Chapter 304: The Hated Drug (13)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 304: The Hated Drug (13)
After the Hated Drug magic was cast, Alfia was nowhere to be seen.
Besides the merchant group, the only other place she could go was the Great Forest. She was probably staying there to avoid me.
So, I headed to the Great Forest to find her.
As usual, Leon, the captain of the guardians, stopped me, thinking I was an intruder. But as soon as he saw my face, he clicked his tongue, making it painfully obvious how annoyed he was.
“Slave Reaper, what are you here for this time?”
“I've come looking for Alfia. Is she in the Great Forest, by any chance?”
“Looking for Alfia, you say… So that’s what it is.”
Leon muttered to himself as if he’d already figured something out.
“You two fought.”
“Pardon?”
“Otherwise, there’s no way she, of all people, would hole herself up in the Great Forest with no intention of leaving.”
He sneered, the corner of his mouth twisting up. As if the trouble between Alfia and me was some kind of joyous occasion.
Seriously, this cynical bastard.
One day, I’m definitely going to hit you with gender-bending magic and make you my slave.
“Where is Alfia?”
“I’ll guide you.”
He’s actually guiding me himself. What a fucking tsundere race.
They say birds of a feather flock together. Elves and dwarves, always fighting, yet so alike.
Guided by Leon, I headed to where Alfia was. She was perched on a branch of a colossal, ancient tree.
“Good luck with that.”
Leon patted my shoulder, offering some uncharacteristic words of encouragement before leaving.
It felt like the kind of encouragement men give each other, knowing how hard it is to deal with an upset woman. But since it was Leon saying it, it just sounded like he was telling me to go suffer.
It’s not me being cynical; it’s his usual attitude that’s the problem.
Yep. That’s right.
I tilted my head way back and looked up at the tree.
Alfia, sitting on a branch as thick as a normal tree trunk, showed no sign of coming down even though I had arrived.
That’s strike one for you.
Just you wait.
What should I do?
It was obvious she wouldn't answer if I called, so I decided to go up myself. Climbing a tree was impossible for someone with my crappy physical abilities, but I wasn't completely out of options.
As my number of elf slaves had grown, the presence of nearby spirits had become more distinct.
And since I possessed the Blessing of the World Tree, I could use it for simple, everyday tasks, even if it was useless in combat.
I placed my hand on the trunk and communed with the spirits.
A path.
Crack. Craaack.
Branches grew from the tree, forming a spiral staircase that wound around the trunk.
I slowly began to climb.
I climbed the winding stairs for a long time.
A tree should be tall within reason, but the largest of the great trees in the forest were tall enough to reach the clouds.
Trying to climb such a height with my terrible stamina was a true ordeal. I imagined this was what it felt like for the people who tried to build the Tower of Babel to reach God.
“Hah, haah…”
After her master had put in this much effort, you'd think she'd at least come down to meet me, but Alfia didn't budge.
I should probably be grateful she didn't come down and push me off.
Thanks to that, it took me several tens of minutes of climbing before I finally reached the spot where Alfia was.
Water.
A sip of spirit water. Only then did I feel like I could live.
“Alfia, what are you doing up here?”
Alfia turned to look at me. Her gaze was hostile, like my other slaves, but it felt like more than just personal hatred.
It was like she was looking at an insect. Similar to the way elves look down on humans as an inferior race.
Well, this is new.
Alfia, who had been ostracized by elven society, never held much animosity toward humans. She wasn't in a position to hate anyone.
But I guess an elf is an elf.
Alfia's gaze, now equipped with a human-hating sensor, was utterly chilling.
Glaring at me with icy eyes, Alfia stood up.
“Just looking at your ugly face pisses me off. I can't believe I made a thousand-year vow with someone like you.”
After spewing insults so scathing they were no longer surprising, Alfia used the branches as footholds and vanished in an instant.
All I could do was stare blankly after her.
Fuck. After all the trouble I went through to get up here.
She knew damn well I was climbing up. If she hated it so much, she should have left sooner.
That's strike two.
*
“So, you came here because Alfia refused to see you to the end?”
“That’s about the gist of it.”
Since Alfia was avoiding me, I ended up coming to see the Elf Queen, Ivrelia, who resided in the highest part of the Great Forest.
I explained the situation to her as well—that I had cast a spell to lower my slaves' affection for an amusing little game.
Ivrelia couldn't hide her bewilderment either.
“Do you, by any chance, have a fetish for being mistreated?”
“Of course not.”
I prefer being the one doing it, not the one receiving it.
But sweetness follows bitterness, and pleasure follows hardship.
The sense of conquest from crushing an opponent who hates me with power.
And I'm very much looking forward to the reaction of someone who likes me when they wake up after hating me because of a spell.
“Your Majesty, wouldn't you also find it delightful just to imagine being able to work me like a slave?”
“Aha, now that you put it that way, I understand perfectly.”
“You understand perfectly?”
“Yes, just imagining it is delightful… Ah.”
Ivrelia realized she'd fallen for my leading question.
Too late to realize it now.
Get over here.
I grabbed Ivrelia's foot firmly and tickled her sole.
“Ehehehehe?! I-I was wrong! I was just, just saying things!”
“I'm just playing around, too.”
“I'm a queen, you know? The Elf Queen! You can't just touch the queen's royal body like this!”
“If you're the queen, then I'm the queen's master.”
“Well, that's true, buuut…! Heek?!”
Ivrelia was wearing the queen's traditional attire. In other words, barefoot.
Soft and squishy, they were a delight to tickle.
And what was this? Instead of a foul smell, the fragrant scent of the forest wafted from her feet.
Dammit, elves. You bastards even have fragrant feet?
Ivrelia's sweet voice, somewhere between a moan and a laugh, echoed through the room.
“What are you two doing?”
A cold, low voice cut through everything.
Alfia had come in through the window.
“Does she always come in like that?”
“Yes…”
She’s not exactly normal either, is she? Good, that's how my slave should be.
“What are you whispering about? I asked what you were doing.”
Alfia's gaze fell upon my hand, which was holding Ivrelia's foot.
Ivrelia frantically kicked her foot, shaking my hand off.
“I-It's nothing. I was just getting a massage.”
“A massage? The queen, from a mere human?”
“I said I didn't want one, but he forced me…”
“Really? For someone being forced, you looked pretty pleased. Your moans were loud enough to be heard outside.”
“They weren't moans, I was just laughing because it tickled…”
“Hah, honestly.”
Ivrelia desperately tried to come up with an excuse. Alfia let out a scoff as if she found it pathetic.
“Honestly, the Queen of the Elves herself is fooling around with a human. No wonder the Great Forest is in this sorry state.”
“W-What?”
“And with none other than the slave trader who has tormented countless elves until now. As a queen, do you have no elven pride? Don't you think you should be setting an example?”
The drop in affection should have been limited to me, yet she was being hostile to Ivrelia, too.
It could be that she was lashing out at them as a set for fooling around with me, someone she despised. Or it could be jealousy welling up from within Alfia, something the magic couldn't suppress.
“Of all people, Alfia is lecturing me about elven pride…?”
Whatever the reason, Alfia's attitude seemed to come as a great shock to Ivrelia. She gaped, her mouth opening and closing.
“Wow… just wow…”
Then she clutched her stomach and burst into laughter. She cackled.
“Ahahaha! Alfia… Alfia said that to me…! What do I do? I'm not even angry, I can't stop laughing!”
The shock must have been immense. She was even wiping away tears as she laughed.
“Sir Karami, did you say you were going to tame Alfia?”
“Yes, well… 'tame' might be a strong word. It's just a little game.”
Her expression was so frightening that I tried to back out slightly, but Ivrelia grabbed my hand to keep me from escaping.
“Then may I ask a favor of you?”
What on earth is she going to ask?
Well, I was curious myself and didn't have the confidence to refuse, so I nodded for now.
“I'd like to request something very thorough.”
“Thorough in what way…?”
“Please, completely shatter this 'elven pride' that Alfia dares to speak of. Make it so she can never utter the word 'pride' again. Carve it deep into her body just who it was that destroyed her elven pride.”
Ivrelia rattled off the words without taking a breath.
Her eyes and smile were tinged with a madness that went beyond pity and into the realm of terror.
You really had a lot of resentment piled up against Alfia, didn't you.
I almost feel sorry for her.
“Understood. I shall carry out the queen's command.”
Don't you worry. I have properly inherited your fervent will.
As her master, I'll take responsibility and teach her a proper lesson this time.
I rose from my seat.
“Let's go, Alfia.”
“The only place you're going is to he—huh?”
Alfia's body froze awkwardly.
I had taken control of her with a command.
“I'm sorry, but I've received a request. I'll only put up with your childishness up to this point.”
I took a red leash from my pocket and fastened it around the neck of the immobilized Alfia.
It wasn't like the Slave's Shackles; it was a real leash, the kind you use to walk a dog.
I carry a spare one with me.
You could call it an essential item for a slave trader.
“What is this? A leash? Take it off right now! How dare you put a leash, something for a beast, on me, an elf?”
It was just as Alfia said.
A leash is for a beast.
And that was exactly what I was aiming for.
The one thing elves despise even more than humans is beastkin.
From this moment on, you are not an elf. You are a beast.