Game of the World Tree

“True Elven Slaves?”

Caige’s heart skipped a beat.

Just as he was about to inquire further, the old steward suddenly rushed over, sweating profusely.

“Master! Master Caige! A few people claiming to be companions of Mr. Demacia have suddenly arrived outside… and they brought along with them over a dozen elves!”

“Over a dozen elves?”

Caige couldn’t help but exclaimed in astonishment. He widened his eyes, casted a doubtful glance at Demacia.

The latter just lifted his head slightly, looking rather proud, and muttered,

“It seems… my people have arrived. Hehe, should we go check?”

He nudged the older man with a sly expression which made Caige’s face slightly contorted.

Apprehensively, Caige glanced at Demacia and nodded.

Back in the entrance hall of the Sauron Company.

Caige, who hurriedly returned from the slave showroom, finally saw the elves Demacia had mentioned.

The entrance hall was filled with over a dozen elven slaves, with some appearing as if they were in their teens, while others in their twenties.

Of course…if one were to factor in their ages in comparison to an elf’s lifespan, it would likely mean that these elves were not even two hundred years old.

This was the prime age for elven slaves to be sold!

And what’s more… there were over a dozen of them as well!

Caige’s eyes flickered with a faintly amazed sparkle.

All of these elves were obviously prepped in advance as they all wore gorgeous traditional elvish style of clothing, whilst they stood in place quietly, displaying exceptional manners.

Upon the arrival of Caige, Demacia, and the others, these elves then respectfully and obediently bowed towards Demacia, uttering in unison:

“Master.”

…Master?

Caige’s eyes for a moment bore a look of sheer astonishment.

To address a human as their master with such respect, this grand show of obedience must be really difficult for these obstinate elves, given their inherent upbringing as a proud and lofty members of the Elvenkind.

At this moment, the older man couldn’t help but glance once more at Demacia. His previous scornful expression finally changed as it is now mixed with a tinge of recognition.

The red-haired on the other hand, still wore a provocatively insolent look. He merely nodded at the grandiose manner he was greeted before arrogantly walking towards one of the guest seat in the hall and sat down unceremoniously.

“I’m thirsty.”

He nonchalantly muttered as he shook his head.

Immediately, two elves approached and served him a cup of coffee.

“My shoulders are a bit sore.”

Demacia smirked and another pair of elves hurriedly came behind him, massaging his shoulders.

“My shoes are a bit dirty.”

Demacia shifted his gaze towards his shoes, and as if on cue, another pair of elves approached him, half-kneeling, and commenced cleaning his footwear.

“Okay…now I feel like eating some fruit.”

Demacia looked at the fruit basket on the table as another elf came up to him, peeled the fruit, and then gently stuffed it into his mouth.

Demacia’s expression then became more triumphant and unrestrained as he observed all the elves serving him.

“Everyone, recite these words, ‘We are dogs raised by Lord Demacia.’ “

Silence.

Other players: “…”

All of a sudden, every actions of the elves serving him came to an abrupt halt. What’s more, the air… became strangely heavy and somewhat eerie.

Demacia, as if sensing the brewing trouble, hastily typed in the chat group:

⤷ Dear everyone, esteemed seniors! I am the dog! I am your ever loyal dog! Just please bear with me this time…It’s all part of the questline! I’ll make it up to everyone later on and treat you all to a barbecue once we’re back in the Chosen City…”

After a brief stiffness, the elves displayed radiant smiles as they stated in unison,

“We… are dogs raised by Lord Demacia.”

However, despite their outwardly bright demeanor, a slightly resentful undertone was intermixed within their voices.

Nevertheless, at this critical moment, fortunately, Caige seemed not to have caught onto it.

Demacia inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

Then, he looked at the older man with an even more triumphant expression:

“How about that?”

On the other side…

Both Caige and Li Mu showed looks of utter bewilderment.

Eternal Lord above!

How were these elves trained?

Watching these elven slaves show obedience like this, Caige felt his worldview collapsing.

Seeing their dumbfounded reactions, Demacia felt even more emboldened.

He confidently grabbed an elf’s hand, causing the player to shiver involuntarily, but still managing to put on a smiling cramped face.

Then, Demacia pointed at the player’s hand and face.

“Mr. Caige, see this? This is what’s considered a true elven slaves! Meanwhile, the elves you have over there, even the ones you’re so proud of in the innermost chambers, are they even receiving proper skin care maintenance? Clearly they can’t match the quality of my elves. Just look at these… their skin is as tender as a baby’s!”

Li Mu rolled his eyes.

Well of course, it’s like a baby! After all, our bodies will completely rejuvenate after reviving and practically everyone engages in death-seeking behavior on a daily basis. So even though the penalties for resurrection are much higher now, it’s still common for us to have a mishap every ten days or so.

So this so called skin care ‘maintenance’ is just us constantly dying, isn’t it?

“And… look at their appearance, look at their figures. Aren’t they quite exquisite? Definitely much better than what you have, right? My elves clearly have far more outstanding looks even amongst their kind!”

Demacia proudly declared.

Li Mu couldn’t help but secretly gripe once again.

Yeah, no kidding! I mean, unlike the ordinary elves, we’re given freedom to thoroughly customize our avatars’ appearance when we started the game, so it’s no wonder everyone looks so stunning….

“And… they are quite obedient and adaptable as well.”

Demacia smiled faintly, before nodding to a pair of elves.

“You two, go give Mr. Caige here a shoulder massage.”

Immediately, the two elves that was ordered positioned themselves at the older man’s back as they began massaging his shoulders.

Caige : “…!”

The older man couldn’t help but widened his eyes as their hands expertly stroked his back, whilst a refreshing sensation coursing through him, both physically and mentally.

Watching the two familiar figures, Li Mu’s mouth involuntarily twitched as he resisted the urge to facepalmed himself.

Aren’t these two, members of our guild who do blind massages? Did Demacia also rope them in his scams too?

After they were done, Demacia looked at Caige with great satisfaction.

“So how about it? Aren’t they much better than your elves?”

By now, Caige was thoroughly shocked.

“H-How…How did you manage this?”

Questioned the older man, as his face displayed clear looks of astonishment.

“Hehe, it’s a unique training method! Something you won’t ever learn.”

Demacia shook his head.

Looking at these high-quality fully obedient elves, Caige was indeed thoroughly impressed. However, despite how exceptional these elves are, one matter still bothered him and Caige couldn’t help but asked in a skeptical tone—

“—But…why are all your elves male?”

“Cough! cough, cough…”

Demacia inadvertently spew out the coffee from his cup as he erratically replied, “…A-Aren’t male elves better anyway?”

His eyes then roamed aimlessly for a moment, as if he were in a dilemma, before it sparked back again with enthusiasm.

“Uh…t-that’s right! It’s precisely because they are male that they are better!”

“Mr. Caige, think about it. Didn’t male elves usually resist being enslaved more fiercely compared to their female counterparts? So these fully obedient male elves are way more precious and rarer than any female elves!”

“Moreover… not only that, but their looks are much better than the female elves you currently have! Besides…doesn’t some nobles also fancy some male elves as well?”

Demacia winked at Caige.

Of course, the real reason there weren’t any females at all was that he couldn’t attract any willing players of the opposite gender to join his schemes.

After hearing Demacia’s words, Caige’s thoughts stirred as he mulled over it.

Now that I think more about it…

There’s some truth to it!

Compared to female elves, males are more challenging to deal with and slave hunters oftentimes ended up exterminating these male elves since most of them preferred dying while fighting over being captured.

Moreover, from the perspective of breeding half-elves, theoretically speaking, male elves would have an advantage over female elves…

Alas, no slaver have ever tried to do so because they couldn’t find any obedient male elves willing to do the deed!

But…these fully obedient male elves were entirely different.

If he could somehow, acquire some of these male elves then he could in theory, build himself a sustainable helf-elves breeding farm!

These past recent years, elves are getting more and more scarcer and harder to hunt especially in the wild, plus there’s really not a stable supply of them that could fill in the huge demand in the market.

Therefore, if he could somehow successfully establish a breeding farm, then his position within the company and Sauron Household would undoubtedly rise like never before since he could theoretically procure himself a constant supply of elves unlike most of his competitors!

For a moment, Caige considered the possibilities and found himself genuinely intrigued by the idea.

“…State your price.”

The older man said in a feigned casual manner.

Demacia lips curled into a cheshire grin.

“We don’t want money.”

He shook his head first.

Caige narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Not interested in money?”

Demacia chuckled.

“That’s right, we aren’t. Instead, we’re willing to exchange all these male elves for all the elven slaves in your esteemed company!”

Hearing this, Caige was momentarily stunned, before sporting a cynical smirk.

“Mr. Demacia, do you take me for a fool?”

“You just said you could train any elves like a fully obedient slaves. Are you perhaps also going to train our elves before selling them at a higher price at the upcoming auction? If so, then aren’t I eventually going to lose in this deal?”

Demacia adamantly shook his head in response.

“That might be so, but the problem is, you still won’t be able to train them like I do, nor will you ever learn of my taming methods, Mr. Caige. Because my method demands talent and other specific conditions,” the red-haired replied before continuing,

“Additionally, the elders in my household also won’t let our taming methods leak out to any outside groups. Mr. Caige, believe me, our elders are truly formidable; not even your company could afford to provoke them, even if you have a legendary expert.”

Elders that couldn’t be provoked? And he’s telling me that his household aren’t even afraid of a legendary expert?

Caige looked at him with some suspicion.

“And…as I stated before, the quality of your elves is inherently inferior to ours!” Demacia reiterated with emphasis.

Caige fell silent.

“Does your taming methods… have any negative effects?”

After a moment, the older man asked again.

Demacia laughed.

“You still think it’s not possible? They genuinely consider themselves slaves, with no negative effects whatsoever.”

After saying that, he gestured towards the male elf he was holding.

The player nodded quickly:

“That’s right, we are slaves!”

For a moment, Caige was even more astonished. He stayed silent for a moment, as though contemplating hard onto something, until the older man adopted a determined expression.

“Fine, we have a deal! But after we exchanged our elves, you’re not allowed to sell them within the empire, and you certainly can’t participate in the upcoming auction. You can only sell them back in the Kingdom of Aries.”

Caige added these conditions to prevent the other party from taming these elves as well, and then selling them at the auction.

Demacia smiled slightly.

“No problem!”

Seeing this, Caige was reluctantly satisfied.

Although he knew the other party wouldn’t be at a loss, if he could manage these male elves well, then these batch of fully obedient male elves would be the foundation of his eventual success in the future.

And at this moment, Demacia smiled yet again:

“Lord Caige.”

“I don’t know if you’re willing but we have another business that might interest you…”

As he spoke, Demacia called some other players and took out the Lionheart Sword…

— 278 —

【 ISN’T MALES BETTER ANYWAY? 】

NEXT

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