“What…”
The slave trader didn’t even have time to shout before Lucas leapt down from high above and kicked him hard to the ground.
In the blink of an eye, the short dagger in Lucas’s hand pierced the fallen slave trader’s throat, instantly ending his life.
The nearby slave trader had just realized what was happening when the dagger already tore through his throat as well.
Almost in an instant, Lucas had taken out two slave traders.
The remaining two, both armed with muskets, were separated from him by a prison cage.
This was indeed troublesome.
“Hey, what are you doing? Shoot over there! We can’t afford any mistakes with this batch!” one slave trader shouted angrily at the other.
“Is now the time to worry about that?” the other slave trader retorted in frustration.
For some reason, a conflict had broken out among the slave traders at this critical moment.
Well, this was a freebie—Lucas wasn’t going to let the opportunity slip by.
He leapt up, landing on top of the prison carriage, drew the musket at his waist, and pulled the trigger aimed at one of the slave traders’ heads.
The slave trader’s head exploded right before Lucas’s eyes, shocking the other so much that he couldn’t steady his musket.
By the time he aimed at Lucas, he found the barrel pressed against his forehead.
Even if he wanted to fire back, it would be difficult, since Lucas was protected by a strange round shield with serrated edges.
“It’s over.”
Lucas said to the slave trader as he pulled the trigger.
The iron shot flew out, and the slave trader’s head exploded right before Lucas’s eyes.
After confirming all four slave traders were dead, Lucas finally turned to the last one—the one driving the carriage.
“Hm?”
Only then did Lucas notice the slave trader driving the carriage was already dead for some unknown reason.
Had he… done something to that person just now?
Lucas approached to check and found a sharp ice spike embedded in the slave trader’s chest.
Case closed—it definitely wasn’t his doing.
Then who could it have been?
“The keys are on them. Aren’t you going to let us go?” a voice sounded from inside the cage.
Looking toward the speaker, Lucas recognized the elf who had just locked eyes with him.
What startled him was that this elf actually appeared in his extra memories.
But if he called out her name directly, he would surely become a suspect.
For now, it was better to pretend he didn’t know her identity.
“Ah, this is troublesome.”
Lucas scratched his head, looking troubled.
“I was supposed to bring back a live captive to report. Had I known the driver would die, I wouldn’t have killed so quickly.”
“What? You’re not here to save us?”
Unlike the other elves, this gray-haired elf was unusually calm, her tone even tinged with hostility.
“Don’t misunderstand. I am here to save you. But you have to come with me first.”
Lucas rummaged through the bodies, found the carriage keys, and tucked them into his pocket.
“The keys are with me. If you try anything, you might not be able to leave here.”
“You! What are you trying to do?”
The gray-haired elf grasped the cage bars, looking ready to tear Lucas apart.
“Well, you’re just coming with me.”
How could he report back to Yivina without a single live captive?
Lucas retrieved his horse and escorted the carriage full of elves back to the capital.
Upon arriving at the Knight Order’s gate, Yivina was already standing there, as if she had known he’d return.
A black hawk perched on Yivina’s shoulder—Lucas recognized it as the same hawk that had delivered a message to him yesterday.
So that was it, the black hawk was the messenger…
It really was intelligent.
“Any live slave traders?”
Yivina glanced at the carriage, noticing only Lucas and the elves had returned.
“Uh, there should have been one.”
Lucas looked toward the gray-haired elf inside the cage.
“But she…”
“What did I do wrong?”
The elf girl gripped the cage again and questioned Lucas through the bars.
“Sigh, never mind. It’s not like we came back empty-handed. We’ll question these elves later. You’ve worked hard—go rest for now.”
Lucas handed the keys to Yivina, glanced once more at the gray-haired elf in the cage, then entered the Knight Order without saying more.
That elf girl was the one he was looking for, but how could he make her trust him?
After everything that just happened, her impression of him probably wasn’t good.
Lucas stayed put, sitting alone in the Knight Order’s hall, pondering his next move.
“Sigh…”
Lucas buried his hands in his hair, frustrated.
“Headache.”
A figure stood before him.
From Lucas’s lowered gaze, the first thing he noticed was a pair of bare, impeccably clean feet.
Unlike ordinary people, the visitor’s feet and calves were covered in green, vine-like patterns.
Clearly, this was no ordinary person.
Raising his eyes, Lucas met the gray-haired elf’s look of disdain.
“How long are you going to stare at my feet?” she asked coldly, her tone full of contempt.
“Uh… they’re quite pretty. I couldn’t help but look twice…”
Not lying—he was genuinely admiring the feet. Were elves’ feet really that beautiful?
“You…”
The elf’s cheeks flushed red with embarrassment and anger.
“I was going to thank you, but now I’m not. I shouldn’t have bothered!”
She snorted and turned to leave.
“Uh, is your questioning over?”
Lucas quickly called after her.
“I was the first to be questioned. What’s it to you? What do you want?”
The elf girl stopped, turned sideways, and looked at Lucas with caution.
“Aren’t elves isolated from the world? How did you get captured?”
Lucas had been curious about this ever since he discovered the captured slaves were elves.
Now was his chance to ask.
“How should I know? Those bastards just suddenly raided our tribe. I can’t understand how ordinary people even got in.”
The gray-haired elf remained cold.
Then she turned and walked toward the exit of the Knight Order.
“Wait, where are you going?”
Lucas hurried after her.
“Where else? We’ll go back to our original tribe once the others get out.”
The elf girl didn’t even look back.
Hearing this, Lucas’s heart tightened.
He suddenly reached out and grabbed her hand.
The unexpected move froze the elf girl’s body.
She turned and stared at Lucas with hostility.
Maybe it was his imagination, but her hand grew colder and colder, as if draining his body heat.
“What are you doing? Let go of me.”
“You can’t go back, Nolly.”