Do Elves Dream of Freedom? (2)
Just because an elf brothel had been established did not mean every elf had been stuffed into it. Had that been the case, the Elf Guardians would never have stood for it.
Only a tiny fraction of elves ended up working there — criminal elves who had already been imprisoned within the World Tree, or the handful who refused to accept the brand newly stamped upon their fate and fled their designated territory.
"—Done! If I just take this path out of— Ghk-kkkhhh!?"
"Stupid elf. Don't you even realize there's already a seal carved into your own body?"
A kingdom knight scooped up the elf who had collapsed from the shock and hauled him back toward the capital. The elf would pay the price for leaving their territory — the land now called the World Tree Domain — without permission.
This was the treatment the Spear King had promised the Guardians. Ordinary elves would never be killed or harmed. They would be allowed to live on the land they had always called home. Food and daily necessities would be provided if needed.
But that was as far as it went. For the rest of their lives, they could never leave the World Tree Domain. Only a carefully permitted few were ever allowed out. Elves would live out their days branded as second-class citizens.
At least until the kingdom itself collapsed and vanished.
The elf brothel was packed the moment it opened. Eternal beauty. An entire race of living works of art. There was no shortage of men who wanted to hold one of them in their arms just once.
Of course, wanting it and being able to do it were two very different things. The state-sanctioned elf brothel was ruinously expensive to begin with — and more than that, the number of elves actually working there was desperately small.
"—What? I saw the board and came all the way here, and you're telling me there's no room?"
"We have a considerable backlog of reserved guests. Even if you book now, the earliest you'd be able to see anyone would be sometime next month…"
"What kind of nonsense is that!? I've got money right here — just bring me an elf already! An elf!"
The man waving a fistful of bills roared, and the manager scratched his cheek with a look of pure helplessness. He glanced discreetly toward the back — and the knight who had been standing there with his arms folded strode over and clapped a hand on the shouting man's shoulder.
"Who the hell are you!?"
"This is a state-sanctioned facility established by His Majesty the Spear King himself. Causing a scene here is as good as raising a banner of rebellion against His Majesty. You understand that, don't you?"
"W-who in their right mind would rebel against His Majesty!? I was just—!"
"Enough. Open your mouth one more time and I will take it as open defiance of the throne. Be quiet and get out."
"……"
Crushed beneath the knight's sheer presence, the man had no choice but to slink out of the establishment. He was a well-known High-Rank Adventurer in his own right — but not nearly bold enough to mouth off in front of a knight, much less the Spear King standing behind that knight.
Incidents like this kept happening afterward. People who swaggered in on the strength of their own martial power. People who tried to throw their family name around. People who slipped bribes across the counter and asked if something couldn't be arranged.
But in a facility the Spear King had personally ordered built, no one fell for those tricks. If the Spear King ever dropped by to inspect operations and discovered that someone had taken a bribe or granted a special favor, three generations of that person's family could be wiped out.
"—Mm. Looks like they're keeping the promise."
"Satisfied?"
"Yeah. Well, you could argue that putting them to work in a brothel is already going too far… but looking at the girls' faces, it doesn't seem like they're being worked to death or dragging in innocent kids by force."
Watching the scene, Mirinae gave a bitter little smile and nodded. Evan, having seen enough, turned on his heel as if he couldn't stand to stay in a place like this a second longer.
"Let's head back. Ugh — why do these people come to a place like this in the middle of the day…?"
"Hm? Evan, are you a virgin? Heh heh, how cute~."
"I-I'm not a virgin, okay!?"
"That's exactly what all the virgins say~."
Mirinae snickered and started teasing the red-faced Evan without mercy. Evan did his desperate best to ignore her ribbing and made for his mansion.
Once they arrived, Evan shuffled awkwardly through the still-unfamiliar smell and layout of the new house.
"Ahh—! Swordmaster! You're back!?"
"Yeah, Anya. I'm home."
"Evan. Welcome back."
"I'm home, Seolhyang."
Anya and Seolhyang, both uninjured and in perfect health, immediately swarmed him with questions about whether he needed anything. Evan asked for some light refreshments and headed upstairs to his room. Mirinae, watching him go, let her posture go completely slack and drifted toward the dining table.
"Hey, kids — tea and snacks for me too~."
"Yes! I'll bring some for you right away, Lady Mirinae!"
"Thanks~."
Despite being the one who had essentially kidnapped them, Mirinae had somehow already grown close with the other two. To Evan, who still found making friends awkward, it was genuinely impressive.
Well… she doesn't seem like a bad person, at least…
Evan thought back to the end of the war not long ago — to the moment Mirinae had offered up her own life, and the Spear King had accepted it.
The Spear King had ordered Mirinae to become Evan's attendant. Mirinae had accepted with cheerful satisfaction, declaring that much was easy.
It had been an uncomfortable arrangement for Evan. He already had more than enough women in the house — and now he was supposed to take in a Transcendent elf on top of that? But mere discomfort was nowhere near enough justification to refuse an order from the Spear King, so Evan had no choice but to accept Mirinae as his attendant.
He even built me a whole new house in the capital…
Evan sniffed at the scent of brand-new furniture, then flung himself onto a sun-warmed blanket and rolled around on the bed until he drifted slowly off to sleep.
After a pleasant fifteen-minute nap, Evan cracked his eyes open — and his expression went stiff.
"—Ah."
The business card. He'd lost it.
Well, of course. The entire house had been blown to pieces. There was no way a tiny little card would have survived.
Disappointed that he would never see Penelope again — and that he would never again cross blades with the Transcendents who visited the dream world — Evan left his room, hoping to shake off the gloom.
And ran straight into Seolhyang, who happened to be passing by.
"—Evan? Where are you going?"
"Ah, Seolhyang. Where are you headed…?"
"Same as always. Mind if I come in?"
As if she had been waiting for exactly this, Seolhyang walked straight into Evan's room and settled onto the bed.
Evan tilted his head, wondering what this was about — then saw her smile and pat the spot beside her. He sat down next to her.
"Evan, I picked something up in your room a while back."
"Huhhh…? Picked something up? What did you—"
"This."
What Seolhyang produced was a ticket to Monghwanhyang — Penelope's business card. Evan's heart kicked into a sprint the moment he saw it.
Did she find out? Does she know what that is? But I only kept it — I never used it for anything indecent — how am I supposed to prove that…
"The material felt expensive, so I held onto it. I can't see, so I don't know what it is, but it's yours, right?"
"Huh? —Ah, yes! That's right! It's mine!"
"Heh heh. Here you go, then. So what is it?"
"Iiiiit's… just one of those things!"
"Just one of those things?"
Belatedly remembering that Seolhyang was blind, Evan exhaled in relief and took the card back.
I can't believe I got this lucky. Good deeds really do come back around. I should keep living right from now on — he was thinking exactly that when Seolhyang quietly rested a hand on his thigh. Evan flinched and turned his head.
"……Seolhyang?"
"What is it?"
"Um, well. You're… touching my thigh right now…?"
"And?"
"……I-it's still the middle of the day."
Seolhyang let out a soft laugh at that, then pushed Evan down onto the bed and began gently patting his chest.
It was the way a mother might soothe a child to sleep. Feeling her soft taps, Evan clutched at his hammering heart and looked up at her.
"It's all right. By the time you wake up from your nap, everything will already be over."
"I just slept, so I'm not sleepy…"
"You will be. Very soon."
Seolhyang even started singing a lullaby. It made no sense at all — and yet, astonishingly, drowsiness really did begin to creep over him.
He forced his slowly closing eyelids open and looked at her. Seolhyang kept patting his chest as if to say everything was fine, and went on singing.
Before long, Evan could no longer fight the tide of sleep and drifted under.
"Sleep well, Evan."
"Master—!"
Squish—! Something soft and yielding enveloped his face. Evan's eyes flew open in shock — and he realized he was already inside Monghwanhyang.
When did I even…?
"I've been waiting for you!"
"Penelope, what on earth is…?"
"Surprised, Master? You're about to be even more surprised!"
Sploosh—!
Penelope squeezed a generous dollop of demon-realm slime lotion into her palm, then started slathering it all over Evan's body, grinning from ear to ear.
"Master. You told us you have a unique constitution that prevents you from feeling sensation in Monghwanhyang… but we succubi have found a way to deliver the ultimate pleasure even to someone like you."
"Wait, ngh— Pe-Penelope? What are you—"
"It's all right, Master. There's no need to be so startled."
Penelope's eyes glittered a deep violet.
"All you have to do, Master… is enjoy us."
And then a sensation beyond comprehension crashed over Evan.