chapter 18
Sensing the danger, avoiding the perceived danger, finding and catching the weak, and feeling Edar’s dignity and making him retreat were all instructions from his intuition.
And this intuition sounded the alarm that the elf should not be touched.
“Elf is good. But it’s dangerous. Humans are inferior to elves, but they are weak.”
“No retaliation.”
“Man sells his kind. There is no revenge.”
Baguku showed his teeth and smiled.
Watching the laughter, Edar also copied the silly laugh.
“As expected.”
He took the half remaining tobacco from his mouth.
The tobacco smoke flowed out of his mouth as if he let out a sigh.
“I’ve done it by chance, but a monster is a monster no matter how many times you go through it.”
“monster?”
An insult I had never dared to hear from a human in my entire life.
When Baguku was taken aback by the level of insult, Edar raised his hand.
“Calliope.”
A human knight in full armor, standing behind him like a pedestal, responded.
“Tear and kill.”
###
Calliope leaped out like a thunderbolt.
I couldn’t see her move.
Blinking her eyes, she was holding Baguku by the neck.
Although she is a woman, she is tall with no difference in height between me and me.
It’s easy to grab the neck of an orc that’s one head taller than me.
ugggeuk
“Big, big… billion…!”
Baguku’s reaction was delayed.
Even a strong man on the same level as Gerhard is a kid compared to Calliope.
Right before his throat was grabbed, he instinctively took a step back.
But can you avoid the hand with just one step?
It wasn’t until after his throat was caught that he belatedly stretched out his arms and grabbed Calliope’s helmet and tried to crush it.
If I was an ordinary human, it would have worked out as I thought…
“It’s useless.”
Calliope gripped the creature’s neck with her right hand and moved her left hand.
With my left hand, I grabbed Baguku’s right arm by the shoulder blade and pulled it.
Chew-
“Keuk… Kkeuk!”
Baguku’s right arm was pulled out all at once from the shoulder.
The screams were blocked in my throat and couldn’t come out of my mouth.
Green blood soaked the floor and painted it gold.
I saw his eyes bulging with pain.
“It would be refreshing to feel like an underdog. Isn’t it?”
“…!”
I tried to say something, but no voice came out.
It wasn’t even worth listening to in the first place.
It’s just a pity to send it off so easily.
I lightly nodded my head sideways with a sneer and gestured.
“Stop it. finish it.”
Calliope grabbed Baguku by the side and pulled him out by the throat.
“Hee, hee hee!”
I looked down and saw a man screaming.
With his eyes sunken and one ear torn off, he covered his face with both hands and screamed thinly.
I was afraid to see the death of the monster who exploited me.
There was no sense of exhilaration or liberation at all, only the worry that I might kill him too.
‘This is the man of this world. A life that is born as a livestock, grows as a livestock, and dies as a livestock. A weak race that doesn’t run away even if they don’t have chains, and feel more anxiety than joy when their master dies.’
Even if you say you are free like this, you will not accept slaves.
The chains of slavery in his heart are bound together.
For those who do not know life other than slavery, liberation is a strange thing.
If you release them on the plain of freedom, they will become free sheep to be devoured by wolves.
‘What sheep need is not freedom, but a shepherd. The good shepherd who will lead and protect them. And that’s what I want to be. I don’t know if that’s possible.’
“If it is the master, it will surely be.”
Reading my thoughts, Calliope answered in a low voice.
I also read the frenzied joy in her thoughts.
“Yeah, I hope so.”
There was a buzz outside.
He must have felt the strange flow in the waiting room.
Whether it’s because of the screams or the smell of blood.
I commanded Calliope.
“Kill all the filthy people in this place. Dominating humans, eating humans, and violating humans. Kill all the absurd things that dare to stand above humans so that no one knows from outside.”
free you from slavery
“Do not come out.”
Calliope left the reception room and locked the door.
Soon all kinds of screams and screams leaked in from beyond the door.
I was left in the reception room with a member of my household and a slave.
The waiting room was full of gold, Baguku’s blood and rot.
I pulled out a chair and smoked it, but finished the tobacco in my mouth.
“What are you going to do now?”
The attendant who stood guarding the door asked.
She is a member of the family I created while heading to Lagoa.
————————————
Nun
Rachel
Lv. 37
Grade: C
————————————
The level was too low to directly deal with the monsters, so I kept them by my side.
I let out a silly laugh at the profession that reminded me of being an indulgences salesman.
“I have to wait for now.”
Until Calliope beats all the monsters in the mine.
It won’t take long, I added.
She was the one who caught Baguku with her bare hands.
A monster much weaker than that would be no different from a young ant.
As if to support my judgment, the commotion has already subsided.
“After that?”
I saw a man who was still trembling.
“Free the slaves, gather them, and return to Olymus.”
“I think there were quite a few of them.”
“hmm. Quite a lot.”
I nodded at the question of how to take them.
A black kite was sitting in a small wooden window on the wall.
“I’m ready, Mr. Edar.”
Griff’s voice came out of the kite’s mouth.
“Come up as soon as Calliope’s hunt is over.”
“Hunting, that word scares me.”
“Aren’t monsters people?”
“Oh…you are relentless.”
The kite trembled once and flew out.
Rachel watched it and tilted her head.
“Who are you?”
“Griff. He is your brother and a great wizard.”
“Did you deliberately not accompany me?”
“Because I didn’t have to accompany you.”
If he had accompanied them, there was a high possibility that he would have faced Baguku’s men.
Maybe it was only goblins, but Orcs and Minotaurs were dangerous.
It was a tribe that could be easily dealt with at least at the level of Griff.
‘There is no median level between the levels of the members I’ve made so far.’
Calliope Lv. 92,
Gerhard Lv. 73,
Grif Lv. 59.
The top three also had a difference of 10 or 20 levels.
Most of the people below him are in their 10s and 20s.
Confronting a different race at this level was too risky.
At least Rachel’s level, weapons, and gin had to be equipped.
Without these conditions, only human standards would be comparable to knights.
Compared to orcs, they were stronger monkeys than goblins.
‘I don’t have enough low-level members right now, but when I can afford it, I have to think about ways to raise my level or arm myself.’
There were many options.
Because the experiences of the previous rounds are clearly remembered.
It was an achievable goal if there was time and resources and no obstruction of the representative system.
‘Resources… can be covered by occupying this place.’
It’s like monopolizing Orocco gold coins.
‘The problem is the representative system. It’s a race against time.’
There is no way that the representative system will remain vigilant as it is now.
It was clear that a check would come in one way or another in the near future.
Because it’s always been like that in the rounds I’ve experienced so far.
“Griff must have brought several wagons. You just have to load the humans and treasure there and return to Olymus.”
“Is there any reason not to settle here, in Lagoa?”
I shook my head.
“I don’t have the capacity. Olymus is the only town that can accept such a number of settlers.”
“ah···.”
I said earlier that the number of slaves was quite large, but there were really many.
There were more than the migrants Kistler brought with him at the beginning of his tenure.
Gold did not fill the room for no reason.
Because he ate so many humans as slaves in the mines.
It was natural to get this much gold.
“And will it be the end of settling them down?”
Rachel saw a man crouching in the corner of the room.
Like a frightened puppy who had been assaulted by his owner all his life, he looked at us with his eyes wide open and trembling like an aspen tree.
“Most of the humans here are probably insane. Because to monsters, humans are inferior to livestock. It is very difficult to maintain reason under such treatment.”
Luckily, the man was lucky.
Even though the ears were bitten off, the limbs are still attached.
It is a monster that regards humans as walking fruit trees.
I was hungry, but when a human was next to me, I naturally stretched out my hand.
It tore human flesh as if it were plucking fruit.
If a part of the body is torn off and survives, it lives as a slave with a disability, and if it does not survive, it becomes instant food. The life of a human slave.
And women… never come out of the cave.
“They have no choice but to live as slaves listening to their masters until their minds are healed naturally.”
“You are hurt. Shouldn’t you let it rest?”
“Who will take care of them? We can’t afford that.”
I put my hand on Rachel’s shoulder and comforted her.
“do not worry. Time will heal them.”
Rachel closed her eyes for a moment and sighed.
“What will the monsters do?”
“You have to kill everyone.”
“Aren’t you using them as slaves?”
I shook my head.
“They are a tribe that only knows how to fight. I have no patience. If you go into that deep mine, they will fight among themselves and die.”
It would be difficult to escape and inform the situation of the garrison.
“The mine will be closed for a while.”
“Settle the slaves in Olymus, until your numbers are gathered to some extent. It’s dangerous to entrust mining to humans.”
Efficiency also goes down.
Gangs are the worst places for humans to operate.
Oxygen is scarce and the groundwater is full,
The accumulation of carbon dioxide and methane gas is also a risk,
It’s dark and you can’t see ahead, of course
There was even a risk that the cave would collapse and be buried alive.
In this environment, human work efficiency is very low.
‘A family member who shares thoughts and doesn’t feel extreme fatigue is suitable for this kind of environment.’
Of course, I couldn’t mobilize my immediate family.
Developing one Olymus is not enough.
‘But at this level, I won’t have to worry about finances for a while.’
I picked up the Orichalcum bracelet that had fallen in front of my feet.
It was the bracelet that Baguku handed over while talking about friendship.
– Orc Slayer, Gauramelgar III
The head image stamped on the bracelet was the great king of the old elven kingdom.
When the orcs began their great movement and came to the northwest where the elves were staying, the Gauramels defeated the orcs and drove them eastward.
And he built a wall to prevent the orcs from attacking the elves’ land.
Considering that the Great Wall still existed and the orcs had no choice but to live in the barren east without being able to surpass the elves, it was a crippled existence.
Giving handicrafts in honor of the enemy of the mortal enemy as a gift of friendship?
Is it friendship to wear this in front of an orc?
‘Okran is a funny monster.’
I put the bracelet on my wrist.
He was reluctant to pay for items belonging to different races, but the price could not be ignored.
The price of this bracelet was more than the annual income of a small estate.
The material was orichalcum, and it must have been made by a craftsman of a different race.
If you add the gold in the room, you won’t be in need of money for a while.
“It’s done.”
The parlor door opened and Calliope entered.
It was a calm tone, as if he had gone for a walk.
Who would believe she had slaughtered a monster just by hearing the way she spoke?
You will believe it only when you see the blood-soaked armor that has lost its original color.
“Good work.”
When I came out, the smell of blood was as strong as the reception room.
It was because so many monsters died in a small space.
It was difficult to walk without stepping on the corpses of monsters everywhere.
Even if you avoided the corpse, you couldn’t avoid getting your feet wet in a puddle of blood.
‘It turns out that humans aren’t the only ones with more numbers than I thought.’
Looking at the mountain of corpses, there were as many monsters as there were slaves.
I wondered if there were so many of them that some of them would have escaped.
“I never missed it.”
Calliope asserted and pointed to the entrance with her gaze.
The entrance was blocked by a broken wooden fence.
It was full of corpses of monsters who turned their backs to run away.
I took a deep breath of tobacco to cover up the intrusive smell.
As I let the scent of tobacco flow through my nose, the disgust went away a little.
“Gather all the living.”
When all the people in the garrison were gathered together, the number was three hundred.
The s*x ratio is two males to one female. Monsters prefer females, but since the place is a mine, there are more than twice as many males as mining slaves.
“…”
Needless to say, the face of a slave.
Wearing rags or not at all.
It was natural that the skin and bones were in contact with hunger.
If you’re lucky if you don’t have one ear, you’re usually missing a few knuckles, or if you’re unlucky, your eyes or one of your wrists are empty.
‘Still… there’s no one who can’t move.’
‘Because the unusable slaves would have been used as food.’
Rachel’s thoughts fluctuated.
‘What about food?’
‘This race calls humans monkeys. What could that mean?”
It was not simply meant to be insulting.
There was an inner meaning of seeing humans as livestock.
‘Look. To them, humans are just livestock and tools.’
I saw female slaves.
It is not enough to say that their faces are miserable.
I don’t have to pick up a pickaxe or pull a cart like a man.
To Monster, women were treated differently because they had completely different uses.
If he was missing one or two limbs, he was really lucky.
Because they only saw humans as a tool to increase the species.
All elements unnecessary for the function of reproduction were removed.
And the result was right in front of my eyes.
I inhaled the tobacco more deeply.
“Edar.”
Calliope stole the tobacco.
The tobacco burned to the root and reached my hand.
She took off her gauntlets and caressed the burn marks on her fingers.
“Calm your mind. Humans are afraid.”
I looked down at the slaves who were trembling like aspen trees.
They were on their stomachs, with their heads on the ground.
It’s a habit that has been ingrained in the body while living as a slave.
When my master is angry, I have to humble myself even if I am not guilty.
I felt my resentment subside and a bitter taste in my mouth.
‘It’s always been like this.’
It was a look I had already seen through many rounds.
If you ask me if I’m used to it, I’ll answer that I’m tired of it because I’m so used to it.
However, it was because it was different from that time that the emotions were boiling like this.
Is the difference between then and now virtual or real?
Now that it has become a reality, it evokes different emotions than then.
“Listen.”
Stepped on the corpse of the monster and climbed up.
“I am Eddar, Lord of Olymus.”
###
“I am the rightful owner of this land, and I am also your owner. Therefore, your master declares that you are now freed from slavery. You will live on my estate as free men, not slaves, and you may leave if you do not wish to do so.”
There was a man among the broken-hearted slaves.
Unlike the other slaves, he was sane.
His name was Dylan.
“freedom······.”