Chapter 6: Two half-elves and the unexpected guest?
Arthur is oblivious to the changes happening inside his body as the green gemstone starts to glow brilliantly. It begins merging with his soul, not his body and vanishes completely. There is nothing left of the green gemstone inside his body.
There are no visible changes to Arthur's body as he lies on the ground in the same white clothes resembling an ancient dress, with some runes inscribed on it. One can wear the outfit over the body, similar to a cloak, like a one-piece garment without a hood. His 6-foot-2-inch thin body remains unchanged.
The wound on his handsome face is still there, just as before.
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Outside the mines, two black-haired female elves are talking to each other without a care about the cute boy who went inside the mine to search for treasure.
"Hey, do you think he'll find something today?" one black-haired elf asks the other.
The other black-haired elf replies, "Do you really think he'll find some treasure inside this mana stone mine? Ha ha, the most he could find is some normal primus mana stone with better purity and get a small reward."
"I don't think he'll even find a Vitalist mana stone or an Infernus mana stone. Don't even talk about Umbrus mana stones—I haven't even held one before."
"Only high-bloodline elves who have an affinity for those mana types ever see them. For half-elves like us, it's just a dream to see an ultra-rare Umbrus mana stone."
"So, forget about that cute kid finding any treasure in there."
"And besides, do you think those high-level elves who discovered the mine would leave a single rare treasure behind, even after scanning the area with their magic?"
The other black-haired elf, having heard her friend's words, felt it was almost impossible for Arthur to find anything other than normal primus stones.
"Yes, you're right. I don't think he'll find anything. Haah, poor little boy."
"He's the most handsome human I've seen so far—his looks could even rival some high-level elves."
Listening to her friend, the black-haired elf nodded her head.
"You're absolutely right about that. And let me tell you a secret, but I'll only tell you if you promise not to share it with anyone else—it could get me into trouble."
Her voice dropped to a whisper, just loud enough for her friend to hear.
Hearing her friend whisper, the half-elf became curious, sensing that whatever she was about to hear would be exciting. She whispered back, "Okay, tell me! I'll keep my mouth shut forever."
Seeing her friend's enthusiasm, she was pleased. She knew this information wasn't a big deal for regular elves, but for half-elves like them, it could get them into trouble if a higher-bloodline elf overheard them and found their words displeasing.
She walked to the other side of the mine opening to whisper directly into her friend's ear. After finishing, she stood next to her with a proud expression, waiting for her friend's reaction.
"W–What? What– i–is that t–true?" Her friend could only see her proudly nodding, confirming her words.
"D–Did you r–really see them? B–But how c–can a half-elf like you see them?"
"I was just as shocked when I saw them as a child. They must have come to our town for something, and when I was in the forest, I saw them by surprise. But I ran away in fear."
'Wow, she's so lucky to have seen actual star elves. Ha ha, I'm so jealous,' she whispered back in awe and respect toward her friend, who had actually seen a star elf in real life, something they had only heard about in legends.
"So, that means their hair is really silver in color, just like the books we've read," she whispered.
Seeing her friend nod, she felt like she had learned something a half-elf like her shouldn't know. She even felt a little scared but mostly excited.
So, she decided to share a secret of her own to repay her friend for revealing such a huge secret.
"D–Did you know I–I've had a crush on A–Arthur since the moment I saw him?"
Hearing her friend's words, the other black-haired elf's face stiffened unnaturally because, for elves, once they like someone, it's very hard for them to forget.
The unnatural stiffness on her friend's face didn't go unnoticed, so she asked in a suspicious yet sharp voice, "Do you also have a crush on him?" Seeing her friend meekly nod, she confirmed her suspicion.
"I'm not going to let you have him just because we're friends. I'm serious! I've even decided to make him my house man and take care of him for the rest of my life, but I'm just waiting for him to notice my love."
[House man = Housewife]
For an elf like her, love is essential in a relationship, so she was simply waiting for the clueless man to notice her intentions.
Listening to her friend's fiery words, a competitive flame ignited in the other black-haired elf. She wasn't playing around either—she was already saving money to buy Arthur, and by the end of the year, she would have enough to purchase him at the price of an S-grade slave in terms of beauty.
Elves are a species obsessed with beauty and would do anything to obtain something they find beautiful. They are equally racist toward ugly things, openly showing their disgust and treating them very differently.
This is also the reason Arthur thinks his life here will be good. He learned this fact from the memories of the previous Arthur.
He also found out how the other human males who worked with him took advantage of the previous naive Arthur, taking his extra money and even his high-quality food out of jealousy, all while hiding behind a friendly facade.
This is also why the previous Arthur remained skinny, even though he received special treatment from the elves who worked there. Naive Arthur didn't find anything strange about helping his "friends" and never mentioned it to anyone.
The guards and elves who worked there didn't know much about humans and assumed Arthur's body metabolism was just naturally like that, which is why he was a bit skinnier.
If they had known the truth, they would have killed the ugly ones in rage, knowing that the most handsome male slave was being bullied. And if the humans who bullied naive Arthur, after only knowing elves for a few years, had understood this fact, they would never have tried to take advantage of Arthur.
It was only because the previous Arthur was too naive to think of them as anything but friends that the uglier ones were still alive, and the better-looking ones would probably have been sent to confinement for months.
However, before the other half-elf can respond to the words of her companion, who is essentially telling her to forget about Arthur, she becomes angry and is about to shout at her.
But before she can, a loud voice commands in their ears simultaneously:
"Both of you don't even know that a human slave has died inside the mine, and here you are, arguing about a human man!"
"Disgusting!"
"If I don't find a proper cause for this, both of you must be ready to face the consequences of allowing someone to enter the mines after working hours, especially a frail man."
Cold sweat formed on their foreheads, and their legs started to shake as they saw the warden approaching. They hadn't even fully processed what she had just said to them.
Once they realized the weight of her words, their reactions would be even more intense.