Chapter 228: Give Me Back My Ring
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 228: Give Me Back My Ring
Karami emerged with Azyeth in tow.
It seemed her mental re-education was in full swing. Rin was perched atop Skadia, who had his head pressed to the ground.
“Behave yourself. Got it?”
“Yes, ma’am…”
The ice dragon’s majesty was long gone.
In its place was a pet dragon, perfect for showing off.
Spotting Karami, Rin leaped nimbly and landed before him.
“Is this the Ice Princess?”
Rin craned her neck, staring intently at Azyeth.
“Hmph. She’s pretty, I guess. But not as pretty as Rin.”
Azyeth, in turn, stared back at Rin.
“A pink… puppy?”
“Rin is not a puppy, I’m a fox! A gumiho with nine tails!”
Rin brandished her tails as if to prove her point to Azyeth. As understanding dawned, Azyeth’s drowsy eyes widened.
“Tails. So fluffy… and warm.”
Azyeth began to eagerly stroke the tails.
She stared at them as if she had made a momentous discovery, her hands moving busily, feeling their texture.
Knowing Azyeth as well as he did, Karami was certain.
‘That’s the look of someone who’s found a decent pillow.’
Fluffy and warm.
Rin’s tails were indeed perfect for sleeping on.
“Master, I think this one’s a little weird, too.”
He didn’t deny it.
Azyeth was nothing if not unique.
‘Then again, are any of my slaves normal?’
From Karami’s perspective, they were all more or less the same.
There were only the belligerent and the non-belligerent.
A power structure was already beginning to form.
Rin vs. Alfia vs. Elize.
Rin and Alfia were especially in the former camp. They looked for any excuse to start a squabble, either by antagonizing each other or showing off their relationship with Karami.
Elize, while feigning neutrality, seized every opportunity for personal gain. Just like a bat.
Mirabelle occasionally got involved, but she remained neutral in most cases. She was the type to be happy just being in a bustling crowd, so she would simply giggle to herself.
The fortunate thing was that Azyeth had no connection whatsoever to such belligerence.
If anything, Karami believed her ditziness could serve as a mediating force, cooling heated moments and calming the atmosphere.
Smack!
That was, until Azyeth snatched Elize’s hand.
“Miss Azyeth?”
Karami jumped in surprise.
He had brought the group together to introduce Azyeth to the other three.
She and Alfia were already acquainted, and she’d greeted Mirabelle without issue. But when it was Elize’s turn, Azyeth’s demeanor changed in an instant.
Her gaze toward Elize was one of clear hostility.
A chill like dry ice spread out from Azyeth, filling the air.
In response, Elize’s welcoming smile hardened.
“What is the matter?”
“…The ring.”
“The ring?”
“The ring. Give it back.”
Azyeth was fixated on the ring on Elize’s ring finger. Azyeth knew about that ring.
Of course she did. It was the one Karami had personally commissioned Thorvar to craft.
The ring the prince places on Snow White’s finger after waking her from her deep slumber, proposing marriage.
It was an indispensable item for achieving the “happily ever after” ending.
And Elize was wearing it.
It was unthinkable.
It was something that should never have happened.
“Give it back. It’s mine.”
“Ha, so that’s what this is about.”
Elize, grasping the situation, scoffed.
She raised one corner of her mouth in a smirk, as if to taunt the glaring Azyeth.
“I’m sorry, but this ring was a gift from the Master. It’s not something I can simply hand over to someone else. You should save your whining for your parents.”
“If you won’t give it to me, I’ll take it.”
“Be my guest, if you think you can.”
Crackle—!
The ground beneath Azyeth’s feet froze over, the ice creeping toward Elize’s domain.
But as if refusing to yield, a pool of blood materialized, blocking its approach.
Neither side showed any sign of backing down.
Rin and Alfia, finding the new power dynamic endlessly fascinating, watched with amused smiles as if it were a good show. Mirabelle just sighed.
Before the fight could escalate, Karami, unable to watch any longer, stepped in to mediate.
“Let go of her hand, Miss Azyeth.”
“…”
“I said, let go.”
At Karami’s stern reprimand, Azyeth reluctantly released her grip.
As Azyeth’s aura subsided, Elize likewise lowered her own, straightening her crumpled sleeve.
“You shouldn’t covet other people’s belongings, Miss Azyeth. The pendant, the fairy tale, the music box. Haven’t I given you plenty of things already?”
“The ring… it’s mine.”
Azyeth began to cry silently, large tears rolling down her cheeks as if she were hurt by Karami’s scolding.
‘Was she always this obsessed with accessories?’
On the contrary, she was the type who had virtually no material desires. Besides, with all the treasures in her castle, why fuss over a single ring?
But for Azyeth to be crying meant this was no ordinary matter.
“Alright. I’ll have one made exclusively for you, Miss Azyeth. How does that sound?”
“…Okay…”
“So stop crying. Now.”
“O…kay.”
She managed to stop her tears.
The situation was, for the most part, resolved.
Though Azyeth’s gaze toward Elize was still far from kind.
‘Wow, it feels like I have five children.’
Karami sighed inwardly.
They said the more pretty characters, the merrier, but dealing with even one was a handful. Managing five was no small task.
He was already exhausted.
And to top it off, while not a main one, there was still one more left.
‘Narsha is in Noctar, wasn’t she?’
Running a merchant group, he’d heard.
None of the fully liberated slaves were normal. When he met them again, every single one had a problem.
Self-imposed shackles, self-harm, confinement, self-induced eternal sleep.
What a spectacular lineup.
The thought of what might pop up next already made his vision go dark.
*
A journey across the continent would normally take a good three or four months.
But with Mirabelle’s magic, a trip around the world was possible in a single day.
Staff tap.
Portal pop.
Step inside.
Arrival.
Not a single miscalculation.
It was, in a word, perfection itself.
“Miss Mirabelle, this isn’t Noctar.”
Except this time.
Karami knew Noctar, having lived there for several months. This place bore no resemblance to the Noctar in his memory.
Noctar was a place that was gloomy, dark, and had beggars rolling around on every street corner.
But the city before them?
The streets were clean, and there were no vagrants steeped in despair. It was a bright, harmonious scene.
“No, this is the right place.”
“Pardon?”
“Narsha was very particular about it. She said she absolutely couldn’t show you a shabby city when you returned, so she pestered the lord until he fixed it all up.”
“Oh.”
That sounded just like the Narsha Karami knew. She was a noble lady, after all.
Even when they traveled, she always had to have the finest inns, the most luxurious carriages, and the most expensive food.
‘She was always trying to teach me noble etiquette, too.’
Maybe he could allow himself a little hope?
With a small flicker of optimism, Karami headed for the location of the Merchants of Death.
The merchant group’s district was as large as a noble’s estate.
Passing through the gate guarded by sentries and crossing the garden, a building came into view.
A new structure stood where the Desert Rose Merchant Group’s building had once been. A picture of the Reaper was painted on the gate, as large as the gate itself.
It looked so menacing that he didn’t even want to get close.
‘Of all the things she could have chosen, why the Reaper?’
But then, a reason flashed through Karami’s mind.
‘She must have taken it from ‘Slave Reaper.’’
Why would she do that?
There were so many pretty, cool names to choose from.
It was beyond his comprehension.
As the group approached the building, elf girls who were wandering nearby greeted them warmly.
“Lady Alfia, you’ve returned!”
“Yes.”
“And the people behind you… Ah! Could that be him?”
“That’s right.”
The elf girls recognized Karami.
They bowed deeply and respectfully to him.
“Welcome back, Master!”
“…Who’s your master?”
“You are our Master, aren’t you?”
Karami tilted his head in confusion. He had no memory of enslaving any elf other than Alfia.
What was this?
What in the world had she done?
“Alfia?”
“I thought long and hard about why you left me behind, and I realized. You wanted me to raise the young elves until you returned.”
He had no memory of saying such a thing.
“You only take girls as slaves, right? So I brought elves from the Great Forest.”
“So you’re saying they’re all my slaves?”
“Yep.”
Alfia couldn’t hide her smile, expecting to be praised.
“They say that having even one elf slave greatly increases a slave trader’s reputation. So that means you’re now the world’s greatest slave trader.”
“Hmm.”
“How does it feel to have so many elves as your slaves? I did a good job, right?”
He wasn’t sure what was what, but if he emptied his mind and did the simple math…
Rare elves.
Pretty.
Young beauties.
Good thing + good thing + good thing = a very good thing.
Karami gave her a thumbs-up.
“Excellent, Alfia. It was worth leaving you in charge. I’ll give you a special reward later.”
“Hee hee, I’ll be looking forward to it.”
They went inside.
Just like the exterior, the interior was incredibly clean and luxuriously decorated, a testament to Narsha’s efforts.
As Alfia guided them toward Narsha’s location, a commotion erupted from the opposite end of the hallway.
The people who soon appeared were Count and Countess Bryan. They were being dragged out by elf guards.
“Let go! I said, let go of me! Do you have any idea whose body you dare to touch! I am Count Bryan. The father of Narsha, the owner of this merchant group!”
“That is why you are leaving alive. Anyone else would have left as a corpse. Consider yourself lucky.”
The couple was dragged away, unable to put up any resistance. Then, the Count’s eyes met Karami’s.
“You bastard, Slave Reaper!”
“We meet again, Count.”
“This is your doing. You brainwashed my daughter!”
“I wish it were that simple. A shame, isn’t it?”
“I won’t let this stand. I will use any means necessary to destroy this merchant group, kill you, and rescue Narsha!”
As Count Bryan was dragged away, screaming at the top of his lungs, Rin’s odd-colored eyes glowed.
“Rin, what did you just do?”
“Nothing much~ Just a little bit of luck, you could say?”
“Luck?”
“Yep. The kind of luck that ruins your life.”
Karami was puzzled as to how that could be considered luck. Of course, from Rin’s perspective, she had indeed granted him good fortune.
After all, he had survived after threatening to kill Karami in front of his slaves.
Compared to death, having one’s life ruined could certainly be interpreted as being lucky.
Walking down the hallway from which the Bryans had appeared, they saw another figure.
Striking red hair and red eyes.
An elegant social dress that exuded a graceful dignity.
Narsha, who had been sighing with a weary expression, finally noticed Karami and her eyes widened.
Then, as if it had never happened, she smiled, gathered the hem of her dress, and offered a graceful curtsy.
“Welcome, my Master. Narsha Bryan greets you.”
This one seems normal, at least.
Karami was about to reply with a sigh of relief.
But then Narsha lifted her head slightly.
“Were you happy, fooling around with other women after selling me off?”
Ah, this is…
I’m fucked.