Ch. 271
I tried to give him the most harmless smile I could muster.
“It’s nothing. Undine.”
[What’s a shame play?]
“It’s food, food. Delicious food. A Spirit wouldn’t know.”
[I do know, though?]
“It’s like pudding loaded with cheese. Now, my Undine. Forget about that and let’s go see the Dark Elf?”
Even as we laughed and chatted peacefully, the Dark Elf in the iron cage was suffering.
‘I should at least loosen his shackles before he gets stress-induced alopecia.’
[Master, it’s creepy when you talk so nicely… Can you stop?]
“Oh, is our Rai jealous? Are you jealous that I’m only nice to Undine?”
[……No. It’s really creepy…….]
“Shut up. What creepiness for a Spirit.”
‘He’s so honest, just like me.’
I was tired of pretending to be nice too, so I stopped right away.
I took off my hood and stood in front of the iron cage, picking out a key, when Ash, who had come up behind me, grabbed my wrist.
“Geenie, I’ll go in.”
“Huh?”
‘These guys are so fast, they sometimes startle people.’
I glanced back and saw Rovenin growling at me from about ten steps away. ‘He’s in wait mode.’
“You said he’s not an ordinary Dark Elf, right? You were the one who said he’s hostile and dangerous to humans.”
“So?”
“Even sealed, that kind of bloodlust will be hard to handle. He might attack you without knowing your intentions. So I…….”
“If that’s the reason, it’s fine. I’m the one wearing the master’s ring.”
I held up the hand with the ring.
The obedience magic on the suppression tool only worked on the person wearing the matching master’s ring, and no matter what anyone said, I was the safest from any possible attack by the Dark Elf.
“Then I’ll take the ring……!”
“Ash? Just open the door and pull back the cloth.”
[Master said it. Men who talk back are the worst!]
“Thanks for the concern, but it’s a hassle.”
If I were going to have Ash do it, I would have had him do it already.
I was someone who knew how to tell the difference between what I wanted to do and what I didn’t, and Ash was a man who had learned through experience that trying to stop me only led to resistance and anger.
“Then…… be careful.”
Unable to hide his unease, Ash took a step back, and while I opened the door, he pulled back the thick cloth covering the iron cage.
Moonlight entered the dark iron cage.
The faint blue light Undine gave off was also helpful for visibility.
Clang.
As soon as I opened the iron door, the Dark Elf tensed up and glared at me as sharply as a loosed arrow.
As I stepped into the iron cage, he started breathing heavily, his savage nature spilling out, and he would have lunged at me if he hadn’t been tied up.
The cage was cramped, so I had to hunch to move, and three steps were enough to reach him and kneel.
“Hmm, so fierce.”
“Grrrr.”
Maybe because of the gag, the Dark Elf made a truly beastlike sound.
He kept writhing in anger, and when I met his gaze without flinching, he hissed even louder. ‘He probably doesn’t know his rough breathing amuses me.’
I smiled leisurely, as if something good had happened.
“Why don’t you calm down? I’m here to release you.”
“Graak!”
[Sounds like he’s swearing?]
“I don’t know what you’re saying. Let’s take this off first.”
I rose onto my knees and reached for the gag, but he refused even that.
He jerked his head away from my touch as much as he could and glared at me with bloodshot eyes like I was something filthy.
“……Do you die if a human touches you? Do you die?”
Slap, slap! I slapped his exposed face a few times, purely because his gaze pissed me off.
Anyone who makes me feel bad will feel much worse.
“You little…… You’re resisting even though you’re tied up.”
“Hrk!”
“Stay still! Before I return you!”
He thrashed as if he’d been gravely insulted, but he was still bound tight.
I felt around his face and the back of his head, searching for the gag’s lock.
‘I need to have used something like this before to know how to undo it.’
The leather gag was more complicated than I expected, and I got annoyed, half-undid it, then ripped it off by force.
Saliva that had been pooling in his mouth spilled onto the floor.
The gag in my hand was soaked too.
“Ugh.”
[Disgusting…….]
I threw the monstrosity into the corner of the iron cage.
“Okay! Now let’s have a conversation——”
“Ptooey.”
[Gasp……!]
[Master!]
Drip. The sensation of something slowly running down my cheek gnawed at my sanity.
This sticky, wet thing… could it be…… saliva? Dark Elf saliva?
“G, G…… Geenie……?”
“You…… son of a——!”
For a moment, my blood pressure shot so high I couldn’t even process what had happened.
This ungrateful bastard!
“Do you want to die!”
“……Kill me.”
“You think I can’t! Just you wait!”
“Human, don’t think you can tame me! I’d rather cut off my limbs and crawl on the ground than become a slave to a human like you!”
So that’s why he had a gag on.
Putting aside his ferocity, if he talked like that, his price wouldn’t go up. Who would want to buy a self-harming slave?
‘Self-harm is not right. I’ll cut them off for you.’
“Oh, limbs, you say?”
“No! You’re joking, right? Geenie? Geenie……! Look at me. Do you want to come over here? I’ll wipe it off for you.”
At his desperate call, I leaned my face toward the iron bars. Ash slipped his hand through and carefully wiped my cheek with a clean handkerchief.
But it didn’t calm my murderous intent.
That wet sensation was already burned into my mind.
“Okay? Calm down and listen to me. Life is——”
“The preciousness of life my ass! I’ll tear you apart!”
“……M, money is important, right? Right? Remember how much you paid for him. You can’t just kill him. Geenie.”
Since he couldn’t persuade me with the preciousness of life, Ash tried to calm me with the preciousness of material things.
And it worked.
“Aaaargh! Seriously! What the hell is that! Like Rovenin!”
[That’s the worst swear word according to Master.]
“He can’t harm the person wearing the ring! That’s a scam!”
[Since it doesn’t cause physical harm, spitting is okay!]
Trembling, I realized one more infuriating fact.
It was too obvious to deny.
“Hoo…… Rai……?”
[Yes?]
“You can block almost anything that’s not faster than an arrow, right? Right?”
[……Uh…… You’re saying that out loud right now…….]
“Don’t change the subject. You deliberately didn’t block the spit…… did you.”
[…….]
Instead of answering, Rai—wrapped around my arm and shoulder—slowly slid his long body as if to drop off me. Before he could, I grabbed him and yanked him out of my hood.
“I trusted someone like you! Huh! And I’m traveling with you! I can’t believe it!”
The golden-white snake was immediately subjected to the spinning punishment—grabbing his tail and whipping him around—which usually happened when he was in snake form.
[Aaaaargh! But! It’s not like getting hit hurts! More than anything, it’s dirty!]
“That’s right! You’re getting hit with the right words!”
Clang! Clang, bang.
The cage was cramped, so Rai’s head smacked into everything, but the thing that hurt most was probably my fragile shoulder.
I spun him with all my strength and threw him into the corner of the iron cage where I’d tossed the gag.
[Gack! Dirty!]
But I still wasn’t satisfied. I glared at the Dark Elf.
“The one who spat is worse!”
‘Although the one who valued his own cleanliness more than his master’s safety was the worst.’
The root of all evil lay with the one who attacked.
The Dark Elf, watching my rage, seemed to know it was his turn. His eyes twitched, but he didn’t change his attitude.
He still glared with fierce eyes, ready to bite me if he got the chance.
“……Go ahead and do what you want, human! Ruin me with your dirty temper! Tear me apart, crush me, and bury me in the ground! That’s what I want!”
“You…… You’re so frustrating! You damn guys! Are your eyes just for decoration? You and Rovenin are the same! Is my face that common? I was trying to help you, so why are you attacking me! Attacking! This is why doing good deeds isn’t rewarding!”
[Master! I’ll wipe it off for you. It was here, right?]
Undine pressed right up against me as I ranted and scrubbed my dirty cheek with her body.
I paused for a moment because she was so cute, and Rai, who had crawled over in a daze, raised a question.
[Hahigo…… I’m dizzy. Master? I just thought of something…… Shouldn’t you take off your mask so he can recognize you?]
“……What, why are you telling me now!”
[I thought you liked it and were keeping it on?]
I realized then that I was still wearing the mask. ‘It’s true that I liked it……’
I lifted it over my head and casually set it on top like a headband, then crouched down in front of the Dark Elf again.
I met his eyes and had Undine form a small shield.
“Geenie…… Is that because he might spit……?”
Ash, anxious in every possible way, stayed close to the cage, watching.
“How about it, still don’t recognize me?”
“What nonsense. I said kill me!”
“Are these guys testing my temper as a group…….”
“You will never get what you want from me. So kill me! I’d rather be killed than become a slave to humans!”
“It’s not something you should say after impulse-buying a slave, but money is precious. It’s a waste to just bury it in the ground.”
He had no intention of talking.
He just blocked his ears and growled with anger and hatred toward humans.
“Um, your name…… what was it again. I definitely heard it.”
“I have no name to give someone like you.”
“Really? How’s Daria doing?”
“……What?”
“Daria, I mean. She was a kind friend, unlike you. She gave me this.”
I smiled and rested my chin on the back of my hand propped on my knee.
The bracelet I’d received from Daria hung loosely over the back of my hand.