How to Live as a Half-Dragon

041. Elf (1).

Since she was little, Xian liked talking to adventurers who stayed in the village for a while.

It was because they were the only ones who could tell the story of the outside world to Xian, who was staying in a small rural village.

He didn’t want to leave the village, but many strange stories outside made Xian’s heart flutter.

And one of the stories I heard then was an elf.

Beautiful angels live in Grint Forest at the southwest end.

It was said that their name, which was characterized by pointy ears and a beautiful appearance that seemed to steal their souls, was Elf.

‘But why does the elf… .’

Of course, slavery is common in today’s society.

Even in the humble village of Orn, there were slaves who did chores at the shop.

I heard that sinners who had committed great evils lived a life of slavery, and I did not particularly sympathize with them, nor pity them, but the truth was so.

But why?

Xian felt strangely different in this case from the slaves he had seen before.

It was probably because elves, like Xian, were a non-human race.

The distinction between monsters and heterogeneous races was clearly determined by human standards, but the first criterion was simply whether or not coexistence was possible.

“Hughes-sister, can I use elves as slaves too?”

Hughes, who looked at Xian for a while, whispered.

“Although elves are a distinctly heterogeneous race, they are not actively protected by law in this land. I don’t know how they were captured, but even if they were enslaved, there would be no problem if it was done through a legal process.”

Of course, the fact that it was legal meant that even if it was made through an unfair process, it was possible as long as it matched the assortment.

Hughes whispered in his ear what he was going to say next.

“But they are better than us. Didn’t you forget? we are… .”

Dragonian.

A race of extinction whose very existence was denied by humans.

Hughes was obviously right.

Compared to the situation of the dragonians, the elves do not know if they are in a good enough situation.

But even so, it doesn’t matter if it harmonizes in the heart.

It would be a big difference from the life of a person with both feet cut off, a person who crawls, or a person who is lame or normal.

Strictly speaking, it would be better than a crawler, but just because he was crippled didn’t seem to make him particularly happy.

So Xian felt sympathy.

Aside from the elf appearance.

It was the reason why he was reminded of Hughes, who had been captured by the Slayer not long ago.

And that means…

‘Someday me too.’

It was hard to turn away because I knew that I could be put in a harsher situation than myself.

“I am an elf from Grint Forest. No need for further explanation, right? 20 gold starting price! Let’s get started!”

As soon as the presenter’s words ran out, Xi’an spoke.

“30 gold.”

* * *

Hughes was taken aback by Xian’s sudden action.

“draft! what are you doing now… .”

“I have that money.”

said Hughes in awe.

“You decided not to spend that money.”

“It’s just pitiful.”

It was when Xian and Hughes had a conversation.

A pot-bellied middle-aged man sitting in the front seat raised his hand.

“35 gold.”

Hughes was relieved.

Fortunately, someone else asked for a higher price than Xi’an.

“40 goals… !”

Hughes covered Xian’s mouth.

Whether he knew his thoughts or not, it was a response to the action of trying to jump into the battlefield again.

The host asked me if I felt something was strange.

“Why is that? Do you have 40 gold?”

“that is… .”

“yes that’s right!”

“All right.”

Hughes opened his mouth in anger.

“What are you trying to do? 40 gold, right?”

“If you organize your jewelry, it will be full and overflowing.”

Hughes sighed heavily.

Even if it’s gold coins, jewelry shouldn’t be sold here.

There was a reason why I didn’t want to spend money.

“Why are you even doing this? Did you like that elf that much?”

Although the complexion was exhausted, the elf also looked like a puck or an elf.

Even if it’s not now, if it grows over time, it’s enough to make men cry.

Right now, for young Xian, it will be great even now without time passing.

There was nothing strange about Xian’s interest.

“It’s not like that, it’s just pitiful.”

“yes?”

“I honestly don’t know how that kid became a slave. But you are pitiful.”

“Then, whenever you see a poor person, will you help like now?”

Xian shook his head.

As if it wasn’t.

“I thought so. I thought that if I help him now, if I find myself in a similar situation later, someone will help me… .”

Hughes, who had his mouth shut, muttered in a barely audible voice.

“Throwing stones at me… .”

It also seemed to fit right between the eyebrows.

Hughes remembers the pebbles of the day.

It was the most painful of all the stones I hit that day.

both physically and mentally.

“? … yes?”

“no. But you can’t sell junk. I’ll lend you some money, so do it.”

“I’m sorry about that… .”

“I do!! That will come in handy later.”

“yes… .”

Hughes, who seemed to have a heartache for some reason, said that and shook his head.

It seemed like he had to figure it out now.

“Do you have another 43 gold?”

The auction is passing 43 gold.

Xian raised his hand.

“50 gold!”

* * *

“done.”

In the end, Xian finally won the bid for Elf.

After the auction, Xian headed to the stage to take the elf.

“Come this way.”

Following the guidance of the sturdy man, we moved to the back of the stage, and the elf was there.

“Would you like to hold out your hand?”

“A hand? Why are your hands… ?”

“Shouldn’t a slave listen carefully?”

Although he didn’t like the man’s wicked smile, Xian obeyed the man’s wishes.

I wondered what to do, so I stretched out my hand and drew the same pattern on the back of Xian’s hand as the one on the back of the elf’s.

As Xian was looking at it, the man said.

“This is a guy called Slave Moon. This must be your first time purchasing a slave.”

“yes… what.”

If that was the case, I thought I was just wasting my time.

After all, I was thinking of sending the elves back to their hometown, the Grint Forest.

“Here you go. 50 gold.”

“hahahaha… It’s a big deal to pay at once on the spot.”

“I guess you don’t usually do this?”

“It is a lot of money. This is rare because of the potential theft or loss.”

Xian nodded.

“Anyway, can I go?”

“of course. I hope you had a good time… No, young master, do you want to enjoy it from now on?”

After confirming the smile of the man he didn’t like, Xian pulled the elf’s hand.

As soon as I went out through the back aisle with the elf trudging out, Hughes welcomed me.

“It took quite a while.”

“ah… Because I drew something strange… what?”

Xian checked the back of his hand and was surprised.

This was the reason the pattern I had drawn earlier had disappeared.

“It looks like you drew a slave door.”

Hughes reacted knowingly.

“Yes, that’s right, but… .”

“The Slave Gate only appears when a restriction is triggered.”

It means you don’t see it normally.

After talking about the slave door, Hughes moved on.

Xian walked along with Hughes and asked on the way to the inn after exiting Juru through the back door.

“But Hughes. Come to think of it, what was the thing Hughes wanted?”

This was really odd.

That was because Hughes had never participated in an auction until the end.

Of course, there was one thing in Xi’an’s eyes that made him think he was aiming for that.

as soon as…

-Now, this item is a brooch. Don’t snort that it just looks like an expensive brooch! There is a rumor that it was used by the Queen of Medea. I checked for artifacts through professional appraisal, but unfortunately, no singularities were found. But if you’re interested in Medea, the legendary city of witches, you’re sure to ignite your collector’s desire. It starts at 20 gold!

It was a brooch related to Medea, whom Hughes had introduced as her hometown.

However, even with that object, Hughes did not respond in the end.

“Wasn’t that the brooch?”

Hughes smiled.

“that’s right. that.”

“Then why… ?”

If you borrowed money and didn’t have enough money to buy it…

I’m sorry if it’s really like that, so when I was wondering what to do, Hughes said.

“It’s not like that.”

“sure?”

“Is that a fake?”

“yes?”

I was honestly surprised.

Basically, I thought everything was genuine as the amount of money was exchanged by dozens of gold…

“Then what about other artworks and relics?”

“I don’t know that either. There are real ones and there are fake ones. The only thing I noticed was that the brooch was a counterfeit… .”

“Have you seen the real thing before?”

Hughes smiled brightly.

“that’s right.”

“Then, do fakes often appear at auction houses?”

“It can’t be, think about it, Xian. Where was the auction held this time?”

Xian turned around to check the distance he had just passed.

I could see the large barn where the auction house was.

“Definitely not a place with high credit.”

Even in the small town of Ornn, there were bullies.

There has never been a place that sells alcohol and sells laughter in such a big way, but the essence will not be different in general.

I mean, they’re not very good people.

“Then why do you pay so much money to live?”

I couldn’t understand why I was paying so much for something that might be a counterfeit.

Hughes answered Xian’s question.

“I think Xian misunderstood a bit.”

“Are you wrong?”

“I don’t mean that they intentionally sold it knowing it was counterfeit.”

“uh… sure?”

Of course, since they were of poor quality, I thought they made fakes and sold them, or that they made a profit by auctioning them off even though they knew they were fakes.

But no matter how dirty they are, there seems to be a line to protect them.

“Maybe they don’t even know it’s fake.”

“Really?”

“Yes, and rather, if it turns out to be a fake, we will compensate to some extent. Without overwhelming trust, you can’t do big money transactions.”

Then, Hughes told me in detail as if this was what he wanted to say.

Since the root itself is intertwined with dirty things, it is a structure in which the things that are flocked to physiologically are inevitably extorted in an unfair way, and that is why fakes are inevitably mixed with genuine products.

It was similar but led to a completely different result.

As we walked and chatted, we saw an inn in the distance where the accommodation was located.

Hughes, who was moving his steps, hesitated as if he had forgotten something.

“But Xian.”

“yes?”

“What is the child thinking?”

“ah… right.”

Xian checked the elf holding his hand.

was he there?