Chapter 68: King of Slaves - 5
Chapter 68: King of Slaves - 5
Jiha's room.
A bed, a bookshelf, and a table that doubled as a desk were the only furnishings.
For a man with over a billion in funds and dominion over the barracks, it was modest, but the lighting was another matter entirely.
Even though it was night, it was bright as day.
Two Mana lamps poured out light.
Mana lamps themselves were common items, but ones this bright were considerably rare.
As Leticia stared in surprise, Jiha spoke.
"Grade 1 lamps. Paid thirty million each. Makes reading before bed comfortable."
Thirty million for light brighter than a fluorescent lamp.
It felt like a fleecing, but considering Warsland's level of civilization, it made sense.
Leticia, privately stunned by the spending habits of a human she'd dismissed as a Common, quickly composed her expression.
"Typical illiterate human. Elves have keen night vision, so we have no need for it to be this bright."
Offering no reply, Jiha plopped down in front of the table and pointed to the spot across from him.
"Sit."
"There isn't even a chair. You expect me to sit on the bare floor?"
"I laid down a sheet. You're full of demands."
Leticia looked deeply displeased, but she had little choice and sat with her legs tucked to the side.
As if it were the height of filth, Leticia rubbed the edge of the sheet with her fingertips, turned back to Jiha, and froze.
"What are you staring at?"
"Should I talk to the wall then? It's just you and me here."
"......."
Leticia's face showed renewed wariness.
Unable to ignore Jiha's provocation in public, she'd responded, and before she knew it, they were alone in an enclosed space.
And that was after she'd let him touch her bottom during that earlier embrace.
What had happened in the heat of the moment wouldn't be allowed to happen again.
Leticia covered her chest with one hand and showed him her clenched fist with the other.
"......Don't get any strange ideas, or I'll shatter your skull."
Jiha let out a dry laugh, and Leticia bristled.
"You don't think I can? Things are already a mess anyway—what does it matter if you're a Blue Seal Common or not?"
The reason Jiha had laughed was that Leticia was being far too soft.
If Jiha were in Leticia's position, he would've started by caving the other person's head in.
Can't talk with a smashed head? Then break a few limbs too.
'She must be truly terrified of me....'
Leticia was making all sorts of excuses to avoid a direct confrontation with Jiha.
She'd tell herself they weren't excuses, that she had valid reasons, but in Jiha's eyes, it was self-rationalization.
"Th-that time was a mistake. Don't get the wrong idea."
As Leticia tried to put on a tough front, Jiha got straight to the main point.
"Let's get down to it. How are you going to clean this up?"
"You massacred the elves, and you're seriously saying 'clean this up'?"
"Your elves killed five Normal Grade guards."
At Jiha's point, Leticia hesitated.
"Those were Normal...."
"Should we skip the negotiations and just go to war?"
"......."
Leticia fell silent at Jiha's words.
This entire conversation was being held to somehow prevent the situation from escalating into a full-blown war.
"......I understand there were Blue Seal casualties. But what exactly do you expect me to do? Thirty elves are dead."
"You'll have to make the elves back down."
Leticia looked incredulous, but Jiha was dead serious.
"The way things stand, this whole mess started because your people stormed the barracks, killed guards and Commons, and got wiped out when they met resistance. So who bears the primary responsibility?"
"That's because you people wouldn't hand over that kobold...."
"And that justifies raiding us?"
Leticia had nothing to say to that.
The truth was, Leticia had passed information to Galak's crew following Jiha's instructions, but she hadn't known they were planning a full-on barracks assault.
Even if it had succeeded, Galak's personal fame might have risen, but the war clouds would have only darkened.
He'd done something insane just to make a name for himself, failed utterly, and now it was a catastrophe.
Primary responsibility for this disaster would fall on Leticia, the sole elf Unique stationed in Waris.
"Well, let me give you a more peaceful solution."
"......What is it?"
"If the council or whoever starts nagging you, crush every single one of them. If they don't listen, beat them until they do."
Leticia was aghast.
"What kind of unprincipled, vulgar...."
"Or should we go to war?"
"......."
Having shut down Leticia's objection, Jiha laid out the situation.
"You see what's unique about this situation? It was only elves who came and died. Purple Liberation isn't just an elven collective, it's a community of various species, right? So naturally, there's internal racial conflict and power struggles."
"......."
Just as Yura and Enril belonged to rival factions.
Leticia's face showed reluctant agreement at Jiha's words.
"The elf council will of course demand war immediately because young elves are dead. They'll be foaming at the mouth about showing Blue Seal a lesson. But what about Purple's other species? Plenty of them will be thinking this is a perfect chance to put those troublemaking elves in their place, don't you think?"
"......The dwarves will be the first to do that."
Leticia immediately made a disgusted face.
Jiha sneered.
"There are species inside Purple who dislike elves. Use that to suppress them."
"......You're telling me to turn on my own kin?"
Leticia was visibly reluctant. Jiha rephrased it a little.
"No, you'd be saving them. If the elves let themselves be pushed around by a council spouting outdated nonsense, they have no future."
"......."
Leticia wore the expression of someone whose sore spot had just been poked.
'She's a successful career woman at work, but at home, she's the eldest daughter who gets treated worse than the youngest son. She gets angry, but nobody takes her side, so she bottles it up while nursing a deep dissatisfaction inside.'
The disparity between her treatment outside and inside—that was Leticia's contradiction.
Jiha drove the point home.
"If things continue like this, even if it doesn't escalate to full-scale war, the elves will keep causing clashes, and their standing within Purple will shrink considerably. A Unique Grade like you who's been through all sorts of things should be able to figure that out, no?"
"......."
Leticia was silent for a long moment, then sighed.
She nodded and looked straight at Jiha.
"Fine. What do I need to do, specifically?"
"From here on, there's a fee."
"......You want me to pay you?"
Jiha chuckled.
"You think a Common is after money? I can't even legally own property."
"Then what...."
"Become my slave."
If he could control Leticia, he could exert influence over the Purple camp.
He'd make her his completely today.
Leticia blinked vacantly before her face flushed bright red.
With fury.
Jiha spoke calmly.
"Didn't I say it the first time we met? If you're going to make others your slaves, prove you're qualified. Well, it looks like I'm the one proving my qualifications now."
"Have you lost your mind, you pathetic human? Right now...."
Purple Mana gathered in Leticia's fist, but Jiha ignored it.
What was there to fear from the bark of a frightened wildcat?
"If you knock me down, then what? How are you planning to fix this situation by tomorrow morning?"
"......."
Leticia, about to throw the punch, hesitated.
"The elves will be foaming at the mouth, hounding you to avenge your kin. And Blue Seal, after being hit with a night raid, will be seeing red. Are you, the one responsible, going to bow your head to Enril and beg her to please stop the war, to please cut you some slack?"
"Are you insane?"
Even in this situation, Leticia bristled at the mention of Enril.
She looked ready to bite her own tongue off.
"If the elves keep rampaging and causing incidents, your position in Purple will only get worse. If that repeats often enough, Purple could even expel the elf species entirely."
"What nonsense are you spouting right now? That's not even possi...."
"Blue and Purple are coalitions of species. If the species within Purple that dislike elves unite, forming that kind of public opinion is perfectly feasible, isn't it?"
"......."
Leticia bit her lip.
"......Even if that were true, why do I have to become your slave? I could kill you right this instant!"
"If you really think so, go ahead and try."
"......."
"Go on."
Mana was still gathered in Leticia's fist, but Jiha simply waggled his right index finger.
It was a defenseless provocation, yet Leticia couldn't bring herself to attack.
She was terrified of Jiha, and the claim that her species' future was at stake held her back.
And Jiha's left hand, pressed against the floor and hidden from Leticia's view by the table, was charged with Mana.
Ready to respond instantly if things went south.
"......."
After glaring at Jiha while breathing heavily for a long while, Leticia unclenched her fist.
"......How can I trust what you say? Before, you promised to get rid of my engagement and then tried to weasel out of it."
"Pamin's done for, and didn't I take care of Galak for you today too? The one who'd have been your next pest."
Leticia's face stiffened.
"......What's that supposed to mean? You're not saying you killed Galak because of your promise to me?"
"Why else would I have done it?"
Not that it was the only reason.
At Jiha's reply, Leticia couldn't hide her horrified expression.
She'd been trying hard to act fiercely, but Jiha's way of thinking was more than enough to terrify her anew.
"Wh-what is wrong with you? You can't seriously be planning to kill every male elf who might become my fiancé?"
"Depends on how they act."
Better to let the misunderstanding stand.
Leticia's face went pale, and she fell silent for a long time.
Jiha deliberately took his time, just staring at the wall.
In this kind of situation, looking away would have the effect of making Leticia shrink back on her own.
"......I refuse."
Leticia reached her conclusion.
She glared at Jiha with angry eyes.
"I can't trust you, and I have absolutely no intention of becoming a slave to a lowly human. I am Yormun's successor, and I am a Unique Grade. I won't bow my head to a creature like you!"
"So you'll handle the aftermath on your own?"
"......But given the situation."
Leticia bit her lower lip to endure the humiliation.
"If you resolve this, if you actually deliver on your grand promise... I really, truly hate this, but... I'll consider it in a slightly more favorable light."
"......."
Did she not understand who held the upper hand here?
Jiha found it absurd, but Leticia simply kept her fierce look.
As if to say he should acknowledge how much she'd conceded.
'I guess she won't react like Enril....'
Enril was at least sensitive to hierarchy.
But Leticia, even while being afraid of Jiha, screamed defiance.
Even though she knew she couldn't beat him in a real fight.
"Guess I'll have to break you in a little."
"How dare you speak to me...."
Jiha drew the sword he'd hidden behind his back.
Leticia's face went ghostly pale.
It wasn't the blade that scared her; it was the familiarity of it.
"You, not that thing again...."
It was the sword Jiha had used to kill her kin.
The evidence that she and Jiha had colluded to fabricate the incident.
'Not that fingerprint analysis or anything is possible in Warsland anyway....'
But the sword itself was psychological pressure on Leticia.
A reminder that Jiha could ruin her with just a few words.
"I hear what you're saying, but I'll be taking a down payment."
Leticia's tense throat bobbed up and down.
"On my honor as an elf, I prom...."
"Do you think that's going to fly with the man who fought your elves today?"
Jiha slowly thrust the sword forward.
It was an incredibly slow motion, almost like offering her the blade, but Leticia couldn't move; she just watched.
Even if Jiha tried to stab her, she could defend with Mana in that instant.
No, a movement this slow couldn't possibly be an attack in the first place.
Jiha's sword stopped right in front of Leticia's collar.
"......Wh-what is this."
With the blade before her, Leticia couldn't hide her tension.
No matter how sharp the edge, it couldn't properly pierce her skin, already reinforced with Mana.
But Jiha knew that perfectly well, didn't he?
Just as that thought crossed her mind and a sudden chill ran down Leticia's spine... Jiha slashed downward without hesitation.
The sound of cloth being cut.
"......Ah."
Her skin wasn't cut, but her clothing and white bra were sliced cleanly away.
Leticia's face flushed crimson as her bare flesh was exposed, and she hurriedly covered herself with her arms.
"Kyaa, kyaaah!!"
It was a shriek so feeble, it was hard to believe it came from the previously domineering Leticia.
The possibility that a man would ever do something like this had never crossed her mind.
"Wh-what are you...."
Leticia wrapped both arms around herself and shrank back completely.
The fierce expression from moments ago had vanished entirely.
She was terrified of what was coming next.
"How long are you going to keep pretending to be strong, elf woman?"
Having sheathed his sword, Jiha rose to his feet.
"Let me show you what it means to fear a human male."
To fix her bad habits.