Sneaking on the Jeremy barony has been the easy part. We only need to rely on Zeraya from the inside to find us a stealthy and safe passage to infiltrate the barony. I cannot risk the baron knowing the suspicious presence of so many elves coming to his territory.
And I am right to be cautious.
From the little bits of exchange in dialogues and my observation of the baron, I can only say that he is too talented for this backwater territory. I wipe the blood from my sword using the curtains. My first engagement on a skirmish like this is not anything glorious.
I bitterly smile as I recall slaughtering the servants. They are civilians, yet I did something like that to them. No time for regrets now though as clearly we are of different races. Maybe if I were a human noble, I would have let them live.
"Search the manor," I command the few elves that enter the manor.
There might be few survivors left. The sound of screaming echoes in the manor once more. The servants and soldiers who are hiding, and too fearful cannot escape the elves' masterful tracking abilities. Another round of slaughter begins.
I join them on the search contributing the little effort I can give. I didn't see anyone on my path, which funnily gives me a sense of vague relief. I lambast myself for how the little parts of me are still human. I have to see this through.
Coming to a secluded area, I see feathers. I follow the trails and see cages of what I assume are for birds. There are cages for messenger pigeons. I can tell because of the slight smell of ink. I am so familiar with this smell with 'office' work that it is not so hard to pinpoint this inky smell.
I use my raw elf senses to sleuth around. I find some paper and fresh ground ink. I imagine the baron sending a messenger pigeon. But to who? Clearly, there will be only one person he will be sending a message to in an impending crisis like this— the Beyronald King.
From how the baron addresses the King, he seems to have clout with the royalty faction. It looks like there is no time to laze around as the King might be already marching here with his soldiers.
It is not the worst-case scenario yet.
The baron doesn't know that it is us, the elves, who are the attackers. He only learns of this after I reveal my identity to him. We can still continue with our plan to pin this raid to Urden's name.
I feel my ears tingle. I catch slight sounds that ought to strike me as odd. I trust my senses as ominous premonition comes to my mind. I swerve to the left as a crude iron sword sweeps by my side. I see a resolute foot soldier wielding his iron eager to inflict me with death. I calmly bring my sword to defend myself.
The foot soldier strikes me as desperate, yet there is this burning hatred in his eyes that is fueling his every swing. I tilt my sword easily blocking his sword strike. I move my sword to parry his stabs.
As his sword strikes me from my right shoulder, I receive it with the blunt side of my sword. I loosen the strength on my wrist, duck down, and fluidly let the foot soldier's sword slide just above me.
The foot soldier messes up his stance. I immediately capitalize on this opportunity by bringing my sword down to his skull. The results were ugly. Blood dyes my sword once more, and the split cranium has blood and pink matter spilling from it.
"Sigh," My training with Zeraya is working. "I still have a long way to go." But I still have more training to do in the future not just for my body, but also for my mind.
"Your majesty," Zeraya sees the mess I created. She ignores it and proceeds on reporting to me. "We didn't find the baron's wife and children. Should we send our best trackers to get them?"
They must have escaped through the manor's underpass. It was an excellent escape route. The Zaun barony must also have one. Not to mention the Urden county.
I wipe my sword with the linen cloth of the dead foot soldier. It is not like the blood disgusts me. I just like to be clean and remain hygienic.
"It is fine. The wife and children shouldn't be aware of our existence as elves. Let them go. I would rather have the elves get rest so that we can continue to do this tomorrow. We will have to finish the Zaun barony fast."
The small picture is now done.
Now, it is time I do a side-quest and creates a totally another picture. Though I still have a big picture to complete, it wouldn't hurt for me to prepare in advance for another scheme. One that would lie in dormancy in the human realm for a long time.
"Zeraya, please kindly send Wisley, Lafira, and the human infants in the forge…"
Zeraya doesn't know what this order is about. It tempts her to ask me. I can see it in her eyes, but I am not obligated to answer her. Things are just going to become more disgusting from this point onward.
Surrounding the forge is a dreaded silence. I had the elves outside not disrupt us, and for us to conduct our business peacefully. Wisley looks pale, and Lafira seems to be doing just fine. I see the babies in their individual baskets. I count shy a dozen of them. To be precise, there are eleven human babies idly cooing in their baskets.
They are innocent little things totally unrelated to the elf race's war.
Wisley is fidgety, and from his uncomfortable expression, I can see why. I had him come to the forge with the human infants. Lafira's ferocious appearance with blood drenching her clothes is not really helping either.
"Your majesty, what is it that you ask of me?"
I smile at him.
"You are a merchant, and you conduct deals. That is what we are going to do…"
Interrupting me from my sales pitch is Lafira's grumbling.
"Then you wouldn't need me here, your majesty. I believe I would be able to contribute more if I were outside. There must still be more humans out there."
I shake my head at her weak assertion.
"You are necessary here. So stay."
My unyielding voice must be able to get to her as she tenses up, and just meekly nod to my words. Lafira calmly breathes in and out to stabilize her bloodthirst. For her to be able to rise up from her trauma and become a warrior like this, my impression of Lafira is that she is a very special elf.
And the very thing that makes her special is the one thing that necessitates her presence here.
I kill my smile and project this pronounced apathy onto both of them.
I come to the forge and light the flames. The little coals inside start burning at the contraption of sparking stones. I get the shovel and get more coals inside the furnace.
From my peripheral vision, I see Wisley frowning at the sight of my eccentricity. I can see his subtle worry about what I might do… He is not wrong as sometimes, I terrify myself.
"What is it, your majesty?" I ignore Wisley's curiosity and proceed to do my own work
From my waist, I draw an iron rod of less than a hundred centimeters. Using the tong, I grab the iron rod with its body and expose its tip to the heat.
Wisley recognizes the iron rod and cries that I should stop. "Your majesty! Please don't"
As the heat gets into the iron rod turning it to hot orange, I retrieve it from the furnace. Its very tip has a small circular marking, and inside it is a triangle. This is the branding used on enslaved elves. As there is no 'noble insignia' in the triangle, it means that the branded slaves are ownerless.
"Listen very well… Wisley, I am going to turn these human infants into elves… This is such a glorious opportunity for them. Don't you think so?" I tell to Wisley with no fluctuations in my emotions.
There is no blood testing in this world. The ears are a good indicator of whether a person is an elf or not. But what about the slave branding? Is that not another method to distinguish an elf?
I grab an infant by its leg and burn the slave mark on its shoulder blade. The infant starts screeching. I had Lafira carry the infant. I grab a pouch of herbs and toss it to Lafira. "Cover the burns with this. This shouldn't kill them at least."
Wisley holds himself back from spitting a plethora of curses. What can he do? He is just a sorry merchant!
Is the Elf King crazy? Why is he doing this? Turn humans into elves? Wisley doesn't understand what in oblivion the Elf King is up to. What he knows is that it was the malice of the elven race that is fueling the Elf King's actions.
I finish my work quickly, flustering Lafira on babysitting the little creatures. If it were either Trudviar or Zeraya here, I imagine them objecting to my cruel acts. I face Wisley with my unchanging benevolent smile.
"I recall reading in a book that the fate of ownerless slaves is worse than pigs and cattle, even a slave with elven blood flowing in them would be treated harshly unlike what they truly deserve as high-quality commodity goods."
I am talking so casually even I am in disbelief. I continue from where I left off, and focus on how I can throw my sales pitch from the best angle possible.
"This is what is going to happen. I will let you go. In fact, a horse and a carriage are already prepared just outside the barony. I had it filled with luxurious items on top of the water and food supply. You can use that carriage to return to the Lorekleim Forest to retrieve your son, and crewmates. Talk to Kara, she knows what to do."
At the mention of freedom, Wisley's eyes perk up. However, when his eyes return to the suffering babes, a hint of reluctance flashes in his eyes.
I let Wisley's emotions of self-doubt, self-remorse, and self-blame sink in. I watch him suffer his inner turmoil as finally, I dig my metaphorical fangs of manipulation into his very soul.
"I will give you these infants, and you have a choice to decline. If you do so, these infants will meet the steel and die. If you decide to keep them, then fine. You can also choose to sell them. The decision is yours. Just know that the lives of these human infants are yours to decide."
The screaming and crying echo in Wisley's ears. The slaughter and blood dye his eyes red. Even if he closes his eyes, all he sees is red. It is terrible. The feeling of staying in the inn, and being a bystander to the massacre is a horror that he will never forget in this lifetime.
I erase the faked apathy and replace it with a sincere smile as if I had good news to tell the world.
"This is what is going to happen, Wisley. You will keep these humans. You won't sell them. You won't abandon them. I can tell because you just cannot. You lack the ability to do so… for you are only human just like them… They will be your burden and the same time the shackles that will connect you to me. You are now a betrayer of humanity, and these infants are the witnesses to it."
I reveal to him the plain simple truth. And like a prophet, I tell him of an inexistent future where all of humanity shall scorn him.
"All of humanity will look at you as if you were a devil. You have long turned back from humanity, and have committed an unredeemable sin that would last for generations. Your son, his children, and the children after him will be marked by your deeds."
I approach Wisley, and with less than half a meter, I come face to face with him. I see his trembling eyes, his weakness, and the overwhelming defeat.
"You only have one path to take forward. One that would protect your undeniable identity, your pride as a father, and your sense of humanity. I beg you… Wisley, protect all of humanity from us elves… Because trust me… When there is no longer anything that is holding us back… All of humanity shall perish to extinction…"
I may take hostage of his family, his people, and even his life, but I cannot still control Wisley as I like. So I decided to take hostage of his morality. The elves are at the point of no return and so is Wisley. I am being unscrupulous when I say all of humanity shall perish, but Wisley doesn't need to know that.
"This is what you are going to do. You will get out of the Lorekleim Forest, liquefy your assets, and you will buy yourself the title of the baron from the King. After that, you will buy the Jeremy estate. I will have Ririn, that quarter elf be the next Baron Zaun. Cooperate with her, and raise your titles well… The two of you shall become Beyronald aristocrats on my behalf…"
I pat Wisley's shoulder, swiping the imaginary dirt and dust away from his clothes. I intimately engage him as if I were his old friend. I gently smile at him.
"Here, take some with you. I am sure you would know their great potential when it comes to doing business." I force Coca seeds into his palm.
With that, I leave Wisley to his own shackles.