Ch. 273
I was uncharacteristically absorbed in recycling when a bizarre sound came from above my head.
Screeech, screeech.
I quickly looked up and saw Zekarda tearing apart the iron cage he’d been trapped in with his bare hands.
As if he were tearing paper.
Riiip.
Tear.
‘Ah… so that’s what metal tearing sounds like.’
The power that required eight Suppression tools was more tremendous than I’d thought, and I found myself thinking,
‘Could he tear a person apart too?’
[That’s a temper I’ve seen a lot…]
[Me?]
[What? Surely not. I didn’t even mention the word Master, are you feeling guilty?]
‘You bastard.’
‘Soon I’ll be walking around with a real bald wolf.’
‘I want to walk around with something cool if possible, but I can’t tolerate being climbed over.’
‘If I let it slide once or twice, they’ll think it’s fine and start acting up.’
“Feeling refreshed?”
“Not at all.”
Even after smashing the iron cage to pieces, Zekarda shrugged with a dissatisfied look and snorted softly.
That guy had a lot pent up.
He looked similar to Rovenin, but where did that kind of strength come from?
Do Elves have different muscle quality than humans?
“But you… with that strength, can’t you tear off the Suppression tool on your neck too?”
There was still one thing I hadn’t removed—the main Suppression tool with obedience magic around Zekarda’s neck.
It wasn’t meant to seal his power, but to restrict his actions, so it didn’t affect his strength at all, but it was still taking away his freedom.
And it was enchanted with far more complex and nasty magic than the other twelve.
The original Zekarda wouldn’t have been easily caught by something like this, but once he was caught, he couldn’t undo it himself.
There’s something called “cage theory” in magic.
No matter how powerful a beast is, once it’s locked in a cage, it can’t get out on its own.
“They say that if I try to force it off, a terrible poison will come out and melt my entire body.”
“Ah.”
“They say only someone wearing the owner’s ring can undo it…”
“That’s me?”
I pointed at myself with both thumbs.
‘Am I not amazing?’
“Yes, you.”
“Ohohoho, why don’t you try calling me Master!”
“…Don’t talk nonsense.”
“The way you look at your Master is disrespectful. Why don’t you show some more respect?”
Zekarda seemed to think I was joking.
I wasn’t.
“Undo it.”
“Say it politely.”
“…Please undo it.”
“Don’t clench your teeth. Again!”
Zekarda’s expression twisted instantly. He crumpled part of the wrecked cage in his hand into an iron ball, then, as if to show off, stared straight at me and crushed it like a lump of mud.
“Please undo it.”
“Oh my, look at that strength! You need to eat rice.”
“Rice?”
“Don’t you know?”
Why did the Madam only give rice to Dol-seok?
Sometimes, when I wasn’t paying attention, words from my past life would slip out. But the moment I noticed, they got blocked from then on.
“Anyway, it’s good for me that you’re strong.”
“…What are you talking about?”
“So, I’m saying I’ll undo it later.”
When I smiled with eyes full of life, Zekarda finally looked uneasy.
“Are you saying you won’t undo this?”
“Exactly! I don’t do volunteer work. If you want me to undo it, there’s something you have to do for me.”
Ash’s sigh—like the ground was collapsing—carried all the way over here.
“I knew it…! You had ulterior motives.”
“You flatter me too much.”
“Dirty human! You even kissed me!”
“You did that! Who told you to? Did they tell you to? Why! Should I return it if you feel wronged?”
Zekarda ground his teeth, looking wronged.
If we’re being precise, I’m the one who was wronged, so why was he acting like the victim?
He tossed the iron ball down with a thud, hopped off the cart, and stopped right in front of me.
Maybe because his stride was so long, he closed the distance in an instant—his face suddenly right there, so close it looked like he was about to kiss me again.
“Don’t worry. There aren’t many conditions.”
“Not one, but several? Is there no such thing as conscience in the human race?”
“I don’t have one, at least.”
Meanwhile, I could feel Ash moving up behind me.
I didn’t know what he was more worried about—my life, or my lips.
“…Damn human.”
“Shouldn’t you do that much for your benefactor?”
“You’ll fall into hell. How are you any different from those slave traders?”
“I’m stronger than them?”
[Isn’t that shamelessness a national treasure? I think it could be sold at auction.]
I had a tendency to feel satisfied when the other person got angry.
‘It might be a perverted tendency.’
I wanted to keep teasing Zekarda, but that would only make him harder to use, so I switched tactics.
“I was going to just let you go at first. Then I was going to ask you nicely. Until you spat on my face.”
It was a baseless lie.
I’d planned to use this guy from the start.
Ash wouldn’t fall for it, but the Dark Elf—who apparently had more conscience than humans—narrowed his eyes, looking stung.
“…I apologize for that.”
“Only with words? Oh, do you apologize with a kiss too?”
Ash’s hand came up to block my lips from behind so naturally it was almost impressive.
“I don’t do that when I apologize.”
“Uubeup.”
“Good. It’s true you were rude despite being indebted, so you’ll listen to these conditions. However, I’ll decide whether to grant them or not.”
I shoved Ash’s hand away and said,
“First! Get me a set of accessories that increase affinity! A full set of rings, necklaces, and earrings! I can have several bracelets, right?”
“That’s an easier condition than I thought. I might be able to get some leftovers. But that’s only possible if we go back to the village.”
“Then go back.”
“I can’t go back with this on my neck!”
Anyway, he had a terrible temper.
Just looking at those stubborn lips, I could tell his pride wasn’t ordinary.
Elves would recognize at a glance that the necklace was an enchanted item, so I understood why he didn’t want to go back wearing it.
“Hmm, but what if I let you go and you run away? You don’t trust me, but I don’t trust you either.”
“There might be a way to go together.”
“To the Dark Elf village? Me?”
“Yes.”
It was a tempting offer.
I was also curious about the altar for summoning Spirits, which was said to be the source material for bracelets, and I was interested in the Dark Elves themselves, most of whom were Mages.
Above all, the idea that I might learn something new about Spirits piqued my interest. The knowledge Elves had about Spirits would be incomparable to humans’.
“I want to go, but… it’s far, isn’t it.”
“You’re stating the obvious. But you can get there quickly if you use Warp.”
“I can’t go because I have Warp sickness.”
“…Warp sickness?”
Maybe Elves didn’t have that condition. Zekarda looked puzzled for a moment, then asked,
“Ritikehta, you mean?”
“If it’s the kind of motion sickness that makes you feel like you’re going to die when you Warp, then yes.”
“Hmm, humans still have a long way to go. They can’t even fix something like that.”
“…What. Are you saying you guys can fix it?”
Zekarda spoke with ridiculous pride.
That bastard—an Elf supremacist.
“Our healers can do it. It’s one of the easily curable congenital diseases.”
I didn’t think you could cure motion sickness. No, was this even motion sickness?
I’d confirmed medicine didn’t work… so the unexpected news made me unusually serious.
“The Dark Elf village… I’m tempted because they can cure Warp sickness…”
If I could cure it, traveling would become much easier. The restrictions on movement would practically disappear.
“It’s rare to bring in outsiders, maybe once every few decades. But you’d be fine. Because me and Daria are indebted to you, and because you’re a Spirit Mage.”
“Is being a Spirit Mage also a reason?”
“It’s not easy to be evil if you understand and handle nature.”
Doesn’t that sound wrong, just looking at you and me?
I asked with my eyes, but Zekarda ignored it with ease.
“If you say you’ll go, I’ll send a Spirit to get permission from the leader.”
“Not bad.”
“If I invite you as the benefactor of me and Daria, I might be able to get permission for you to stay about half a day. Then they can cure your Ritikehta too. How about it? Isn’t that enough as a reward?”
“It’s definitely not enough.”
“…You’re firm.”
“Negotiations broken! You’re trying to get it for free!”
That’s that!
I made my greed obvious, and Zekarda seemed to realize I wasn’t an easy opponent.
“Then what do you want to do?”
“Take me to the Dark Elf village, get me the accessory set, cure my Warp sickness, plus! Grant other conditions too.”
“I have no intention of satisfying the overflowing greed of humans.”
“I am sure you’ll like this next condition too.”
“That’s not…”
“Even if it’s finding the slave traders that captured you and killing them all?”
“…I stand corrected. I do like it.”
When I smiled at him, Zekarda returned it with an equally wicked smile.
After all, there’s no law that says Spirit Mages can’t be evil.
“But I can’t understand. How does that become a condition for releasing you? How does that help you?”
“I want to do it, but it’s a hassle.”
“…Well, that.”
“I hate slave traders as much as you do. Not only because they’re bad guys, but because I have a history of being victimized. That’s a big part of it.”
I didn’t have the kind of resentment that would make me go out of my way to wipe them out, but they caught my eye, and once they bothered me, they had to die.
It’s not like I was fine with killing people from the beginning.
I had my dilemmas too.
But knowing I’d be reborn when I died, I couldn’t stay the same as before.
Bad guys who can’t be reformed should start over by dying.
In the name of Geenie Crowell, I’ll press the restart button.
“As your Master, this is my first order. Annihilate the slave traders. You know where they are, since that’s where you were captured.”