novelraw Chapter 64
Chapter 64
Episode 64
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
"To everyone who bets money on this guy... I will give out elves, one each, for free...!"
Having declared that, the Dark Society's leader soon bared his teeth and burst out laughing.
The way his face contorted every time he used his facial muscles was grotesque, as if clumps of flour dough had been stuck all over it.
"Giving away elves for free?"
"That's quite an appealing offer, hahaha! Hey, Mister Leader! Is even one coin okay?"
People emerged one after another, showing interest in the generous disposal of the slave.
"Of course...! To check the product... If you wish, you may come up on stage and toy with this guy to your heart's content... That is fine!"
"Ooh, to our heart's content!"
"But raccoon-kin stink, don't they? Ugh, it's disgusting! Just proceed with the auction like you were!"
Whew!
The audience below the stage was instantly covered in cheers and boos.
'A high-grade artifact comes in handy at times like this...'
I was going to buy a cheaper mid-grade one, but I bought a high-grade one just in case, and it was a good thing I did.
I looked at the pale raccoon with a strange expression.
'He said he was scared of Ballakk.'
Elaine, unlike himself, couldn't even resist properly and was only barely holding onto the bastard's hand that was choking him.
Was it because, despite the radical offer of giving away an elf for free, many also voiced their disinterest in the raccoon-kin?
"Then how about this...!"
The bastard suddenly fumbled in his pocket with the hand that wasn't holding Elaine and took out a golden band.
"Eu, euu-eup!"
Seeing it, Elaine finally began to twist his body and resist, but it was useless.
That bastard Ballakk mercilessly placed the restraint device on the raccoon-kin's head.
"Eueu! Eueueu-eup!"
Moreover, perhaps because an electric current was immediately applied, Elaine's face contorted as he trembled in agony.
Also, I don't know what they did to his mouth, but he couldn't even open it properly and just kept letting out suppressed screams.
Crash!
Ballakk threw him onto the stage without a shred of mercy.
Even after that, Elaine's agonized movements continued for a while.
"Ooh..."
Ironically, at the sight of the convulsing slave, interest sparked in the eyes of the masked noble bastards.
"Instead of toying... I will prepare appropriate weapons... so you can teach this stinking raccoon bastard... a lesson! Just like... taming an unruly animal...!"
As if he found his own words quite amusing, the bastard's yellowish eyes flashed.
"Instead of money, we will award the winning bid... to the person who tames... this slave in the most groundbreaking way...!"
"That sounds quite fun."
"All of you here... have the blood of natural-born hunters and rulers... flowing within you... do you not...! Kekekek!"
Spitting that out, Ballakk laughed like a demon and motioned to his subordinates.
At that, the organization bastards ran out swiftly.
Not even a few minutes later, the bastards returned, pulling a cart full of gruesome tools like whips, hammers, pliers, saws, and awls.
"Hahaha, it's been a while, but I'll have to show off my skills! Hey! Let me go first!"
"No! I'll pay 10,000 coins, me first!"
"I'm first! This is a great chance to test the weapon I bought today!"
Before long, the frenzied nobles were all raising their hands and clamoring.
'Dammit, how did it come to this...'
Watching all this unfold in such a short time, I felt a deep sense of gloom.
In truth, even without hearing it, I could clearly see what Elaine must have gone through.
That bastard Ballakk had set another trap to recapture Green Mask, whom he had almost caught but missed by a hair's breadth.
Since he knew Elaine had been stealing to save the elves, he must have used a young elf as bait.
Maybe not just one, but several.
Even for an Elaine who's not in his right mind, he wouldn't have been able to ignore them.
'That's why I told you not to do anything stupid and just get the laurel crown!'
It's cold to say, but Elaine wasn't at the level to take on Ballakk alone.
It was obvious.
How could he possibly defeat a Level 200 undying puppet by himself?
Defeating Ballakk was something that could only be accomplished by a party, formed right after the Hero Selection Tournament, strategically dividing roles.
'Dammit, what do I do now?'
Ballakk looked down arrogantly at the nobles swarming in, offering money to go first, and roared with laughter.
"Uahahaha! Good, good...! Pay up, and form a line...!"
At this rate, things will just proceed pretty much the same as the original scenario.
According to the original story, today Elaine is supposed to be won by a psycho noble bastard, go through something horrific, and lose his personality.
'I can't let that happen.'
Thinking that, I prepared to move immediately.
But I was so flustered by the situation unfolding so fast I had no time to act that I forgot I was still being held by Kassel.
The moment I flinched and turned my head, finally noticing the persistent gaze.
I met a pair of red eyes that were staring intently at me, in the same posture as before, as if the sudden commotion in the auction hall didn't bother him at all.
Tak!
I was startled and yanked my wrist, which he had been holding all this time, away from him.
Then I thought, Oops, wondering if I had overreacted.
Fortunately, instead of looking at me strangely, Kassel gestured toward the stage with his chin.
"Are you going to pay and participate too?"
Following his gaze back to the stage, the humans who had swarmed to commit the absurd act of torturing the raccoon-kin were now holding an auction.
"I'll pay 100,000 coins! I'm first in line!"
"I'll pay 150,000 coins!"
"Hey, Mister President! 300,000 coins over here!"
"Hahaha! 300,000 coins! Any higher...!"
Elaine was hidden by the bustling crowd.
"Heh."
Have they all gone collectively insane?
I let out a cold, empty laugh at their disgusting behavior.
At that moment.
[The Lord of Nightmares takes a slight interest in your actions.]
A system window suddenly popped up, but I had no time to pay attention to it.
At this rate, Elaine was going to be turned into a beehive.
I ran, practically flying, toward the front of the stage.
And, avoiding the crowd gathered at Ballakk's feet, I found an empty space and leaped onto the stage.
"Uh, uh... Customer, you're not allowed up here..."
The auctioneer, who had been standing there blankly after losing his spot next to Ballakk, was flustered to see me suddenly jump up.
I easily snatched the voice-amplifying magical tool, which looked like a microphone, from his hand.
Thugs belatedly tried to block me, but it was already too late.
I tensed my stomach and shouted as loud as I could.
"Everyone shut up!"
Shut up. Shut up. Shut up... Shut up...
It may have been a wide space, but it was still a cavern, so my amplified voice echoed several times.
"Ugh!"
People covered their ears at the sudden assault.
Fortunately, my shout was extremely effective, and the hall, which had been so noisy just moments before, was instantly plunged into silence.
As an added bonus, everyone's attention snapped to me.
Looks of bewilderment, absurdity, and 'what's with that crazy bitch'.
In their midst, I also caught a glimpse of bright red eyes watching me with great interest, which made me feel a little humiliated.
However, this was an emergency where Elaine's and the young elf's fates were on the line.
I didn't have time to feel humiliated.
I put on an even thicker skin than when I'd threatened the slave trader earlier and pointed at the giant pig bastard.
"Hey, you!"
"Yes? You mean me...?"
"Yes, you, Leader! I object!"
As a woman so much shorter than him pointed and yelled, the bastard mumbled with a strange expression.
Undaunted, after pointing at him, I pointed at Elaine, who was lying miserably below him.
"That's my slave."
"...Yes?"
"I said, that's a slave I brought to resell! So why are you taking money and deciding the bidding method without my permission? Who the hell do you think you are!"
I screamed my head off, acting like a total psycho.
"That can't be, customer... This guy is an intruder in the Dark Society..."
"When! When did you acquire that slave! I'm asking when you acquired him!"
"That is..."
"Do you have proof? Do you have proof? I have proof of the slave trader I gave an advance to with a check issued by you bastards!"
It was a relief, this one time, that his words and actions were sluggish due to the limits of being a puppet.
I pressed on, not giving that bastard Ballakk a chance to speak.
At that, the bastard's face contorted bizarrely, and he roared at his subordinates who were standing around blankly.
"Those slave trader bastards... bring them all here...!"
"Y-Yes!"
The bastards, caught in the crossfire, scrambled in alarm and ran to the passage connected to the auction hall.
The slave prison wasn't very far, so they returned quickly.
Five or six slave traders came running, out of breath. Among them, one short, fat man saw me and Elaine, and his face became noticeably pale.
"Which one of you... took an advance from guest number 38!"
At the sight of their boss, who was clearly displeased, the slave trader I had given the advance to stepped forward, trembling.
"Th-Th-That's me."
"You bastard... dare to break the rules?! Do you want to die...?"
Ballakk raised his fist as if to strike the slave trader, who was much smaller than him.
"B-But that customer first!"
At that, the slave trader squeezed his eyes shut and frantically shouted.
"Sh-She asked if I knew who she was! She acted like someone who knows you well, Leader, so I had no choice!"
"Who is she?"
"I've never seen that hair color before..."
"Could it be... royalty?!"
The nobles showed more interest in the slave trader's words than Ballakk did.
After this frenzied night ended, they too had to return to their normal lives, so it was only natural they'd be curious about my identity.
Emboldened by this, the slave trader confessed with a resolute expression.
"Guest number 38 said she was... 's lover..."
"W-Wait!"
At that moment, remembering the sins I had sown, I turned pale and tried to stop the slave trader.
I reflexively looked toward Kassel, and he, still not having left his seat, was staring at me with a fascinated expression.
'You stupid bitch...!'
A desperate regret that I shouldn't have gotten involved washed over me, but it couldn't be helped.
There was no other way to stop Elaine from being turned into a beehive right now.
"Whose... lover did she say she was?"
Ballakk, his eyes glaring murderously, pressed the hesitating slave trader.
Fearing for his life, the slave trader squeezed his eyes shut and yelled.
"She said she was the Lord of Nightmares' lover!"
And my eyes squeezed shut too.
"The Lord of Nightmares..."
"The deposed Crown Prince... Hup!"
"Good heavens, to think that demon-like man had a lover!"
Naturally, the fallout from the slave trader's words was immense.
A remote rural backwater like Hailey might not know, but in the capital, the 'Lord of Nightmares' was already infamous due to the prophecy.
'Fucking hell...'
Since I'd already made this mess, it was unavoidable.
But I couldn't bring myself to look at Kassel again.
'If I had known that bastard would be here, I never would have spouted such nonsense...'
I felt dizzy.
'Please, tell me Kassel left in the meantime.'
I gritted my teeth and barely managed to peek open my eyes to check the spot where the real 'Lord of Nightmares' was standing.
[The Lord of Nightmares is watching your progress with interest.]
[The Lord of Nightmares is curious to see how far you will go.]
But the system window I was immediately confronted with made my vision spin again.
Now that it's come to this, my only choice was to finish this quickly and run.
"Customer. It seems our employee... misunderstood and made a mistake..."
That bastard Ballakk, who had been looking down on me arrogantly as if he'd tear me to shreds if I were a nobody, reluctantly bowed.
Seeing the other nobles' reactions, it seemed he couldn't just ignore my position.
"I apologize... but how about... exchanging him for another slave..."
"Forget it."
"Yes?"
"I said, forget it. I'm done checking what I needed to check."
It's not like I was really trying to play at being a noble. What other reason would I have for doing this crazy stunt?
It was all for a purpose, with a plan.
"What..."
Finding it strange that I was so calm, unlike the psycho who had been screaming her head off just moments before, that bastard Ballakk wore a blank expression.
At that moment, I lowered the mic I was holding and whispered softly.
"Stun."