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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Friction
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Arsha, having gathered her bow and gear, left the rest of her kin at the manor and headed for Nakrang Castle.
Gates were the clearest standard distinguishing major domains from minor ones.
Since Waryong Manor had no gate, she had to use the one in Nakrang Castle to get to Soma Castle.
The problem was, she wasn't the only one standing before the gate in Nakrang Castle.
"…Are you truly coming with me?"
"Yep."
"Please, reconsider. This situation is different from when you accepted our migration."
As if he had already made up his mind.
Arsha spoke earnestly to the boy, who had even taken off the mask he always wore in Nakrang Castle, instead pulling his cloak down low and smiling brightly.
They possessed only eternal youth and beauty.
With low productivity and few Awakened Ones, the elven race was sold as prostitutes or slaves, never accepted as citizens in any domain.
In that sense, the dark elves' migration would have been a welcome event for the lord of Soma Castle.
It must have been inconvenient for him to let them live, even in the lowest stratum, just because of Parsha.
But…
"If you protect our clan, my lord, it will almost certainly bring you great harm."
Whatever the reason.
For Dion to step in now, with soldiers having taken the dark elves, meant confronting the lord of Soma Castle.
It might have been different for another young master or lady, but for Dion, who had only just acquired a small manor, it was far too dangerous.
It was only because Elise was feigning his presence back at the Vlad estate that he hadn't been found out.
Even more so since his siblings would not let it slide if they discovered he had Awakened.
"It's fine. I'm not exactly going to protect you guys."
"…Then why are you accompanying me?"
"Because it seems like it'll be fun?"
"…"
"Well, that's about 10% a joke. Anyway, I have my own business to take care of, so I'm just tagging along. Don't worry."
Hearing an answer that inspired no confidence whatsoever, Arsha felt not relief, but even deeper bewilderment.
But in the end, she had no choice but to accept the uncomfortable company.
After all, Arsha had neither the right nor the means to stop Dion.
Above all…
"How long do you intend to dally and waste time? Enough chatter. Let's go."
"…Besides, with his personal maid so full of fighting spirit, it would be too heartless for the master to ignore her, right?"
A personal maid should have been trying to stop her master in a situation like this.
Instead, watching her daughter act as if she would jump into the gate alone, Arsha let out a quiet sigh.
And so, a short while later.
The trio of Dion, Parsha, and Arsha departed from Nakrang Castle, passing through several gates to reach Soma Castle.
And then…
***
*Clang.*
"…!"
Spears were pointed at them from all directions.
As if they had been waiting…
No, as Arsha froze, surrounded by soldiers who had, in fact, been waiting with the gate entrance sealed off.
A black knight in dark armor standing before the soldiers spoke.
"Arsha of the dark elves. I am arresting you for the murder of a citizen."
"Murder of a citizen? What is this all of a sudden?"
"You can make your excuses later."
"…"
"—The young master is waiting."
The black knight did not bother to restrain Arsha.
As if it were only natural for a lowly elf to do as she was told, he simply turned and led the way.
Her expression stiffened for a moment.
Arsha glanced back slightly.
And saw one brightly smiling face and one expressionless face, both standing their ground.
Seeing the two show no sign of leaving, she let out a soft sigh and finally followed the black knight.
She had no other choice if she wanted to find her captured kin.
***
And so, a short while later.
The black knight led them to the outskirts of Soma Castle.
It was a single manor, precariously connected to the middle tier of the castle by a long drawbridge.
Was it the lord's hobby?
Or a focus on practicality?
With iron bars surrounding it and unnecessarily large, crude walls, the bleak building looked more like a prison than a manor.
In its very center, a place reachable only after passing through several gates and walls.
A man, who had been sitting alone in a chair while the bound dark elves knelt before him, rose to his feet.
"You're finally here."
"…"
"I even let one of you go on purpose, and you're still this late. I suppose you don't care if your kin dies anymore, do you?"
Small horns and wings.
A tail as sharp as a spear.
And above all, a hideous face.
The man, clearly a demonkin, was different from ordinary races in every aspect.
Seeing the third son of Soma Castle's lord and the master of this Purgatory Manor, Arsha's face hardened.
"…It has been a while, Young Master Silan."
"How shameless. You dare offer such a greeting after refusing my invitations every time?"
"I believe I told you that a lowly elf like myself receiving an invitation would only bring trouble to you, Young Master."
"And you thought being rejected by that lowly elf wouldn't bring me trouble?"
"This could have passed quietly if you hadn't spread rumors everywhere about inviting me, Young Master."
"No, this would have been over if you'd just known your place and acted obediently."
"…"
She should have considered it an honor and accepted the chance to become his lover, a gift to a mere elf.
Had she done so, the dark elves could have opened a brothel and avoided poverty, but daring to refuse his offer was a crime worthy of death.
So utterly absurd.
Coercive.
And one-sided.
Yet, Arsha remained silent, faced with a logic that became truth simply because it was spoken by the lord's son.
In this Odobaekryeong, power was everything.
The strong could do anything, and the weak had to endure whatever was done to them.
That was why Arsha could only close her eyes quietly at the chilly voice that came from behind her.
"My apologies, but until now, I believed my young master was the most pathetic trash in the world."
"…!"
"But it seems there's some truly hopeless waste out there who resents being rejected by a woman hundreds of years his senior."
The soldiers looked as if they couldn't believe their ears at the venomous words, spoken without hesitation despite being surrounded by swords and spears.
Silan himself, however, neither flinched nor grew angry at the insult.
"Hoh, so you're Arsha's daughter, the one who became that fool's personal maid?"
A face identical to Arsha's.
But after a single glance at the dark elf maid, who radiated an incomparably cold killing intent.
The demonkin man continued with a twisted smile.
"I always thought a maid like you was wasted on that fool. This is perfect. You can serve me from now on."
"…What did you just say?"
"I'm saying you should become my mistress rather than be buried alive with a master worse than an insect."
"…"
"You must know you won't last long at this rate, don't you?"
Once Dion was kicked out of the family, the dark elf clan would have nowhere to go anyway.
Wouldn't it be wise to find another path to survival now?
As Parsha watched Silan speak with a sneer and clenched her steel gauntlet with a creak.
A voice was heard.
"Not satisfied with Arsha, you're now making an offer to Parsha? You certainly have a good eye."
"Hmm?"
Behind the two dark elves.
Silan narrowed his eyes, finally noticing the boy whose face was hidden by his cloak.
Dion asked casually.
"Parsha, you gonna do it?"
"Do what?"
"What I always do."
"…Are you in your right mind?"
Parsha forgot her earlier anger and stared at Dion as if he were a madman.
No one knew better than she what her master had "always been doing" these past few days, as she was the one who personally wiped the splattered blood from his body every day.
Until now, it hadn't mattered.
The ones Dion had 'smashed' were merely lowly servants, thugs, or slaves; even the most respectable among them, Gerald, was just a gatekeeper.
But what if he pulled the same stunt on Silan, a proper noble and a young master of Soma Castle?
Whether it was possible or not.
It was not something that could be overlooked.
Especially for someone like Dion, who was ignored even within his own family, it could lead to not just expulsion, but execution.
But…
"Don't worry about the aftermath. I'll take responsibility, one way or another."
"…Are you saying you'd risk being kicked out of your family for a mere maid?"
"That's what being a master is all about, isn't it?"
"…"
"Besides, Parsha isn't just some maid to me."
He teased her and worked her hard, but it was a master's duty to look after and take responsibility for his own possessions.
He said this to the one who had been his only nanny, guard, and teacher since childhood.
Dion added, a bit mischievously.
"Of course, I'll punish you for the trouble you've caused your master."
"…"
"So, your answer?"
As if to say, if she wanted, she could just blow that guy's head off without a second thought for the consequences.
For a moment, she gazed blankly at the brightly smiling boy.
Parsha finally un-clenched her steel gauntlet.
"I will refrain."
"Really?"
"Unlike a certain crazy young master, I possess something called reason."
"Hmm, is that so?"
For some reason, he made a blatantly disappointed face for a moment, as if it were a shame.
Then, Dion's lips curved into a meaningful smile, as if he'd suddenly had a brilliant idea.
"Then I can handle it, right?"
"…The way you always do?"
"Don't worry. No one's going to die right away."
As Parsha wore an openly skeptical expression, Dion leisurely stepped forward.
And Silan, who had been watching Dion with narrowed eyes, snorted lightly as if he finally understood.
"Hmph, I wondered who it was. So the shame of the Unlights was here too."
"I may be the shameful youngest son of House Unlight, but isn't it a bit much to call someone that on your first meeting?"
"That applies to people. Must I be polite to a maggot who's worse than a commoner?"
Silan sneered openly.
It might have been different if it were a child from another family.
But as the son of the lord of Soma Castle, a vassal to House Unlight, he knew just how despised Dion was.
Including the fact that, just as always, Dion would be flustered and walk on eggshells if he just made a threat like this.
That was why Silan couldn't help but be shaken by Dion's immediate reply.
"You should. Especially if you're in the middle of attempting a rebellion against House Unlight."
"What? What kind of nonsense is that!"
"It's not nonsense. Anyone can see you're committing an act of rebellion in real-time."
"Bullshit! Are you claiming it's rebellion to detain those who murdered an innocent citizen and tried to flee?"
His agitation was brief.
Silan soon regained his confidence and sneered at Dion.
With the thugs' bodies discovered in the dark elf settlement, the justification was on his side.
Besides, since the dark elves had renounced their citizenship to migrate, there was a limit to how much Dion could intervene, even if they were his personal maid's kin.
…Yes, that's how it should have been.
Until Dion opened his mouth with a bright smile.
"No, not that."
"…?"
"You don't know? Making a move on a woman of a noble family's direct bloodline—whether it's adultery or harassment—is considered an act of rebellion."
It was only natural.
The blood of nobles, which inherited Classes and Traits, was sacred.
Continuing the bloodline was the most fundamental duty of a noble and the reason why having multiple wives and concubines was taken for granted.
Thus, any act that sought to defile such blood was the greatest insult and threat to a noble.
The problem was why he was saying such a thing in this situation.
"What's that got to do with anything?"
"What do you mean? It means you're trying to make a move on my concubine right now."
Dion tore his gaze from Silan, who still didn't understand the situation, and looked to his side.
And, looking at the equally bewildered dark elf, he gave the most innocent smile.
"Right, Arsha?"
"…? …??? …?!?!?! "
A brief question.
A slightly longer suspicion.
And then, astonishment.
Watching the dark elf chieftain tremble in shock, her long ears twitching as she belatedly realized she had just become Dion's concubine, her daughter understood.
The reason for Dion's particularly mischievous smile when he'd brought up the topic of a 'new dad'…
…and that sometimes, to hell with reason, you just had to smash some heads first.
Name: Silan Alcan
Race: Lesser Demonkin
Title: None
Class:
[Black Mage]☆☆☆ Lv6
[Imp]☆☆ LV10
[Lecher]☆ LV10
[Gambler]☆ Lv9
[Butcher]☆ Lv5
Traits: [Advanced Curse Resistance (R)], [Intermediate Fire Resistance (Un)], [Chant Shortening (R)], [Vitality (N)]
[Black Mage]☆☆☆
1. Magic Power Correction ↑(Medium)
2. Evil Deed Correction ↑(Medium)
3. Holy Resistance ↓(Medium)
4. Good Deed Correction ↓(Medium)
5. Class Trait [Dark Magic - Sorcery]
—One can grow strong with ease by offering sacrifices, but in the end, even one's soul shall become an offering.