Chapter 159.2

Translator: Pai_

After returning to Kalamaf, Turan convened a senior council meeting and explained the developments of the incident.

Upon hearing his final deduction, the others all groaned in low voices.

“Hmm, Carmine and Ruvan…”

“It wouldn’t be strange for them to join hands since we’re cooperating with Varaha too, but I can’t guess what prompted it. It’s not like there’s any brotherhood between the families, and they’re not even close geographically.”

As Ashiz said, it was difficult to surmise why Carmine would suddenly cooperate with Ruvan to check the House Parsha.

Not only were the two houses not particularly close by general standards, but there was also no indication of any communion between the two groups that would suggest they were influenced by the gods.

He even asked Reshion and the other half-elves just in case, but received no meaningful answers.

[The leader of the Ruvan half-elves... the druggie? If you ask me what kind of person he is, I’d say he’s someone who doesn't care about means or methods. I wouldn’t say we’re particularly close either.]

When the Parsha–Lavitas allied army attacked, Reshion had called for reinforcements from Ruvan, but that didn’t mean their two groups had any real emotional closeness.

At the time, House Ruvan had agreed to send reinforcements only after demanding a considerable expense that even a great noble house would hesitate to accept.

No, even if the two half-elf groups had been close, a price would still have been needed publicly.

After all, the number of possessed who ruled the great houses was few compared to the total population, and no matter how high their rank, they could not ignore the opinions of those below entirely.

[Still, aren’t they among the few remaining white elves in the world?]

[Half of them, yes. Our condition is so ambiguous that it’s hard to describe... When we see others in the same state, about half of us feel a sense of kinship, but the other half feels hatred. Putting emotions into words is really difficult. That’s the best I can say.]

According to a more rambling explanation, half-elves feel discomfort when looking at each other. From the god’s perspective, the elf side is irritating, and from the elf’s perspective, the god’s side is equally repulsive.

It was an emotional reaction Turan found nearly impossible to imagine.

“In any case, the important thing is that Carmine has joined forces with Ruvan and started to provoke us. From now on, we’ll need to expand our patrol area to the entire northern mountain range.”

“Up till now, we’d only covered the northwestern side, right?”

“Yeah. Because we also had to monitor the western forest.”

At Turan’s words, Meisa nodded.

Originally, it was part of her daily routine to patrol from the western forest’s boundary up to the western region of the northern mountain range.

That was because they had to be vigilant against a possible invasion by the Aravion army.

However, the recent incursion by Carmine had occurred slightly east of the area Meisa patrolled, toward the center and east of the northern mountains.

To scout all the way out there would require spending nearly half the day just flying.

“No matter how you think about it, that’s a huge waste of time. It might be better to extend the beacon system into the inner mountain range...”

“Even the current beacons are tough to manage. Because of visibility issues, we almost always have to station a knight at each one, and we don’t have that many wizard forces to spare.”

It was Ashiz who stepped in to halt the idea Turan had come up with.

As he pointed out, while the House Parsha had been actively accepting wandering nobles and knights to build up their strength, they were still lacking in substance compared to other great noble houses.

To establish and maintain a beacon system throughout the entire northern mountain range, they would need at least a hundred and several dozen knights.

Unless they intended to bury fully capable knights in the mountains for life, they would need at least double that number to rotate shifts appropriately.

“Hmm, this is difficult.”

“Even ordinary wizard families always have all sorts of problems. It would be strange if managing a great noble house were easy.”

In comparison, House Parsha was much better off than other great houses, which were plagued by structural contradictions and irrationalities built up over long periods.

Thanks to its younger members, House didn’t fall into outdated thinking, and more importantly, the family head, Turan, actively intervened in many matters like this one, offering support exactly where it was needed.

Afterward, the Parsha leadership continued to discuss for quite a while how this incident might develop long-term and how they should respond, before eventually concluding the meeting.

“In the end, we couldn’t come up with a clear solution.”

“We’ll have to think on it over time. It might even be that there’s no solution at all.”

Indeed, in the world, there are problems one knows yet can do nothing about.

The House Parsha had solved a fair number of such issues in various ways, but even for them, there were things they simply couldn’t resolve.

Late at night, after returning to his quarters, Turan had a simple dinner with Meisa.

Soup made with butter and flour, lightly seasoned lamb, and a few kinds of fresh vegetables sprinkled with salt.

To the poor, it might seem like unparalleled luxury, but for a great noble house’s family head and his companion, it was a rather modest meal.

Both Turan and Meisa did enjoy fine dining, but they didn’t want to wake the already-sleeping head chef just to prepare food, so they settled for something simple.

“This is good.”

“Don’t you think I’ve gotten a bit better at cooking than before?”

"Not enough to brag about it yet."

Turan teased Meisa, who had spoken boastfully, then smiled as he cut the lamb and brought it to his mouth.

Though Meisa had gradually improved her cooking after overcoming her eating disorder during their travels, she was still no match for Turan, who had prepared a variety of meals over the years using limited ingredients on his own.

“I’m still practicing, but you’re not. So soon, I’ll catch up. When that happens... mmph.”

Their cheerful chatter was short-lived. Meisa suddenly set down her utensils and covered her mouth with her hand.

Seeing the familiar behavior, Turan narrowed his eyes and asked.

“You okay? Want to go outside and get some air?”

Since leaving Aravion, Meisa had been healing her eating disorder by building her self-esteem through helping the powerless.

That hadn’t changed even after the House Parsha was established.

Though she had less free time now than before, she still regularly patrolled Kalamaf and its surroundings, aiding those in need.

So why would her symptoms suddenly relapse now?

To Turan’s suggestion, Meisa shook her head after taking a few deep breaths.

“No, I don’t think it’s necessary. It’s just... the lamb suddenly smelled too strong. I must have cooked it poorly.”

When she had struggled with her eating disorder in the past, what tormented Meisa were hallucinations of her deceased mother and younger brother.

Hearing them accuse her, how dare you even think of eating after leaving us to die, brought on a wave of nausea she couldn’t suppress.

But the revulsion she felt this time was entirely different.

What had been a favorite dish of grilled lamb suddenly became intolerably off-putting.

Had her taste become too refined after eating so many luxurious meals?

If not that, then could it be...