The Elves who had been moved from the mansion were held captive in a guardhouse close to the city gates. Now that they were classified as 'goods-in-transit' by the city, and ones purchased for such an amount of gold, great effort was expended in making certain no harm came to their pristine bodies. While Din would have liked to speak to them first, she was not allowed to wander unsupervised as an Elf, and so waited patiently for Barion as he first visited Shulm's Merchant Guild branch to present the voice-recording from the magical hairclip.
"Keep that for yourself." He said upon exiting, and tossed the clip towards her, "You never know when such a thing might come in handy."
"Are we going to see the Elves now?"
Barion nodded, "I've arranged for a friend of mine to leave a second wagon at the gates. We'll pick ours up from the warehouse and then take one each on the way out of the city. You do know how to lead a wagon, don't you?"
"Of course I do!"
"It'll be a tight squeeze for 30 people, but they won't be in there for long."
"I thought you were having someone else take them?"
"That was the plan, but ferrying slaves out of the city is just too risky, especially outside of the peninsula. We'll get into some pretty big trouble, too, if we're stopped on the way."
"...On the way?" Din tilted her head, "To where?"
"Aelf'ahlnohma, naturally." He cleared his throat, "Where else?"
The sound of those words being spoken aloud triggered a bout of genuine fear in Din, who almost instinctively leapt forward to try and cover Barion's mouth, "T-That's- where did you hear that name!?"
It was known to her more precisely than anyone else who stood in that plaza--that Aelf'ahlnohma was the name of the sacred Elven capital, called the 'Silver City' by some lore masters, which had for the entirety of its millennia-long existence remained hidden from the prying eyes of humans by a powerful magical enchantment which not only obscured the city itself from a distance, but which also transformed its surrounding forests into mazes of deadly traps and monsters, traversable only by the nimble-footed Elves.
"Ah, I went there a very long time ago on some important business." Barion answered.
"Don't mess with me! A human would never be allowed to-" Din shouted, before turning her head side-to-side and then standing on her toes to whisper in his ear, "-it's troublesome enough that you even know it exists. Just where did you hear about it?"
"It's a long story."
"That doesn't explain anything!"
"The point is, I know where it is, and there's no safer place for Elves to be." He continued, "Am I right?"
Din was incensed by his words. It was true that, due to its hidden nature, Aelf'ahlnohma would be the perfect place for a group of former slaves, but the fact that a human held knowledge of it staggered her pride as an Elf. Her people had sworn an oath never to divulge the city's name or location even when their lives were at stake, so to hear it so casually mentioned couldn't help but bring her frustration.
"...That's right." She answered, "If we go there… the Elves would be safe for the rest of their lives."
"Let's get to it, then."
"Now hang on a minute! It's dangerous for even a lone Elf to cross the Aelven Weald, never mind two wagons! We would never make it through!"
"Don't worry, I have a solution for that." He replied confidently, "Just trust me."
"This guy…!"
Din was forced to accept his vague answers, for Barion had presented the perfect solution to their problem, even if she preferred that it remained a secret. As the two of them made their way back to the city gates, she looked up to the starry-night sky, and almost instinctively, a yawn made its way out of her mouth.
"Tired?" Barion asked.
"We have been up all night, after all." She replied, rubbing her eyes, "But, what we're doing is too important to think about resting now."
"The wagons are good enough for that. Just pray a dragon doesn't attack while we're sleeping."
"Why would there be a dragon in Branda? We're more likely to be targeted by a venomous roper, or a group of goblins."
While they occupied themselves with conversation, the two of them reacquired their wagon from the warehouse, and Barion made sure to collect his payment for the mandrake oil which had been served at the governor's party. When they proceeded towards the city gates, they first located the second wagon, which was ever-so-slightly smaller than Barion's, and then moved to the guardhouse, where a knight ushered the two of them inside.
There, the Elves, who were as scantily-clad as when they had left the mansion, were kept in holding cells. It took a great amount of time before all of them could be led outside and loaded onto the wagons, and even then there was barely enough space for the two groups to stand up comfortably. Din felt terrible for having to treat them like that, but knew that it was necessary if they were ever going to be safe.
"All 30 have been accounted for, sir." One of the guardsmen said, "Thank you for visiting Shulm. The governor wanted us to pass along that you'll be welcomed with open arms should you ever visit us again."
"Give my thanks to the governor." Barion replied, "We're off, then."
Once he and Din had each taken the reins of their wagons, the two of them quickly departed from the city, passing through the moon-kissed shadows of mills and fields of swaying grain.
It had been Barion's desire to make a quick profit with some luxuries he had picked up from the Henklomeon Steppe, but instead of an empty wagon, he instead left the city with two, filled to bursting with slaves. When the highway widened enough that both he and Din could lead side-by-side, the girl had a pleased expression on her face.
"It feels good to be free of Shulm." She said happily, "I don't think I could have lasted another second in that bed of sin."
"Evils of all sorts pervade wherever people gather." Barion answered, "You'll have to get used to that if you're going to be my partner."
"You're acting awfully certain that I've got any inclination of following you after we reach Aelf'ahlnohma."
"Perhaps." He smiled, "If you plan on staying, then I won't stop you."
"What do you need me for? I'm no trader, and you must be doing pretty well for yourself if you can just hand off an item worth 1,000,000 gold so casually."
"I don't have a reason." He replied honestly, "But it would be a good opportunity to see the rest of the world. I won't ask you to leave your people behind when they're suffering so much, though."
"Hm." Din went quiet for a moment, "I'll think about it."
"In any case, we'd best find a place to rest for tonight. I wouldn't want to pass through the Weald in complete darkness.."
"Nor would I." She agreed, "But we should head into the forest anyway. We'd be more concealed there, and I know of many hidden spots where we wouldn't be discovered."
"Lead the way, then." Barion replied, letting out a yawn of his own.
Apart from its highways, most of Branda was covered by thick forests--an apt place for the Elven homeland. A plethora of dangerous creatures made their homes and dens within the woods, and so only the most courageous of adventurers and travellers dared to set foot in them.
Din was quick to lead the two of them down a narrow pathway that passed through the entrance of one such thicket, and barely a moment had passed before Barion was as lost as the day he had met her, but Din seemed right at home among the maze-like undergrowth, leading them ever deeper into the forest until they arrived at a clearing where the night sky could be seen through a break in the canopy.
"This will do nicely." She mused, nodding to herself, "It's far enough from the highway that smoke from a campfire won't be seen by anyone."
"What about food? We haven't packed nearly enough to feed every Elf."
"Gullible human." She teased playfully, "For an Elf, the forest is like a living pantry. I'll have scavenged and hunted enough within the hour to feed a castle!"
"If you say so." He said, dismounting from his wagon, "We'd best let the Elves know what's actually going on."
Slowly but surely, the two of them were able to usher the Elves out into the clearing, and though all 30 of them felt much more at home there than they did in the city, there were still a great many fearful faces among them.
"Alright, uh… how do I put this?" Barion said, scratching the back of his neck, "All of you are free. We're planning to return you to Aelf'ahlnohma, but if any of you feel like you could make it on your own, I won't stop you."
One of the Elves, who was slightly taller than the rest, stepped forward all of a sudden. It was the same Elf that had locked eyes with Barion at the auction. Her eyes at first seemed suspicious, but upon closer inspection, they seemed to radiate a careful hope.
"Um…" She stammered, overwhelmed by her newfound right to speak freely, "I'm sorry, but you… you wouldn't happen to be…"
Her words trailed off as she lost confidence in her proclamation, but Barion simply smiled and shook his head, "Sorry, but you seem to have mistaken me for someone else. My name is Barion."
"Ah… of course…" She replied understandably, "My apologies, Lord Barion."
"There's no need to call me that. I'm just a trader from the Merchant's Guild." He humbled himself like that, "My friend here, Din--she'll provide some food for us tonight. I expect us to reach Aelf'ahlnohma sometime tomorrow."
One of the other Elves suddenly spoke up, "Lord Barion, why did you rescue us?"
"...Well, because it was the right thing to do?" He replied awkwardly, not sure what else to say, "We managed to gather some evidence on Governor Gleen's doings, so the Guild will be launching an investigation into the city's slavery problem soon."
"But still, Lord Barion…" The Elf muttered, "Did you really spend 1,000,000 gold just to give us our freedom?"
"Something like that. Don't worry about it, though."
The Elves seemed relieved to hear that their freedom had been bought, and some of them began eagerly discussing with one-another. A few of them fell into the arms of others, crying with tears of happiness, whereas some shouted wildly with glee.
"Lord Barion!" One such Elf yelled, "Please, allow me to assist your partner in hunting! Long have I awaited the day where I might leap through the forests again!"
"If it pleases you. Just be careful about it." He laughed.
One after another, the Elves began requesting duties from Barion, eager to experience their newfound freedom. Some claimed to know the location of hidden stashes nearby, whereas others went about collecting wood and the fibres of plants to create rudimentary bows.
After two hours had passed, one would not be corrected for assuming that a full-on camp had formed within that clearing. The survival skills of those Elves were second to none, and were neither dampened whatsoever by their time as slaves.
Din stayed true to her word, and with the help of some other Elves had secured enough meat and wild vegetables to fill the stomachs of every person in that rudimentary camp. A fire pit was cobbled, and then a second, before long filling the clearing with delicious smells as the Elves ate their fill for the first time in months.
"I wasn't expecting things to turn out this way." As day turned to night, Din went to sit by Barion, "Normally, I'd be on edge this close to the Aelven Weald, but it seems everyone's enjoying themselves."
"I'd be celebrating too, if I was a slave just hours ago." He warmed himself by a fire, "This is proof that they never lost hope. In a few days, they'll be living their lives as if nothing ever happened. Being able to step beyond despair in that way is quite the feat."
"Are you speaking from experience?"
"I've certainly seen some interesting things in my time, but I wouldn't say I've ever despaired over something."
"You sound like an old man. I'm probably older than you."
"Elves live for a long time, don't they? Compared to humans, anyway."
"We also don't need as much sleep, and have a higher affinity for magic. We're nimbler, more beautiful, more perceptive-"
"I get the idea."
"I'm exaggerating. Humans are also better at plenty of things, too." She rubbed her nose, "I'm going to find somewhere comfortable to sleep."
"You can use one of the wagons along with the others. I'll be sleeping outside, personally."
"What if you get attacked by a slime?"
"Wouldn't that be embarrassing." He replied, standing up, "But no, I think I'll be fine."
"If you say so." Din shrugged her shoulders, "I'll see you in the morning, then."
It wasn't long after they parted when the rest of the Elves also began discussing rest. The wagons weren't terribly comfortable due to their size, but sleeping somewhere covered and warm was much better than trying to catch some shut-eye on the grass, especially considering how they weren't especially dressed for outdoor activities.
Barion decided to settle near the back of one of the wagons, propping his back against the step used to hoist up from the ground. He was quite fond of sleep himself, and rather difficult to wake, so being a little uncomfortable didn't bother him in the slightest. As he looked up to the stars which were now peeking out through the thin cloud-cover, the wind which blew through that clearing eased up ever-so-slightly, and he was able to drift off.
"...ion…" After an uncertain amount of time, there was a voice that seemed to resound in his head, "Lo… ion…"