Chapter 84
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: The Elves' Savior
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The crackdown on the fairy slave trade, which had begun with Baron Ahenne, ballooned into a nationwide operation. This swiftly led to the utter destruction of countless illegal slave traders skulking across the entire Pellumer Kingdom.
In response, the diverse subrace slaves who had been captured by humans and endured days of despair experienced dramatic reunions. The elves of Hent Forest, located in the eastern continent, were one such group.
It wasn't as grand as Eltea Forest—the greatest elven stronghold and their ancestral homeland—but it was still a sizable elven clan, home to over ten thousand elves.
Their kin had returned to their embrace. Over a hundred strong.
"Kuhuhuung! My daughter is alive and back!"
"M-Mom. Dad. Uwaaaah!"
The once silent Hent Forest instantly turned into a sea of tears. Having been separated for years, believing they'd never see each other again in this lifetime, their joy was all the more profound.
Edelin watched the scene, her eyes welling up.
'I'm glad we came to Hent Forest. Truly...'
Eltea and Hent were quite a distance apart. But distance was no obstacle. How could they quibble over such things when so many kin had returned to their families' arms?
"P-Princess. Thank you so much. Truly, thank you."
The elven families, having savored their emotional reunions, bowed deeply to Edelin. She waved her hands, trying to stop them.
"You don't need to thank me. What have I even done?"
"Didn't you save us, Princess? You even let us get revenge on those damned slavers... Truly, thank you. Kuhung!"
"No. All I did was pick up the spoon at a table someone else had set."
"Pardon?"
"It wasn't me who saved you all."
"W-What do you...?"
Edelin met the elves' bewildered gazes head-on and shook her head firmly.
"It was the Guide who saved you."
"T-The Guide?"
"Yes. You all know of him, right?"
The elves nodded.
They'd never seen him, but they knew who he was. How could they not? The human rumored to have revived the fairies on this land.
That human saved us?
"He personally stepped in to eradicate the slavers and liberate the suffering slaves. Without him, you'd still be in human captivity."
In truth, Ian hadn't directly led any liberation efforts. Which meant you couldn't exactly say he'd eradicated the slavers himself.
But was that really the case?
No, it wasn't.
She understood. Why the Guide hadn't taken matters into his own hands but had instead handed the slavers over to the elves.
'He placed the blade in our hands. So we could avenge ourselves.'
He knew the depth of the elves' grudge.
He'd accommodated them, allowing that grudge to be sated.
He'd given them the chance to personally avenge their captured kin against those shameless humans.
The other elves might not have realized it, but she could sense the Guide's intentions.
Ah.
How grateful she was.
Edelin couldn't fully grasp the depth of his thoughtful consideration.
"He already revived the fairies, restoring our joy. But unsatisfied with that, he liberated our suffering kin as well. Doesn't that make him the true benefactor of our elven race?"
Edelin smiled gently. The elves nodded dazedly. Partly because of her graceful bearing, but more so because her words rang with utter sincerity.
If Eltea's princess said so, it had to be true!
"T-Then, does that mean the Guide is our savior?"
"Savior... Perhaps. Countless elves have returned home because of him. And not just elves—other races too. You'd know that better than anyone, right?"
The elves nodded. Of course. They'd been imprisoned together.
Their jail had held all sorts of subraces. Mostly elves and orcs, but also beastkin and dwarves in smaller numbers.
They too had been freed and returned home.
Those who'd bonded across racial lines through shared hardship. Their backs, trudging toward each other's homes with well-wishes, were still vivid in memory.
"He truly is our savior."
"Yes."
The elves nodded. Honestly, it was hard to feel it deeply. No matter that he was the Guide, he'd never crossed their paths. It was tough to feel that special connection to a human they'd never met.
Still, they were grateful.
He was the Guide, their savior. Fact.
"Princess."
"Yes."
"Someday, if the chance arises, I want to meet him in person and say thank you."
The elf's eyes shone clear. Edelin met them and smiled wordlessly.
Two days after Ian effortlessly resolved the mana stone mine issue.
He'd breezed through the imperial palace's defensive magic array routine inspection, clocked out early, and arrived home when a communication came from Edelin.
—Guide, thank you so much. I never dreamed you'd go this far for us.
"Pardon? Go this far?"
—Yes. Thanks to you, our suffering kin could return to their families.
"...?"
—You are truly... truly our clan's savior. Thank you for coming to our side.
"No, Princess. I have no idea what you...?"
—Truly, thank you... Huhung!
Click!
The connection cut off. Ian sat there, utterly baffled, at a loss for words.
'What... what the hell?'
What had just happened?
'What was that supposed to mean?'
No matter how he puzzled it over, it made no sense.
—I never dreamed you'd go this far for us.
He hadn't done a thing.
—Thanks to you, our suffering kin could return to their families.
News to him.
Suffering elves?
'Did I save some elves? But I don't remember doing that.'
He racked his brain, but nothing came up.
He hadn't even met any elves lately. What was there to save?
'The fairies? But those were fairies, not elves.'
He'd heard about the subrace illegal slave trade crackdowns.
But that was the nobles over there handling it, not him.
'Ah, whatever. What does it matter? I didn't do anything like that.'
Ian shook his head. He didn't want to dwell on it. What was the point of agonizing over something with no answers? Probably just another misunderstanding somewhere.
Just then, Kez approached to greet him.
"Master, congratulations. You've finally secured the mana stone vein successfully. With the Emperor granting official authority, no one will dare covet your vein now."
"Yeah. One worry down... Huh? How did you know? That hasn't been announced yet."
Ian tilted his head. He had reason to. It had only been a day since reporting to the Emperor.
The high nobles might know, but not outsiders. So how did Kez?
He hadn't told him, had he?
"Uh, w-well, didn't you tell me right after coming home yesterday? Keruk."
"Oh, did I?"
"Yes. You were probably so overjoyed it slipped your mind. Haha."
"Must have. Look at me."
Ian scratched his head. His memory was decent, but he blanked on things like this sometimes. With so much on his plate.
Palace duties, territory development, managing his creations. Endless tasks.
'And Arcbon's got me worried too.'
A few random alerts had popped up that morning.
The notoriety of the 'Immortal Skeleton' is spreading beyond the Black Wasteland.
The Church of Light has become aware of the 'Immortal Skeleton's' existence.
The Church of Light's favorability toward the 'Immortal Skeleton' slightly decreases.
Notices that the Church of Light had become aware of the Immortal Skeleton—Arcbon. Definitely not good news for Ian.
'Damn. Hope they don't send a massive subjugation force...'
It felt like his unease was steadily becoming reality.
Still, the silver lining was that no subjugation force would venture deep into the Black Wasteland.
'As long as they don't strike first, the Church of Light won't make big moves.'
Undead were always itching to attack but couldn't. Due to their indiscriminate aggression toward the living.
But Arcbon's undead were far from that reckless.
If they didn't attack humans first, maybe disaster could be averted.
That was Ian's hope.
"Anyway, thanks."
"Yes. I'll get back to work then."
"Yeah. Keep it up. I'm crashing here tonight and heading to the territory tomorrow."
"Getting busy, I see."
"Yeah. Not bad, though. It's my territory; I have to take responsibility."
"Such a strong sense of duty. Splendid. This disloyal servant prays for your continued success!"
"Yeah, sure. You too."
With that, Ian headed to his lab.
Kez let out a sigh of relief.
'Good thing Master didn't suspect anything.'
Kez knew it wasn't because Ian was dim—it was trust in him.
He didn't suspect because he trusted.
'So I must prove myself worthy.'
To honor that trust, Kez once again used spatial transfer magic to head out.
Donning a robe and artifacts to disguise himself, he arrived at the Night Blade Corps' hideout.
He surveyed the members bowing to him.
'The organization's grown quite a bit.'
Compared to when he'd just taken over, it was at least three times larger.
Bigger base, more personnel.
The secret? One thing: throwing absurd amounts of money at it.
Supplying expensive gear like swords and armor as standard issue, paying eye-watering salaries. Dazzled by cash, members stayed loyal, and the group exploded in size.
Made possible by the massive profits from the Alchemy Merchant House, backed by the imperial family. Kez's special method.
"Ansen. Did you handle what I asked?"
"Yes. All done. Secured every batch on the black market."
"Good."
"Bring it."
"Yes."
Ansen, core executive of the Alchemy Merchant House and Kez's planted deputy master of the Night Blade Corps.
The one practically running it fetched a large basket from the warehouse.
It brimmed with glittering stones. Each one a gasp-inducingly expensive high-grade alchemy material.
"Master. If I may ask, why bring such pricey items to the hideout?"
"To strengthen you all."
"P-Pardon? Strengthen?"
"Yes. Physical enhancement."
"......"
"What, don't want it?"
"No. I'm fine with it. Just curious."
"'Curious.' Why?"
"Why go this far for wretches like us, who were just back-alley thugs?"
Ansen's question echoed all the executives'. They were inwardly wondering too.
Why did Master go so far for third-rate lives like ours?
They knew their own worthlessness.
Street rats mugging for coin.
Yet Master treated them exceptionally.
Showered them with cash. Gave them knight-grade swords and armor. Their lives had turned around.
Escaped slum shacks. Owned proper homes in the notoriously pricey capital. In months, they'd become proud family providers.
Things unimaginable a year ago.
"Why? Simple. To use you."
"T-To use us."
"Yes. I need information. To grasp every secret in the Empire, I chose you. No personal trust involved. Just that you were the best among the capital's underworld groups. That's it."
"......"
"I won't seduce you with sweet talk of human trust or faith. I don't want to, and I lack the skill."
"......"
"Instead, I promise the best treatment."
"......"
"I'll feed you well, let you live well. In exchange, give me loyalty. Become the organization's blade, my shadow."
"......"
"Clear now?"
"Yes."
"Then come to my room one by one. I'll enhance you personally."
"O-One question."
"What?"
"Any side effects?"
"Side effects."
"I've heard extreme enhancement magic experiments almost always have them. Like shortened lifespan."
Kez nodded. Reasonable doubt.
"Don't worry. This isn't magic."
"Pardon?"
"Alchemy."
"A-Alchemy?"
"Yes. Alchemy's power is immense. Don't compare its miracle of creation from nothing to shoddy magic experiments."
"......"
"Still don't trust it? Then refuse."
"Pardon?"
"No forcing. Skip if you want. No penalties."
All hesitated. But none opted out. Their lives were disposable anyway.
A shaved lifespan for power? Worth it.
"Not a single dropout. Sure?"
"Yes. We want to grow stronger."
"Good."
Thus Kez began enhancing the members. A simple physical boost via alchemy, but undeniably effective.
The enhanced felt it immediately. Strength surged, speed exploded.
Seeing their powered-up selves stirred natural loyalty.
"G-Good lord. What is this...?"
"Impossible......"
All marveled. Kez smiled at them.
'Control stones implanted successfully.'
With control stones in place, he was prepared for betrayal or worse.
No effects yet.
But gradually, they'd assimilate.
The stones' mana would corrupt them.
'Sorry for the deception. But I need to survive too. Can't trust backstabbers who betray over breakfast... Easy to get knifed.'
Kez wanted to live long. To serve his master. Control stones were essential for a powerless being like him.
"Ansen."
"Yes, Master."
"A task for you."
"Yes. Your orders."
"Background check on some nobles."
"Background check...?"
"Yes."
Kez handed Ansen—still flexing his enhanced body—a paper. A list of nobles.
"Anything goes. Dig up dirt. Weaknesses best."
"Understood."
Ansen nodded and withdrew. Kez stroked his chin thoughtfully.
'Daring to covet Master's mana stone vein. Unforgivable.'
At the same time.
A system notification arrived for Ian.
A new faction is created by Kez.
Kez's faction is registered in the system.
But Ian didn't read it.
Notifications were off.
With thousands unread already, one more changed nothing.