episode_0036

“Let’s call it a day here.”

“Finally…!”

As the training came to an end, Lorang collapsed to the ground.

It was only the second day, but Ora was already quite well-trained.

It usually takes over six months to turn a flimsy Ora into a thin sheet of metal.

But Lorang showed an incredibly rapid growth rate. I wonder how incompetent the author of the Draven who didn’t properly train Ora was to let Lorang play around like this.

“Good job.”

I approached Lorang and patted his shoulder.

“Ah~ I’m exhausted. Let’s go have a drink.”

Rotus came over to me, throwing his sword anywhere.

“It’s been quite a while since the Divine Squad left, so I think it’s okay to go to the tavern now…”

I turned my head and glanced at Rotus.

If I keep letting that guy into my house, all the alcohol will disappear.

“Well, let’s go to the usual place then.”

“Lorang, get up.”

“Ugh… I got it.”

Lorang got up from his seat, rubbing his waist.

“Haha! If a young friend acts like this, should I be the one to fuss over him?”

Rotus supported Lorang on the shoulder.

It was quite a sight to see Rotus, who was only nine years older than Lorang, acting like a big brother.

I looked at Rotus and Lorang, who were about to leave for a drink with an unpleasant expression.

“Lea, you don’t have to wait for me to drink and come back.”

“Got it.”

Lea nodded her head at my words.

Since we helped with Ora’s training in dress attire today, there was no need to change clothes.

“Let’s go together!”

I ran towards Rotus and Lorang, who had gone far ahead.

#

The three of us took a carriage and walked through the city streets.

As the sun set and it got darker, the magic lanterns on the street lit up one by one.

“Oh…”

Lorang exclaimed involuntarily at the sight.

“Isn’t it amazing?”

“Yes, it’s always amazing no matter how many times I see it.”

Lorang nodded in response to my question.

“Why do you act like that with something like that?”

“Rotus, don’t you remember asking me and Aramis to go out every evening because you found it amazing too?”

“Ugh!”

Rotus had nothing to say and pretended not to know.

“Anyway, Aramis said he had something to do…”

“It’s probably related to the elf slave.”

“No matter how much it’s a task I assigned, it would have been nice if he had at least informed me.”

“Maybe, after meeting with the Turkians and talking, that might be the reason.”

“Hmm…”

I muttered in a low voice at Rotus’s words.

“Anyway, let’s leave that to Aramis and let’s go have a drink.”

As we chatted and walked, we arrived at the usual tavern without realizing it.

As we entered, the place was already crowded with people drinking and chatting.

“Oh…?”

Lorang squinted his eyes and stared at something intently.

“Why is that?”

“Isn’t that Aramis over there?”

At Lorang’s words, we saw Aramis sitting with someone, having a serious conversation.

“So… you’re saying you’ll sell the elf you recently caught for 13 million francs?”

“Yes, since you asked for a discount, it’s 13 million. If it was someone else, I would have asked for 20 million.”

“Hmm…”

“Have you seen the goods? It’s clearly an elf under 500 years old. But trying to take it for cheaper than that is unethical, isn’t it?”

“…”

He pondered deeply, stroking his well-groomed mustache at Aramis’s words.

“And have you not seen the condition of the slave? Is there not a reason to hesitate?”

“Aramis.”

At my call, Aramis and the man looked at me.

“Oh, Mari, you’re here too.”

“Oh…”

He continued to look at me in admiration.

“What are you looking at?”

“People who die and go to paradise seem to have seen the 72 women sent by Allah in advance.”

What… Allah?

I opened my eyes wide and looked at Aramis.

“This… a heretic?”

Like Laurent, I looked back and forth between Aramis and the heretic.

“Oh, you don’t know. This is Shamir, a Turkish man who engages in diplomatic activities here.”

“Aramis, you…”

“I understand the misunderstanding, but that’s not it.”

Aramis shook his head vigorously, denying the suspicion cast upon him.

“During the 30-year war, he captured elves and traded them as slaves, which is how he ended up revealing his face.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Shamir.”

Shamir extended his right hand to me.

He had brown curly hair and slightly tanned skin, similar to Laurent. His height was similar to Laurent’s, but his nose was bigger.

I stared at his hand for a moment before shaking it.

“Nice to meet you, Shamir. Your Elvish is quite fluent.”

“Oh, you flatter me. One cannot survive here without fluent Elvish.”

“Given your diplomatic activities, it’s necessary. My name is Marie de Roan.”

“Seeing your title, you must be the daughter of a magistrate. Nice to meet you, you’re quite beautiful.”

“Haha…”

I awkwardly laughed at his compliment.

“But… do you not drink alcohol?”

Rotus glanced at Shamir’s glass behind me.

It only contained fruit juice.

“Haha… I have my reasons for not drinking.”

Shamir shook his head.

“If you don’t drink, how do you find pleasure in life without alcohol?”

“Rotus.”

As Rotus tried to pour alcohol into Shamir’s glass, Aramis stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

“It’s not appropriate.”

“Understood.”

Rotus backed off at Aramis’s firm attitude.

“Thank you for your consideration.”

Shamir nodded gratefully at me.

“…?”

“I didn’t do anything?”

“You’re so beautiful that I kept looking at you, causing me to make a mistake.”

“I can’t believe…”

I chuckled at his absurd statement.

“By the way, when you two were talking earlier, it seemed like the price of 13 million francs was mentioned?”

“Oh, that? Didn’t you catch an elf in the Erzen Forest last time?”

“I did. Are you saying the price for an elf is 13 million francs?”

“Yes, we agreed to trade for 13 million francs.”

“No, I’ll buy it for 20 million francs.”

Everyone looked at Shamir at his sudden statement.

“If you thought the elf belonged to you, you would have bought it for 20 million francs.”

Shamir looked at me seriously.

“Why the sudden change of heart?”

“Instead of buying the elf for 20 million francs, would you have a meal with me?”

“What?”

“I’ll pay an extra 7 million francs, and it would be nice to have a meal with such a beautiful woman like you.”

7 million francs for a meal… I thought it was reasonable.

“Alright, but I’ll decide when we’ll have the meal.”

“Marie?”

Laurent looked surprised and stared at me.

“Okay. I’ll wait for your contact.”

We nodded at each other.

“Aramis, can we go see the elf in your basement?”

“Of course, let’s go see it again.”

Once it was confirmed that we were going to Aramis’s house, we put down our glasses and got up from our seats.

“I’ll drink more, you guys go ahead.”

Rotus waved us off.

“Alright, drink moderately and go home.”

“Um… okay, goodbye.”

Aramis tapped his back and left the tavern.

#

We arrived at Aramis’s house in his carriage.

“Let’s go see it quickly.”

I was curious about the condition of the elf I had captured.

“When I went to check on her, she seemed to be in quite good condition,” Shamir whispered in my ear.

“Hmm! You seem to be too close,” Laurent said, coughing loudly as he pulled Shamir’s shoulder away from me.

Shamir looked at Laurent and gave him a meaningful smile.

Since we made a dinner appointment at the tavern, a strange atmosphere had been developing between Laurent and Shamir.

More precisely, Laurent was sending a guarded look towards Shamir alone.

Shamir seemed to have noticed and subtly started teasing Laurent.

“Oh, my lord has arrived.”

As we entered the house, Grimo greeted us.

“Oh, the lady is here too.”

“Nice to see you, Grimo.”

“It’s an honor that you remember my name.”

Grimo bowed to me, greeting me.

“We have some business to attend to in the basement, so don’t mind us and continue with your work until it’s time to rest.”

“Understood.”

Grimo nodded at us and greeted us.

“Please, come in.”

As Aramis opened the door to the basement, we entered inside.

“But I have a question.”

While going down the stairs, Laurent asked me.

“What is it?”

“Why do the Turks buy elf slaves?”

“Because of their fair skin,” Shamir answered Laurent’s question on my behalf.

“Buying slaves just because they have fair skin?”

“What’s the problem? It’s common for the Ottoman Empire to buy white slaves.”

“Hmm…”

“Usually, they are purchased from pirates or brought mainly from Alantr in the north of the Balkans.”

Laurent looked at me, then turned his gaze to Shamir with a more cautious look.

“Sometimes, in the case of slaves from powerful nations like Elang, the priests of that country come and pay a ransom to take them back, but in the case of white people from the north and northwest of the empire, that doesn’t happen.”

Shamir smiled and looked at Laurent, revealing this information.

“The elves receive the most special treatment, as they are rare in number, and their appearance does not change over time. Their beauty alone was enough to captivate the hearts of the emperors throughout history.”

“Then the sultan’s palace must have many elves.”

I imagined the sultan’s palace.

In the Saracen region, there were many elf slaves wearing sensual clothes, playing and frolicking with the sultan.

“No, not really.”

Shamir denied with a shake of his head in response to my question.

“Even though you destroyed Lozantine and it has been 200 years since then, I thought quite a few would have gathered during that time?”

“The number coming in is extremely low, and perhaps due to their beautiful appearance, they suffer beyond physiological limits, leading to death or suicide, so the numbers are not that high.”

Well… Andre’s former fortune was 30 million francs, and one elf slave cost 20 million francs, so that pretty much sums it up.

“Anyway… let’s stop here with the chit-chat and check on the slave’s condition now.”

As Aramis opened the door to the basement, there was an elf bound with iron chains.

“□□, □□□ □□□!!!”

She screamed loudly as soon as she saw us.

But when our eyes met, she shrank back and avoided eye contact with me.

“What’s wrong with her?”

I asked, looking at Aramis.

“…Considering how you brutally slaughtered the elves in the Erzen Forest, wouldn’t it be natural for her to react like this?” Aramis replied.

“Oh no!”

Shamir suddenly sighed heavily at Aramis’s words.

“To think that you killed so many elves! How tragic and regrettable!”

We looked at Shamir, who was really trying to shed tears, with cold, sharp eyes.