For as long as Sylphy can remember, it wasn't rare for her to lose her family and friends to slave traders kidnapping them from their homes.
Throughout the years, the Elves assembled search parties but it didn't escalate beyond that. Maybe they were afraid of the dangers out in the world as they have lived in their forest for generations. Any kind of change is bad to them.
Sylphy is one of many who left to live among humans. But she didn't ever fully integrate with humans. Her traditions did not change, the kind of things she eats, the way she treats plants…
Most important, she still had her vision—arm her people with powerful items that even humans don't have so that they can protect themselves against slavers and other common threats.
She had long since forgotten how she learned to use Runic Crafting, a skill lost to time in human civilization. If she had revealed this power to the world, she may have been able to use the political influence she gains from that revelation to stop illegal slavery against her people. As it is now, imperial laws only benefit humans, not demihumans or Elves. If there isn't concrete proof the slavery was illegal, law enforcement won't care. Sylphy wanted to make something that could capture these acts, little magic items she wants to plant all over her forest, each with its own eyes and little brain that can remember and visualize what happened.
But this invention and her revelation would benefit the humans in the end and she doesn't want that. As such she shelved the invention and chose to arm her people instead. But as expected of her gentle race, they don't like violence—the forest people at least. The Elf Queen Setariah has no qualms with using force, which is why she's training her own royal knights behind her kingdom walls.
Soon enough, they may force the rest of Elvenkind to adept to that sort of lifestyle.
Sylphy's wish to never aid the humans with her power is an impossible one as she had chosen to seek the aid of a human in exchange for her service—to become his personal Rune Master. For some reason, he seems to know more about her abilities than she does.
**
"What's with the frown? Being impatient to see your people, hm?" Rosalyn, who was sitting opposite Sylphy, spoke to her, snapping her out of her daze. The candle light overhead illuminated her face, the light catching her light makeup that enhanced her beauty.
"…Yes, I am looking forward to seeing them."
"Well, hold on a little longer. They need to travel in the cages behind us. Going out there to speak with slaves will be weird and my associates will realize something is amiss."
"Shouldn't the suspicion be why an Elf is buying another Elf when it's been known for a long time that we despise your way of life…?"
In response, she received a chuckle as Rosalyn opened the small curtain on her window and glanced outside, "There are humans among us who are the same as your race—called the religious folk. Kind people who try to never sin. But do you know what's so laughable? Priests in divine garb would come to our businesses to seek out altar boys and girls to help around the churches—free labor you could say. My point is that the majority of them preach about the immorality of slavery, yet there are some that enjoy its benefits. Yes, it's unfair to the slaves but as long as they are fed and given a home, why complain? Unless the people revolt together, nothing will change."
She continued, "But I'm sure you know why they don't. Our world is filled with men who can punch through boulders and monsters that can cleave apart human flesh like it's gum. You know what the funny thing is? The people who complain about slavery rely on the former to ensure they are safe. What if those men refuse to protect them due to their revolt—they fear they won't have any overlords to protect them."
"…The adventurers would be there for them." Despite not being sure of it herself, she replied with hesitation.
"You think so? Adventurers are moved by coin. If a revolution to outlaw slavery became a thing, our currency would lose its value. They will only fight to protect when there's monetary rewards."
Sylphy should know that better than anyone since she's an adventurer who has been exposed to these kinds of people who would rather pillage a village if they have nothing to reward them with. Her old party members are the rare few who aren't like this. Of course, it's probably because all of them have lives outside of being adventurers but Sylphy would like to believe they're still good people.
Clint and Lucia are two of the most kindhearted people she knows, willing to help anyone in need even if they don't have the money to pay them. Their little adventurer party started in the countryside, after all, during the aftermath of wars when stray soldiers would go around terrorizing people and they would save those people.
A knock came from the door, breaking the tense silence between the two. Frankly, Sylphy had nothing in common with Rosalyn so conversations are impossible. But since Arnold will purchase the rights to their city, the two will see more of each other in the future, especially since Rosalyn is a magician so she will definitely want Sylphy's skills once they get revealed.
"Madam, we are ready to move out."
"That's my cue to leave." Rosalyn smiled wryly, "I hope Arnold goes easy on these people. Some of them are quite pleasant company despite not having noble goals."
"…Thank you for giving me this opportunity."
"Don't thank me. I did this to stay in my new lord's good graces. I don't do things out of the kindness of my heart anymore." Giving her the side eye, Rosalyn replied as if being thanked was troublesome.
"…"
She soon left the carriage and Sylphy remained behind with only her thoughts to accompany her. She heard the horses neigh and the carriage began to move. As expected, the brothel took a majority of the girls so even if Sylphy had the coin, she wouldn't be able to buy her families back.
"…" Sylphy remembered the hopeful expressions her people—there were about seven Elves among them—made when they saw her arrive at the auction house. She had chosen not to hide her ears. Their faces changed when it was announced that she would be buying one of the younger Elf girls.
She was told by Rosalyn to ignore them, as you must never show weakness to those people—criminal nobles and drug lords. How did a woman such as her—born into a wealthy family with a talent for magic—get involved with those people?
Even Nova—no, Arnold—who she was beginning to think had a true righteous heart was associated with this world, or rather with Rosalyn who is part of that world. Of course, she has no right to judge others so she keeps her opinion at the back of her mind.
She was quite worried about the kind of dangerous man this Arnold really is…
Looking into the future, Arnold said that he'll provide knights to every Elf village. It's not that the kingdom doesn't want to provide forces to the villages, it's just that—
1. As mentioned before, the Elves are a peaceful race, and have avoided conflict for thousands of years. This means they've lagged behind other nations when it comes to having a competent military, choosing to adopt the training regimes and culture of human knights instead of developing their own.
2. Most of the kingdom's most valuable possessions lies in the capital city.
3. Even when offered, the villagers refuse
Besides, the monsters are typically the only thing to fear in the forest, but the barriers make it impossible for them to enter villages. There were rare instances where some Elves get snatched up by the monsters when wandering outside the barriers but they've come to understand where and when the monsters can be found roaming the forest.
This may reduce the casualties but it doesn't provide a sense of security to her people. Of course, no one is ever truly safe in this world but peace of mind is what makes the difference. What's meant by this? Well, you don't have to look over your shoulder all the time.
Sylphy heard a lot about the knights that patrol Whitage city, how they were unstoppable monsters in red armor. They're the true defensive wall of Whitage, clearing any bandit camp, criminal hideout and getting rid of every monster they find along their patrols. Even the nobles were considering hiring these knights. It's hard to say exactly how strong they are.
But this uncertainty is what will provide "peace of mind" to her people who live in constant fear.
Is it really that bad that she's choosing to abandon her oath to ensure the security of her people? Sylphy felt guilty somehow, as if she had promised her master to never reveal this power to humans—whose name and even gender she had forgotten due to how long she's lived.
Maybe they'll abuse it and Arnold is just looking to monetize that for his own benefit while she slaves away in a dungeon somewhere, forced to repay a lifelong debt. She could just be misjudging the kind of person he is. After all, he's helping her free her little sister and her people instead of forcing her to pay off their debts to free them from slavery.
This isn't kindness in the slightest, just a man who took the opportunity to use her. if he hears about her "Records Invention", he will probably try to patent that for himself.
But… she's not angry at all. He's not the one who planned for this to happen.
The carriage rocked up and down, making her snap out of her daze.
"!" after her head was bobbed back and forth by the carriage, she only just noticed someone was sitting opposite her.
"Having doubts about the mission?" Arnold, dressed in all black, plus a hood, asked in amusement as if he enjoyed her troubled expression.
"…You are here early."
Rosalyn left like ten minutes ago. Due to the mana in the atmosphere, radio waves are greatly disturbed so there is a certain delay to contacting someone over radio frequencies. This is why messengers are used even today when kings do international communication.
Since they're about 40 kilometers outside the empire, it should've taken a few hours for the signal to reach him.
"I was nearby so it didn't take long for Rosalyn's radio signal to make it to me."
"Did you have nothing to do at home?" she threw a jab.
"It's not that. I just lent my teleportation ring to an acquaintance—that was this morning and they've still not returned yet. I thought ahead and chose to come towards you before receiving the signal since I wouldn't make it in time otherwise."
"Eh? Then how did you teleport here into the carriage?" she didn't notice any magic items on his fingers—maybe it's around his neck?
Who is she kidding? Magic items—or rather the sort of magic items humans create—aren't capable of teleportation so she was essentially looking for something that doesn't exist. Maybe he has a similar artifact—to the ring—that he found in a relic tomb.
"Just a skill of mine. I can use the water in the air to jump around across small distances." He looked out the window, "it being night was very convenient for me. It sucks that it takes a lot of energy to use the skill though. Anyway, four carriages worth of slaves, huh?"
He's full of mysteries. Where did he even get that teleportation ring? It's definitely an artifact of some sort so did he find it in a relic tomb? That's her best guess for now because no craftsman can make teleportation possible with such a small object. It's strange, though, as relic tombs are normally off-limits to anyone who doesn't have the permission of the monarch in the nation where the tomb was found.
"…There are humans and demihumans as well…"
"Do you want to save all of them?"
"What kind of question is that? Of course I do."
"Why? Is it because you feel bad for these slaves? Sure, some of them were put in this position by their parents or even through underhanded means by their new master but that's because misfortune chose them. Who will look after them anyway? Some have no homes to go back to; others loathe their family for selling them off."
He's asking this to make sure she knows that once he saves them from the clutches of their masters, he washes his hands off them and whatever happens to them is of no concern to him. Only her cooperation matters in the end and if he saves them, he technically did his part of the deal so she can't fault him for that.
"I… want to help them." She said in a firm tone without hesitation.
"I was thinking of having you and your people lay low in my city. Now there are more people to look after." It sounded like he wanted to sigh but stopped himself.
"…." Now that she thought about it, there's no place where she could keep her people safe until she can escort them back home. She normally lives in rent houses or inns when doing quests so she just assumed Arnold would arrange something…
The obvious choice is making them live in his city for a while but this means intruding even more and testing his kindness to her.
She's being the unreasonable one here. Maybe knowing that her powers will be useful to him is going to her head… She doesn't want that…
"I'll allow you to make these requests as you have the skills to repay me back," hearing his answer made her sigh in relief. Afterwards, he closed the curtain then faced her again, changing the subject, "Did you bring your tools?"
She nodded and patted the leather bag on her waist.
"Good, within the next few days I'll have you work in my castle."
"Eh? That soon?" she wanted to take her sister back home first and explain the situation to her family. Going there will take a few days at least.
"I want it to be sooner than that but Vetis is still assembling the troops I will send with you across the border. I ordered him to bring 120 knights who will escort you and your people back home. The villages can decide among themselves how to split them up."
"That's… a lot." She thought he would give like two knights per village.
Come to think of it, where do they even come from? To have that many strong knights is unthinkable for a small nation like his. This Vetis person must be a powerful prince from a different continent or across the sea. His name sounds quite ominous, though…
"Take that as a sign of how valuable your skills are to me, Sylphy." She was about to berate him for being so familiar with her but he continued without paying attention to her reaction, "The Demihumans are at war with the Theocracy so I don't want you dying along the way. Anyway, your people dug their own graves by being such moralists, believing a world filled with free will can be peaceful. Your ancestors put measures in place to keep you all safe but one day those measures will be gone, with the death of the Hiisi Elder and the World Tree—what will remain in the end?"
He continued with a shrug, "Doesn't matter anyway. I'll take over the Elven Kingdom and correct their mistakes one day."
He said it so casually, as if there was no doubt in his mind that he could fail.
"W-What did you just say…?"
He gave her a knowing smile, as if sure that all cards will fall into place.
"Focus on the task at hand." he glanced out the window again, "We should reach the empire in one hour but the caravan will probably stop at a roadside inn. While the road should be clear of monsters, bandits may be waiting to ambush them in the dark. The slaves will most likely sleep in their masters' rooms so they will be scattered around, which will be annoying so I'll need to head out right now."
He then threw keys at her, "When my attack begins, use these keys to open the cage and take your little sister and run as far as you can during all the chaos. I'll rendezvous with you somewhere closer to my city."
"What about the others?" she asked in a hurry, not wondering how he even got a hold of these keys.
"They're your responsibility. I won't protect them if their masters shoot them in the back while fleeing." He vanished before she could say anything. The next moment, when Sylphy glanced out the window, a gigantic boulder was sent hurdling towards the caravan.
The boulder hit with a sound like the world snapping its teeth shut.
Wood exploded as the horses neighed while on their back legs. One carriage flipped onto its side, skidding through the dirt before coming to rest half-crushed, its axle bent like soft wax, and its coach laying bloodied on the ground. Horses reared and screamed, chains clattering as the convoy lurched to a halt.
Shouts broke out mere seconds later after they took in what just happened.
"Form up!"
"Protect the nobles!"
"Archers—where the hell are the archers?!"
"W-We're here, sir!"
"Is your damn eyesight that you trained along with your bow just for throwing darts accurately!? How did you not see that attack coming after we gave you all night vision potions!"
While one of the knights was berating the archers, another group formed up a defensive wall, watching the surroundings.
"Did a troll throw that?! I thought the empire cleared this path of any roaming monsters!"
"I don't get it, this path was safe when we came through here yesterday—"
"—Vile people! Have you no pity for your fellow countryman!?" a single shout made them all go silent. They stared up at a nearby cliff where it came from, where the moon was at the source's back, clearly illuminating his silhouette, "To reduce them to lower than a serf just for your nightly pleasures or free labor is barbaric!"
Sylphy wondered to herself why he had to speak like that…
"Bastard! Was that you!?"
Without answering, he threw something, then a scream resounded. One of the men clutched his ear as blood rushed out. Looking behind him, there was a small coin stuck to the carriage that burned with a white energy.
Speechless, the knights put their hands on their weapons and tried to approach.
"I will ask you nicely the first time." He jumped off the cliff without a sound, as if the ground treated him like a shadow, "Release those girls and I will let you leave with your limbs attached to your bodies."
"P-Piss off!" a fat noble stormed out of his carriage and shouted, "I haven't touched a woman in years because my bitch wife keeps pushing me away—now I have two little elves to make into the perfect obedient wives! I won't let you take that away from me, boy! Charge all at once and kill him!"
Through little actions, they realized he's not to be messed with so the pudgy noble, who Sylphy recognized as one of the masters, wanted them to eliminate him as his demand clash with their interests.
A knight rushed him first so he showed why that was the wrong choice.
Arnold stepped inside the swing, drove his shoulder forward, and shattered the man's breastplate with a dull, wet crack. The knight folded backward, air exploding from his lungs as he skidded across the dirt.
Another came from the side. Arnold caught the spear mid-thrust, twisted once, and ripped it from the man's hands, then struck him across the temple with the shaft hard enough to drop him instantly.
Panic spread—then they all charged at him, not giving him the honor of a one-on-one.
"Rhino Charge!" a man two heads taller than him held up his shield and attempted to tackle him but he could barely make Arnold budge and was sent flying back himself. From an outsider's perspective, it's like running into a concrete wall. This action disturbed the line of soldiers that charged at him so only those on the side and back continued with their assault.
Yet again, he stood still even as they stabbed him—No, their weapons barely moved an inch when it struck him, as if he wore the hardest armor in the world.
"H-huh? M-My sword is reinforced with magic so it should be able to pierce any kind of armor that isn't dragon steel!" similarly to this knight, the others had cold sweat as even their weapons barely moved an inch into his body.
The ones with bludgeoning weapons struck him but their weapons snapped upon contact.
"You fools! What is taking you all so long!" one of the masters shouted.
"I-It feels like I struck rubber but no rubber should be this… tough!"
Meanwhile, Sylphy had snuck out of the carriages during that commotion. She carefully approached the cage carriage.
"S-Sister!" Seeing her, Tessiah broke into tears and ran to the bars. Hearing her, the other girls turned to Sylphy as well, their frowns returning.
"Sssshhh. We mustn't make noise." Arnold was making a lot of noise to cover the sounds coming from here but it's possible one of the knights will find out.
This is the first time in how many years she's spoken to her little sister or basically any of her siblings due to being kicked out of the village.
But here she was… an outcast saving her family.
One of the girls noticed the keys in her hand and ran to the bars as well, "T-The keys! We're saved!"
She tried her best not to shout louder than a whisper. Hearing that, the others swarmed around the entrance of the cage, almost smothering poor little Tessiah.
Overwhelmed by their pleading faces, she didn't know what to do. Her hands felt numb.
This many people running away would be easy pickings for archers. None of them looked like fighters so she can't expect them to fight. But there's the possibility that when realizing they will lose the fight, the nobles will order to have the slaves killed so they'll be helpless in this cage.
Sylphy looked back down at her little sister, whose eyes pleaded with her to save them as well.
Finally making a decision, she inserted the key into the cage door…
◊◊
Arnold raised his arm, the dozen knights following the movement of his hand.
Then within an instant, he turned on the spot, hitting them all away with that one arm. All of them were sent flying like ragdolls, crashing into the river nearby, a few of the carriages, against a horse and some even flew further than that.
At that moment, one of the archers shouted, "L-Look at nine o clock! The slaves were freed!"
"Noooo! Stop them at once! If you dare shoot my slaves in the head, I'll have you hanged!" the fat noble was the first to panic.
Not even a second after hearing his order, they readied their arrows and shot after measuring the distance.
Taking that opportunity, Arnold retreated, having finished his purpose for coming here.
Sylphy looked over her shoulder, noticing the arrows coming. The next moment, she threw out several daggers connected to a thin wire. After taking off the wire, the daggers began to float on their own and shot towards the arrows, knocking them away.
Before the archers could even loose another flurry of arrows, they were already too far away, much to the anguish of the nobles and brothel managers who spent fortunes on them.
26 slaves were granted freedom that night while a war rages on the other side of the country. Unfortunately for them, their taste of freedom would be short-lived if that war ever reaches the empire.