“Slave Contract Letters?? The legendary kind??”
The elves looked at each other, their gazes a mix of fury and bewilderment.
One of the younger male elves suddenly gasped.
“I think… I’ve heard of something similar in storybooks,” he said hesitantly.
“In the legends of Heroes slaying dragons… there’s something called a ‘Contract Sheet.’”
“It requires both parties to agree, using heart's blood as a medium to swear an oath to the God of Contracts.”
“Once violated, one would suffer divine punishment.”
The expressions of the other elves turned even stranger.
From the description, it… did seem a bit like that.
But did such things truly exist?
If they did, why would there be so much betrayal and infighting in the world?
If there were such things overseen and punished by a god…
then the High Elves wouldn't have become the shame of the elven race, the sinners who took away the World Tree.
All the elves stared at that letter with extreme suspicion.
Several elven warriors who had possessed decent cultivation in life quietly released their soul force to probe it repeatedly.
As it turned out…
it was just an ordinary letter.
The paper was ordinary paper, and the ink was ordinary ink.
It didn't have even a ripple of magical fluctuation; it couldn't even be considered a magic item.
“Elune protect us!”
An elven commoner suddenly whispered in terror.
“I-I was curious earlier… I looked at those opened letters outside!”
Her soul body trembled slightly. Thinking of those kin who had ultimately taken their own lives after being rescued, her eyes filled with fear.
“I wouldn't have… already become a slave?!”
Lin Gui immediately nodded, saying with a straight face,
“Yes! That’s exactly it!”
“A slave seed has already been planted in your soul.”
“Now, you are a slave at my beck and call, hehehe.”
He tried to make the final laugh sound more sinister, but the effect was barely there.
However, the companion beside that elf muttered in a small voice:
“I saw those letters too.”
“But the content of those letters… didn't seem to mention slaves, masters, or anything like that.”
“I caught a glimpse; it looked like a… poem written by our kin?”
“I think I even saw a familiar name inside.”
“It seemed to be Filna from the procurement team.”
Lin Gui’s expression remained unchanged.
“That was a disguise. Without it, how would you have stepped into the trap I meticulously prepared?”
“A trap written in elven script?” another elf couldn't help but ask.
“Of course!” Lin Gui lifted his chin. “Only then could I lower your guard!”
“Then do you understand elven script?” That elf blinked and suddenly spoke a strange sequence of syllables rapidly:
“washey li tiyah iwolie rae.”
Then she asked with an innocent face,
“What did I just say?”
Lin Gui: “...”
How the hell should I know?
Elven script was famously obscure and difficult to understand.
Lin Gui also had no interest in learning the elven script and language, which he found of little use.
Lin Gui’s mouth twitched slightly as he said tentatively,
“...It was ‘filthy human’!”
The elf shook her head, her tone sincere.
“No, I just made that up. It wasn't elven language at all.”
Lin Gui: “...”
The air suddenly went silent.
There was only the soft sound of snowflakes hitting the ground.
A subtle, almost embarrassing atmosphere spread out.
Lin Gui seemed to hear a snicker from Miss Eve, who was silently listening behind him.
Lin Gui took a deep breath and decided to give up all roundabout tactics.
He suddenly swung the wooden stick, pressing it against the neck of the little elf in his arms once more.
“A-Anyway!”
He raised his voice, trying to drown out the bizarre atmosphere.
“One person is not enough! I want one hundred and three elves!”
“Sign these ‘Slave Contract Letters’ I’ve prepared for you!”
“If you don’t want this little one’s soul to scatter…”
“Then do exactly as I say!”
These words finally reignited the elves’ fury.
Suspicion and embarrassment were instantly swept away as a wave of indignation rose again.
“Evil human!”
“Shameless!!”
“Despicable! You will get what's coming to you!”
“If you want to seize someone, come for me! Release the child!”
Lin Gui no longer paid attention to the insults and looked down at the list.
His gaze fell on the first name.
He took a deep breath and read at the fastest speed of his life:
“Eärendil-Telcontar-Ammanloth-… Shadow!”
Having read over twenty syllables of a complex name in one breath, he almost couldn't catch his wind.
That was how elven names were.
They would stuff in a bunch of tongue-twisting terms related to various faiths, worship of natural creatures, and the parents’ expectations for their child’s future.
Theia’s name used to be just like those on the list.
Just like the names of the elves at the outpost.
There used to be a long string of terms in the middle.
But since Theia was exiled from the Elven Forest…
her names were stripped away, ultimately leaving only Theia Windrunner.
Theia had told Lin Gui all this in Avalon after they developed a relationship.
Because Theia hoped she could add her lover’s name to her own.
That was elven tradition.
It was a testament of an elf entrusting their life to someone.
Lin Gui caught his breath before raising his voice again.
“Eärendil Shadow! Step forward!”
“Otherwise… don’t blame me for being unkind.”
An elven soul floated forward without hesitation.
He was slender, with a resolute face and fire burning in his eyes.
“Filthy human!”
“Elves will never submit!”
Lin Gui remained expressionless as he continued to read the next name.
Another elf stepped forward, staring at him with fury.
In this manner, one tongue-twisting long name after another rang out in Lin Gui’s calls.
One elf after another stepped forward fearlessly to confront him coldly.
Soon, the empty space, which originally only had Alyia, was filled with the souls of elves who were angry, stomping their feet, and looking awe-inspiringly righteous.
And right at that moment.
A slender, fair hand gently pulled the list from Lin Gui’s grip.
At some point, Eve had already stood by his side.
She elegantly snatched the list, her purple eyes scanning the paper as a faint, somewhat mischievous smile played on her lips.
Then, she began to read clearly and fluently in a tone mimicking a high-born lady:
“Philis Shadow.”
“Galadriel Shadow.”
“Thranduil Shadow.”
Every time she read one, an elf would be stunned, then gnash their teeth and step forward.
Eve would even occasionally wave her little hand, adding a few improvised, sharp, and flamboyant lines:
“Oh!! This elven lady, I imagine she could fetch an astonishingly high price in the market!”
“Big eyes, a high-bridged nose, and such a slender figure; those noble pigs will surely empty their coin bags for you.”
She read with ease and fluency, forming a sharp contrast with the way Lin Gui had just been gritting his teeth while calling the names from the registry.
The empty space grew fuller and fuller.
More and more angry elves gathered.
Lin Gui silently withdrew the wooden stick from the little elf’s neck.
The “hostage” in his arms also quietly lifted her small face, looking curiously at the group of impassioned kin before her.
The scene was…
exceedingly lively for a moment.
Lin Gui also seemed to notice the movement of the little elf in his arms.
He looked down and whispered to her with a smile,
“Don’t worry, it’ll be over soon.”
Rate on N.U.
