NOVEL WEB Chapter 1413: The Truth
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The reactions of the elves after Yggdrasil revealed the truth were as expected. Most of them were shocked by what they heard, some were in utter disbelief, and a few understood the truth well, and even cried after seeing her confess her sins, and showing them that she wasn't the perfect goddess they saw her as, but a person, someone flawed just like them that committed a mistake that haunted her even now.
"And that is the truth, behind Fafnir's existence and his departure, behind the tragedy that struck our continent, and everything…" she said. "Please, don't take this personally, and I am not confessing this to shift the blame to the elves or anything of the sort, I believe all sides had their own fault for what happened. And even then, I believe I am the one that you should blame the most. The reason why I almost died was because of my own guilt, because I couldn't fight back against the child I raised… I allowed all of this to happen, and it is all my fault."
"G-Goddess Yggdrasil…"
"She… she committed a mistake?"
"So Fafnir's origins…"
"He was a Lizardman…"
"A half-lizardman, son of a human that visited this continent so long ago?"
"Our Great Ancient King, the one that unified the entire continent under his flag… to think he committed such atrocities!"
"He even went against Lady Yggdrasil and threatened her?!"
"So this is the truth, the history that those nobles hid from us all this time!"
"But now, mostly all the nobles are dead, and… even our current King…"
"Goddess Yggdrasil…"
This, as a result, left the elves with many questions, and above all, scared. They were confused, if everything they knew was false, if their leaders were dead, and even if their goddess was a liar, then what else did they had? How could they possibly continue into the future?
It was indeed a time of change, with the great calamity that brought this continent and its people to near destruction, there was no way to go back to how things were, this false sense of security created by people believing the good old times will come back was completely incorrect.
Indeed, from now on, elves have to shape a new future altogether, one built by its people and for its people, no longer should they simply obey their king blindly, and no longer must they build their societies around prejudice and discrimination either.
If they want to correct the mistakes of the past, so a calamity of this caliber never happens again… they must restart from zero and create a new country.
"People of Alfheim!"
Elfriedden stepped forward, as my companion, he was a Legendary Hero to everyone, someone that had freed them from the Great Calamity, Fafnir, and his Army of Death.
"You've now heard the truth, Goddess Yggdrasil committed many mistakes, but so did we! Fafnir was a monster, but he was also a victim. But please, understand, we are not trying to shift the blame to anybody! All of this happened because of several things that connected one after another, it was something born from… prejudice, from discrimination, and to be honest, if you let me be honest, we are all to blame. We grew up in this society, we rejoiced in our own culture, without even knowing that it was built upon the deaths and suffering of countless others. Lizardmen committed atrocities, but so did we. Who are we to blame them for something we committed against them before? Nobody is in the right here, we both… were in the wrong."
"Prince Elfriedden…"
"He's… not wrong…"
"All of this calamity, everything…"
"If we had simply talked, if we had simply tried to understand each other…"
"Goddess Yggdrasil loves us all, she said both Elves and Lizardmen were her children!"
"What right do we have to say we are the only privileged children of this continent then?"
"But… the lizardmen killed everyone! It was a massacre…!"
"Yes, it was… they cannot be easily forgiven, perhaps not on our generation…" Elfriedden sighed, closing his eyes. "But there are survivors, and they will be given a space, somewhere, where they can once more thrive. They will be given a second chance, the only surviving ones being children, mothers, and their eggs. We, the heroes, will take full responsibility to see this through until the end. For as long as it takes, I know it will be hard, to build this entire country from zero, that we will never go back to the good old times… but it must be done. I ask you, everyone, would you help us move forward, and pave the way for a bright future that the next generations can enjoy without prejudice or discrimination, a world where we can finally live in harmony with nature and Mother Yggdrasil?"
The elves fell silent, as Elfriedden spoke with the most sincerity and emotion I've ever heard him, his eyes full of emotions, looking at the immense population of elves.
Some didn't say a word, but the vast majority…
"I don't know what I can do myself, prince… I am just but a humble fisherman, but if I can help, I'll do whatever my humble self can do!"
"I used to be a magic teacher… if there's anything I can do, please ask me."
"I will help!"
"You have my support, prince Elfriedden!"
"Yeah… Yeah!"
"I don't know… I've always thought these young'uns don't know how to run a country, but after seeing how our King himself had betrayed us… what else can we do but to trust the new generations?"
"The granny is not wrong, not like we got other option either way!"
"Prince Elfriedden! Thank you for saving our country!"
"You're our hero! We will always follow your lead!"
"Thank you for being so considerate!"
"I support you!"
"I support you as well, prince Elfriedden!"
"Your majesty, your sincerity has been heard," Yggdrasil said, glancing at Elfriedden, who saw all the people cheering for him, tens of thousands of elves. "This time, a King has not been imposed onto them, they have chosen him."
A crown made of divine wood appeared on Yggdrasil's ethereal hands, descending upon Elfriedden's head.
"From today onwards, Elfriedden, you're crowned as King of the Elves."
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