The 8-Copper Duo (2)
I slapped the flat chest of the completely naked, tightly bound elf woman with a series of sharp smack smack sounds and asked,
“Long time no see, pretty big sisters. Where did you spend my 8 coppers?”
“Huh? Uh…?”
“That time when you…”
When it seemed like they remembered me, I flashed them a bright smile. The blood immediately drained from the already pale skin of the elves. Well, from their perspective, the little kid they’d once shaken down was now standing right in front of them after dismantling a person. And since they couldn’t resist at all, it was only natural they’d be terrified.
I glanced toward where Rydia was. She seemed busy with the interrogation and didn’t look like she had any attention to spare for me.
…A little bit should be fine, right?
I dropped the cheerful mask I’d been wearing and let my face go cold.
“So? Where did you spend the 8 coppers?”
“S-sorry, sir….”
“I won’t do it again, sir….”
The two of them trembled as they apologized. I frowned deeply and pinched their nipples, twisting hard.
Pinch.
“Kyaaaaaah!”
“Ow! It hurts, sir…!”
They writhed and cried out in pain. Just so you know, this was considered way out of line even by the standards of the Pan continent. Wearing only underwear was fine, but fully exposing your breasts was treated like exhibitionism. Since some people derived pleasure from their chests, touching them was considered extremely intimate skinship.
Yet here they were, not only baring their breasts in front of a small, young boy like me, but getting slapped and pinched on top of it? No matter how reversed this world was, they were bound to feel ashamed. From my perspective, their chests were so small that it didn’t really feel erotic—maybe because of what happened to me before.
Anyway, I tormented them like that for quite a while before finally letting them go. Then I began gently stroking the heads of the two elves, whose long ears had turned bright red.
“I asked where you spent it. Did I ask you to apologize?”
“U-um. It was so long ago that…”
“Your face was cute… I mean, you were cute, sir, so I remembered that much, but I don’t recall where we spent it, sir….”
“…Is that so?”
I stopped stroking and suddenly grabbed both of their heads with a squeeze! They flinched and tried to lower their heads, but I yanked their hair and forced them to look up at me. The difference in strength was obvious, but perhaps because of the mood, they didn’t resist and obediently lifted their faces.
I stared straight at the two identical faces—identical except for their hairstyles—and spoke.
“That day, I nearly starved to death because I didn’t have those 8 coppers. To you two, it was such a trivial amount that you don’t even remember where you spent it?”
“…….”
“…….”
Now they were so scared they couldn’t even speak, just shaking. I leaned in close, pressing my lips near their long ears, and whispered.
“But you do remember what kind of situation you’re in right now, don’t you?”
“O-of course, sir!”
“You’re our lifesaver, sir!”
“Wrong. You two are naked, tied up tight, and rolling around on the floor. And the guy you nearly killed has a dagger. That’s the situation. Got it?”
“Hiiik! Sorry, sir! Sorry, sir!”
“I don’t want to die like this, sir….”
“I didn’t want to lose those 8 coppers either, you know?”
With that, I drew the dagger I had briefly sheathed. It was still stained with the blood from when I’d cut Gail. Drip. Drip. The falling droplets landed on the face of the one with long hair.
And then.
Shhhhh…
“Eh?”
A sound like leaking water came from somewhere. When I looked up and behind them, a yellow liquid was flowing out from between one’s legs. It couldn’t be lemonade, so obviously the identity of that liquid was….
“…The one who just pissed herself. What’s your name?”
“S-sorry… No. It’s Lemon, sir.”
How can someone’s name be Lemon? The thought crossed my mind, but elf names often incorporated flowers or fruits. Well, that was mostly for commoners. High elves with special bloodlines usually had complex, difficult names derived from ancient elvish.
“Then what about the short-hair?”
“It’s Apple, sir.”
“Are you sisters by any chance?”
“We’re twins, sir.”
“Since we were born together, I guess we’ll die together too, sir.”
Their expressions now looked half-resigned. Did I scare them too much? I hadn’t planned on killing them. I let out a long sigh. They flinched reflexively at the sound. Seeing that, I chuckled and continued.
“Right. Lemon, Apple. I’ve lived by one principle since long ago. Do you know what it is?”
“I… I don’t know, sir?”
“If you tell us, we’ll listen carefully, sir.”
“It’s nothing special. Repay kindness twofold. Repay grudges tenfold. That’s how I live.”
“…….”
“…….”
Lemon and Apple’s faces went beyond pale and turned a sickly gray. I burst out laughing at their easy-to-read reactions and shook my head. Truthfully, it was a principle I’d come up with just a few days ago while squatting in someone else’s house, but what did that matter right now? The important thing was that the mood was set, so it was time to get to the main point.
“I won’t tell you to die ten times. But because of you two, I suffered losses besides those 8 coppers, you know? I need to get that back. Applying the tenfold rule, it comes to about 23 gold… How about it? If you give me exactly 23 gold, I’ll forget all the past grudges. Of course, I’ll untie you too.”
“H-how do you even calculate that to get 23 gold… We don’t have that much money right now, sir….”
“But if you believe in us, we’ll definitely! Absolutely! Pay it back, sir!”
Maybe because they saw a way to survive, their faces brightened and they begged desperately. But agreeing right away here would be what only amateurs did. Instead of nodding, I tossed the dagger lightly, catching and throwing it repeatedly as if thinking it over.
Whirl— Catch.
“Hmm… Why should I trust you two? Elves are generally crazy about money, but they don’t do petty stuff, right? In the long run, it’d actually be a loss. But you two…”
Elves rarely got involved in crime. The thinking was, why take risks when they could profit in the long term anyway? If an elf did commit crimes, it would only be a big shot who could calculate clear gains even hundreds of years ahead.
Seeing how they were barely scraping by after getting beaten by raiders on the first floor, they clearly weren’t big shots. That’s why I was asking—weren’t you two just talentless small fries who only shook down pocket change from snot-nosed brats?
I’d expected them to jump up and deny it, but Lemon and Apple simply nodded.
“That’s not wrong, sir. We’ve been stuck on the first floor for five years now.”
“We’re young for elves, so we don’t have any savings. We don’t have parents either, sir.”
“…….”
These guys. What did they even have? Suddenly I felt a strange sense of kinship….
After calmly admitting they were complete good-for-nothings with nothing to their names, a small spark of confidence soon appeared in their eyes.
“But we’re confident in our lifespan, sir.”
“Would it be okay if we paid it back in installments over 50 years?”
“Are you crazy? Humans only live about 100 years before they die, you know?”
“That’s unfortunate, sir… But there are other ways.”
“We’ll borrow it from the boss. Since we’re all elves, maybe she’ll give us 10 years interest-free.”
Ten years interest-free? What country are you from? The scale was mind-boggling, but there was one thing that caught my attention more.
“Boss?”
“She’s the one who’s taken care of us since we were little, sir.”
“These days we work for the boss’s organization, sir.”
“…And what exactly does this organization do?”
“We trade various goods that can’t be obtained through normal channels, sir.”
“And sometimes if there’s a job that requires blades, we fight in their place, sir.”
“That’s a criminal organization! You two are hopeless. Just die right here!”
“N-no, sir! It’s all legal! It’s not weird at all, sir!”
“It’s true, sir! I’d bet my dad on it!”
“Betting on a dad you don’t even have…”
I scratched the back of my head once, then rolled Lemon and Apple half a turn so they were face-down. When I held up the dagger and moved behind them, they squirmed violently.
“Weren’t you going to spare us?! We didn’t lie, sir!”
“We really can pay it back! If you want, we’ll repay with our bodies! Even with interest over 100 years, it should be enough, sir!”
“Tsk. I’m just going to untie the ropes, so stay still.”
“Ah, understood, sir.”
“Sorry for the misunderstanding, sir.”
Lemon and Apple became obedient again. Even with the elf appearance bonus, they had a strangely sloppy vibe, but their bright, earnest eyes made their attitude completely different from before.
Well… I could roughly guess why. To elves, money was practically a god. And I had promised to spare them in exchange for money. So from Lemon and Apple’s perspective, this must have seemed like an extremely reasonable and logical transaction. So reasonable they couldn’t even think of breaking it.
…I didn’t expect to realize here that these two were young for elves, though.
The elf mindset that any deal involving money became a sacred contract didn’t apply to other races. That’s why even slightly experienced elves never trusted verbal agreements with other species. They had to make it into documents and leave evidence before they felt satisfied. And that applied to me too.
Of course I knew that promises involving money were sacred contracts to elves… but maybe because of my memories from my previous life, just taking their word for it felt a bit iffy. So I decided to add one more safety measure.
“Before I untie you, one more thing. I need you to swear an oath.”
“An oath, sir?”
“Since we plan to keep it anyway, it doesn’t matter, sir.”
“Then swear it before the World Tree. It’s right there.”
“…….”
“…….”
Both of them shut their mouths at the same time. But it was closer to a startled silence than hesitation.
“…I didn’t think you’d know about that too, sir.”
“Well, if that makes you believe me, that’s fine. So what should I call you?”
“Yona.”
At my short answer, the two nodded and turned their heads toward the World Tree.
“I, Lemon, swear before the oldest tree that I will pay 23 gold coins to Yona as compensation for past wrongs.”
“I, Apple, also swear before the primordial life that I will pay 23 gold to Yona as atonement.”
Wait. Didn’t that sound like they were each promising 23 gold? I had meant for them to pay a combined total… But I didn’t say anything. If they were going to give it, I’d gratefully accept. If I could get a total of 46 gold, then from that point on we’d be friends.
“Good. I’ll untie you now.”
As promised, I undid all the ropes binding them. Since it was an oath made in the name of a dead god, there was no actual binding force, and the elves themselves acknowledged that they lived in a world without the World Tree….
Even so, the name “World Tree” still held immense weight in elven society. Because it was practically the foundation of elven civilization, traces of it remained everywhere. If Lemon and Apple broke this oath, all I had to do was spread the word around the neighborhood. In just a few months they’d be treated as untouchables in the elf community. Unless they planned to wander for life, they’d probably keep it on their own.
Now free, Lemon and Apple staggered to their feet. But soon they glanced at me nervously and covered their crotches. Since they’d been naked the whole time, it was only natural they’d feel embarrassed. Still, they had two hands—using both to cover only their lower parts while leaving their chests completely exposed was a bit strange. Not that there was much to see since they were so small.
I chuckled and turned my head away to give them some consideration. But as if my thoughtfulness was wasted, Lemon and Apple collapsed with expressions like their hearts had been shattered.
“W-we got laughed at, sir.”
“It can’t be helped since we’re elves with small chests, sir….”
“Does it bother you that much?”
“There are things a brazen little brat like you wouldn’t understand, sir.”
“Women are delicate too, sir.”
“These bitches. The moment they’re untied, their mouths run wild…”
It wasn’t that I didn’t understand how they felt. On the Pan continent, a woman’s chest was like a man’s height or dick length. If it was big and pretty, it was a source of pride, but if it was small, it made them feel down and overly conscious of others’ gazes.
“Whatever, just hurry up and wash down there and change your clothes. There’s been a slight smell for a while now…”
“Khak! To think I wet myself in front of a young boy… Now that I think about it, I’m so embarrassed I want to die, sir!”
“Only Lemon peed herself, sir. I didn’t, sir.”
Lemon curled up even smaller. Her long hair covered her body like a blanket. Meanwhile, Apple, acting like it had nothing to do with her, covered only her lower half with her hands and crab-walked away. She quickly put on the clothes she had taken off earlier.
While the two of them were regaining some semblance of dignity, I saw Rydia heading this way, apparently finished with the interrogation. I urgently gestured for the two to come closer and whispered softly.
“Behave yourselves and read the room.”
“Huh? What do you mean all of a sudden, sir?”
“What happens if we don’t behave, sir?”
“I’ll leave it to your imagination.”
After giving that vague reply, I cleared my throat lightly and twitched the corners of my mouth to fine-tune my expression. The moment Rydia’s footsteps stopped right behind me, I spun around with a bright smile to greet her.
“Lady Rydia! Lady Rydia! Have you finished the interrogation? I don’t really know how to do that kind of thing, so I asked you, but I feel a bit sorry about it…”
“That’s only natural for a child. Yona is a child. In that sense, running out alone was dangerous. When we get back today, you’ll be scolded, so keep that in mind.”
“I’m sorry…”
I slightly lowered my head and acted as dejected as possible. Beside me, Lemon and Apple were covering their mouths with expressions like they’d seen a ghost. Yep. Good thing I’d given them a heads-up in advance. Their expressions weren’t great, but as long as they stayed quiet, it was fine. Rydia tilted her head for a moment at their strange reactions, but she brushed it off as no big deal and carefully began stroking my head.
“…Still, you fought well.”
“Hehe. Oh, right. I also untied these two who were tied up… It seemed like an urgent situation, so I might have been a bit rude… Do you have anything I could use to wipe with?”
“…Ah.”
Rydia spotted the yellow puddle around the crouching Lemon and pulled out a cylindrical container holding a blue stone from her pocket.
“It’s a water spirit stone canteen. Shake it and water will come out, so use that to wash.”
“Th-thank you, ma’am…”
Lemon took the canteen with a dazed expression. Suddenly our eyes met. I secretly gave her the eye-smile I’d practiced and put my index finger to my lips.
“Shh.”
“……!”
For some reason it looked like Lemon had peed herself again, but this time it was quickly wiped away so it wasn’t very noticeable. What a lemonade dispenser of a girl….