Chapter 127: I'm not a boy! Not yet a woman!
The skills of the fantasy world were indeed incredible. If the emperor's daughter was a simple person, she would have slept all day, but she managed to recover in just a few hours and heal the bruises on her ass with magic. Opening her eyes, she spoke with a smile on her face.
"I almost died of happiness."
"Did you?"
It was a pity that she didn't die. I took the gates of her castle by storm and, having broken in, continued my attack without respite. Just a little more, and I would have been waiting for success. But as soon as I touched the princess's garter belt, a video started scrolling through my head. And this time, it wasn't a bedroom, but a funeral home.
Like the brooch, the First Hero presented this garter belt to his wife, but this time it was different. His wife didn't throw him away but died. More precisely, she was killed.
"At night, I realized that you, Hero, not only fight well. It was my first time…but thanks to you, I didn't even feel fear or anxiety."
"Well…"
I was about to kill the princess, so I didn't care about her feelings. If the Chaos Artifact hadn't interfered with me, I would have succeeded.
"Hero. This…?"
The princess glanced at the garter belt in my hands.
"Haha. It is a souvenir to remind you of the night with you, so I want to keep it. I cannot ask you to give me your underwear."
"If you want, I could— Oh! Yes, that is right! Underwear is such a gift! I think a garter belt is just right for the occasion! Only…you won't give it to another girl, will you?"
"How could I?"
This was, after all, for research purposes.
"Wow! Is it Water Spirits?"
"They're pretty useful."
After the end of the process, the inhabitants of the fantasy world dry themselves off with wet towels, but I washed with the help of water spirits.
"Hero. Please visit me whenever you want," the princess told me when I had already dressed and was about to leave. Again? How clingy!
Without turning around, I replied.
"If I have a chance."
If she were still in the clouds somewhere, next time, I would finish her ass so that there would be no other time.
Oh! This service was free.
*
In the domain of the Duke of the Holy Empire, I used the Magic Circle of Dimensional Transference. I didn't have to wait for the dummies who would travel with Green Cake for about six months to grow. Now I needed to head east on the central continent. This was an adventure of collecting the five elf knights.
Earth Knight (Swordsman)
Fire Knight (Mage)
Wind Knight (Archer) – returned home
Water Knight (Healer)
Ether Knight (Tamer) – deceased
Archer E, whom I saved at the auction, returned to the kingdom of the elves, while Tamer E was killed in an accident. Three Knights remained missing. Tamer E left a hint for me, and my assistants, who worked completely free of charge, would speed up the search process.
"Search the eastern part."
The crowned spirits that harassed me 24 hours a day only pointed with their chin. Then the normal spirits circling went to search the eastern part of the continent. A class society of spirits! No matter how you looked, there was no freedom and equality present among them.
I, too, couldn't just simply stand aside. Using the Magic Circle of Spatial Transport, I moved from the Holy Empire to the eastern part of the central continent. A country in that land that amassed wealth through foreign trade with the eastern continent: The Trade Republic. It was formed by merchants, gathering forces, and adopting a republican form of government from the eastern continent of Fantasy.
I met Merchant #16 in City C of the Trade Republic.
► Curious: Why the merchant?
Good question, Miss Trainee! Merchant # 16 specialized in selling information, and during the first playthrough, I recognized his skills. His main product was information about the people of the central and eastern continents.
He had strong connections with the black market, and his main products were the information of people in the central and eastern continent. He also worked part-time in a sales agency.
"You said you were looking for elves?"
"Yes."
"And you don't know the name and can't describe their appearance?"
"I told you. This is the Knight of the Earth and the Knight of the Water."
"These aren't names…well. Okay."
Merchant #16 gave up and scratched his bald head. This habit made a huge contribution to the fact that he had become bald.
"How long will it take?"
I didn't even ask if he could find them or not. This was because, in the first playthrough, one of my companions asked him to find a very beautiful girl, and this guy accepted even such an absurd order. I gave my name, so he definitely wouldn't be able to say that he couldn't do it. As I expected, he reacted correctly.
"I can't keep Kan Han Soo, who was able to kill the Supreme Dragon of Oblivion, Noebius, the head of the Five Disaster, which first appeared after 500 years waiting for long. I will not charge a separate fee because I have already obtained the information I need from you. Consider it an exchange."
"You're good."
Merchant #16 hinted that he would sell information about me. Cheeky, but I didn't mind.
"Thank you. Many customers want to buy information about you. Appearance, plans, hobbies, strength, character, etc. One meeting with you was enough to learn a lot. But I will also tell you all the information that interests you."
► Consent: As you said, he is a skilled trader.
He didn't need time to travel in search of information. Merchant #16 stood in front of me with his eyes closed as if in meditation. So, he rummaged through his memory. And this was only possible in a fantasy world.
▷ Race: Human
▷ Level: 195
▷ Specialization: Merchant (Wealth → Luck ↑)
▷ Skills: Intelligence A, Trading B, Interpretation C, Analysis D, Martial Arts D …
▷ Condition: Search
A-rank intelligence. You could remember the name, appearance, and essence of a conversation with a person you met 100 years ago with such a rank. The problem was whether he could pick out the right person. It was because of this that Merchant #16 asked for the name of the elves I was looking for. If he had their names, it would be like searching through a dictionary.
However, I didn't know their names. Therefore, the task became more difficult.
"Found them. Knight of Earth and Knight of Water. They belong to the five knights that they are so proud of in the kingdom of the elves. And what is amazing…Hoho! I didn't know what was happening under my nose. Such great knights were captured by the Dark Commerce and sold as slaves…"
If you wanted to find the missing elves, then you needed to look for the slaves in the market! This was the unspoken rule of the fantasy world.
"Judging by your words, have they already been sold?"
"Yes. The Earth Knight, a well-built elf, was auctioned off at a high price. There was fierce bargaining among traders who arrived from the eastern continent. And the Water Knight…she lacks feminine charm, so she was sold for less."
In the fantasy world, discrimination based on gender and appearance flourished.
"Do you know who they were sold to?"
"Yes, but meeting the Knight of the Earth will be difficult. She was already put in a boat and sent to the eastern continent. But you can meet the Knight of Water today."
The Earth Knight had been my target from the start. From Tamer E's explanation, the Earth Knight knew many of the queen's secrets. The Water Knight was just a bonus. But what if she had already been sent to the eastern continent? I should at least meet with the bonus.
"So, where is she?"
"In the theatre."
"Theatre?"
Not at a brothel?
*
The most popular date place on earth was the cinema. There, of course, was something similar in the fantasy world. Vagrant troupe, the circus. However, there weren't so many of them as cinemas on Earth. In the fantasy world, public transport wasn't developed. And people wouldn't go anywhere if they just heard that it was interesting.
Monsters and robbers roamed between cities and villages, so few people desired to go somewhere far to watch a performance. That was why there was a traveling theater, moving between populous cities.
I walked towards the huge tent located in front of the gates to the city, hearing a male voice from within.
"I am the king of the elves Elfheim! And on this land, I will build the kingdom of the elves!"
"Hh…"
"Repeat it now. Or do you want to starve today? I am the king of the elves Elfheim! And on this land, I will build the kingdom of the elves!"
"I am the king of the elves…I cannot! Better to beat me!"
Was it a rehearsal room? I had slipped inside unnoticed. As it turned out, two people were rehearsing there.
"Listen. Devotion to the country is, of course, good, but humans live here. No one will say anything if you play the king of the elves of Elfheim. Moreover, he is no longer the king now?"
The elf wore clothing woven from leaves, like primitive people. He had been trying to convince her.
"That's not the problem."
However, it wasn't working well.
"What is it then?"
At the man's question, the elf silently looked down at her outfit. I had been to the kingdom of the elves several times already, so I knew that, even in the villages, the elves didn't wear such primitive outfits. However, this was how people imagined elves.
At that moment, the elf shouted, "Why should I play a man?! I'm not a man, but a woman! You make me stand on the stage in what my mother gave birth to and speak this shameful speech! Why all this?!"
…So you were a woman? It was too flat, so I was wrong. The man, rubbing his cheek, smiled and began to make excuses.
"But even if you say so…male elves are too expensive for our budget. And I, who had played the king of the elves up to this point, have become too old, so I can no longer play this role. And so we found you. You are flat, and besides, the price for you wasn't high, well, you can be made up like a man without any problems…"
"Kyaaa!" The elf shouted and pounced on the man.
"Calm, calm down!"
"Rather assault me! Humans are terrible! Do you like to trample on the remaining crumbs of the dignity of others? Sob, sob!"
…A complete mess.
► Pity: I'm so sorry for this elven lady.
Miss Trainee. She had acted too unwisely.
I then burst inside. My arrival was quite sudden because there had been no time to hesitate. The man had already grabbed the elf who was yelling at him by the wrist. It could turn into a scuffle. Therefore, the S-rank Hero decided to help a little. When calming a violent elf down, I couldn't find a better method than this.
Slap!
I struck the elf's neck with all my might to calm her down. Out of habit, I almost hit the place between the 6th and 7th cervical vertebra, but I wouldn't repeat the same mistake as with Tamer E.
"Kururu…"
The raging elf fainted. The man brought a finger to the tip of her nose and checked to see if she was breathing; then, he sat down on the nearby wooden boxes with a sigh.
"Thanks for helping me, sir."
"We need to help each other.
The just Hero must save the inhabitant who was attacked by the wild elf.
"But please forgive me. No performance today…if you have time, come tomorrow afternoon. In gratitude for your help, I will provide you with the best seat for free."
Did he not just thank me but also prepare a reward? This guy was pretty smart. I liked him. So, I decided to help him financially.
"I just heard that you took this elf because the men are too expensive. Is that true?"
"That's right."
"Then I will buy this elf from you for the same price as an elven man."
"Huh?"
The man couldn't hide his surprise. A male elf was three times more expensive than a female elf.
The reason was two-fold. Lonely female feudal lords who, for personal or political reasons, hadn't married seek elf men to solve problems with their heirs and to satisfy their desires. And…
The functions compared to the money. Even if a miracle happened, in two years, an elf could give birth to only one child of mixed blood, but for male elves, there were no such restrictions. They could help as many representatives of the human race as they had the strength for. For these reasons, men were more valuable than women.
"What do you think?"
"I like it!"
From the side came the crying voice of the awakened elf.
"Don't treat me like I'm a man. Evil humans…"
S-rank Hero has acquired the Elf Knight.