Chapter 9
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Beautiful and Elegant Doll (1)
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We arrived at the village.
I went with Elaine into the異種族 sanctuary she managed.
Tada!
The children who should have been there were gone.
"What the hell is this?"
On top of that, the inside of the sanctuary was a total mess. It looked like a storm had swept through—everything was smashed to pieces.
"Miss Elaine..."
A human voice flickering like a faint candle flame.
As we went deeper inside, there was the caretaker, his body covered in shallow cuts.
"Hey, what happened here?"
The sanctuary's caretaker, spitting out a mouthful of blood, leaned against the wall and struggled to continue.
"The children... the children were kidnapped."
"Kidnapped?"
Does that even make sense?
This was a sanctuary run by a daughter of the Delberg family.
Who the hell would dare pull something like this?
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry. I'm too weak..."
With those words, the man closed his eyes.
He wasn't dead. He'd just lost a lot of blood and passed out temporarily.
"Wh-what happened?!"
"What is this?!"
Hearing the commotion, villagers from nearby gathered around.
I ordered them to take the man to a healer, then fell into thought for a moment.
The caretaker of this sanctuary was a man who'd served in the Northern Guard for years, according to the elf knight Sian.
That meant he had the skill to knock out most intruders with a single punch.
Grind.
Elaine ground her teeth so hard they might shatter.
"Elaine..."
"It's those guys. The ones from the capital who were trading elves in the black market—they must've come all the way here to take back their 'merchandise'."
She seemed to have a hunch.
Elaine's expression was grim.
Her bangs were damp with sweat and disheveled, and she squeezed her eyes shut as if her head hurt, brushing the wet strands back.
"I let my guard down. I thought they wouldn't come all the way up north to cause trouble!"
"So the slave traders from the capital have extended their reach this far."
Even now, many nobles in the empire still kept slaves. And it wasn't limited to humans.
Lately, beastkin and elves were especially popular, from what I'd heard.
'Of course they are. Just look at me—I'm already head over heels for those alluring elf ears.'
The problem was slave hunting.
This had become a major social issue in the empire.
They traded異種族 through illegal means and raked in massive profits.
And in the process, indiscriminate異種族 hunts took place.
Invading forests where elves lived peacefully, or burning beastkin nests to bring them under human control.
'One of the empire's biggest headaches.'
The nobles' influence made it hard to outright abolish slavery.
But if human-異種族 conflicts continued, it could undermine the unified empire's ideals and spark division. The empire was truly caught in a dilemma.
Anyway, that's beside the point.
"They couldn't have gone far! Let's search every inch of the village."
"Yeah, let's do it."
This wasn't the time for grand thoughts.
Not getting to see those elf kids' twitching ears anymore would be a huge loss for me too.
I'd find them no matter what.
"Boss, we recovered the goods the Grand Duchess stole."
A young man dressed as an ordinary villager roughly dropped a bundle on the ground.
It was the slave hunter Weibel.
"Waaah. It hurts..."
"I got bruises from all the bumping!"
異種族 children wriggled out from inside the bundle.
Weibel checked them over, and the corners of his mouth stretched to his ears.
"Elves, beastkin, and even celestials...! That bitch had quite the collection. And they're in excellent condition too."
[Bring them as they are. We'll leave the village before the Grand Duchy notices.]
"Got it, we'll head out as fast as possible."
Weibel pocketed the communication device and looked at the elf children breathing raggedly in the bundle.
A sleazy smile spread across his face as he saw their fear-filled expressions.
"What? B-but... that was definitely Sister Elaine's face."
"Sh-she said she'd give us potatoes, so we followed..."
"Waaah...! Where's Sister?"
Weibel chuckled and covered his face with his hand.
"Oh, this?
When he removed his hand, his face had changed to that of Elaine Delberg, third daughter of the Northern Grand Duke.
"Magic..."
"A bad wizard..."
"She came to catch us..."
"That's right, little ones. I'm a bit of a bad wizard, so if you don't behave, I might have to punish you."
The異種族 children burst into tears as he scowled with Elaine's face.
"Don't say that with Sister's face!!"
"Bad human! Bad human!"
"Let us gooo! Waaah!"
Weibel wanted nothing more than to kick their noisy, shrill little heads right then and there.
"Calm... down... Hoo..."
He had to hold back. He couldn't damage the precious merchandise.
That's when an interesting phrase caught his ear.
"Wizard... A good wizard brother will come save us..."
'A good wizard, huh...'
Weibel gently stroked the heads of the bawling children.
Their eyelids grew heavy, and they soon drifted off to sleep.
"Yudel von Silverhardt, is it."
He'd heard rumors that the guy had recently gotten engaged to the Grand Duchess and come north.
Who would've thought he'd be babysitting kids in a backwater like this.
Weibel snickered. He couldn't hold back the laughter bubbling up from inside.
Ah... He needed to hurry back.
"The Silverhardts are scary... A truly terrifying family. If you get on their bad side, death might be the kinder option."
After laughing for a while, Weibel wiped away tears and stuffed the異種族 children back into the bundle.
Then he dashed into the darkness.
His subordinates would prepare transport after midnight when leaving the territory.
Once they escaped this place, he'd be filthy rich.
Like that, he sprinted through the dark underground waterway for about an hour.
He found a passage leading to the surface and emerged into a forest.
"Good work, wizard."
"The northern waterways are practically one-way compared to the capital's."
Weibel wiped the sweat from his brow as he looked at the massive man who had come to meet him. The result of running nonstop.
"Guess I need to exercise more."
"Why would a wizard need exercise? This is pretty fast, actually. Even if they're chasing us, they won't catch up easily."
Weibel opened the bundle in front of him.
The elf children inside were in bad shape, tangled up every which way.
They vomited up everything they'd eaten that day as they spilled onto the ground.
While the man impassively assessed the merchandise's value...
"But aren't you a knight who climbed pretty high up, Boss? You could smash any ordinary pursuit squad."
Weibel twirled his wrist and pointed at the giant man.
The man stroked the scarred left eye and grimaced.
"It's been five years since I retired. I lost one eye to a demon, and my skills have declined severely. And the Delberg knights are all strong. Don't get complacent."
Weibel grinned at those words.
He liked the man's honesty—that's why he followed him.
Weibel and the giant man entered a nearby cabin.
"In the end, money is everything in this world. Status, honor, a knight's convictions—all worthless."
"Exactly. That's one reason I follow you. We see eye to eye, right?"
Weibel leaned back on a small wooden bench, basking in the sunlight filtering through the window.
"Northern Grand Duchess Elaine Delberg. When I met her in the capital, she was still girlish, but now she's a fully mature woman."
Feeling a slight drowsiness, he closed his eyes.
"To think she'd dare steal our goods... I'd love to teach her a lesson, but..."
"Better not. This is monster territory."
"Ah, I know. That's why I'm grabbing the stuff quick and bouncing."
Weibel winked at the giant man.
He wondered if all wizards were that flippant,
but unlike knights, they lacked convictions, making their lives seem far freer, the man thought.
"Why did you get into this line of work?"
"Ah... If I catch a bunch of elves, maybe I can get promoted in my mage faction."
"Trash."
"You're one to talk."
That was when it happened.
"Step back."
"Hm?"
The retired knight—now a seasoned slave hunter—drew his sword.
"He's here."
"Ah... What a pain. After running so hard."
Weibel clenched his fist.
A storm of blades formed behind him and surged toward the entrance.
Boom!
Wooden shards scattered everywhere, and dust rose.
The giant man swatted away all the debris flying at the wizard.
"Thanks."
"Handled it?"
"Doesn't look like it."
Weibel grinned wickedly and fired a few more spells at the entrance where the dust hadn't settled yet.
-Boom boom.
A figure burst out from the dust.
When its identity became clear, the wizard's face twisted.
"Elaine Delberg!"
She threw a punch with all her might.
The giant man blocked her path.
"Urk."
But he couldn't withstand the immense force and was flung back.
"Ah... You've grown so well."
"You... from the capital..."
"Yes! You remember me!"
"You vile wizard... Give back the children!"
The wizard smirked and clenched his fist.
The sharp shards scattered around shattered further under the blade storm and flew at Elaine.
As she tried to dodge...
"Don't move!"
Weibel bellowed harshly. His thundering voice shook the cabin and rustled the forest trees.
Elaine's body froze like stone for a moment.
It was a powerful command infused with magic.
In that instant, razor-sharp wind blades sliced her thigh and shoulder.
'Magic... just from words...!'
Caught off guard by the unfamiliar spell, Elaine collapsed weakly to the floor.
How could power be so unfair? She swallowed her rage inwardly.
"Impressive power. But with your muscles sliced, you won't have any strength left."
Weibel strode toward Elaine.
"If this weren't the north and you weren't the Grand Duke's daughter, you'd be dead. Be grateful for life."
"What do you plan to do with those kids..."
"What else?"
He crossed his arms, staring blankly at the ceiling as if pondering.
"Sell a few as slaves... Use the others for my experiments."
"Experiments...?"
"Yes. Elves are prime research material for wizards. Dissect their bodies and who knows what I'll—Whoa!"
Elaine's nails just barely grazed Weibel's cheek.
'If he hadn't dodged, I could've gouged out an eye!'
Blood poured from her shoulder.
Pain crashed over her like endless gentle waves.
"What now? She's too resistant."
"The Northern Grand Duchess has trauma from magic. Use fire."
"Aha!"
"H-how do you know that..."
Hearing those words, Elaine felt all strength drain from her body.
Her chest tightened as if she couldn't breathe.
"Did you come down to the village alone without your knight? Still as spirited as ever."
A small spark ignited in the wizard's palm.
As he poured mana in, it grew larger, soon becoming a fireball he could hold.
Weibel slowly brought the flame right up to Elaine's nose.
"Aaaah... No... Stop... Aaaaah!"
Elaine flailed, dragging her unmoving legs toward the exit.
All she could think was to escape.
-Click.
The door was already locked.
"Aaaah..."
A half-choked, despairing groan escaped her.
"Just pass out for a bit!"
The flame swelled, morphing into a blaze ready to devour her.
That was when it happened.
Bang!
The door shattered to pieces.
A brilliant beam of light flooded the room, banishing the darkness.
Dust swirled in the air, and a woman draped in a red robe emerged.
Everyone there fell silent for a moment.
It wasn't human.
A slender, feminine figure and snow-white skin.
At a glance, she looked human.
But up close, you could tell her body was made not of flesh and blood, but cold metal.
[Target identification confirmed. Awaiting next command.]
After the resounding mechanical voice, the doll's master slowly stepped forward.
"Maidel, good work. You're truly my greatest masterpiece."
The moment he confirmed the identity, Weibel's body shuddered.
The chill crawling up his spine was closer to eerie pleasure than fear or pain.
Gritting his teeth, he spat the name in a raspy voice.
"Yudel von Silverhardt!!"