Chapter 59 Discord Between the Two

A human knight's combat style: raise shield for defense, probe with attacks, seize the opening, and finish off in one wave.
An elven hero's combat style: saturation spell bombardment first, close in for a melee attack if the enemy survives, and resume spell bombardment once mana regenerates.
The family knights of Fahel watched in utter astonishment as the two elven heroes bombarded each other with spells, rapidly turning the surrounding environment into a scarred wasteland.
Betharia was a veteran fire-attribute mage. The combat training she received at the Church of Light since childhood made her exceptionally proficient in various types of fire spells, such as condensing blazing flames into the shape of physical spears and hurling them to produce a massive area-of-effect explosion the moment they hit the target—quickly igniting all the surrounding woods and wild grass.
Erlina wove back and forth through the flames, skillfully utilizing light and shadow to conceal her figure, occasionally piercing through the sea of fire to hurl lightning-killing spears at Betharia. Even when all her spells were evaded by the opponent, she could still precisely disrupt the caster's rhythm.
Finally, Erlina rushed out of the sea of fire, leaping high into the air.
Before her body arrived, the spear tip reached it first, pointing straight at Betharia's throat.
Betharia retreated hastily and drew her sword. Her swordsmanship was likewise fierce and decisive, reaching the level of a hero, but there were gaps between heroes as well.
The range advantage of the long spear was simply too overwhelming, causing the Dark Elf Queen's swordsmanship to be completely suppressed. She could not even spare a moment to cast spells, reduced to continuous parrying and blocking as the sounds of swords clashing against the spear rang out endlessly.
Erlina's expression remained unchanged. Her right hand thrust the spear forward in rapid succession, while her left hand once again condensed flashing lightning, ready at any moment to deal Betharia a fatal blow.
After all, she was a caged bird; even if she died, she would be resurrected once more, allowing her to deal the killing blow without any hesitation.
Suddenly, a slight pain came from her throat.
She tried to endure it forcibly, but that pain quickly turned into a fishy, sweet numbness, forcing Erlina to lean on her spear and gasp for breath.
Poisoned... When did that happen...
"When she drew her sword for the first time," Renee said suddenly, sitting in a chair while crunching on roasted beans. "She mixed a small amount of medicinal powder into the sword wind she slashed out. Knowing you were fighting a dark elf, you should have been more careful to guard against it."
Erlina did not reply, merely enduring the pain as she closed her eyes, her long eyelashes drooping down.
Looking at the exquisitely beautiful silver-haired elf adopting a resigned and delicate posture, a phrase inexplicably popped into Renee's mind:
"Hmph, just kill me!"
Looking at the poisoned Erlina, Betharia felt a strong malicious urge and impulse to "kill her."
But she couldn't.
Killing Erlina was meaningless, because she had already died long ago and was merely resurrected by Renee now—Renee could easily resurrect her once more.
At the same time, the role Erlina played within the Fahel family was Renee's High Elf wife, which meant Renee would still need to invent an excuse to explain to the family knights why Erlina was not dead...
Too troublesome, and her favorability rating would definitely drop as a result.
Betharia had no intention of leaving Renee with a negative impression of being "ignorant of the bigger picture" just for the sake of momentary gratification. Therefore, she merely took out the alchemy vial containing the antidote, turned around, and handed it to Renee, saying:
"The antidote is inside, take it."
"Go and cure her yourself," Renee said lazily, showing no intention of moving his body at all.
"I'm afraid that the moment the poison is cured, she'll fight me to the death," Betharia said softly, feigning grievance.
"No, she won't," Renee said.
Betharia paused for a moment, not asking "why not," because the effect of the caged bird was absolute. As long as Renee forbade Erlina from harming her, little Elin would be incapable of carrying out such an action.
Thus, she felt slightly reassured, walked over to Erlina, squatted down, opened the stopper of the antidote bottle, and placed it under her nose.
As the pungent odor was inhaled into her body, Erlina felt her strength gradually beginning to return.
Maintaining a semi-conscious pose without a sound, she suddenly lunged at Betharia the moment the poison was mostly neutralized.
A brawl!
No weapons, no spells, just pure tearing attacks. Her hands grabbed Betharia's smooth brown hair and pulled fiercely.
Betharia felt a sharp pain instantly, and with a backhand movement, she grabbed Erlina's neck, feeling a mixture of shock and suspicion in her heart:
What happened to "she won't fight me to the death"?
However, the Dark Elf Queen's extraordinarily clever mind quickly saw through Renee's wordplay.
At this moment, Erlina had no intention of killing her; she simply wanted to make her lose face and vent the resentment in her heart—so it didn't count as a life-or-death struggle.
Realizing this, Betharia stopped wasting time and likewise grabbed Erlina's exquisite face with all her might.
Let the tearing begin!
Let's see who is more shameless!
The family knights were dumbfounded. How did the two elven mages who had been exchanging spells just a moment ago suddenly turn into village women pulling each other's hair and scratching each other's cheeks?
Renee, on the other hand, watched with rapt attention, a smile spontaneously blooming on his face.
Ha, this is exactly what I came to see! The two of you actually had a terrible relationship before you died, far from even being friends, so why bother putting on a front of unity and affection in front of me?
Get into a fierce brawl already!
When Marquis Fahel arrived with his men, the two elves had already let go of each other and were sitting on the ground panting and resting.
Betharia had a good deal of hair pulled out, and Erlina's face was covered in countless red marks. Though they looked utterly miserable, they had actually sustained very little actual injury.
"What is going on? What is the meaning of this?" The old Marquis felt utterly baffled. "Did the two of you... have a quarrel?"
"No," Erlina said coldly. "I fell off my horse just now, and my face was scratched by stones."
"That simply won't do; a woman's appearance is her second life," Old Marquis Fahel said, feigning concern. "I'll have the best doctor in Saltrock City prescribe some topical ointment for you. And Lady Betharia, what happened to you..."
"I've been staying up too late lately," Betharia said with a smile. "I've been losing a lot of hair."
Marquis Fahel looked at the hair scattered all over the ground, fell silent for a long moment, and slowly said:
"There is a miraculous medicine in the family rumored to promote hair growth. I'll have a servant look for it for you when we get back."
He turned to look at Renee, his gaze implying, "Aren't you going to give me an explanation?"
Renee simply spread his hands and said cryptically:
"For the sake of the two ladies' reputations, I hope you won't continue to probe, Father. This hardly befits a gentlemanly demeanor expected of a noble."
Marquis Fahel was instantly left speechless, yet he had to admit that Renee was right. Therefore, he simply kept the reality of the two elves' poor relationship to himself, and said with deeply comforted satisfaction:
"My son, you've worked hard in the Imperial Capital this time."
"It was all in service of the family," Renee replied, waving his hand. "Her Majesty the Empress, mindful of my toil, granted me a period of rest."
The old Marquis thought to himself that it must be true. Glancing once again at the chests of treasure in the carriage at the back of the caravan, he grinned from ear to ear:
"Good, good, good. There's no need to serve as the commander of the Imperial Capital Garrison anyway. Nobles in the Imperial Capital are as numerous as the hairs on an ox, and it's far too easy to offend people. You should rest for a few days in Salt Island... No, in Seagull Fortress."
"No need, I still have matters to attend to and must take a trip to the Rainforest Peninsula," Renee said. "Have Darian's merchant fleet come pick me up."
"Very well!" Marquis Fahel said heartily. "I'll have him at your command!"
This promise was precisely what Renee had been waiting for.