CH 68

Translator: “Hakou”                             Editor: “Weasalopes”                

「I’m back」

I speak to my kins who were waiting in the living room, after barely surviving a life-threatening crisis.

After setting up a pet door that connected to the garden, they would greet me like this from time to time.

(But again… it was really dangerous back there)

It was arguably the biggest crisis since I transferred to this world.

If even a small mistake were made, I would be crushed by that dark brown golem, along with Old Lady and herbivorous mechanic.

The mechs of the merchant guild along with their stuff and people were about to get wiped out by that thing too.

(There’s no doubt that guild master and the others would scold me harshly)

TOP ARTICLES1/5Mercenaries in Apocalypse Volume 1Chapter 29

Right after returning to the Royal capital, I went to the guild master office with that in mind.

However, the herbivorous mechanic chased after me in a hurry and held me off.

[You must be tired], he said.

The herbivorous mechanic must’ve been feeling responsible on our way back.

Perhaps he’s thinking of taking on the role of being scolded, by himself. Because maybe if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to put her mind at ease.

After pondering about it for a while, I decided to take up on his offer.

And I arrived at home just now.

(I’m really thankful for being able to meet these guys again)

I thought to myself.

I’m worried about these guys if I were to die.

I felt as though I wanted to get life insurance for my family.

I switched my feelings and sat beside Imosuke and Dangorou to talk like what a normal family does.

「Hm? What’s wrong?」

I felt something unusual. It feels like something serious.

When I was paying attention to the two, Imosuke started to move.

It starts climbing on the back of Dangorou who was beside it.

Dangorou didn’t move one bit.

Once Imosuke climbed up, it turned my way. Dangorou also raises its head a little.

『Kii–』

……It appealed to me.

I don’t know what it wants to do.

All I can see is that the two are pretty serious.

I can feel a wave of worries, anxiety, and impatience mixed together in the air. Probably from these two.

Then I realized that I must take this matter seriously.

I laid down on my stomach, adjusted my line of sight with my kins, and asked a question.

「What, are you guys that worried about such thing?」

『Kii–』

It turned out not to be that serious.

They were just worried about the fact that I recently formed the Doom squad and the fact that Unicorn got a hold of me.

Well, technically we’re not entering the Doom squad.

At this rate, won’t the distance with me will grow further apart? From such anxiety and impatience, they acted like this.

『Kii–!!』

「It’s okay, it’s okay. You don’t have to shout like that」

I said while laughing.

It seems to think that if it does the Doom squad shout, it’ll be able to join the group.

「It’s not like that you know. In the first place, you guys already are a member of Doom squad」

[Really?] It asked.

「Yeah, even your standing is so much higher than that unicorn」

[Right, something like a high-ranking executive], I added.

A wave of happiness came back. I want to keep this in mind.

That’s right, I said as I pointed at Imosuke.

「Imosuke will be the deputy leader then」

I thought a little.

「And Dangorou will be….. The general」

It seems relieved.

The wave of anxiety was no longer in the air too.

「Would you like me to introduce you guys to The Unicorn as the superior?」

These two are spirit beasts.

There should be no problem showing them to others.

Imosuke and Dangorou responded after a brief discussion.

It seems they’re okay with not being introduced. They prefer to be an eminence in shadow, or so they say.

The heck? That sounds cool.

「By the way」

I switched my thoughts about the word eminence in shadow that already took a root inside my heart and asked one more question.

「Why are you climbing on Dangorou?」

They never do this kind of thing until now.

Both answered immediately.

『Imitating』

Imitating? …….Are they imitating someone?

Doom squad, Unicorn, on top…… imitating…..

「Aa!!」

At that time, I felt the feeling of a parent who had been caught doing night activities by their kids.

Right, the remodeling play with Unicorn was done in this room.

They must’ve been watching us from somewhere.

「Ah, hey! Doing something like peeking is NG!!」

This time, with my words, came a wave of dissatisfaction from them.

***

“Froy, the elf shop. Where a lovely elf welcomes you” was at stake.

And to be honest, I really don’t know what happened.

It just that one day, a customer came to the store and nominate one girl after another.

And after the play, those who were nominated became unconscious without exception.

After some time, their consciousness will return. But unbelievably, some body parts of those girls have become a terribly high-sensitive sensor.

The only thing those girls remember was those parts were touched relentlessly by that customer.

But a mere male human couldn’t possibly do anything that will affect us, the elves.

(Magic, Drugs… none of those were the cause of it)

The concierge’s face clouded.

Since then, they inspected the girls’ body thoroughly.

But the result was always the same, they’re healthy and everything was normal.

(But the abnormality do exist in reality)

He looked around the lobby with sharp eyes.

It was full of customers waiting for their turn.

And in the private room on the second floor, the elf women are being succumbed to those customers one after another.

(Impossible, to a mere human race… This isn’t something that can be let happen)

The concierge clenched his teeth.

The elven women you’re dealing with are already beyond her limit.

To the point that they can only stand because of their pride as elves.

But even that pride is about to be broken and crushed every time it welcomes customers.

The severity is too high to bear.

「…… Close the store!」

The concierge gives instructions to the clerk.

Closing the store early because losing to a mere human race is the ultimate humiliation.

But he can’t afford to let in another customer at this rate. Or something bad will happen to the girls.

The clerks explained that they are closing the store now and driving out the customer.

(Now, what should we do about this…..)

The exhausted concierge sits loosely on the sofa.

The customers didn’t want to honestly return and complained. Some of them were shouting and some tried to come at him.

I managed to push them back and finally locked the front door.

「All of you too, go home」

The concierge shows the male human-races the back door with her chin.

They are brainwashed by the female elf in this store. The so-called servant.

I want to get rid of the noisy bunch along with those servants.

「What’s wrong, you didn’t hear me? I told you to go home didn’t I !?」

The concierge became irritated because the servants wouldn’t move.

「Let us meet our master」

One of the servants named Bosori said.

The concierge clicked his tongue.

If it’s an elf, their servant wouldn’t hear anyone else’s command except their master.

The servants followed the concierge command earlier because their master wanted so.

And the concierge can’t stop the servant’s desire to meet their master.

「What are you lots doing here? Hurry and go home already」

The Baltic beauty* appears from behind and commands the servants.

Her face is more tired than before and a dark shade formed under her eyes. It’s proof of continuous hard work.

The nine female elves each have one to three servants.

And there were 20 servants here, it was every one of them.

[TL Note: A beauty from the baltic region where the people called The Balts, thus, Baltic beauty]

「I, do, pleasant things….」

“Huh?” The Baltic beauty makes a confused face.

But the next moment, her expression turned into shock and fear.

The servant who should have been obeying her words attacked her.

The servant instantly pushes down the Baltic beauty and spreads her open her legs with both hands.

Then he began to say, “My master, will be the most pleased”

The servant caught wind of it. Master said beans are her favorite. She also loves to treat people.

And after seeing the customers coming out of the store, this servant was convinced that the rumors were true.

The servant realized that he can’t be falling behind others.

That part is the only thing he can’t yield.

「Uuu—」

The servant reaches for the bean while leaking incomprehensible mutters.

The master tries to hide it with her hand, but he doesn’t pay any mind.

He only wants to please his master more than anyone else, that’s all.

Opening the sheath, he put it in his mouth. It’s delicious.

And when he saw that his master is making a pleasant expression, He also got happy.

But that happiness didn’t last long.

「UOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!」

Because another servant rushed in.

Their shoulder collided, throwing the servant who was there first.

From there, the servants fiercely struggling at each other to get the bean.

This person is also a servant of the Baltic beauty. He can’t give that love to others.

But things get worse.

Another person was approaching, putting fuel to the fire. Yes, the Baltic beauty had three servants for her beauty and skill.

At the foot of the Baltic beauty, it became chaotic because 3 men were fighting for her bean.

She protruded her tongue and her eyes already turned white. (TL Note: Ahegao)

「Stop it! Won’t you stop it already!」

The concierge shouted.

But the servants just stare at each other’s eyes.

「I, go, meet master」

Suddenly, one person walks towards the back of the store.

Perhaps inspired by him, the other servant also starts moving.

The slow walk quickly became faster, and eventually, everyone was starting to run.

“I want to meet my master”, that pure thought could not be stopped by the concierge and the clerks.

In the first place, it is physically impossible with that number of people.

If you forcibly stop it, they will berserk and rampage.

「No use, the brainwashing is dissipating」

The concierge wanted to cry.

After a lot of hardships and struggles to brainwash them so they could become a source of income. All of that was about to be lost now.

By the way, what exactly is the brainwashing performed by the elf?

『The answer is, it was a low rank self-suggestion magic』

That’s the actual truth.

It’s an ability to show your power by making a suggestion to oneself or keeping the heart from breaking apart when you are mentally weak.

That was the magic used at that time.

Naturally, it’s common magic among the human race.

However, among the elves, it was handed down as a secret technique.

And that secret art is,

『To give a suggestion to those with a broken heart and make them obey the caster』

That’s what it is.

Originally, it was low-level self-suggestion magic.

Normally, you can’t put it to other people than yourself. Otherwise, it will be destroyed by their magic resistance.

But they are able to do it to a person with a broken heart.

It started with a way to prevent a suicide attempt.

Although the caster only places it at the bad places, the technique was proven to be working.

They were able to prevent suicide attempts and give them time to regain their spirit.

「This could actually help in treating mental disease and illness」

The caster was pleased.

But soon it is used for another purpose. As a means of brainwashing.

The origin is low-level magic. There is no effect like absolute obedience.

The best it can do is to tweak your opponent’s sense of value and make them loyal to you.

It can only last at it’s best for 10 days.

However, even at that level, it was extremely effective depending on how it was used.

『Thus a source of income called servants is made. And once a week they renew the magic to maintain it』

I don’t know who came up with it first.

But with this cunning technique, the caster had access to all the money, information, and whatever the servant could offer.

Of course, this is a serious crime and considerable punishment awaits them.

However, there was a condition that elves would likely make.

『Using this technique to an elf is prohibited』

In other words, you can use it on anyone except the elves.

It was even encouraged in the elf villages.

And for that, this technique is,

『A way of how the advanced race like elf can subdue other vulgar races.』

As it has been inherited among the Elves.

「…………….?」

A servant stands with a dumbfounded appearance.

His master is twitched at his feet with her legs wide open.

The bean he sought showed a prominent appearance, and warm juice was leaking out intermittently in the immediate vicinity.

He looked around slowly and leaned his neck, leaving the back door.

「The brainwashing dissipated」

The concierge who saw that, realized.

That this technique has its weaknesses.

It was that the master must always have the high ground.

So if you knocked down the master as what he just did, the position will be reversed and the brainwash will be undone.

(What will happen if the brainwashing was undone, I wonder?)

Recognizing that, fear runs through his spine instinctively.

(Probably nothing will happen, maybe they will only be freed)

Up until now, he never heard of the brainwashing being undone.

And of course, he never experienced it herself.

He imagined a what-ifs scenario and gulped down his saliva.

(What if you noticed that you’ve been brainwashed?)

She involuntarily looks around.

We live in a city where the majority is filled with the human race.

Unscrupulous guys that you didn’t even care about previously, suddenly seems like a ferocious existence.

(If that happens, then it’s the end)

Despite the desperate concierge, a scream can be heard from the back of the store.

With every sharp scream, one brainwash is being undone.

At this rate, all of the brainwashings will soon be undone.

After leaving the forest and setting up a shop in the royal capital of the human-race, the efforts that have been made to make it bigger are going to return to nothing.

Or worse, it may even be life-threatening.

The concierge, the owner, crouched on the floor while holding their head.

***

「Good evening. Thank you for the other time, uncle」

An elderly man walking in the downtown area on the weekend.

There was a woman who spoke to him.

Curly hair, thick eyebrows. Pretty beautiful.

There is a dark shade beneath her eyes, even that supplements the model of her beauty.

(An elf huh)

The elderly looked at the ears and the thin thighs, wrapped in black tights, protruding from the skirt above the knees despite the winter.

I’m happy to be called out by a beautiful woman, but I don’t recognize her.

「Today is a special service day, nano. It ’s cheaper than usual you know. Why don’t you drop by?」

(What, it’s just a hooker huh)

He grasped the situation.

I don’t remember going to elf stores recently, but I’m sure that’s one of their techniques. It also feels strangely friendly.

(Well I guess it’s okay once in a while)

Elves are beautiful, but they’re expensive. But she said today it will be cheaper.

(And even if it’s a scam, I can give out my name and get away with it)

The elderly have a connection to the guards.

He believed that a small fries villain of the shopping district wouldn’t be a match against him.

「Fine. Take me there」

With that said, the elderly let the mini skirt elves link their arms.

Then he walked to the store, pushing his elbow against his thin chest

Elves shop, Froy. “A wonderful elf will welcome you.”

A lovely male elf should’ve been gently escorting you, but they suddenly closed the store.

The reason is unknown.

Froy should have been particularly busy recently.

There was only one elf shop in the royal capital, so many men and women who love elves were disappointed.

Women, in particular, were so shocked that they left the house for a while and even tried to go to the elven village.

It was a demonstrative example of how popular the elves were.

Not many people know about it but, a knight pilot school instructor disappeared around the same time as the shop closed.

People that were close to him were worried and searched for him, but no clues about his whereabouts to this day.