Chapter 69
Chapter 69
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Loathsome Race
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Lady—"
"Don't. If we just look the other way, what will happen to them?"
"..."
"Everyone. Do you need any help?"
Katria extended a helping hand to them without hesitation.
The humans gladly accepted her aid.
"Well, there goes one of my prejudices. Dark Elves are evil beings? What bastards spread that nonsense—"
Katria thought the same.
She had heard that the people of the outside world despised Dark Elves on sight—
But her new human friends showed her that it was all lies.
Katria felt a special bond with them.
Her first friends from the outside world.
Friends who had broadened her horizons.
She thought:
Humans are truly—
"Friends? What bullshit. This Dark Elf bitch— we hang out with her for a bit and she won't shut up."
"Heh heh heh, look at you, Wilhelm. Made friends with a Dark Elf already?"
"Shut your trap before I rip out your tongue. Hey, Dark Elf. Still haven't figured it out? You're kidnapped. Hand over everything you've got."
Humans are truly—
"Hold on. This Dark Elf wench... up close, she's pretty damn hot, huh?"
Humans are truly—
"...Before we sell her as a slave, wanna have some fun first?"
"You guys seriously thinking of screwing a Dark Elf? What if you catch some disease or curse—"
A vile and loathsome race.
Whoosh.
Katria burned the paper in her hand.
Detail how you treated the Dark Elf slave.
It was the command she had given Leisha through the slave's brand.
The paper she had just burned contained a detailed account of what her little sister had suffered under humans.
"Kyaaak!"
Recalling the contents, Katria first tore Leisha's clothes to shreds.
She made the naked girl roll in the filth of the city alley, then dressed her in rags soaked with a nose-curling stench.
The slavers had said that was standard treatment for Dark Elf slaves.
"You wish to purchase slaves?"
Ugh—
Leisha instinctively glared at the honor mage before her with contempt.
In such a situation, it was more natural to think, 'This guy's super into bleaching Dark Elf skin for fun!' rather than, 'Ah, he has a special connection with Dark Elves and couldn't stand by!'
Leisha drastically revised her assessment of him.
His cute appearance and unassuming vibe had made her feel friendly, but as expected, there was a reason he was a mage from the Magic Tower.
He was surely just as much of a freak as any she'd seen from the Tower.
In public, he'd put on that friendly face, but back in his lab, he'd indulge in all sorts of depraved acts.
His mansion or lab was probably filled with the fruits of twisted desires—like mutants from crossbreeding races, demons or beasts with teeth pulled for obedient training, or monsters beautiful on the outside but hiding horrors within.
"Is there a problem?"
Misreading Leisha's expression, Rishir pressed forward more eagerly.
'How much fun does he want with Dark Elf slaves?'
Leisha forced down her disgust and plastered on a merchant's smile.
"Well, that is—"
She glanced at the Dark Elf, Katria.
Leisha was just a slave; the real decision lay with her.
Soon, the master's voice came through the slave's brand.
-What!?
An unexpected command to the slave.
The first emotion Katria felt was extreme disgust and revulsion.
Imagining humans treating her like an object and unleashing their warped desires made her seethe with murderous intent.
And then came the humiliation.
Even if she was just playacting as a slave, to be a 'purchase object' for a man? Unthinkable, even in dreams.
Atop endless dunes stretched a city of red cliffs by the sea.
Katria, the lady of the great noble Sahila Family ruling Kehlin, was a flower on the cliff there.
From common women to noble men.
All vied to catch the eye of Lady Sahila, even to glimpse her unveiled face, wagering everything they had.
Many nobles had ruined their houses throwing gifts and endless parties just for a smile.
To think of purchasing such a Lady Katria.
If anyone dared say that in Kehlin, they'd learn firsthand how many stones littered the streets.
And how sharp Kehlin blades were.
Katria herself wouldn't have given it ear in Kehlin.
Who dared put a price on her worth?
A Dark Elf lady's pride wasn't so fragile.
'Me? Purchase me? Some filthy human?'
...Katria's pride was thoroughly scratched.
The Dark Elf lady was in a weakened state, mentally and physically.
The countless slights and discriminations endured in human lands.
Katria had tried dismissing it all as 'humans being humans,' but it hadn't worked.
Unbeknownst to her, a subtle inferiority complex had taken root deep in her heart.
That was why she couldn't brush off Rishir's words lightly.
She couldn't just take this lying down.
She had to shove this humiliation back at him to feel right.
-Say you'll sell me.
Katria commanded Leisha.
-For an outrageous sum, so that human can't afford it.
If the Dark Elves of Kehlin knew, they'd wail in grief.
-Lady Sahila is pricing herself to reclaim her pride!!!
Katria knew her actions were wrong.
But reason wasn't driving her now—emotion was.
Negative emotions toward humans.
"Ahem, if we're selling, there's no reason not to."
Leisha swiftly donned her merchant face and carried out Katria's order.
No need to haggle wildly for the master's unreasonable demand.
"See here? Flawless, smooth skin like black pearls. And those glossy locks with a faint pink sheen—like rare silk. Her eyes, pink diamonds. I guarantee, we'll never handle a more beautiful slave in our lives."
Putting a far-above-market price on Katria?
Just stating plain facts sufficed.
In truth, a slave like Katria was priceless.
Leisha often thought, watching Katria play the slave:
'If she weren't a Dark Elf, her value would match a castle.'
"So, if you decide to buy, the price is—"
Thus set.
"..."
Rishir's face twisted.
It reminded Katria of those memories.
Humans hiding ugly true faces behind shallow masks.
'Know your place, you loathsome human scum.'
'That desperate for it? Lusting after my body that bad?'
'Disgusting things. Cursing us as abominations usually, but pure as beasts before desire.'
The Dark Elf who once showed pure curiosity toward humans was gone.
She now wielded the hatred humans taught her.
And she planned to wield the deception they taught her, too.
'This scum... the key to finding Drian, my brother.'
Katria recalled the merchants who had met Rishir before her.
Other humans' requests.
Finding one Dark Elf.
What would humans prioritize between those two?
No need to think.
'He'll put off Drian's matter till the very last. Cursed Dark Elves mean nothing to them.'
So, Katria decided to use the man before her.
His lust for her.
The Dark Elf owner gave another command to the human slave.
"Pardon? You'll lend me Dark Elves?"
"She's quite capable. She'll be a great help to busy Sir Rishir with this matter."
"..."
Rishir's face twisted.
Were they mere objects to lend?
He eyed Katria.
She bowed submissively toward him.
Rishir suddenly noticed her attire.
Rags unfit for clothing, reeking.
What treatment did she usually endure?
How did she become a slave in the first place?
Most slaves in this world wore chains as punishment for crimes.
But this Katria looked far from criminal.
Noble, if anything?
More likely ensnared unjustly by shady slavers than guilty of crime.
'Ugh, this is driving me nuts.'
Rishir kept recalling Pamon's bright smile.
Surely this emotionless doll-like Dark Elf could smile like his mentor too?
"Then I'll gladly accept your kindness."
Rishir resolved.
He had to free these Dark Elves somehow.
"..."
Katria smirked inwardly.
The human's reaction was spot-on prediction.
A stuffy Magic Tower mage taking help from Dark Elves.
Unpleasant just to imagine?
Oh? But my body's appealing, so you accept?
So simple.
So ugly.
"I'll serve you with all my heart."
At this point, Katria even felt a strange gratitude.
The last remnants of hesitation and guilt vanished.
"..."
Thus, Katria temporarily became Rishir's property.
By the time the mage's meetings with merchants ended, dusk had settled on the streets.
Katria followed Rishir into the twilight streets.
"I have some business, so go on ahead?"
Having sent his party away first, Rishir led Katria somewhere.
"Anything here catch your eye?"
A clothing shop.
A rather upscale one.
"...No."
"Ah, I see. Then... I'll pick for you."
Katria grasped Rishir's intent upon arriving at his Magic Tower lodgings.
A house-style residence.
His first act, bringing in a Dark Elf slave casually: subtly pointing to the bathroom, urging a bath.
Offering clothes he'd just bought.
Katria inwardly burst into laughter.
Could actions be more transparent?
First thing after getting a slave: wash her and dress her in finery.
What came next was obvious.
Even then, Rishir stared piercingly at her body (rags).
'What even are those as clothes... When was her last bath? Tsk.'
Katria swallowed nausea and spoke.
"Please rescind the order. If Lady Leisha learns I used Sir Rishir's space, she'll punish me severely."
"Ah... Is that so."
Worth being an honor mage of the Tower?
His awkward, face-saving dithering was laughable.
What shame here, after bringing her all this way?
If he'd dropped that last shred of pointless pride, he could've had what he wanted.
Katria mocked humans' hollow pride while feeling grateful.
Thanks to it, the horrific ordeal—worse than death—was delayed.
"..."
Rishir gauged Katria's mood before cautiously speaking.
"Oh, right. We haven't properly introduced ourselves. I'm Rishir."
"Tia."
Even revealing her real name to humans now made her sick, so it was a fake one she'd coined.
"Good. Tia. If I may ask, is there anything you need?"
"..."
"Oh, and don't worry about refusing. I'll make sure to get proper compensation. That way, Leisha won't punish you, right?"
"Compensation?"
Rishir grinned sheepishly.
"I want to learn about you, Tia."
All the humans she'd met.
Their facades.
From that, Katria realized his words were a metaphor for carnal desire.
He seemed desperate to ravage her body.
Katria bowed her head, clamping her mouth shut.
She had to weather this crisis somehow—even if beaten or abused.
Surprisingly, he turned away without lingering.
"...Well, opportunities aren't just now."
Leaving behind a chilling line.
Katria sat on the bed in her assigned room, lost in thought.
Moments later.
She opened her eyes and pulled a vial the size of her finger from her bosom.
It held a translucent pale purple liquid.
"Turbid Truth," the poison Dark Elves used to interrogate criminals. It stripped the imbiber's ego, turning them into a puppet responding only to specific commands.
Katria pondered.
How to make a human prioritize a Dark Elf slave over all else?
The solution: feed him the flowing Turbid Truth.
If Rishir ingested it, he'd use every means to retrieve her brother.
And become an empty shell.
No antidote for Turbid Truth.
Thus ending one human life.
A sharp pang.
Katria felt odd discomfort and questioned herself.
Was this truly right?
-Wilhelm! Snap out of it! We gotta run now!
-You idiots! Know what curse that Dark Elf bitch put on us? We have to kill the things!
"..."
Katria gripped the vial with resolved face.
Surprisingly, opportunity came quickly.
As Katria silently handled household chores, Rishir naturally accepted.
The night after she became his property.
She handed tea to him returning from errands.
"Ah, thank you."
He downed it readily.
The tea laced with Turbid Truth.
"..."
Katria clenched and unclenched her sweat-slick palms.
Done.
Now, just wait for the effects.
How he read her wary gaze—
Rishir smiled, raising his teacup.
He thought:
Finally, this Dark Elf was opening up to him.
Perfect timing.
He had things to discuss from today's gains.
The first task after yesterday's meetings: finding the Dark Elf slave Leisha mentioned.
Rishir spoke the name he'd learned.
"Tia, do you know someone named Drian?"
"Pardon?"
Katria had shown no emotion or self since following him.
She revealed bewilderment for the first time.
Her lost brother's name from his lips.
Then, unbelievable words followed.
"Tia. Hypothetically, just suppose. If you had a chance to escape with your kin, what would you do?"
"..."
Katria's mouth gaped.
Her gaze had already shifted to Rishir's teacup.