From my spot on the far shore of the Lydel River, I watched as smoke rose from several fires throughout Diento.
How strange… The slave trader building we’d set on fire was in the red-light district near the east gate, but there were also flames cropping up in other parts around the city.
“Did you set those fires around town, Miss Ariane?”
I considered the possibility that Ariane’s comrades had set the other fires to keep the town on edge. But she shook her head in response, a look of concern on her face.
“We had nothing to do with that. Danka and I were the only ones who went into town, so something else must have caused those. But this works out great for us! It may even draw out the castle soldiers if they’re conscripted to put out the blaze.”
Ariane didn’t appear to be lying. Danka and the children also looked confused as they gazed at the growing flames.
She was right, this could turn out to be a great opportunity. If my own secret organization was under attack, I’d send reinforcements immediately. Hopefully Marquis du Diento would act the same way.
“You’re right. Assuming Diento dispatched some of his soldiers to assist with the fire, the castle will be low on guards. This could be the perfect opportunity for us to infiltrate it.”
Ariane twisted her lips into a beguiling smile before directing her gaze toward Danka and the children.
“Danka, can I leave the children with you? If you head up the Lydel and into the forest, you should only be about a day away from the nearest town.”
“Good plan. We should be able to make it to the Rivulet River by dawn. You’re a better fighter than me, so I’ll leave the castle to you. We’ll wait for you near the forest.”
“Thank you. Oh, and Arc, can you do something about the mana-eater collars before we go?”
“Certainly.”
Ariane nudged one of the elven girls forward. Doing my best not to frighten her, I reached out with my hand and held it over her collar.
“Uncurse.”
Symbols glowed in front of my hand as I summoned the spell which were quickly sucked in by the collar. A second later, a loud “clink!” rang out as the collar shattered.
The other girls couldn’t believe their eyes. One by one, I cast Uncurse on their collars, setting them free. Once all the collars had been removed, they all thanked me together.
“You can even remove curses? There’s so much I don’t know about you, mysterious stranger…” Danka spoke in a soft voice, clearly surprised.
Ariane tapped me on the shoulder and fixed her gaze on the castle at the center of Diento. Apparently, that was her sign it was time to go.
I nodded in acknowledgement, then moved Ponta from where it rested around my neck back to the top of my head. Ponta gave a small cry to let me know it was ready.
I used my Dimensional Step first, to teleport to the other side of the river. The sound of the bell grew louder.
Thanks to the proximity between the south gate and the river, there were no houses outside the wall, and no one in sight. Due to the late hour, there were also few sentries manning the top of the outer wall.
After using Dimensional Step to teleport to the top of the wall, I quickly teleported again to the inner wall.
Unlike its external-facing counterpart, there were no sentries atop the inner wall. I imagined it was built purely for strategic reasons, in case the fortress came under attack. There wasn’t much use for sentries here in times of peace.
However, just to be on the safe side, I kept my body low as I peered out between the parapets.
I spied smoke rising from various places across the town. It looked like there were four fires in total. The odds of four separate fires breaking out at the same time seemed rather suspect, but I didn’t have time to think about that.
Ariane’s gold eyes gazed out at me from under her gray cloak, urging me to hurry up. Her light purple skin seemed to disappear in the darkness of her cloak, making it look as if only her eyes existed within, bringing to mind the conductor from a certain anime about an express train in space. Unlike the anime character though, a dynamite body lurked beneath her cloak.
I could see the marquis’s castle at the center of the town, towering above everything in the area. Under the dim moonlight, it looked pretty far away. The buildings near the base of the castle were swallowed in its massive shadow.
Ariane poked me to get my attention. It wasn’t like I was just gawking. I was trying to figure out a way to teleport close to the castle, but I couldn’t find any favorable destinations. Teleportation magic wasn’t much use in the dark. I decided to focus on the moonlit roof of the castle and was able to easily teleport there with Dimensional Step.
Since the castle had been built atop a hill, the town below suddenly seemed all the smaller. I had a great view of the whole area. It’d be an amazing sight to see in the middle of the day.
Ariane, surprised to find herself up so high, lost her balance for a moment and grabbed my arm, letting out a small shriek.
“Eek! H-hey! Don’t just go teleporting onto roofs like that, okay? I need a moment to get my bearings!”
We were standing atop the slanted roof of a tower. The angle was steep, and if you lost your balance, you’d fall straight to the ground below. It was no wonder she was upset.
She stood close enough that I could detect a delightfully feminine fragrance wafting off her. Despite her chest pressing so tightly against my arm, I couldn’t really feel anything on account of her leather and my steel armor.
“My apologies.”
She narrowed her eyes and shot me a look. Her demeanor quickly changed, however, when she caught sight of Ponta atop my head, tilting its head adorably to the side. I decided I owed Ponta some raisins after all this was over, for resolving the tense situation.
It seemed unlikely that the marquis would have planned on intruders coming through the roof, which allowed us to look around freely without having to worry about anyone noticing.
The castle lacked the dignified air you would commonly associate with nobility, looking more like a foreboding fortress. In addition to the double walls, it also sported twin moats, making a straight-forward invasion all but impossible.
Between the inner wall and the castle itself, there was a large, open expanse leading up to the front gate. The space contained barracks and barren patches of land likely used for training.
The castle itself had six towers along its perimeter, while the center portion contained a building that appeared to be the residence of the marquis himself, which was connected to another, smaller building by a hallway.
Our vantage atop the tower nearest the marquis’s residence gave us a view of the entire complex.
The castle was vast, so looking around blindly in the hopes of finding the elves would only end in us being discovered.
The tower we stood atop served as a lookout for the fortress. Underneath, it would likely house a storeroom full of grains for use during a siege. Far below, there were likely dungeons, where they’d lock up prisoners and other criminals, but I had a hard time believing the marquis would spend all that money on an elf just to lock them up.
“Miss Ariane, I hesitate to even ask this, but what are elf slaves used for after they’re caught?”
Her golden eyes glared at me from within her hood, her face clouding over in annoyance. “Does it matter?”
“Not particularly. I just thought we would have an easier time finding them if we know what they’re used for.”
After a moment of silence, Ariane spoke in a low, solemn tone. “Women are usually used for pleasure, like playthings. I’ve heard the men are used to impregnate noble women.”
“According to the purchase contracts, men typically fetch much higher prices. Is that the reason? Why would a human woman want to bear the child of an elven man?”
“When a mixed-species child is conceived, it takes on the species of its mother. Didn’t you know that?”
I nodded along with her, even though this was all new to me.
“However, the child is also born with the magic of an elf. I hear that’s the reason many noble families among the humans possess strong magical abilities. They’ve been intermingling with elves for generations. Though, they’re still not able to use spirit magic.”
So, that was one of the ways humans had been able to survive on this monster-infested continent. They’d been forcefully taking the elves’ power for themselves to build up their magic. If many of the nobles possessed magical abilities, that suggested money and strength were closely equated with power in this world. So why had the country sworn off relations with the elves, if they could use them to increase their strength?
I had a hard time believing that people in a feudalistic world like this would do it out of respect for human rights. It had to be some sort of plot by those in power. But I didn’t have time to untangle all of that just then. We were there to rescue the enslaved elves.
I doubted the marquis would keep them in a dungeon if they were being forced to have sexual relations with humans. The marquis’s residence seemed like the most likely location. Fortunately, there were few guards currently patrolling the building. I wasn’t sure if this was because they’d been dispatched to deal with the fire, but I was thankful either way.
“Let’s head to the marquis’s residence.”