Rael walked towards the tied-up elves, looking down at them as the cranky spellcaster glared daggers at him, while the one with paler hair—the blade wielder—kept her eyes closed. As for the youngest one, she stared at him with curiosity.
It caused Rael to scowl. Did they really think he wasn't going to kill them, or was it just their pride? Tossing that thought aside, Rael curved his lips.
"I believe you three know your status now, right?" he asked, earning no answer from the elves. Not like he expected any. He continued, "You're prisoners—my prisoners. I would say slaves, but clearly your prideful nature wouldn't allow that. And because I'm such a gentleman, I won't be taking you as slaves. Instead, I would be off—"
"We don't need your disgusting words. We won't grovel at the feet of a human scum like you. Just kill us if you may," Yasmin spat, cutting Rael off. He remained silent for a moment before continuing, choosing not to offer what he had in mind. Clearly it was still early to even think of recruiting them.
"Disgusting words, hmm?" Rael said, turning and bringing his head eye level with Yasmin. "But I wonder… why is it only you that sees my words as disgusting, mm?"
"Because they choose to ignore you," Yasmin said scornfully.
"They ignore it, but you can't stand it. I wonder why, hehe." Rael noticed a twitch in the beautiful elven spellcaster's eyes. It seemed it wasn't him she hated—there wasn't a reason to—but she hated humans… or well, men.
Choosing not to press further, he turned his gaze to the pale-haired one. "I'm guessing you're their leader, right?"
Iyvre opened her pale green eyes and stared at the human she found odd, but she didn't speak.
"Well, I'll take that as a yes, so I'll direct this question to you." He pulled out her blade—which he had already kept in his magic pouch. "Why did you invade my territory, and why did you attack me?"
"Pfft. You… call this a territory?" Ayobe chuckled mockingly.
A jab Rael chose to ignore. "That doesn't answer my question."
"And why should we answer your question?" Yasmin replied, still glaring daggers at him.
Rael sighed. He knew it would be tough to communicate with them, not to mention recruiting them. Guess the hard way, then. He raised the blade and pointed it towards the one he deemed the youngest, causing the pale-haired one to flinch.
"Hah. I see," Rael smirked.
"Don't you dare touch her!" Yasmin roared.
"Well, I don't plan to. That depends on whether we all have a conversation like normal adults," he said as he rested the blade on Ayobe's neck.
"I am the leader and the eldest," Iyvre finally spoke, prompting Rael to pull back the blade and Ayobe to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Now, that wasn't so hard, was it? Now answer my question. And no, I asked your leader—not you, cranky," Rael snapped, stopping the spellcaster from uttering a word, though she still stared at him like he was a child even a mother would hate.
"Me and my sisters were running low on supplies, so we had no choice but to… try to raid your home. Which ended badly."
"Oh yes, it did. I'm not the one tied up," Rael smirked.
"Look, clearly this was all a misunderstanding. We barged in uninvited, and you attacked us blindly. So I believe we can talk this out."
'Well, I was blind,' Rael thought, owing his life to Dominion Sense. And he definitely didn't buy the excuse of a misunderstanding. If he hadn't noticed them or defended himself—and won—who knows what they'd have done to him. He was certain that cranky spellcaster would've sent him to God, if there was any.
Staring down at Iyvre's enchanting green eyes, Rael couldn't help but blurt out a question.
"What's your name?"
Iyvre paused, staring back into the human's golden-brown eyes. "Iyvre."
"Tsk," Yasmin hissed.
"Hmm. That's a… well, my name is Rael." He turned his head away. There were rumors that elves—mostly female elves—could enchant men with their eyes. Of course he knew they were false rumors, but yet… for every rumor, there was a truth.
"My name is Ayobe, by the way. In case you needed to know," the youngest one said, drawing his attention. He'd noticed she was the only one that seemed normal—not stoic like Iyvre or hateful like the cranky one.
"Ayobe, okay. And…" Rael paused, not bothering to ask the cranky one her name. He knew she wouldn't tell.
"I'll just call you Cranky. So Iyvre, Ayobe, and Cranky—you three are my prisoners. Don't worry, I treat prisoners fairly, as I would treat myself," he said—not like he'd had any, Rael thought.
"But since I can't trust leaving you women alone in my home, I'll be bringing you along. And in a rudely manner, I'm afraid."
"Rudely manner?" Ayobe asked skeptically.
Not bothering to answer, he pulled at the handle of their chains and ropes before yanking and dragging them across the floor.
"You accursed human!" Yasmin cursed as she and her sisters were dragged along the floor. Iyvre simply closed her eyes, and Ayobe chose not to utter a word. After all, dragging them out of the compound might give them a chance. She knew her two sisters thought the same. She couldn't help but look at the strong back of this man called Rael. Was he that stupid?
It wasn't until Rael reached his wooden gate that something struck his mind.
'Shit. How the fuck did I forget that if I leave my territory, they'll recover their Aether? But if I leave them, they'll probably be up to something before I'm back.'
There was no way Rael would return them and say he changed his mind. It would make him look like a fool. He was certain they had come to that conclusion—they simply chose to stay quiet. It was their opportunity anyway.
'But it shouldn't be that quick for them to recover their Aether, right? And if I bring them back in, it should be drained… hmm. This is risky.' He turned, only to see the stoic faces of Iyvre and Ayobe—and of course, the hateful gaze of Yasmin.
'Bitches… tsk. They must be laughing at me now. I have to be quick then.' Rael would have to disappoint them. It was just cutting down trees, after all. A simple Blood Rend should do the job, then his magic pouch to make it easier to carry. He doubted they could recover in minutes, though they were Tier 3 Aether users. He was going to take the risk, even though he knew he would still have to find a way to keep them in check. He couldn't always drag them around—definitely not now that he had a quest to complete and preparations for the D-Day.
With those thoughts, Rael dragged the chains and pulled the elves behind him, heading towards the woods—causing the hopes of the elves to rise at this golden chance given by the stupid human.