The Elf Journey In The Western Fantasy World
Chapter 167: Who’s Fooling Who?

Chapter 167: Who’s Fooling Who?

So then... it had to be something else.

Something that made His Majesty anxious but not panicked, nervous but not agitated...

Sebastian slowly shifted his gaze to fall on Illiya.

Feeling that a pair of eyes had landed squarely on him, Illiya was instantly baffled: ??????

Don’t drag me into this, thanks. This has nothing to do with the elf.

Anos who is noticing that Sebastian hadn’t replied for quite a while—his face caught in what seemed to be a deeply tangled web of thought (at least in the Demon King’s imaginative mind)—came to the conclusion that he had successfully stumped his head steward!

And with that realization, the Demon King suddenly perked up, his eyes gleaming a few degrees brighter than usual.

"Sebastian, you really couldn’t guess it, could you?" Anos said, voice lifted with pride, the corners of his mouth curving upward uncontrollably.

A flicker of slyness flashed through his obsidian eyes.

That smug expression made him look just like a kitten that had done something naughty and hadn’t gotten caught.

Absolutely adorable.

This was the perspective of the Demon Palace’s head steward, Sebastian, filtered through one hundred and eight layers of Demon King bias.

As for Illiya, one of the involved parties, he simply felt utterly confused.

When the gaze had landed on him earlier, he had already figured out that Sebastian had more or less pieced everything together.

He just hadn’t had a chance to say it aloud yet.

But why was Anos saying Sebastian hadn’t guessed it?

So it turns out this "filter" thing isn’t just something the Demon King’s subordinates have—it clearly applies the other way around too!

The Demon King’s filter for his subordinates wasn’t any thinner than theirs was for him!

Tsk. Can both sides please stop accusing each other of being too indulgent?

Once again, Illiya found himself refreshing his understanding of demonfolk.

They really were the strangest race on the continent.

Just as Illiya suspected, Sebastian and the rest of the Demon King’s subordinates were, indeed, deeply indulgent toward their king.

As soon as Sebastian heard His Majesty’s words, he didn’t even need to think—he just admitted it outright.

"Ah, I must be rather dull today, to think I couldn’t guess the reason for Your Majesty Anos’s visit. That was a lapse on my part. Please, Your Majesty, do enlighten me."

Despite how perfunctory that line was, Anos looked extremely pleased, as if he genuinely hadn’t noticed.

"Hehe, so even you have things you can’t figure out, Sebastian!" Anos feigned surprise, as though he had uncovered some huge secret. But he didn’t dwell on it and quickly let the matter pass.

"It’s not a big deal... but it’s also kind of a big deal," Anos said, offering a contradictory statement.

And yet, Sebastian understood the meaning perfectly. "Ah, so it’s one of those not-too-big, not-too-small matters—hard to define. You could call it good, or maybe not so good either. So what exactly is the matter?"

Anos had no intention of keeping it a secret. "It’s about the war."

Sebastian asked immediately, "Is something wrong on the main continent’s side?"

Anos replied, "One of their nations is being especially outrageous!"

Without needing to think, Sebastian responded right away. "The ambitions of Yaguk Theocracy have always been well hidden; now they’re simply beginning to surface. Bestowing the title of ’hypocrite’ on them couldn’t be more fitting. No amount of snow—no matter how white—can cover up the filth in their hearts."

Anos nodded fervently. "They’re seriously going too far!"

Sebastian stroked his chin and lowered his head in thought.

Then something occurred to him, and his tone lost its usual gentleness, replaced by a subtle but chilling harshness.

Despite the mildness of his voice, an inexplicable chill crept up the spine of anyone who heard it.

"Looks like there are still some that haven’t been properly disciplined. Are they still not scared enough?" Sebastian said cryptically, not bothering to elaborate. Instead, he offered reassurance. "Don’t worry, Your Majesty. We’re here, and everything will be handled accordingly. When the day of the war arrives, all of this will be resolved—so Your Majesty won’t have anything left to worry about."

Anos didn’t quite understand what his loyal subordinate meant, but he nodded instinctively anyway.

Before he could snap out of his daze, he heard Sebastian’s parting words.

"Your Majesty should remain in the Demon Palace for now. If you must go out, be sure to take more guards with you. I’ll go handle the garbage now. See you tonight, Your Majesty."

With those words, Sebastian vanished from the palace study in the blink of an eye, leaving Anos and Illiya—one demon and one elf—staring blankly at each other.

After a few moments of silence, Illiya finally decided to voice the question that had been troubling him. "Anos, did you actually understand what Sebastian was saying?"

Now that the man had left, Anos let out a long sigh of relief.

When he heard the question, he turned to Illiya with a look of genuine surprise. "Illiya, why would you think that?"

Illiya said nothing in response. He simply looked up at him with unwavering eyes, clearly written with the words.

So... did you understand or not?

Anos pouted, his expression falling. His voice dropped to a dispirited murmur. "Alright... no, I didn’t get it."

Illiya had more or less guessed that already. But teasing Anos was just too entertaining. This current Demon King really was an amusing demon.

Thinking this, Illiya unconsciously wanted to smile, but thankfully he caught himself in time and managed to keep a straight face.

"You two have a rather... unique way of communicating. But judging from your expression, it’s obvious that you noticed Sebastian figured out your intentions. So you..."

He didn’t finish his sentence, but Anos understood what he meant.

Anos sighed, his voice laced with both helplessness and a faint trace of pride.

"I’m someone who’s never liked using my brain. How could I possibly fool a thousand-year-old old fox like Sebastian? Whatever little schemes I had in my head were probably completely exposed the moment I stepped into the study."