Upon reaching the castle's second floor, he saw that the walls were pitted and scarred—clearly traces left behind by last night's great battle among the sprites. Liszt's arrival was quickly sensed by them, and one after another, they crawled out of their boxes and called out to him.
As if she knew she had made a mistake, Zyra lay sprawled over the edge of her box, looking pitifully at Liszt as she let out an aggrieved cry. "Wuwa."
Liszt ignored her, merely putting on a stern face as he rebuked them. "All of you, come here! Line up neatly on this table and stand still!"
"Gulu."
"Wuwa."
"Jigu."
"Ula!"
The sprites flew out of their respective bug houses and came to stand on the table Liszt had indicated. Some amicably patted one another, while others glared fiercely, baring their teeth. The sprites came in all different colors and forms, and their personalities and tempers varied just as widely.
"Silence! None of you move!"
Only after thoroughly cowing the sprites did Liszt say to the steward, Carter, "Mr. Carter, point out who started the trouble last night, who got into the fight, whose responsibility was greater, and whose was lesser. Identify them all one by one—do not cover for anyone."
"Sprites may be adorable, but they truly need to be taught a lesson. My lord, I will not shield a single sprite." As Carter spoke, his gaze was fixed on the Thorn Sprite, Zyra.
Zyra, meanwhile, was glaring furiously at him.
But Carter was not intimidated in the slightest and directly pointed her out. "Every conflict was started by Zyra..."
Zyra shrieked, trying to stop Carter from tattling. "Wuwa!"
But Liszt simply reached out and pressed down on her head, signaling for Carter to continue.
"Zyra was also the first to