Chapter 27: Alfia, the Worthless Elf
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 27: Alfia, the Worthless Elf
No matter how you looked at it, Karami was not sane.
Even with a knife to his throat, he just laughed, feeling no sense of danger. Normally, Victor would have slit the carotid artery of such a flippant man and left him on the street.
If he hadn't mentioned his granddaughter.
Victor's granddaughter, Emily.
Born frail, Emily needed constant care, a role Victor had taken upon himself. Though he was the head of the organization, he was at an age where he was beginning to consider retirement.
It was the same on the day the organization was annihilated. Victor had skipped the mission to care for Emily, which was how he survived.
Emily's parents, however, had died along with the other members that day.
Unwilling to lose his only remaining blood relative, Victor hid his identity and settled in Noctar. The problem was that no matter how many doctors or priests he called, no matter what expensive medicines he administered, Emily's illness showed no signs of improving.
In such a situation, Karami's words were enough to completely seize Victor's attention—so much so that he wouldn't have even reacted if Karami had snatched the dagger and stabbed him.
“How in the world do you…?”
The fact that Emily had an incurable disease was something only Victor knew, now that her parents were dead.
“I believe I’ve already told you who I am. What’s important is the bottom line, isn’t it? Will you kill me and let your granddaughter die? Or will you grant my request and save her?”
It was an offer with zero credibility.
Accepting it wasn't rational. Victor knew this in his head, but he was already at the edge of a cliff. All the while, Emily was dying.
He couldn't lose Emily, too.
He couldn't even think of torturing the man. A grandfather's heart wasn't ruthless enough to gamble with his sick granddaughter's life.
“You’d better cure her. If you fail to keep your word, I’ll turn that slender body of yours into a pincushion for my daggers.”
*
‘Though I never thought he’d actually be able to cure her.’
Surprisingly, Karami kept his word. He boiled some water with a strange stone he’d produced from nowhere and had Emily drink it. Just like that, she was cured.
An illness that not even a priest's blessing could fix.
Cured with a mere stone.
“How on earth did you know about Emily’s illness? Even the most renowned doctors couldn’t so much as diagnose it.”
“Trade secret.”
Of course, there was only one way he could have known.
Victor was a character important enough to appear in the game, and he could be used as an ally, not a slave. Placing him in the shop's sub-manager slot increased work efficiency.
Now that I wasn’t playing a tycoon game, helping him might seem pointless, but that wasn’t necessarily the case.
The master of the Assassin’s Guild.
Victor, the Shadow Peacock.
Karami’s mind raced. He would use Victor as an attack card. With no combat slaves, he would be an incredibly useful asset.
‘Of course, there is one hang-up.’
Is it morally right to bring a man who’s spent his life killing people onto my side?
But there wasn't much room for debate.
After all, Karami himself was a slave trader.
‘A good slave trader, though.’
A slave trader and an assassin. In a way, it was a good match.
Of course, more than half of it was for his own personal satisfaction. Karami suddenly blurted out.
“Twilight fades, and the peacock ceases its dance.”
“Why are you suddenly saying that again…?”
“……”
As Karami stared at him silently, Victor sighed as if exasperated but had no choice but to play along.
The man was his granddaughter's savior.
“But the shadows keep dancing.”
“On a rainy night, where does the peacock go~?”
“To where darkness lies, a place the moonlight cannot reach….”
At those words, Karami let out a cry of delight, “Kyah~!” and clapped.
A geek's ultimate fantasy!
A man's dream!
‘Exchanging the code phrases. I’ve always wanted to do this!’
We are the owls that do not cry. The tigers that leave no footprints.
How epic was it when I saw it in that other game?
TOS had a similar element that stimulated a maaaan’s dreeeam. The scene of exchanging code words with Victor was impressive enough to make Karami’s personal ‘Top 10 Most Memorable Scenes in TOS’.
It may have been an unwanted transmigration, but Karami was enjoying it to the fullest.
“I can’t fathom what goes on in your head.”
“It’s nothing you’d benefit from knowing. You’re better off not knowing.”
Victor nodded gravely.
He must be thinking of things I can't even begin to imagine.
After finishing cleaning up the shop while chatting, the two headed down to the basement. In the basement were four children, including Emily.
Three of them were children Karami had brought in from the outside and formed master-servant contracts with.
‘Gotta keep saving up points.’
Thanks to liberating Mirabelle, I had plenty of points, but who knew when they’d disappear again. Points had a way of vanishing when you least expected it.
“Welcome back!”
“O-oh, welcome back….”
The children greeted them with happy faces. The basement of The Peacock’s Night Gathering had ample space for people to live. Karami had also claimed a spot here for his own quarters.
“Have you all been playing well?”
“Yeah!”
“That’s good to hear. I bought some gifts, so if you see anything you like, feel free to take it.”
Like a peddler, Karami spread the items out on the table. It was a colorful assortment of accessories that girls their age would love.
The girls squealed, “Kyaaa~!” and held the accessories up to their hair and clothes.
Watching them with a pleased smile, Karami shifted his gaze to the side.
“Not interested, Matthew?”
Matthew was the only boy among the children Karami had brought from the slums. While the girls examined the items, Matthew stood alone with his arms crossed, a displeased look on his face.
“Of course I’m not interested! What kind of guy likes stuff like that?”
“Oh, dear.”
“You know I’m not interested. You always single me out, don't you, Karami?”
“Haha, you state the obvious.”
Unlike the two girls, who were his friends, Matthew was not a slave. Karami hadn't placed the soul shackles on him.
If you have to raise male characters, can you even call it a proper otaku game?
One male character is more than enough.
Karami only took female slaves. No matter how good their stats were, if they had a dick, they were disqualified.
Matthew should consider himself lucky to be friends with the girls. Otherwise, he’d be a cold corpse lying on the street by now.
“I’ll take this one!”
“Then I’ll have this!”
“I-I’ll take this one….”
The girls picked out the items they liked one by one. He could practically hear their affection levels rising steadily.
It was thanks to the new skill he’d obtained after liberating Mirabelle: [Generous Master].
The skills Karami acquired didn't have any groundbreaking effects. They were focused on making his life as a slave trader easier or on his relationships with his slaves.
The [Generous Master] skill was no different. When Karami gave a gift to a slave, their affection level would rise slightly. It made it easier to break down the barriers that formed in a master-servant relationship.
Karami called out to Victor, who was watching the children delight in their gifts with a pleased expression.
“Victor. A word, if you please.”
The expression on Karami’s face was unusually serious, which made Victor serious in turn. The two men entered a room and locked the door.
“What is it?”
“The time has come for you to grant my request.”
The request. The condition Karami had set in exchange for curing Emily. Victor had promised to fulfill it, no matter what it was. Even if it meant offering his own neck.
“What is it?”
“You must have heard at the tavern earlier. The Desert Rose Merchant Group succeeded in hunting an elf.”
“I heard… but frankly, I find it hard to believe. I’ve fought an elf before on a job, and they’re not opponents that mere mercenaries can handle.”
Karami nodded in agreement.
“But surely there must be some elves like that, right? A pathetic elf who can’t properly handle a bow or even spirits.”
“Well, I suppose that’s possible.”
“Like a reject elf who’s such an alcoholic that they get captured in their sleep, completely unaware of the enemy’s approach.”
“I-I suppose that could happen… sometimes?”
“And on top of that, a total loser with no friends.”
“Isn’t that a bit unlikely?”
Karami’s lips curled into a grin.
“The world is wide, and strange people are as numerous as grains of sand.”
*
“Hic…”
Here was an elf.
An incompetent who couldn’t even handle spirits, let alone a bow.
An outcast driven from the Great Forest for failing to get along with her kin.
An alcoholic who drank all day, passed out in the bushes, and was captured.
“Why does this always happen to me….”
A garrison between Noctar and the Great Forest.
Trapped in a cramped, makeshift cell, Alfia sobbed sorrowfully. She thought she was finally getting a good night’s sleep for once, but when she came to her senses, she was behind iron bars.
All around her, rough-looking mercenaries gulped down alcohol, staring at Alfia as if she were a piece of eye candy.
‘What’s going to happen to me now…?’
She had learned it as a child.
Humans kidnapped elves and made them slaves. The moment you were caught by a human, your life was over. Many elves were said to have been brutally worked for hundreds of years before dying miserable deaths.
Alfia was now facing that same fate.
Sorrow rained down on her.
Fear spread like a fog.
The rascals that synchronized with her emotions began to rampage violently. A wave of excruciating pain washed over her, and Alfia clutched at her heart.
It hurts.
It hurts so much.
I don’t think I can take it.
Clinging to the bars of her cell, Alfia called out to a passing mercenary.
“E-excuse me… could you spare a little alcohol for me, too?”
“What?”
“I really need a drink… Please, I’m begging you.”
“What’s going on?”
Sensing something was amiss when his subordinate was whispering with the elf, the mercenary captain approached.
“Boss, this elf is asking for some alcohol.”
“What?”
The captain looked down.
The pale-faced elf offered a stiff smile and made her plea.
“No way. We’ll be arriving in the city tomorrow. Imagine if you show up reeking of booze. What will the client think? They’ll misunderstand and think we did something weird to you.”
“You’re right, of course.”
“Man, there really are some weirdos among the elves. Getting caught because you were drinking your ass off, and now you’re asking for more. Well, thanks to that, catching you was a piece of cake for us.”
The mercenaries shot Alfia a scornful look and returned to their group. Watching their backs, Alfia slowly slid down to the floor, slumping into a heap.
Like a withered winter leaf.
“Ugh.”
Wincing in pain, Alfia clutched her heart. Her consciousness began to fade.
‘…….’
Through her blurry vision, Alfia spotted something.
A man, strolling leisurely into the garrison with his hands clasped behind his back.
“Just clean up everything without leaving any witnesses.”
The man muttered to himself.
And as if obeying his command, dozens of daggers shot up from within the shadows cast by the torches.
It looked just like a peacock spreading its wings.
With that final thought, Alfia quietly closed her eyes.