Chapter 210
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 210
Chapter Title: Eradicating the Slave Hunters
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There were as many as nine trackers.
They roughly dragged the three fallen elves along.
"You bastards!!! Do you even know who this young lady is?!"
"What's it to us? We're just doing the job we were hired for."
While cackling and hauling them away, one of the trackers yanked the elf girl's hair roughly and asked,
"By the way, she's got some real beauty on her. Top-tier quality compared to anything we've seen so far. Wonder how much we'd fetch if we sold her."
"Kyaaak!!"
"Stop! Stop it, you beasts!"
"Hey. Cut the pointless crap and bring her. We need to move fast."
"Tch."
The man smacked his lips in regret and dragged her along.
At that moment, the tracker bringing up the rear bumped into something with a thud! and staggered.
"Damn it, what the... Huh?"
Clearly nothing had been there, but baffled at the collision, he turned his head—only to frown at the sight of a gray-haired boy with sky-blue eyes standing right in front of him.
Who is this?
That question lasted only a moment.
He recoiled in shock and stumbled back several steps.
His instincts surged with alarm at the fact that this boy had closed in right beside him without him noticing at all.
"Slave hunters, huh?"
At the casual question, they drew their weapons with tense faces.
"What the hell. When did he get all the way here..."
As professionals, they weren't about to drop their guard recklessly.
They had already deemed the situation dangerous, having failed to detect his presence.
"I'm asking if you're slave hunters."
"...And what if we are? This has nothing to do with you, right?"
"Do you know where this is?"
"Of course, Cascadia County... No way! You bastard! You're from the count's house!"
At their shout, the boy pulled a metal badge from his bosom and waved it.
"That's right. I'm from House Cascadia. So, looks like you are slave hunters. And capturing elves? Definitely illegal slave traders."
Leon spoke calmly, then smiled faintly.
"You know capturing elves as slaves in the county causes absolute chaos, right? So put those three down and tell your boss to show up here immediately."
Of course, the trackers had no intention of complying with young Leon's demand.
After exchanging glances, they swiftly drew their weapons.
Intent to kill.
Their movements suggested they had been through situations like this many times before.
"You look like you were raised all delicate and pampered. You need to learn that status doesn't always save your neck!"
The nearest man drew a dagger and thrust at his carotid artery in an instant.
Leon watched impassively, then slowly extended his hand.
Thwack!!!
And then.
As the man's blade pierced to a certain depth, the tracker belatedly realized the dagger he had been gripping was now in Leon's hand.
"Huh? Why is it..."
Slash!!!
The dagger plunged in instantly, slashing his vitals three or four times.
Then Leon lightly tossed it at the staggering man's nape, caught it, and plunged it in indifferently with a thunk!.
His total lack of hesitation in killing evoked something beyond the grotesque—utterly chilling.
Even the elves, who had been grimacing in pain, froze solid.
"I don't treat beast cubs worse than animals as people."
Unable to even scream, the man slowly toppled over.
Everyone's blood ran ice-cold at the situation that unfolded in a flash.
Something's wrong.
That was the shared thought among them all.
"From now on, first come, first served. One only."
Leon flicked the blood from the dagger that had slid free as the dead man fell, speaking quietly.
"Figure out what that means yourself. Three seconds."
Crunch!!!
In an instant, a dagger buried itself in one tracker's skull.
It was the one Leon had been holding.
Srrrrk...
Seeing their comrade's death, the others bulged their eyes and backed away several steps.
"He just clearly said three seconds..."
"He cheated."
Crunch!!
As another fell in a flash, they charged at him in unison, terror-stricken.
"A-attack! He's just a young punk anyway! Cut his throat!"
Leon impassively watched them all rush in, then drew the sword from his waist.
The elegant ornament on the massive claymore greatsword flashed for a moment.
[Bloom wildly.]
[Spirit Sword. Falling Blossoms]
With the activation words slipping from his lips, the sword's form shifted to light in an instant—the blade turning from metal to a beam of radiance.
Whoooosh!!!
Leon then thrust the sword halfway into the ground.
Rumble!!!
The ground quaked simultaneously, tree roots bursting forth one after another. They wrapped the trackers' limbs in a flash, locking them in place and hardening solid.
"Arrrghhh?!"
"Wh-what the hell?!"
The elves were the most shocked of all.
"Trees?!"
"It's not magic-made. This is... growth."
"Not spirit arts, so how..."
Familiar with nature as they were, they seemed the most bewildered by the scene.
Having subdued the trackers in a blink, Leon slowly approached them.
"Gonna talk?"
"You think we will?"
"Yeah? Can't be helped then."
Sensing his death, the tracker squeezed his eyes shut. Life mattered, but in this trade, shattered credibility meant no survival—and he knew it well.
Death was just enduring a moment's pain, after all.
But feeling no pain at all, he wore a puzzled expression.
Leon dispelled his confusion with action.
"You three elves there."
"Y-yes?!"
"Yes!"
Toward the elves frozen in fear, Leon gestured as if plugging one ear with a hand.
The gesture made no sense, but unlike the girl elf, the two adult males caught on instantly—one clamped his hands over the girl elf's ears, pulled her into his arms, and turned away.
As if they didn't care about themselves, so long as they protected at least the girl elf.
"Kyaaaaaaa!!!!"
Simultaneously, one man bound to the tree erupted in blue flames, crumbling to ashes.
But it didn't end there.
Clearly charred pitch-black.
Yet still bound to the tree, thrashing and screaming.
So horrific the sight that everyone's pupils quivered uncontrollably.
Leon fixed them with a chilling gaze devoid of any mirth.
"I told you. Those who devolved from humans to beast cubs? I don't treat them as living beings."
I finished off all the trackers and flicked the blood away.
They had struggled desperately to survive, but I never planned to spare them from the start.
Enslaving races like elves is effectively illegal—a grave crime.
That's why I'd been shocked to see Tibel locking elves underground.
Naturally, extreme scenarios like localized wars don't erupt over just one or two regular elves.
But.
High elves are a different story.
Unlike regular elves, high elves have subtle differences in traits.
Especially the sheer magnitude of power they wield.
Sure, regular elves aren't forbidden from it either. But so what? The ones I killed were confirmed illegal slave traders.
At the very least, in Cascadia, illegal slave traders get summary execution.
"You three over there."
Ignoring the elves frozen solid while eyeing the corpses, I decided handling them took priority over further tracking.
No other captured slaves in tow, and even if I'd tracked slowly, those guys were already mobilizing to snag these elves here.
Better to hold the tracker myself—it made the job easier.
"Y-yes!"
"Line up one by one and come here. I'll remove those restraints."
The elves stared at me blankly.
"These restraints take the wearer's life if removed carelessly..."
"What a pain."
I stepped up to him and ripped the collar from his neck as he flinched back in alarm.
"Huh? How..."
"Reversed the mechanism and neutralized it. All good?"
The destroyed restraint had lost its tracking function, so using the Machine God's Heart, I reconnected it invisibly to them.
Then reactivated the neutralized feature, sending silent, formless waves outward once more.
Now it served as bait to draw in the illegal slave traders.
"N-no, just reversing it doesn't..."
So incredulous at the situation, he worked his mouth soundlessly.
"Next."
I beckoned the remaining male elf, who stepped forward with a tense face.
He still hadn't shaken off his caution and fear toward me, but it didn't matter either way.
"Ugh!"
Crack!
I tore off every restraint from his neck, arms, and legs, then beckoned the elf girl.
"You too, come here."
But the elf girl, terrified, couldn't bring herself to approach.
"Gonna leave it on? You know it has tracking, right?"
As I turned indifferently, the elves grabbed me.
"N-no! Please help!"
As the elf girl edged closer cautiously, I snatched her necklace from her nape like a frog's tongue snagging prey.
"Kyak!"
Crunch!!
And crushed it before she could react.
Her terrified scream rang out only for a brief moment.
"How'd you do that?"
"Just wrapped up. It's the tracker. Slavers will swarm soon."
"..."
Melissa fell silent with a hardened expression, then eyed the three elves.
"Captured as slaves?"
"Yes..."
"For now, let's go. We'll send you home once everything's settled. And Leon."
"Yeah."
"Can you take them alive this time? Need to interrogate."
"I'll drag the whole lot in."
After Melissa led the three toward the lodge, I spun the tracker device on my finger.
Capturing the slave traders was a breeze.
Unlike the trackers, the slavers themselves were brimming with a lust for life.
I arrested them in a flash and tossed them into the underground prison.
Not a huge outfit, yet gutsy enough to target high elves?
Someone's backing them, no doubt.
"Ughrk!"
"Get in and wait. Your punishment will follow the law."
"Lawyer! Get us a lawyer!"
I stared flatly at the man screaming hysterically; he flinched.
Of course, they put up resistance too.
And I'd seen what became of some of their guards in the process.
"Call a lawyer? I've got an electric one right here."
Zzzzzt!!!
Lightning crackled in my palm with a zap zap!; he recoiled in horror.
"C-cough... Cough! I'll wait quietly for a bit!"
"Good. Behave yourself. Oh, just in case—don't even dream of breaking out. Then you'll head up there."
I pointed to the underground prison's ceiling.
"Out... outside?"
"Straight to heaven."
Leaving the terrified lot behind, I exited the underground prison.
The rest was Melissa's to handle.