Dark Fantasy Normalized

67 – Dark Elf Slave

[Title: Suddenly a Reality Check Hitting Me, For Real]

Content: How come most of the bosses in this game

are ‘pathetic victims who lived ordinary lives, got screwed over, and ruined their lives’?

Can’t we just have ‘b*stards who deserve to die’, ‘scumbags’, ‘jerks who deserve a beating’ only? Just simple like that?

Or at least, let us save them, for god’s sake.

-: Yeah, showing the backstory is actually more cruel.

-: Backstory? Oh…

-[Writer] : if they were like that, we can kill them without any second thoughts, you go be a boss

– : Yeah, What’s the point of clearing destiny quests when it’s already happened

– : But how to get a happy ending in this game? Destiny quest all clear?

– : Clearing destiny quests will lock you into a route, you cant even get full clear

– : So what if we were hypothetically talking about a scenario?

– : if we were talking hypothetically, like making a dlc set in the past

Okay, here’s the translation, preserving the tone and formatting:

Maybe we could just lump all the destiny quests into one route and clear it?

-: Nah, not clear, it’s more like stopping the destiny quest from even *becoming* a thing.

-[OP]: Ah, like grabbing the reins of Death Knights and True Ancestors before they go dark?

– : Yeah

-: Not a bad idea?

-: But if we pack all those destiny quests into one route, holy shit lol

-: aaargh fuck lol

-: Destiny quests gonna pop up like event quests, for real

-: So, this is it, right?

To get the happy ending in this game

Convince the dark elf, leash the True Ancestor, convince the prissy elf and send her back to the World Tree, persuade the anti-life spirit, and…

-defeat the necromancer, then cure the assassin master’s illness and send him back to the guild, and stop the dark elf high noble from turning dark in north Bondales, the World Tree…

-: You breathing on the keyboard or what, why am *I* running out of breath?

-: Why does my breath smell like a mountain of rice…

-[OP]: Even if they make an actual true route for the happy ending in this game, the difficulty’s gonna be so insane no one could clear it, fr.

──────────

A basement in a Bondales manor.

There, a black girl and a white woman faced each other in different postures.

A dark elf and a human.

And at the same time, a master and a slave.

“Master… I have something to tell you…”

The slave’s voice was trembling.

Like the naked body.

Kneeling on the floor, prostrate, back spread like a canvas.

Red scars were etched onto that back.

The slave’s brand.

As long as those scars exist, the slave could not defy the master.

*Swoosh!*

Cold water was poured over that pathetic body.

The body pressed against the basement’s stone floor nearly jumped up, but the slave barely managed to suppress it.

If you let your posture slip now, you’ll receive a punishment that makes being naked and doused with cold water in the freezing basement look like a vacation.

The only actions a slave could control were allowing their body and breath to tremble uncontrollably.

Restraining those two things would only irritate the master further.

“Cold?”

Predictably. The master spoke with a pleased tone. The slave’s pathetic state was quite satisfying.

“Y-yes, c-cold…”

“Oh? Then what should I do for you?”

The master raised a silver cup.

Soon, the empty cup was filled with water, and the water began to steam.

Bubbling. It was boiling.

The slave, watching with a sidelong glance, swallowed hard with fear and said,

“P-p-please allow me to finish my story… it’s a story that might… interest you…”

“Hmm… Is that so? Go on, then.”

The master swirled the silver cup like a wineglass and listened intently.

“M-my, my, meeting with, th-that person, it… it went ahead…”

“You mean the man, Lishir?”

“Y-yes…”

“Are you sure? That with his help we can get that ‘cursed, disgusting slave’ back?”

“…”

The cursed, disgusting slave.

That’s what they called the dark elf slave.

The slave whimpered, answering,

“N-not sure, but… according to the rumors, it’s highly likely we can get help…”

“What kind of help?”

“…Huh?”

“Say it with your own mouth. What kind of help can we get?”

“…”

The slave’s mouth didn’t open readily.

*Ssssshhh*

The master scattered the hot water from the silver cup. Not on the slave, but right next to them.

Just a splash of water, and the slave gritted her teeth against the pain.

She knew.

This wasn’t mercy, it was a final warning.

If she displeased her master even once more?

Then, he would drench her with scalding water without hesitation.

In the end, the slave had no choice but to do as her master wished.

“I… perhaps we can get help… retrieving those cursed, disgusting slaves…”

The master wore a peculiar smile as the slave, eyes squeezed shut in terror, spat out the words as if biting them back.

It was an expression where amusement and scorn, and rage all existed together.

“If even a scratch appears on my ‘goods,’ you will pay the price for it all. You understand?”

If the slave’s arm broke, her arm would break too. If the slave’s toe rotted, her toe would be the same.

And if the slave died—

“Y-yes… I understand…”

The slave answered, barely able to speak through her terror.

“Kairen?”

*Screech.*

Then, the basement door opens.

A figure slowly approaches, with quiet footsteps that would be missed if not paying attention.

The owner of the steps was a young dark elf with an eyepatch.

The dark elf handed clothes to the master and turned away.

*Swish.*

The master undressed without hesitation right there.

Her flawless, smooth, dark skin was revealed.

Then, she put on new clothes for going out.

They were ragged, smelly rags that hardly deserved to be called clothes.

“Now, you need to get dressed too.”

The master tossed the clothing haphazardly at the naked slave.

The slave quickly broke from her kneeling position and put on the clothes.

Then she adorned herself with splendid jewels all over her body.

Thus, the dark elf who claimed to be the master dressed in rags.

A human woman, treated like a slave, was adorned in lavish finery.

It was a bizarre structure arising from their peculiar relationship.

“Ready, Leysha?”

The dark elf asked the human.

***

Leysha was originally a merchant based in Bondales.

Her main trade was slaves.

Not long ago. Fortune had smiled upon Leysha.

She had luckily acquired a dark elf slave.

Dark elves were objects of fear and contempt, but things changed when they became slaves.

There was a superstition that dark elf slaves took their master’s misfortune.

Plus, their appearance was similar to elves, who were a high race.

Their hideous skin color wasn’t a problem.

In the underbelly, various drugs existed for those who indulged in expendable pleasures, and among them was a drug that temporarily turned a dark elf’s skin color to look like an elf.

If you bought and sold elf slaves, trackers would immediately come from the Great Forest.

But what about dark elves?

Dark elf slaves were excellent substitutes for some depraved individuals to release the envy and twisted desires they held for elves.

In other words, they were a tremendous rare and luxury item.

Leysha had left the dark elf in a back alley warehouse.

To be put up for auction at an upcoming black market slave auction.

Even until she had successfully finished preparing for the slave auction, Leysha had clearly thought of it as good fortune.

That was, until another elf had come to find her.

-You. I hear you have a dark elf slave?

-Hehe, why, are you interested? Wait. The auction will start soon.

-That story. Shall we hear it in detail?

-… D, dark elf…!

They had made Leysha a slave.

At the same time, they acted as if they were slaves to the outside world, manipulating Leysha from her side.

All of it was to find their lost sibling in the city of humans who despised dark elves.

***

Dark elf Katria didn’t know.

How her younger sibling, who had vanished suddenly one day, had reached this far-off human city.

And, who was the informant that provided information about her sibling.

At first, the curiosity was so intense she couldn’t bear it.

But now, it didn’t matter anymore.

Truth be told, Katria had been quite excited about this journey.

It was her first trip.

Leaving her homeland, the land of the dark elves, and experiencing the outside world for the first time.

What kind of newness awaited her?

What was her sibling doing?

It didn’t take long for that excitement to be tainted by worry, and then, disgust.

-A dark elf, wearing such expensive-looking clothes? Heh heh, where did she pick that up, huh?

-D-Dark elf!? Get out!!! Get out of my shop right now!!! You’ll bring a curse!!!

The novelty she encountered in the outside world was discrimination and hatred born of prejudice.

She realized belatedly.

Why the elders had expressed so much concern when she said she was going to the human lands.

Why they had assigned the clan’s best knight as her escort.

The naive young lady slowly became consumed by disgust as the journey progressed.

And at the end of that journey, she obtained a single piece of information.

A dark elf “thing” had been traded on the black market by a slave trader named Leisha.

And so, Katria resolved.

She would definitely rescue her sibling from this horrible human land.

And on the day when everything ends.

She would return the hatred that she and her sibling had received to them.

“Lead the way.”

Two dark elf slaves followed the merchant.

They were heading to a place where a meeting with a mage from the magic tower was scheduled.

***

The merchant leaders had rented out the entire tavern near the magic tower for this meeting.

The moment Katria’s group stepped into the tavern, it was like that.

“That is…?”

“Dark elf—”

Perhaps it was because the mage from the magic tower hadn’t arrived yet?

The scattered gazes of the crowd immediately snapped to Katria and her companions.

The merchants showed varying reactions.

Interest.

Disdain.

Unease.

Someone questioned Leisha.

“Leisha, what are you thinking, bringing a dark elf to a place like this?”

“…”

Katria, overhearing, gritted her teeth.

‘Treating a person like they’re filth…’

How could humans be such a despicable race?

Each encounter with them only bred more unpleasant experiences, wounds, and hatred.

“There’s a reason for it. I ask for your understanding.”

Leisha forced a bitter smile, glancing at Katria.

The guild leaders still couldn’t hide their displeasure.

Perhaps it was a small mercy that—

“Ah.”

“Is that him?”

“That must be the tower lord’s proxy, and then next to him—”

Just then, the mages from the magic tower arrived, and their attention shifted.

“Let’s proceed with the discussions in order.”

Everyone was busy.

The tower lord’s proxy and the honorary mage named Rishir immediately went into a private room.

The merchants entered the private room in turn, and shortly after, they left with satisfied expressions.

Finally, it was Katria’s group’s turn.

“Please, have a seat.”

The honored mage Lisir gestured to them.

Reisha sat in the designated spot, two dark elves flanking her.

“…”

In an instant, the honored mage Lisir’s expression twisted.

His eyes quickly scanned the two dark elves.

‘Why. Just being in the same place as dark elves makes you feel bad?’

Katria scoffed inwardly.

She’d held a sliver of expectation for a mage with such a fine reputation, but just as she’d thought.

He was just another ‘one’ of a human being after all.

Katria glanced at Reisha.

Then, she started speaking with a practiced expression and prepared lines.

“First, I apologize for being seated with filthy dark elves. There is a reason for it, so please, bear with us-“

Even with Reisha’s low posture, the honored mage Lisir’s face didn’t soften.

“Filthy dark elves…”

He repeated the words with a grave expression, then examined the two dark elves once more.

A moment of tension passed-

“…Let’s get to the point quickly.”

The honored mage Lisir spoke as if to shake it off.

As if he wanted to finish this meeting as soon as possible.

With each passing word, Katria’s aversion to Lisir only grew.

Because she thought the displeasure he was displaying was directed at her.

“…-But then, contact with them suddenly broke off. They’ve vanished with my slave. I want that slave back. Please, will you help me?”

“…Is this an important slave?”

Lisir asked with a meaningful look.

How should she interpret that?

If she interpreted it as him saying why bother with just one dark elf, that would be a suitable interpretation.

Reisha explained, from a merchant’s point of view, to persuade him who held such typical prejudices.

What value a hideous dark elf had as a slave.

Quite frankly, even.

It wasn’t a suitable story to tell in front of the dark elves who held her lifeline, but there was no choice.

If, by some chance, I screwed things up here, I had no idea what awaited me after.

“Understood. I think you can stop there.”

Just as Reisha was explaining the typical uses for dark elves,

Lishir cut her off, his discomfort blatant.

Then, after a brief exchange with the acting tower master, he spoke to Reisha.

“I will assist you in retrieving your slaves. However, may I propose a condition?”

“Ah, if it’s about sponsorship, please don’t worry-“

“That is not it.”

“Pardon?”

“If it’s possible-“

Honorary mage Lishir’s gaze shifted to Katria.

“I would like to purchase your dark elf slaves…including the two of you here.”

“…!”

Katria instinctively covered herself with her arms.

‘This scum…!’

Just moments ago, he’d looked at them like filth.

But the instant he learned the typical uses for dark elf slaves, he had the gall to say he wanted to buy them.

Katria felt a wave of nausea at his blatant and repulsive intentions.

This human, Lishir, was surely the most disgusting human she had ever met.

***

I looked at the two dark elves standing before me and thought.

‘What would Master have done in this situation…?’

First, I decided to save them.

Thinking of my master, I just couldn’t leave them be.

***

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■Katria

Level : 41

Race : Dark Elf

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■Kairen

Level: 61

Race: Dark Elf

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