The Forgotten Warlord: Return of the Lost Son

---Next Day, Leon POV---

The Elven Territory was a protectorate of the Holfort Kingdom. Several hundred years ago, they were an independent nation with a small defense force to protect them from their neighbors. Their inherent beauty made them prized servants and toys for nobles around the world. Years of antagonization from most of their neighbors forced them to take drastic actions. In desperation, they came before the Kingdom to beg for its protection.

Angelica looked at the scowling faces gathering at the dock. “Quite a warm welcome, isn’t it?”

“I had heard the Elves were ill-tempered, but this is beyond my expectations.” Hertrude pulled her younger sister to her side. “Stay close to me. We don’t know what is in store for us.”

In exchange for maintaining its sovereignty and protection, the Elves shared their magical insight with the Kingdom. This knowledge helped to strengthen the Kingdom’s military might enough to keep the Rachelle Holy Kingdom at bay for generations. Since then, their kind had developed a superiority complex. No longer threatened by other nations, they saw themselves as better than everyone, even those who protected their borders.

‘Glad to see that Elven pride is the same regardless of where they are. At least these Elves are far less annoying than their Aeldari cousins. Wait… Are they cousins, different species, or something entirely different?’

I walked onto the deck in my smaller form. With Malcador’s instruction, I learned to control my appearance, height, and a multitude of things with my psychic power. My father and Magnus could also perform this trick, but I never learned it. The Second Legion was very diverse; we had people who could undertake any job without height or size restrictions.

“Ignore the rabble. We are here to secure the ancient facility hidden beneath the island’s surface. If they cause any issues for us, I will pull rank and get them to move. Should we get into a physical altercation…”

<Rawr!>

Solaris flickered his spiked club tail with excitement. He was itching for some action after a long day of rest.

Lucoa looked back at me with a naughty smirk. “You mentioned you could change any part of your physique with your psychic power, yes? Does that mean you can—”

With a wave of my hand, her voice fell silent. She tried shouting several words before giving up. In response to my actions, Lucoa puffed her cheeks in anger.

“Business first, play later.” I removed the silencing.

“Fine… Killjoy...” Lucoa adjusted her breastplate.

Luxion lowered the docking ramp for us; he floated beside my head in stealth mode. As we left the ship, the crowd’s eyes followed us. They were trying to size us up, then froze upon seeing the ducal crest on Angelica’s armor and the marquis crest affixed to my cloak. In seconds, the crowd dispersed as the local chieftain’s people came forward.

“Lady Redgrave!” The young male attendant tried to suppress the disdain in his heart. It mattered little before my heightened psychic awareness. “May I ask what—”

I extended my arm between them. The Elves looked to me with momentary disdain before noting my marquis crest.

“Cut the pleasantries. We are here on official state business.” I brandished the Royal Envoy badge Queen Mylene had given me after my post assignment. “Notify your chieftain that we must speak at once. The palace has come into possession of classified information that places your territory on the front lines of the next war with the Holy Kingdom. Under the ancient treaty, we are here to warn your people and give notice of imminent military deployment.”

Any arrogance or smugness left in their eyes vanished. They knew war was on the horizon for the Holfort Kingdom, but not that it would start on their doorstep. Without uttering a word, several of them sprinted off to inform the chieftain, while the rest led us to their hut.

---Ten Minutes Later---

By the time we arrived outside the hut, half of the settlement had heard the news. Women and children ran around grabbing supplies for an emergency evacuation that would soon come. As for the men, those of fighting age made preparations to stay and fight, while the rest helped prepare ships for departure.

“Please come in!” An elderly woman from within beckoned us forward. “The chieftain is currently away right now. In his absence, as the settlement’s priestess, I can speak to you on his behalf.”

The tent was reminiscent of a yurt from ancient Earth. Inside, an elderly woman sat upon an elevated platform with two aides on either side of her. Also in the room was a familiar green-haired elf from the novels. The ditzy woman was bruised and caked with dirt and dust.

‘This poor woman… She did nothing wrong, yet her kin treat her like she is less than crap.’

As we sat down, I purposefully positioned myself next to Yumeria. Like the original Leon, I would take her away from this place and give her a proper home. Her affinity for Nature Magic would be invaluable, as feeding my rebuilt Legion would be a tall order. Yumeria would help make it a little easier.

“The runner informed me that the royal palace has credible information that an attack on our lands is imminent. Is this true?” The old woman’s face darkened. She gripped her ancient staff with white knuckles.

“Correct.” I nodded. “A recent failed attack on the Principality’s capital allowed us to capture several knights from the Holy Kingdom. After some strong persuasion, they shared their nation’s plans to launch a strike here. There are dormant ruins from the Great War era beneath our feet. They seek to secure them for future military campaigns.”

“They are after the empty dungeon?” The old woman tilted her head. She tried to feign ignorance.

I knew coming into this that the Elves would not disclose what they discovered here. The lab was one of the main reasons they acted so aloof with others. They believed they were the original race and that everyone else was created by them as servants. In reality, the Old Humans made the Elves to bolster their numbers. When they were driven off world, the Elves took over the last territory they held, creating what we knew as the Elven Islands.

“Forgive my rudeness, but I don’t have the patience nor the time for your games.” Intense psychic pressure bore down on the elder and her aides. They fell flat onto their faces, unable to breathe or move. “I know you found an ancient cloning laboratory beneath this island. Whether you admit it matters nothing to me. The Holy Kingdom somehow found out about it and has now set its sights on it. Either show us the way to it, or we will inform the Crown that you’ve been hiding a deadly secret from them. Do you think they will come to save you once they know what you’ve done?”

The terrified old woman looked at me. “The facility is dormant. It poses no—”

I searched the old woman’s mind. She knew of the facility’s existence, but nothing about her kin using it to commit atrocities. Neither of her aides knew anything either, so I eased the pressure.

“A rogue group of your kin has been performing heinous experiments on beasts and Kingdom citizens. They have been creating homunculi beneath your feet for years now. In doing so, they have violated the nonaggression requirement in the ancient treaty.” My eyes narrowed. “You have two choices: Disavow those who violated the treaty or Refuse to act.”

The priestess was quick on the uptake. Without a second thought, she agreed to hand over those who had violated the treaty. A few idiots were not worth cutting off their only protection. The Elves had grown lazy and weak since joining the Kingdom. When the Holy Kingdom arrived, they would be helpless to resist it.

“Well said.” The pressure faded entirely. “Have one of your aides show us to the laboratory. While we are gone, please send word to your other settlements. They are to evacuate the vicinity and head for the Kingdom’s capital. Take anything of religious significance or value with you.”

“I will send word immediately.” The priestess forced herself back onto her cushion. “Yumeria, go with them. I cannot promise our people will let you go a second time.”

“As you wish, Priestess.” Yumeria bowed her head. She turned to us and did the same. “I will be in your care.”

With that, one of the Priestess’ aides stood and led us away.

---3rd Person POV---

Back at the Academy, a certain short, blonde-haired girl warily headed to her next classroom. The incident the other night had everyone in the capital on edge. Her actions had created a horde of undead monsters that nearly overran the city’s defenses. An official death toll had yet to be given, but it had to be over a thousand people at least. It would have been much higher if not for the intervention of unknown soldiers in runic silver armor.

With ruthless efficiency, they annihilated the horde, along with anyone who had been bitten or scratched. After the last one was vaporized with powerful lightning magic, those soldiers purged every single person connected to the entity in her body. She only knew this because it warned her to keep a low profile as their compatriots were slaughtered one by one. By dawn, Marie was the only one left in the capital, and those soldiers had vanished.

“Are you absolutely certain they won’t find us!?” Marie’s eyes darted around, checking every corner for hidden threats. “How do you know they aren’t watching us right now?”

The entity within her groaned with frustration. “Woman! How many times must I tell you, we can talk to one another telepathically! You are putting both of us in more danger by talking out loud.”

Marie winced. She was so fixated on not dying that she had forgotten. Fortunately for her, none of her peers paid her any mind. As far as they were concerned, Marie Fou Lafan was nobody worth acknowledging.

“Sorry…” Marie kept her mouth shut this time.

“Your fear is understandable. Whoever is hunting us possesses immense influence and power. For the time being, we should be safe as I don’t sense any eyes upon us. Once we complete our next mission, the two of us can get out of this wretched place. Keep calm and feign ignorance; that is all you have to do.”

That was easier said than done. For a woman with as much blood on her hands as Marie, it was almost impossible. To help settle her nerves, she considered purchasing wine after class. She was underage, but there were ways to buy it with enough coin.

As Marie sat down for her next class, she pulled out her notebook to review in silence. Her guest had given her a new batch of ingredients to purchase. Most ingredients would be easy enough as they were readily available in the market. The few items that were not would be problematic. They grew in the lower levels of specific Rank 4 dungeons across the capital.

‘Ugh… It looks like I’ll have to give up on having a dream team for my adventurer’s party. I hope a few veterans will take pity on a cute girl like me and help me out. Otherwise, I’ll have to join up with some creeps to get these ingredients.’

Smack!

Marie was plotting out the most effective way to rank up when a wooden pointer slammed down on her hand. A second later, she leaped out of her seat, screaming like a banshee.

“You bitch! How dare you hit me!” She lifted her head to glare at her assailant. “I ought… Oh…”

The female professor’s eye twitched with frustration. Class was in session and the idiot before her was off in dreamland. After repeated attempts to get her attention, she was forced to use physical discipline. Now the brat was giving her lip for it.

“Take your belongings and go to the Headmaster’s office. I refuse to teach an uncultured woman like yourself.” The literature professor turned and walked back to her lectern.

As Marie packed her bag, she shot back under her breath. “I didn’t want to listen to your stupid lesson anyway, dirty old hag.”

She thought the words would go unnoticed, but the professor had ears like a rabbit.

Smack!

Smack! Smack!

In a single fluid motion, the professor crossed the room and slammed the wooden pointer across Marie’s butt repeatedly. After three strikes, Marie scrambled for the exit. The professor tackled her before she could get far.

“I’ve had enough of your filthy mouth, brat!” The teacher kept wailing on her. “Since the beginning of the semester, all you’ve done is cause trouble in my classroom. My patience has run out.”

Her hand blurred as she kept swatting Marie’s butt. As Marie screamed for help, her peers looked on with amusement. No one felt an ounce of obligation to assist the traitorous Marie.

“Help me! Please! I won’t be able to sit my cute butt down for weeks at this rate.” Since no one in her classroom would help her, Marie turned to the entity within her.

Instead of help, what she got instead was:

“Oh yes, Mommy! That’s it! Give me more!”

The entity was in blissful heaven.

‘You’ve got to be fucking kidding me! The demon is a masochist! Why can’t I ever catch a break!’

With great effort, Marie wriggled free and bolted out of the room. The professor gave chase, much to her class’s relief.

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