Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Rhode pushed the door open and entered the room while Nell turned around to avoid the glaring light. Rhode stared blankly at her.
She was a young Elf lady with white, dewy skin and looked about 18 years old in human years. Not only that, but she was also slender and appeared beautiful and alluring. This was the biggest difference between the Dark Elves and Elves. If the Elves were the spokesperson for purity, the Dark Elves would obviously represent sex appeal. But, before that…
“Dark Elf?”
Rhode knitted his brows and turned to Canary and Mini Bubble Gum. Mini Bubble Gum proudly stuck her chest that was only slightly bigger than a flat chest.
“Interesting, isn’t it? Leader? This is the first time that I saw such a ‘black skin’. If it isn’t for this reason, why would we even capture her? You think it’s amusing too, right?”
Yea.
Rhode nodded in agreement. This was a completely typical thinking of a player, where they discovered rare and precious elites among the monsters and captured them as pets to show off in the forums or think of ways to unleash their potentials. Apart from that, there were also various unique missions attached to them, just like how Rhode triggered the Behermes family mission after meeting Lapis and attained an Alchemist Master from it. Even though this young lady looked like a pure Elf from every angle, he saw the essence of the Dark Elf through her snowy hair and eye color. If he were to spot her in a group of Dark Elves, he would definitely capture her too.
What left him dubious was that the females usually held high statuses among the Dark Elves and were mostly spell casters. But, he couldn’t find any ‘blood circuit’ that were unique on Dark Elf Mages on her. Besides, judging from her firm muscles and hands full of callus, she was apparently a warrior. But, this was strange because he had never heard of a female Dark Elf as a warrior… Hmm? Hold up…
Rhode twitched his brows. He seemed to have found an answer in one of the corners in his brain. He pondered deeply and after a few moments, his eyes glinted.
Suddenly, he recalled that there was indeed a strange rumor spreading in the dark underground in the late game, which happened when he led his team into hell to ‘farm for new armor and weapons’. Along their way, they passed by the Dark Elves’ city and one of his men received a wanted criminal order for a female Dark Elf who killed numerous matriarchs. If he recalled correctly, the reward and equipment for it were extraordinary. However, he had always seen the Dark Elves as cunning and difficult to deal with. If he were to enter the underground alone, perhaps he would have accepted the mission since it was conveniently along his way. But, he had more than a hundred members with him at that time, so it wasn’t logical for them to roam the underground world blindly for this mission. Moreover, the Dark Elves were known for their cunningness and perhaps the Dark Elves might even find trouble with him after he completed the mission. Therefore, he didn’t accept the mission and led his men away instantly.
This wanted criminal order became a pastime for his members in the boring underground world. After all, according to the wanted criminal order, the number of matriarchs who died in the criminal’s hands had reached double digits, which was something that none of the players had accomplished. After all, the scheming Dark Elves often sent out others and refused to battle personally. Not only that, but the matriarchs were also in the Legendary Stage and were incomparably evil, where almost none of the players could take advantage of them. Even though a player’s strength was powerful enough to destroy a Dark Elf family back then, it was a totally different matter in terms of crafty plots and machinations.
Under such a circumstance, this topic about a female Dark Elf slaughtering that many matriarchs and remained uncaught was a popular one among the players. The more experienced players sharply realized that this was definitely an enormous and ambiguous branch of the underground world story line. They were confident that if they found the wanted Dark Elf, they would trigger a whole new, massive story.
As for why the wanted criminal killed that many of her companions, the players had different views. Some thought that she did it for love while some believed that it was due to the hatred between families. After all, betrayal and revenge happened all the time in the Dark Elves’ society and players also represented families in eliminating other families too. But, it was a first for them to hear about a female Dark Elf roaming every Dark Elf cities and recklessly massacring in the underground world.
That was all the information he had about ‘a female killer of many Dark Elf matriarchs’, where perhaps the entire information would only make up to three pages. He gazed at the ‘Dark Elf’ before him and wasn’t sure if she was the wanted criminal. However, he thought that it was worth a try. After all, he had never seen a female Dark Elf who was a warrior.
Besides, her skin color was a sufficient reason for her to ‘racially discriminated’ in the world of Dark Elves.
Nell kept her head turned stubbornly and her expression was full of disdain. This was an orthodox view which the Dark Elves had on humans and other races; trash and unworthy slaves. There would only be one consequence for the Dark Elves who lowered their heads to humans—death.
But, this wasn’t important. Rhode smiled inwardly.
If he recalled correctly, the name on the wanted criminal order was…
“Nell Bailey. The second daughter of the Bailey Family in Carlesodar City. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Rhode said.
Nell didn’t understand what he was talking about in his lowly human language.
She turned around and the dazzling radiance hurt her eyes. Then, she sensed the young man’s curious gazes and he turned around to speak to the other human young ladies. Nell didn’t care about her fate since she would be dead sooner or later.
Then, she heard the young man’s voice once again.
“Nell Bailey. The second daughter of the Bailey Family in Carlesodar City. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Nell lifted her head in shock. This was the first time that she had forgotten her pride as a Dark Elf and gazed at the black-haired young man before her. The latter looked at her expressionlessly as though it wasn’t him who said that. However, Nell was sure that she didn’t misheard the pure Dark Elves’ pronunciations. There was an instant when she thought that this human was actually disguised by a Dark Elf. But, shortly after, she realized that this thought was too ridiculous.
But, how did he know my name?
Nell knew that she was well known person in Carlesodar City, where almost every Dark Elves knew who she was. But, a human?
“Who are you? Human?”
Nell knitted her brows and scrutinized the young man.
Right on target.
Although Nell didn’t respond to his greetings, her expression had betrayed her train of thoughts. Rhode inwardly nodded in satisfaction.
It seems like I’ve caught a big fish.
“It isn’t important who I am, second daughter of Bailey Family.”
Rhode gestured for the others to not act rashly and said. Apart from his looks, everything else about him at that moment was as though a true Dark Elf. In fact, as the most popular and powerful player of the game, Rhode had learned every single languages and their texts — This was another reason why he had been termed as the ‘walking library’.
“What’s more important is that you’re my prisoner here and perhaps you’re about to become my spoils of war.”
Rhode gestured with a sign that the Dark Elves used to flaunt.
“Or an ice-cold corpse. Everything will be decided upon your attitude and choice.”
“My attitude?”
Nell felt ridiculous. Although she didn’t interact much with males in the dark underground world, the pride flowing in her blood restrained her from being friendly toward any humans—especially males.
“It seems like you understand a lot about us, Dark Elves. Since that’s the case, you should also be aware that females won’t bow down to males. It is especially so for a lowly race like yours. You don’t have the rights to make a deal with me, you rotten maggot. If you’d like to, you can torture or kill me, but I will never yield.”
“Good.”
Rhode shrugged and didn’t seem to be angered at all. However, this didn’t mean that he was liberal. Instead, he clearly knew that this was the Dark Elves’ attitude. The way Nell spoke and behaved proved that she was an authentic Dark Elf under her white skin. She might be a little different, but…
“Since that’s the case, I shall grant your wish, second daughter of Bailey Family.”
“Mr. Rhode, what are you two talking about?”
Lize asked curiously. Previously, they spoke to Nell to learn more about her motives, but she totally disregarded them. But now, Rhode used an unknown language and their conversation went smoothly, which magnified their faith in him much more.
“I’m communicating with this visitor to see if I can gain more information about the Undead Army. But, it seems that she isn’t too willing to cooperate…”
Rhode said with his usual expression, but no one knew if he was joking or not.
“But, I have my ways to deal with such situations. All of you can head back and rest now, but do stay alert for the night patrols. I’ll be here to see if I can enlighten and lower the guard of our friend here.”
“… Okay.”
Lize hesitated for a moment and eventually nodded. In the past, she witnessed her mercenary companions interrogated the bandits and didn’t like it. However, she knew that she couldn’t change anything. Even though Rhode didn’t say it clearly, she imagined what he would do. She lacked the courage to watch, which was why she nodded in agreement and left. At this moment, Marlene stepped forward and said softly in Rhode’s ear.
“I’ll inform you if anything requires you.”
“Okay.”
Marlene smiled and left the cell while Canary and Mini Bubble Gum followed. Canary knew clearly what Rhode was up to and Mini Bubble Gum merely felt bored because she couldn’t understand the language that they used.
Shortly after, only Rhode and Nell were left in the entire cell. The latter looked at him in disdain while he remained expressionless. But, shortly after, the corners of his lips curled up into a smile.
Nell had to admit that this young man was rather good-looking. Besides, his smile was beautiful—but she quickly sensed an ice-cold chill running down her spine as though something bad was about to happen.
“I’m not surprised by your stubbornness, Miss Nell.”
Rhode lowered his gaze at her and his smile became ever so elegant.
“We have a lot of time to discuss the problems—firstly, it is about the difference between our statuses…”
Under the flames, the obvious shadow behind the black-haired young man distorted abruptly. Then, pitch-black tentacles emerged from within.
“This is your first lesson.”
