Teaching Feeling: A Human's Slave Life (4)
Bilen swallowed dryly.
'Why is Ardena, the warrior captain, showing up at this timing...! No, Valencia Forest couldn't possibly have the funds to pay 4 billion in the first place!'
Valencia, the port city in the eastern part of the Liberia Elf Kingdom, was said to have amassed a fortune through trade with foreign nations. But it paled in comparison to Santander. If Santander was one of the top five wealthiest territories in the elf kingdom, Valencia barely scraped into the top thirty—solidly middle-tier.
Valencia couldn't beat Santander in raw wealth. And yet, Ardena had declared she'd pay 4 billion aether.
"4 billion?!"
"There's no way Valencia Forest has that kind of money..."
"You think Ardena the warrior captain would bluff at an auction like this? She must have something up her sleeve if she's challenging Santander Forest!"
The crowd buzzed with excitement. An unexpected dark horse had shaken up the entire auction.
"Nyah-nyah. Chicken out and die, then."
Ardena's little sister, Alonne, stuck her tongue out at Leticia, the noble lady of Santander Forest. A blatant provocation.
The red-haired elf girl ground her teeth in response. Backing down here would shatter Santander's golden reputation. She couldn't lose to Valencia.
Bilen thought the same. He thrust his bidder paddle high and called out a higher price.
"41 billion aether!"
Veins bulged in his neck—a shout laced with stubborn pride. His opponent was a four-realm warrior captain. But this was an auction. Victory went to the deepest pockets. He couldn't lose. Not for his daughter's future. Not for Santander's. That human knight was a card they absolutely had to acquire. The profits from buying and exploiting a slave like him would more than cover the cost.
"45 billion."
Ardena spoke calmly. Unlike Bilen, who was practically foaming at the mouth, she kept a serene expression. Her gaze fixed on Yushin.
A sharp, icy stare. Yushin shrugged under its weight.
He'd known he was drawing a crowd like storm clouds, but he hadn't expected her to jump into the bidding herself. Yushin was just as shocked by her appearance.
'What's her deal? Why's she trying to buy me? Does she want to enslave me that badly? Guess she wants to taste defeat again—turn me into her personal punching bag. Petty elf. Typical elf bullshit.'
Ardena stared openly at Yushin, ignoring everything else. She seemed fixated solely on claiming him. She didn't spare a single glance at Bilen, who burned with determination not to lose.
The cold-faced elf knight's desire to possess the Valua Kingdom captive far outstripped Bilen's.
'45 billion aether... in Korean won, that's gotta be around 45 billion, right? Mom and Dad back home, looks like your boy's made it big in the elf kingdom. As a slave, though.'
What did she plan to do with him? Beat him black and blue day and night as her stress toy?
Reading the room, Yushin sensed the middle-aged man was losing ground to Ardena. They'd only crossed swords on the battlefield—no other ties. Her defeat in their duel must've stung bad enough to make her buy him just to lord over him now. Vindictive woman.
"50 billion."
Ardena drove the final nail. She'd called the highest possible bid, ensuring no one could top it.
Bilen Santander admitted defeat. He couldn't fathom paying 50 billion aether for one slave.
A Six Sword Realm knight. One of Valua's fabled Kingdom's Seven Swords. But still—way too much for a single slave.
Bilen shook his head, unable to beat someone driven by personal grudge. He apologized to his daughter.
"We won, sis!"
Alonne, standing beside Ardena, pumped her fists in victory. She shot a mocking sneer at the fuming Leticia.
The cheap taunt hooked Leticia. Being provoked by a classmate dubbed the academy's failure? In front of all these nobles? She trembled with rage, tears welling in her eyes.
"Alonne, I'll make you pay for this humiliation. Academy failure...!"
In the end, Yushin Gilliard's owner became Ardena Valencia.
A new master. Utter nonsense. Yushin refused to accept it.
He felt revulsion at the inhuman slave trade, the elf kingdom's one-sided auction of battlefield captives.
"Yushin Gilliard goes for 50 billion aether. Sold for 50 billion aether! The winner is Ardena!"
The auctioneer announced with a bright smile, welcoming the Valencia sisters onto the stage.
50 billion was an astronomical sum—no one carried that in cash. They'd settle via the Yggdrasil Bank run by the elf kingdom's holy orders.
"We'll transfer the Obedience Seal to the buyer, Ardena Valencia."
After signing the payment pledge, Ardena became the owner of Yushin Gilliard—the man who'd forced defeat upon her.
I'm your master now. Her green eyes seemed to declare.
"Yes."
Ardena extended her hand. Magical runes bloomed from the auctioneer's palms, transferring to her.
No need to explain the spell. It was the trigger for the choker fitted here—the brain-melting nightmare. Total control over a slave's life and death.
The auction house had handed Yushin Gilliard's fate to his new buyer.
"Yushin Gilliard."
Ardena uttered the name of the slave she'd bought for a fortune.
"What, gonna beat me now? Uppercut right here in front of everyone?"
"...What are you talking about?"
"Figured you'd whoop my ass to get revenge for your humiliation. Why else buy me for that much? Unless... nah, you're not buying me to free me from slavery, right?"
"Of course not."
Good—didn't seem like it. Yushin exhaled in relief, relaxing his tensed abs.
"Hi."
Alonne greeted him. Yushin's eyes dropped to the elf girl, a mini-Ardena.
"And you are?"
"Ardena the warrior captain's little sister, Alonne Valencia."
"Didn't know she had a sister. You look just like her."
The deal was done. No reason to linger. Ardena moved to take Yushin back to Valencia Forest.
Yushin, who seemed to have resigned himself, suddenly halted.
"Hold up. My men..."
"Your subordinates will hit the stage soon enough. And get sold off to other elves as slaves."
"No way. I gotta take them with me."
Alonne replied to Yushin.
"Sorry, but we can't afford to buy your whole crew. That 50 billion for you? It was all sis's wedding savings. Her marriage just went up in smoke."
Savings started when she was twenty—three hundred years' worth. And that was just part of it.
Ardena flushed crimson at her sister's blunt honesty, flustered as she silenced her.
* * *
The Valua Kingdom had suffered a crushing defeat against the Liberia Elf Kingdom, incurring massive losses.
Soldier casualties were regrettable but acceptable. But the disappearance of Yushin Gilliard—one of the Kingdom's Seven Swords—plunged Valua into shock.
A being from another world blessed with divine stigmata. An Another One. A prodigy who'd reached the Six Sword Realm young, with expectations to climb even higher. Valua's star was gone.
The hero who'd shone against the Demon King Army left the masses reeling.
"Yushin Gilliard was overwhelmed in defeat, faced fierce pursuit, and charged the elves alone to cover his men's escape," the adjutant reported.
The scarred middle-aged man scowled at the news.
"Goddamn Second Prince. That incompetent skull led our troops to slaughter. Cocky enough to drop his guard against those vicious elf demons? Like father, like son."
"Your Grace... someone might hear."
"Hmph. Should we pin a medal on the Second Prince who threw thousands of comrades into the slaughter pit? The nobles are already too dumb to see it and pushing for commendations. Fucking idiots—stirred the hive, now the bees are coming, and they're giggling."
Attacking elf territory was kicking a hornet's nest teeming with furious hornets.
The elves of Libria Peninsula never forgot revenge. Valua had learned that the hard way—multiple times. Once, elite elf cavalry had razed the capital.
"Send out scouts now. Track Yushin Gilliard. If the elves have him, we'll pay the ransom ourselves and demand his release."
"Yes, sir."
Elves didn't kill captives. They wanted labor, not blood-soaked meat.
If caught, he was surely a POW. Ankour Duke, overseeing Valua's western front, vowed to cover the ransom from his own pocket.
"Should we inform Lord Rocksfield too?"
Allen Rocksfield. One of the Kingdom's Seven Swords—and Yushin Gilliard's fiancée. She was fighting barbarians on the northern front.
Valua faced multiple foes, so its key assets like the Seven Swords were split across fronts.
"Nah, leave it. She's due back from the front soon anyway."
"Yes, sir."
He gnawed viciously on his cigar—a habit when Ankour Duke's mood soured.
"Can't fathom why they'd pit our demon-slaying elite against elves! Hole in their heads? Lost all our S-rank demon hunters to elves!"
The adjutant bowed, sweating at Ankour Duke's fury. He got it. Precious forces wasted under the parachuted Second Prince.
Ankour had commanded Yushin and his men before the prince took over—leading to the elf rout. No wonder the rage. Even as the duke cursed the "king's syphilis-ridden whorehouse bastard spawn," the adjutant dared not intervene.