The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 125: Smuggling a fugitive is okay as long as you’re the Lord

Chapter 125: Smuggling a fugitive is okay as long as you’re the Lord

I thought Natha was exaggerating, but the elf really came...in a package.

It happened on a nice afternoon four days after Natha told me the news. I had been spending my days on the eighth floor since then--except in the afternoon when I had to resume my lesson with Eruha. Knowing that the elf inventor would be here, I continued my neglected work on the gun--or rather, on the bullet--while familiarizing myself with the place.

I had no idea what Natha wanted to do with this floor initially, but it seemed like it had everything. There was a meeting/planning room, an alchemy room, a mechanic room, a smithy, an enchantment chamber, a small library, storage, and even a living area that consisted of a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen/dining area that we could also use to rest and have a little lunch break in.

Anyway, I had no idea how to utilize those rooms for now, and all I had been doing was trying to extract mana from a mana stone, purified it through my system, and put it inside one of the bullet casings that was left.

The advantage of having dedicated research rooms was safety. Like Malta told me, all research chambers were put in one building for this reason. It was because the whole building was protected with a barrier formation that would contain accidental damage like an explosion. So I could safely put the bullet in the enchantment table and ushered the shaped, purified mana into the bullet from afar. And if things went wrong and it exploded, well...the the room wouldn’t get destroyed, at least.

Fortunately, it didn’t explode.

So now I had one bullet fully filled with purified mana. There was another empty casing left, but I decided not to fill it, because I still hadn’t tested the filled bullet. If it turned out to be a dud, I wouldn’t have any casing left for further experiments. Hence, I left the last one empty for now.

On that subject, I felt like I knew what I wanted to ask the elf first.

I was in the middle of trying to reassemble the revolver that I previously butchered back--while wondering what sort of formation I could use to improve or at least fix this stuff--when Natha came to visit me one beautiful, albeit rather cold, afternoon.

And he didn’t come alone.

Natha came with Heraz, and one other unfamiliar demon who I presumed was a member of the pale demon’s secret squad. They were carrying what looked like a footlocker--or a crate filled with magical ingredients, from the label slapped on top of it.

Behind them, I could see Lesta and Eruha trailing along, and I remembered that I had a lesson scheduled in the late afternoon. But they also seemed to be interested in the ’package’ that was being carried by intelligent agents and being escorted by the Lord himself.

"Your gift, Sweetheart," Natha spread one of his arms to the package, while Jade flew to my shoulder and excitedly stared at the huge crate as the two agents worked on the seal and opened the lid.

But when the content of the package was revealed, Jade chirped lowly in disappointment.

[Not candies...] Jade dropped its head and made a sound that was suspiciously close to a clicking tongue, before flying away uninterestedly toward the cushion on the top of the cabinet where it usually rest when I was working here.

Yes, unfortunately, it wasn’t candies, but a crouching figure of a grumbling elf.

He was a young elf, with the signature light blonde hair and golden eyes--just as it was mentioned in the story; the blessing of the sun for the Elf, the might of the forest for the Druid, and the grace of the night for the Drow.

This particular elf looked quite young. By human standards, he looked around my age, probably about a year younger--which meant he was probably around 50-150 of age. But unlike the elegant elves I saw before, this one was draped in a rugged traveling cloak and looked quite haggard. That didn’t mar the natural beauty that the elves had, though, grimy as he was.

While we waited for the elf to get his bearing, I asked Natha the impending question. "Why is he in a package box?"

Instead of...you know, walking dignifiedly with his own legs through the door.

"Because he’s a fugitive, and I still have elven contingents going back and forth to the castle until the banquet," Natha answered with a shrug.

I raised my brow at the unexpected word. "What banquet?"

"The one we’ll have before the Fallen Leaves Festival."

"Huh..." this was new.

"We digress," Natha gave me a smile that said we would talk about it at another time. "Anyway, that’s why we have to smuggle him."

"I wouldn’t need to be smuggled if you just left me where I was!" a sudden yell came from the box--from the elf that finally got rid of his dizziness and gripped the side of the box tightly while gritting his teeth. But he caught the cold flash in Natha’s eyes and the glaring golden orbs quivered as the elf lowered his head again and added. "...my Lord."

"Well, well," Natha tilted his head while crossing his arms, looking at the elf that was begrudgingly trying to climb out of the box. "But you owed me five years’ worth of progress, young elf."

Again, the elf snapped back with one foot outside the crate. "I’m a complete adult now, thank you very much!" and again, under the cold glint of the silver orbs, he lowered his head. "...Sir,"

I couldn’t help but bit my lips because...he was just so funny. Like he was perfectly the image of an arrogant elf in popular culture back on Earth, but also with a realistic comprehension of where the power lay within the room.

Watching an elf climbing out of the box while grumbling and stealing a glance toward Natha as if he wanted to check on the Lord’s mood was quite wild. It was like a cheeky kid who wanted to do naughty but had to be cautious of the strict grandpa in the room. I had to cover my mouth because I couldn’t hold back the chuckle coming out of it.

"And who is this giggling..." the golden eyes met mine, and he seemed to find a target to vent his annoyance. He tilted his head and looked me up and down. "What exactly are you? Human? Druid? Hmm...halfling?"

I could see the horror in the imps, Heraz and the other demon’s faces, but Lesta was positively pressing his lips to stifle a laugh.

"This lovely, giggling beauty is my bride," Natha put an arm over my shoulder, and stared down at the elf as he uttered the next words slowly. "Your new employer."

"I am?" I looked at Natha in surprise. I thought we were just going to talk.

The elf also seemed taken aback, as the golden eyes widened before turning into anger again. "What the hell?! There’s nothing like that in my contract?!"

"You’re talking contract with me, boy?" Natha snapped, and the elf stumbled back until he fell on his butt. The cold hand left my shoulder as Natha stepped closer to the elf, but I could feel the slight coldness in the room that had nothing to do with the weather.

Ah...so this was the Nightmare’s cold fear.

"You are supposed to make progress proportionate to the fund I send you, and you have been pulling credit from my bank more than any other inventors I sponsored," the voice Natha used was that low, calm, and eerie one he used when he wanted to give a warning. "With the least amount of progress."

Natha walked slowly, and every step he took got the elf inching backward until his back hit the crate. "As you are failed to give substantial proof that my money is well spent by the show of an annual report, you have to return the investment you take from my bank for the last five years."

You know, this was the first time I knew he was in a banking business too.

"I...I can provide you with the reports now!"

"That’s not how it works, kid. This is not an academic assignment."

At this point, I just stepped back and took a seat since it looked like it would take quite some time. Jade flew to my shoulder then, and chirped quietly. [Master, Nightmare scary]

"Is he?" I patted the little bird and watched them again.

"Urk..." the elf was sweating now, and the dirt on his face got messier. "But...but I had to move too much these past five years, Sir. Can’t you give me a leeway--"

"So you have time to take my money and go into auctions, but have no time to write me a report?"

"Urk--"

Natha stopped, a few paces away from the elf, and kind of looked like a gangster chasing a debtor. Kinda hot, not gonna lie. "I already give you a leeway by providing you employment so you can pay your debt."

"Come on, Sir!" the elf bit his lips, but somehow regained his wits as Natha stopped walking closer. "I know I’m indebted to you, but you’re not seriously telling me that I had to work for someone who doesn’t even seem like he ever held a weapon, right?"

Ah, so he was that kind of person.

The room was immediately filled with silence, since Jade also busy watching the show. It was to the point that the elf felt weirded out and looked around in confusion. "...what?!"

He looked toward his captors, the agents, but the one providing an answer to him was Lesta, who kindly crouched beside him and showed...what, a newspaper article? Where did he even take that out from?

That being said...

"Well...it’s true that I never held a firearm before--"

"Wait! You--ugh, I mean...Young Master, you’re a soldier?" the elf looked at me dubiously, so I realized that Lesta was showing him an article about me.

But I shook my head because I wasn’t a soldier, never was. "No."

"Does this look like a soldier to you?" Lesta shook the newspaper while rolling his eyes.

"Ugh, I mean..." he peeked into Natha, who was crossing his arms wordlessly, before shifting his gaze at me. "Alright, so you’re familiar with weapons..."

Umm...no, not really, he was right about everything, actually. I wasn’t familiar with any weapons, just Alveitya, and for me the Spear was more of a Sceptre to channel my mana and translated it into force.

"But the weapons I make are not like what you usually use,"

"I’m aware."

"So what’s the point of me working here if I’m going to work alone anyway?" he waved his hand desperately in the air. It seemed like rather than a controlled environment, he prefer to conduct his experiment in the wild.

Or...was it just some sort of superiority complex that made him reluctant to work for others?

I looked at him for a while, and because it seemed like Natha put the decision on me, I answered him with a shrug. "Well...you don’t have to."

I could see Natha and Lesta raised their brows, while the agents seemed to be dumbfounded. Only Eruha looked at me calmly, perhaps with an intrigued glint in his crimson eyes.

The elf’s golden eyes lit up as I said that he didn’t have to work here. "Then--"

"I just want you to make more bullet casings," I took out the bullet that I had filled with the purified mana. I had it encased in a vacuum bubble for now, and let it hover in front of me. "Like this one."

"Why do you want to..." he gave me a confused look, but when his eyes landed on the bullet, he paused. It took him several seconds to realize what I had done to the bullet and he suddenly scrambled to the bubble, even bypassing Natha. The golden eyes gleamed and I knew he was scanning the properties of the bullet, the purified mana inside. "Oh, my Goddess!"

I release the bubble and the bullet fell into his hand. He looked up at me, mouth agape. "This...how do you even--" he looked at the bullet, and then at me, and back at the bullet. "I mean...this is...this is..."

Looking at the elf, who was practically kneeling in front of me while stuttering, Natha shrugged and smirked. "Seems like he’ll stay."

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