Ch.185Elves and Dark Elves

The first emotion I felt upon seeing the Dark Elf woman was fear.

It was because memories resurfaced of the Dark Elves’ strength and stealth when they attacked near Atlier, and how I had nearly lost my life.

If even I was in this state after fighting them just once, how must Phyllis feel, having had her homeland raided and her sister taken by Dark Elves?

With that thought in mind, I turned to look at Phyllis to comfort her, and at that moment—

“…Calliope!!”

Suddenly, Phyllis jumped to her feet, shouting furiously as she pulled out the rifle strapped to her back.

“Kyaah!”

“What’s happening!?”

“Terrorist!”

The auction hall’s seating area instantly descended into chaos.

Security personnel stationed throughout the venue began rushing over.

But Phyllis was faster in aiming her rifle at the Dark Elf, so—

“No, Phyllis!”

“Don’t shoot! Terrorism in a public facility is a serious crime!”

Jessica and I quickly lunged forward to restrain Phyllis.

After assessing the situation, Mina and Seti immediately joined in to help wrest the rifle from Phyllis’s hands, and with security personnel adding their strength, Phyllis was completely immobilized.

“Let go! Don’t stop me! That woman, Calliope, attacked our sanctuary! My sister Iris!!”

“I understand your circumstances, but calm down! Your goal isn’t to kill Dark Elves but to find your sister! Do you want to end that journey with imprisonment!?”

“Kugh…! Calliope! Answer me! Where is Iris!?”

“……”

“Calliopeeeee!!”

Having lost all reason, Phyllis continued to glare at the Dark Elf on stage and scream even as she was dragged away by security personnel. Due to the menacing atmosphere, the Dark Elf’s auction had to be temporarily suspended.

Phyllis, who had caused the armed disturbance in the auction hall, was immediately arrested and taken away by the sheriff who had rushed to the scene.

Jessica, Seti, and Mina accompanied the sheriff to advocate for Phyllis, while I remained at the auction hall to explain the situation to the staff and handle the aftermath.

The auctioneer was furious about the sudden disruption and threatened to sue us for damages, but after somehow calming him down and explaining what crimes this woman named Calliope had committed in the past, he began to consider the matter with a serious expression.

Apparently, she had been sentenced to 20 years of slavery for allegedly killing a pioneer adventurer, but if she had committed heinous crimes in elven society before that, there was a possibility the verdict could be overturned.

In the end, this matter, along with Phyllis’s armed disturbance charges, would be investigated at the Moon Lake Sheriff’s Office, and Calliope’s auction was suspended pending the results of the investigation.

Although we had disrupted the auction with the commotion, our rights to the items we had successfully bid on remained valid, so I paid cash to receive the Cup of Glory before heading to the sheriff’s office where Phyllis was waiting.

“Ah, welcome, Will. We’ve just about wrapped things up here.”

When I arrived at the sheriff’s office, Phyllis was being released from the holding cell.

Brandishing a weapon and causing a disturbance in a public facility was a serious crime, but fortunately, the fact that she hadn’t fired the weapon and had been restrained by her companions before the security personnel intervened worked in her favor.

However, as a consequence, Phyllis would not be allowed to carry weapons outside for a week within Moon Lake, and she was required to abandon any retaliatory actions against the Dark Elf Calliope.

The former wasn’t an issue since Phyllis herself accepted it, but Jessica raised an objection to the latter.

“Wait a minute, why should Phyllis, an elf, give up her right to revenge because of a verdict pioneers passed on a Dark Elf? The precedence of judicial verdicts over personal retribution only applies among pioneers, doesn’t it?”

“It’s not that simple. Your companion nearly nullified a 20-year slavery sentence through execution. If it had been a legitimate execution under elven law, there wouldn’t be an issue, but unfortunately, elven law doesn’t define legal punishment for Dark Elves.”

“…What does that mean?”

“It means there’s no legal basis for elves to impose sanctions on a Dark Elf who has been captured and sentenced by pioneers. Of course, since this hasn’t been agreed upon with the elven people, there’s room for debate, but killing the Dark Elf before that conclusion is reached could cause serious problems.”

The Dark Elf Calliope had been sentenced to 20 years of slavery for allegedly killing a pioneer adventurer, and today’s scheduled auction was part of that sentence’s execution.

However, the execution was suspended because Phyllis attempted to kill Calliope, and questions were raised about the validity of Dark Elf slaves as commodities.

Can elves arbitrarily terminate the 20-year ownership rights guaranteed by pioneer law based on grudges between native races?

If that were allowed, not only would Dark Elf slaves lose their value as commodities, but it would render the pioneers’ judicial execution against Dark Elves meaningless.

“This case must conclude in one of three ways. Either the elven people respect the pioneers’ judicial execution and abandon or postpone personal retribution, it’s treated as an individual elf’s illegal action, or…”

“Or the pioneer society accepts that they cannot punish Dark Elves under pioneer law.”

“Exactly. And in that case, Dark Elves would be treated not as hostile natives but as ‘monsters.’ That’s how the elven people themselves treat them. As harmful creatures that can be killed at will without legal basis.”

“Monsters…”

The pioneers of Grantis had engaged in several conflicts with hostile natives like the Aqua-King tribe or the Wild Cat tribe, but minimal legal regulations were in place to prevent inhumane crimes during combat or post-battle processing.

For example, one must not harvest the skin of deceased Aqua-King tribe members as material.

For example, one must not capture Wild Cat tribe women to collect their pheromones.

The pioneers, mere foreigners, were not universally rejected by the natives because they maintained these minimal standards.

But such norms don’t apply to monsters.

Regardless of whether it’s actually useful, skinning goblins or orcs is legal.

There’s no problem with collecting shadow panther skulls or making clothes from strike falcon feathers.

If Dark Elves were included among these hunting and extermination targets, the threat would extend to those who were originally elves but transformed into Dark Elves—like Phyllis’s sister.

Understanding this, Phyllis decided to quell her desire for revenge against Calliope.

“…I understand. This incident was my personal mistake, failing to control my momentary anger, and I promise not to commit the same act again.”

“Are you really okay with this, Phyllis?”

“As Will said, my goal is to rescue my sister, not to exterminate Dark Elves. Besides, if killing Calliope would ultimately threaten my sister’s safety, such revenge would be meaningless.”

Thus, Phyllis’s official punishment was settled with just a 200 gold fine for causing a disturbance in a public place.

However, there’s no doubt that this commotion seriously damaged Calliope’s value as a commodity, so there’s a possibility that the auction management might claim substantial damages.

Even in this western isekai, criminal charges and civil lawsuits are separate matters.

But ultimately, the auction management didn’t claim damages from us.

This wasn’t because they pitied Phyllis’s circumstances, but because I used what I’d heard from the sheriff to propose a deal to them.

In exchange for Phyllis giving up her revenge against Calliope and not contesting the slavery sentence, the auction management would not claim any damages related to this incident.

In truth, while Phyllis as an individual had no right to contest Calliope’s sentence, it was also true that the 20-year sentence didn’t reflect her crimes at the Willow Sanctuary.

If this point were formally protested through the Willow Sanctuary Elder, in the worst case, the slavery sentence could be revoked and she could face execution.

For the auction management, rather than letting things escalate and losing Calliope entirely, it was more beneficial to somehow resolve the situation and hold another auction in the future.

…Though this deal wouldn’t have been possible if they had known that the Willow Sanctuary Elder was absent.

“I’m truly sorry!”

After returning to our lodgings from the sheriff’s office and auction hall, Phyllis called everyone to one room, prostrated herself flat on the floor, and apologized.

“My rash actions caused tremendous trouble for everyone. If Will and Jessica hadn’t stopped me, who knows how bad things would have gotten… I have no words to express my regret.”

“…That’s right. Honestly, even I was shocked this time. If you had cast a fireball there, it could have led to a major disaster.”

The thought that she might have used a lightning bolt rather than a fireball crossed my mind, but I decided to keep quiet.

Right now, Jessica was admonishing Phyllis’s mistake as the party leader.

“Admitting your mistake means you’re willing to accept the punishment that comes with it, right?”

“Of course. I’ll accept any punishment without complaint.”

“Any punishment?”

“…Ah.”

At the repeated questioning, Phyllis’s shoulders, still pressed to the floor, trembled visibly, and she pleaded with Jessica in a shrinking voice.

“…Please… just don’t make me leave Will’s side…”

“You only care about Will? What about us?”

“Of course, you’re all important to me. I want to continue traveling with everyone. So…”

“Yes. As long as you remember that feeling, it’s fine.”

Jessica gently stroked Phyllis’s back as she trembled on the floor, beginning to comfort her.

“It’s natural to get excited when facing the enemy who took your family. But if Phyllis had relied on Will or us a little more, you wouldn’t have pulled out your gun right away. Right?”

“That’s… true. I certainly wasn’t thinking about anything other than getting revenge on Calliope at that moment.”

“So from now on, no matter what happens, don’t rush ahead alone. Find a way to solve problems together. Understood?”

“…Are you really forgiving me just with that?”

“No? This is just the future course of action. You still need to be punished separately.”

As Phyllis raised her tear-stained face, Jessica smiled sweetly at her and delivered the final verdict.

“I think Phyllis needs to deepen her bonds with everyone. So, as a reflection on this incident, tonight you’ll join me and Seti as Will’s bedmates.”

“Eh…?”

“I hear you act much cuter when you’re alone with Will? Your punishment is to show that side of yourself to all of us.”

Phyllis froze like ice, still prostrated with her head raised and eyes wide open.

That night, the noble elven lady knight revealed her true speech patterns and personality before the persistent attacks of Jessica and Seti, whimpering in an adorable voice.