, "Mera."

"Mera."

"Yes...?"

"What's the deal between elves and De Planck?" I revealed a daunting smile.

If push came to shove, I would even go as far as scan her memories but I rathered not. I respected privacy of others.

"It's... It's nothing... It's... I tell you, okay? I tell you. Please stop smiling like that. It's scaring me!"

I relaxed my smile and gestured her to continue.

She sighed exhaustively. "Alright, I'm not supposed to disclose this to outsider but I guess it can't be helped..."

De Plancks and his cronies, likely bored of out of their mind, had their eyes on the elf country for centuries or even millennia. Their previous guardian who was tired of living naturally passed on a while back without raising new guardian or that was the narrative given. Before another guardian was raised, the demons took advantage of the situation, disguised themselves as guardian candidates by using a possessed body to infiltrate the elf country.

Those in the elves were faithful not to gods or heroes but their guardians. In hindsight, that was a seriously bad idea but this was the first time ever in their entire history something like this occured.

Anyway, at the time, people didn't question this supposed new guardian. The demon pretending to be a guardian occasionally requested magic contracts for the term of service or protection. The elders didn't see any problems and willingly agreed, or so the story went. Whether mind magic or perhaps bribe was used, no one knew. For the majority of the population, as long as their normal lives continued on, they paid little to no attention to anything their leaders did. Mera was in the same category.

At some point in time after that, the elves began mobilizing for the sake of their country. They were secretly sent across the world to gather intelligence. Since elves were considered a peaceful race, they were welcomed in other nations. Under the public eyes, they were just like regular folks, but behind the scene, they carried out orders issued by their higher ups. Assassinations, blackmails, disruptions were all familiar tactics used to eliminate supposed potential threats to their home country.

It was no surprise that their manipulations indirectly raised the current Hero King into power. That was just how impressive their shadow network was. It would also be no surprise if the demons were also involved in the diplomatic relationship between the reptilian country and the human country, though this part was purely my speculation.

However, one time, a young elf who was extremely skilled in cloaking his presence was curious what their guardian looked like. He snuck past the elders, stealthily bypassed several magical barriers, and incidentally overheard their supposed guardian negotiating with a particular rabbit eared demon. Things went downhill quickly from there. 

Within the elf country, there were those who willfully remained ignorant and those who came to know the truth. One side strived to obstruct everything that fake guardian was planning while the other remained loyal to the fake guardian's decrees.

What I had been told was just a glimpse of the turmoil within the elf country. There was literally chaos everywhere across the world.

Echo, did that not count as interference according to the Edict?

[Yes.]

No one stepped up? No one at all?

[The demons were properly contracted and supported by the majority of the populace. The guardians in general felt unnecessary to intervene in such a situation. Those who attempted to intervene had lost their lives.]

How many died?

[Seven.]

Oh crap, that's a lot. Were they all killed by demons?

[No. Unable to overcome advanced elven magic, three perished before reaching their intended destination.]

I knew they were good at magic, but not that good... Were they all young guardians?

[Two guardians had levels above 50.]

Can you tell me how they fought?

[No.]

Either the guardians were weak or the demons were excessively strong. Perhaps the guardians weren't able to go all out with civilians involved. There certainly were many possible reasons why they could have lost. There was also the possibility that a subspace was involved.

Can you tell me if a subspace was involved during the battle?

[No subspace was involved during the battle.]

A battle of that scale must have caused quite a bit of damage without using a subspace. How about the damage to surroundings?

[Barriers were employed to minimize the damage.]

Ah right, since neither side would want collateral damage... The demons would still want to keep up with their appearance as a protector. That's so tricky... I can intervene still if I want?

[Yes.]

"Berry, are you still listening?"

"Yep, sorry. I was just thinking of something."

Mera was on the opposing faction of the fake guardian, and was captured within Appallia. Since her level was high, she was kept alive for her mana and used for experimentations.

"I'll deal with De Planck later. As for the fake guardian, I'm not sure. Are there any new guardian candidates?" I asked.

"No... Actually... Yes, yes. My fiancée was one but he might have gone into hiding after I was captured."

Oh, wait... You let your loved one get captured? Shame on you, Mister Fiancée! Well... I shouldn't badmouth others.

"Is there no one else?"

"None that I am aware of."

"Good grief. If I remove that fake one, another faker can easily step in later, right? Okay, no, I won't bother with it."

"No!! Please help us!" She begged in panic with teary eyes.

You're nowhere near as cute as Smoothie. It doesn't work on me! I have nerves of steel, you know!?

To give her some hope, I quickly added, "That country has nothing to do with me. I can get rid of De Planck, and if that fake one happens to be there, count yourself lucky. Our conversation is done here. Go back inside and eat something. I assume you'll want to be dropped off somewhere."

With that said, I left her to her own device and teleported myself atop my soft comfy bed. With an exhausted sigh, I murmured, "I'm tired. That's one interview done."

blanksphere

30 isn't going to do, will probably extend to allow just a bit more development (not referring to this chapter).