~4800 Words because I fucking can!

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Place: ???

Time: ???

Enveloped in darkness, Irisk floated in a sea of thoughts she couldn't hold on to long enough to contemplate. Every time she tried to move or talk, there was resistance, which she quickly accepted, not caring about what it implied, as deliberation seemed a task for her future self.

It was like an adventure, with long-lasting lulls interrupted by the highs of short life and death battles, only that it all happened inside her mind, almost able to grapple with the situation she was in, until she sensed a weirdly sweet and bitter liquid on her lips, making her dizzy again—an enjoyment with a horrific notion in the back of her mind.

'Where am I? What happened?'

At some point, her mind cleared up long enough for her to understand what had been happening—every try to dispel the toxins from her body with her energy failed. The reason was evident with her feeling a pressing sensation around her neck—a slave collar.

'This is a nightmare—' She tried to wriggle around, getting free from the restraint, but instantly stopped when she heard voices that became increasingly louder as the dizziness subsided from her body, making her senses more recipient, '—that's not Common Tongue or Gutter Spit.'

Even though it was hard to understand, the languages differed significantly from what she knew by heart. They were so foreign that even the dialect only sounded familiar, something she may have heard decades ago.

'Not good.'

As Irisk's mind gradually cleared up from the drug, she remembered her last moments before becoming a captive—an Eros Alliance assassin tried to kill her. Still, since she was alive, the drawing of conclusions was trivial. The assassin became greedy and was now trying to sell her, which meant that she would become a slave.

'Fuck me—' She cursed inwardly, agitated as she knew what it meant to become like her Mother, '—Well, not like it will be much different if I am honest.'

Irisk resigned to her fate quickly—an effect of the drug? Maybe, but what was more likely was that she didn't live that much differently than one already.

What was slavery at its core? The lack of owning oneself and deciding how one's life would be, no matter how and if—a very lyrical notion, but the gist was there. In short, she couldn't change her fate but could only let it be changed. She became an object.

'Hopefully, I will get at least treated well.'

Irisk's life was one massive fight for survival, which began when she showed the slightest promise for talent, which promptly brought the first poisoning. It was so extreme that it stalled her growth and made her sterile. Obviously, there was no gold for an expensive priest as such healing would cost thousands of gold.

Fortunately, though, her talent and strength barely decreased; otherwise, she would've died due to the numerous assassination attempts from her siblings, who all wanted to become the new clan head and saw her as a nuisance since she could support any of them, making it much more difficult for the others.

'Well, I took what I could.'

There wasn't much to get from her relatively prestigious position as a child of the Uru clan—all she got were the Azure Spear Techniques, but even those were only at the beginner level—not much else.

Funny enough, her life was more miserable than the children of any half-decent craftsman or merchant. She needed to provide for herself the moment her legacy materialized—anything from simple undergarments to her favorite now-melted spear.

It was a dog fight that she already had lost— survival was her goal. She transferred herself to some useless island and waited for whoever would become the new head. Afterward, she would move to the Free Cities and become an adventurer, using her combat skills to get a decent job.

If she could get her little brother, it would be even better, as he was bedridden after; what a surprise, a poisoning—apparently the favorite pastime in her clan.

'My plan would obviously never work out—' She sighed inwardly, but it was not one of sadness, '—this is actually not so bad.'

It was customary that when someone became the new head, they immediately tried to eliminate everyone else who competed with them and, for good measure, everyone else who was somewhat involved.

This heavy distrust was also the reason their clans never grew well, even though they had the resources and talents. Some may argue it would be for the better, but killing off the ones in whom the clan put massive amounts of resources also had a bitter taste for Irisk.

'Hm, if I were a slave, what would I become?'

There were multiple types of slaves with three main categories, which her clan also had: Sex slaves, combat slaves, and labor slaves. She could become either one of them.

While she had a childish body, there were more than enough pedophiles, and as long as she was treated well by her new Master or Mistress, it didn't matter.

Combat was obvious, but it was most likely that she would become a labor slave since she was of higher standing and could read and write decently—essentially, she was a free accountant.

'Huh, am I happy? No, I would say relieved.'

For many, it may sound odd since she gave up, but with some luck, she could have a much better life than before. If her new Master or Mistress were somewhat decent, she would have three meals daily and a little work and could finally give up on looking over her shoulder, seeing a dagger in every shadow.

All she had to do was throw her dignity away—an easy task since she had none left. How many times did she kneel and beg? How many times was she humiliated before others? Easy, as long as she wasn't again beat with a half inch to death, naked, at a gathering, her new life would be splendid.

'Well, let's practice, not like it's any different than me crawling around my siblings and elders. May I take your hat, Mistress? May I help you with your hat, Master? No, may—' She stopped her thought as her mind became suddenly less de-muddled, able to understand the conversation between two individuals, '—that's... I don't know what to think of it.'

"Will, what the fuck is this?!"

"But Mr. Narsiz, you should know your enemies?"

"I know how Essence Alliance djinns look like—" His voice became much more strained, frustrated, "—we are right now consolidating the damn border, and you bring me a—" There was a pause, with Irisk sensing how someone stared at her, "—an Captain, I guess?"

Irisk was astounded by many things, beginning with the fact that it was a Moorgrelian noble since they used a very particular c-sound when cursing—Narsiz K. Leonandra.

It was one of the wolven bitch's children, a boy who was seen as a failure by her clan as he did nothing but hang around at the estate, probably enjoying his life and doing nothing.

'He is right that I am a captain, though.'

More surprisingly, the failure knew who she was and could identify her rank through whatever clues he could deduce. While those were fun tricks, she was genuinely worried since they spoke about a border.

'Oh no, I thought those damn animals wouldn't be that insane! Damn it!'

Mal-Gil, or rather, Moorgrel, was heavily hierarchical, with the same families ruling the whole territory. This made the governance and decision-making regarding the next heir relatively straightforward—a typical canine-kin thing and a reason why those slaves were so expensive.

Once educated since they were young, they would become excessively loyal to the families owning them since they adhered to those structures which were ingrained into them through their blood.

However, what did it have to do with the border? There were barely any accountability mechanisms in their governance structure since whoever was responsible was also trusted to do their job well.

As such, many times, especially when they were young and overly aggressive, they would try to start a war, which, as she listened to the boy, reminded her of his Grandmother, a monstrous bitch, who thought that diplomacy was a desert.

Scarlett slaughtered hundreds of thousands of djinns, wracking havoc around their territory with her annoying husband who was playing the rear—a sword prodigy and the one who, just for fun, fought three prodigies at the same time just to see if he could behead them simultaneously—they were all crazy fuckers hated by literally everyone.

Even though they tried to appeal to their Master, the Count, it didn't work since he said he trusted them. In short, it came to the worst, and the Essence Alliance forced conscriptions of able-bodied people.

It was a nightmare with her only getting pushed back when their elders countered—it was a massacre on both sides, with the Nightmare only stopping after some private problems occurred on her side.

'Shit—' Her back became wet, '—is this lazy sack of shit actually as bad?!'

Marisia was great since she never created war theaters and resolved everything diplomatically, which was also why their borders were boring. Boring was good, no. Boring was excellent since no one had to die, no resources were needed to fight, and their hostile relationship could at least cool down.

'No, no, no—' Her heartbeat stopped momentarily, '—my brother... they wouldn't dare.'

While Irisk didn't care about her clan that much and less about the people they ruled, there was one individual she didn't want to see sent onto a battlefield which was just a fun past-time for a little fucker.

Irisk came out of her thoughts when she noticed a very familiar and melodic voice, "Mr. Narsiz, she said something very thrilling ~♪—" He was the assassin, "—other than that, the border is doing perfectly fine. Our only deaths were accidental, and we even could follow Mr. Alexander's rules of sparing a few people, bringing them also over as prisoners."

"Great—" He sounded annoyed, "—how deep did you get in?"

"Until a third of the enemy's territory."

"Hm, good job, and what do people say in Azure and Fishbone?"

William sighed, "Well, nobody knows since nobody cares—" There was a sudden change in the mood, "—it's clear that as long as we occupy the territory, they will not put any serious resources into a counterattack, but will nonetheless try later on, so we will do as said and first fortify the position."

There were many things she didn't understand, making her panic turn into confusion and her half-baked plan, which was a combination of begging, crying, and swearing undying loyalty to at least wait a couple of years until her brother could leave the hellhole which they called their home.

'What the fuck are they talking about?!'

Other than what seemed to be a typical annexation for whatever reason, Irisk also understood that they not only wanted to occupy the island for the dungeon, as it would be enough to get some parts of it, annihilate everyone on the island, and make a deal to trade territory for territory with nobody being in the know on the Essence Alliance side.

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No, they genuinely annexed it, even taking over a population, which, when she thought about the djinn she fought, would be an insane action for either side.

'Who else?!'

There was barely any other race who would want to take over the island, especially in such a way and to such a degree. If it were the Eros Alliance Clans, the Essence Alliance would bring forth a heavy counterattack. Still, beside them were only High Demons left who allied with the beast-kin, whose ruling class barely held onto their territory as they defended it against much more severe folks.

Irisk confusion ended soon as they paid attention to her, "So, what exactly should she know?"

"Who knows, but by how she acted, Mr. Alexander would be most interested in her ~♪—" William took a step toward her, "—well, she knows the Lady at least, this much we know."

"Alex? My Mother? Explain."

"Oh, but wouldn't it be faster for her to do so ~♪—" With a swift move, William removed her blindfold and gag, "—this little girl is Irisk, and she begged not to die ~♪"

After adapting to the light, she first saw a half-naked and beautiful young wolf-kin boy who was measured by a tailor butterfly-kin. Looking at his golden eyes and delicate face, it was as if one of her fantasies became a reality where she educated someone like this—a reverse roleplay with such a snack would be something she wouldn't oppose.

'That's not going to work, though—' Her thoughts quickly returned to reality, as she made herself much smaller, trying to appeal to his paternal instincts, '—I guess whatever they want to do with me, I better appear as pathetic and pitiful as possible—' As she sat on the floor, she slightly crawled back, still bond by ropes, '—I also need to find out what the fuck they are doing.'

Why did she throw away the sex slavery idea even though she had nothing against it at first glance? First, close to her, was a beautiful fox-kin girl lying on a couch, eating some fruits, and reading a trash drama novel.

'I guess he doesn't need me for his urges.'

There was only one thing left, and that was political, which would actually make her one of the worst choices compared to her other siblings. While Irisk was part of the Uru Clan, she had yet to learn about secrets other than what should already be known by every semi-decent information organization, not to talk about the current Leonandra East ruling household who should've been better connected than her whole clan.

'I am so fucked.'

Other than that, beast-kin hated slavery more than anything else because of their harrowing history, going so far as even killing their leaders, nobility, or even emperors because they indulged or supported this practice.

As such, she would beg and hope that he could have her as some kind of slave working in the underworld, as otherwise, she was about to die. If she at least found out what they wanted to do and their timetable, she could send her brother a letter warning him to get ready and flee when the time was ripe.

'Great, he is now staring at me with those arrogant eyes.'

Irisk hated her life, family, friends, and folk. She hated everything for a good reason, in her opinion. Still, even though she had her moments of suicidal aviation, she was also a stubborn bitch, not wanting to die by all means necessary—a weird paradox.

'He is analyzing my worth—' She almost frowned, hating those eyes of discontent, trying to evaluate her, '—calling this bastard a shut-in loser is so far away from the truth.'

Little to say, she couldn't stare at him, needing to still appeal to his paternal instincts. This should make her look around as if frightened, allowing her to look around.

'Well, since I am not tasting acid while my throat and nostrils are getting dissolved, I guess I am not in Wolfsteeth.'

It appeared that she was in an ordinary house, rustical and somewhat chaotic, with many parchments, scribbles, and plans lying around in the open—apparently a strategy room.

Other than that, she also saw the djinn she fought, who appeared to be yellowish in appearance, far from any race she knew, but after he smiled at her, something in her mind came back, like a lost child tripping and rolling down a hill, breaking its neck as they laid before her.

"A rustler?!"

Narsiz turned to William, looking confused at him, but he only shrugged, acting playfully, "I guess you got me ~♪"

Irisk suddenly went wholly silent, knowing that they had exterminated one of their weaker clans because of a famine, giving them the blame for that to calm down the masses even though they were innocent.

Ultimately, the more significant clans forced the rustlers to fight and rob for resources. After a definitive loss, they were hunted down by practically everyone, only to be saved by the beast-kin, who also put them into Kratikal to die. It seemed they survived, which would be no less than a miracle. Still, she also understood what was happening.

"Are you here to take vengeance for your ancestors?—" She suddenly smiled, not caring anymore since she knew when to beg and not. Trying to exterminate a whole race was indeed unforgivable, "—Then just have fun with me and finish it. I am already in hell."

William raised an eyebrow, and the room suddenly became silent. Still, for some reason, there was no tense atmosphere, no killing intent or anything of the sort, just confusion, '—what is happening?!—' After another moment, the whole room began to laugh, with Irisk becoming confused, not understanding what was so funny. The djinn only waved his hand in dismissal, clearly not angry or sad.

"I don't care about any of this, and the reason we took the territory is that we need a new home—" He winked at her playfully, "—you see, the real estate was getting too expensive with all those darn demons ~♪"

Kafkaesque—a strange word used by the first hero to describe a bizarre situation one couldn't explain, like her now, but it was strangely accurate.

First of all, how did they survive? All sapients at the border of Kratikal needed to defend it. Otherwise, it would expand, taking away more useful territory.

However, all but one race could live on the border, enduring the extreme environment and thriving, which were beast-kin. All others would send prisoners, slaves, and other folk there as sacrifices to fight and slowly die.

How did it come to this? Races all had their exceptional perks, which gave them, in addition to their divine skills, abilities that were considered unique.

Djinns could influence their environment by just being there. For example, a water djinn would make it rain more often, increase the humidity, and, if there were too many, even able to create floods, even if it was very rare.

Another example was the human race, which held divinity. All had so much [Luck] that it was ridiculous, as divine beings blessed them constantly, with the most famous ones being the Hero, Saint, and Sage.

Beast-kin, though, were adaptable. While it sounded like nothing, they could live anywhere and thrive over generations, which was also why they were the only ones living so close to Kratikal and not turning into wild demons.

'So, how did they survive?'

When Irisk was close to Kratikal, her throat burned, and she needed to constantly drink potions to survive this hellish land, as otherwise she would just fall over and die.

'Wind djinn, night elves, and—' She suddenly smiled, '—scavengers, the other species which can survive anywhere.'

Scavengers, a subrace of humans, were even more incredible regarding adaptability. If they crossed-breed, the djinns and night elves became a new race, able to survive in this hellhole.

'At least I get it now.'

Irisk hated uncertainties, and sometimes, her mind forced her to ensure everything was as correct, checking every detail and deducing all actions anyone made back to the beginning since she wouldn't have survived otherwise.

It had positives, like checking for traps and poisonous food, but the negatives were that she had to think things through to the end, even if it didn't mean anything.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the bastard of a djinn, "Oh, look at her. She is so thoughtful—" William squatted in front of her. I guess you had a fascinating thought. Would you mind sharing it with us ~♪?"

Irisk smiled at him, becoming cocky, wanting to test the waters, "I now know why you survived, as you crossbred with scavengers, that's why."

William was initially baffled, but with him together, the whole group began to laugh. However, as he was about to say something, Narsiz interrupted him, waving him away.

"We got it, Will—" He came close after the tailor had finished taking his measurements and putting on a regular shirt, "—Go and help your colleagues—" He nodded toward multiple pouches on a table, "—The weapons are there, and while you do your thing, let me ascertain her."

Without many words, he straightened up again, bowed respectfully, and left while taking the pouch with probably those weird weapons with him, which she also witnessed. In her opinion, they were not strong, but when used correctly, they could kill Tier 2 combatants easily.

However, what worried her was that Narsiz was slowly walking toward her, but his following words were casual, calming her down as if he had not an ounce of evil intent in him.

"I really dislike this whole prisoner and warden play—" He snapped once, which created an energy, beautiful and full of fortune, which dissolved her ropes around her arms and legs.

He came closer, giving her a hand, wanting to help her stand up, "—Well, for the collar, we will let it on as we have many non-combatants at home who can be injured—" He suddenly smiled, reinvigorating and full of joy, which made her blush, "—Right, I assume, Ms. Irisk?"

Irisk took his hand, smiling back, "Please call me Irisk, as I am probably either going to die or become whatever you may decide, Mr. Narsiz."

However, while he was charming and probably able to enchant anyone else, he was perhaps using some weird aura that mostly only other beast-kin could sense at its full effectiveness. Maybe when he went through his first body modification, then any other race would be able to feel it, but for now, it was only a slight tingling.

When she stood up, Narsiz led her to the kitchen, "I see, but let me be honest, even though you may not believe me, I have no reason to kill you, make your life a—" He gestured with his hand, trying to remember a word, "—a living hole? Hall? Home? Whatever it is, I can at least promise you cushy work as an accountant for our intelligence team for the islands, with enough gold and freedom that you may think we are crazy."

Irisk chuckled, holding a hand before her mouth, "Hell, it is living hell, and is that how Mr. Narsiz makes promises? Are we going against your little brother, Mr. Alexander, or why are you trying to get me in such a way?"

Narsiz slightly positioned the chair for her to sit down, which she did as she learned. After that, he rolled up his sleeves and put on a kitchen apron, making her smirk inwardly, "Well, as you may know, Mr. Alexander is my little and beloved brother, but it also seemed that news didn't reach you."

Irisk smiled slightly at him, expecting the worst, "I am afraid they didn't, but you surely will inform me, right, Mr. Narsiz?"

Narsiz took a kettle, and what astounded her filled it up with water from the air, confirming one of those ridiculous rumors as he used no energy, 'They really can all now use magic, fuck me.'

Rumors went around all kingdoms that Alexander, the crazy genius, could give his family mana skills without anyone dying. There were ancient ways from all kinds of legendary magicians, but most were dangerous to a ridiculous degree.

This information alone was more valuable than 100,000 large gold coins, which, when made public, would also put Alexander in danger. Why somewhat? Because it was Moorgrelian territory, everyone insane enough to attack should be able to gamble their household, family, and territory on it, as they would be immediately hunted down for the slightest aggression.

If this was true, it also meant that all the servants could cast magic, which would mean that his ideals were true: 'He wants to create a society of mages.'

This slight but magnanimous change would bring forth the apocalypse and destroy whole kingdoms since mages were dangerous. Sure, a farmer could never reach the same level as an advanced mage, but what about ten farmers and five merchants? What about twenty craftsmen? What about a genius akin to Merlin or Sherazade, who came out of nowhere, revolutionizing magic and bringing it to their races, like Merlin to the beast-kin and Sherazade to the djinns?

A new paradigm shift would occur, with some little bastard at the forefront. Only a few powerhouses could survive this, but they were already absolutes, unable to be killed.

"Ow!"

Irisk suddenly felt pain on her forehead. Narsiz snipped her, smiling, "Magic is genuinely fun even though a bit hard to learn—" He returned to the open cupboard. What kind of tea do you like? We have the nine-herb varieties for relaxation and waking up and some Camilla and Laramie for better concentration."

She rubbed her forehead slightly, "Nine-herb, the mix which smells like a campfire, please, but you don't even deny that you do magic?"

Narsiz took a ceramic container and started to prepare the tea, "I know what you meant to say, but magic is fun and can better everyone's life. While it is also dangerous, so are our energy and divine skills."

Irisk raised an eyebrow, becoming more confused, "For what do you need me then? I am—" She sighed, "—listen, I would rather have this be my last conversation than me trying to prove to you for weeks that I have no noticeable information. I am a nobody who is simply decent with the spear and was poisoned multiple times. That's my life, but if you could at least let me write my last letter, which you can check and rewrite, I will tell you what you want, I promise."

Through years of talking and analyzing, she considered Narsiz the type you needed to be straightforward and honest with. There was no need to lie or deceive; the only thing she wanted was so minuscule it shouldn't be a problem.

Narsiz brought the tea to her and some cake, "This cake tastes the best with this tea—" He sat down, smiling at her, "—you misunderstand me again, but let me try like this—" He opened his arms, "—what should one do to get your undying loyalty?"

Irisk took a bite of the cake and a sip of tea, humming as they were delicious, "Hm! Another cup of tea, and I will give you the head of every elder!"

Narsiz chuckled, holding his hand before his mouth, "I see, but let's assume you have a certain value for me; what is there that someone like me or Alex can earn your everlasting loyalty for?"

Without much thought, she said it directly, "My brother—" She looked into his eyes after taking another sip, "—if you get my little brother, I will become whatever you want, even cutting out my heart, which you can use to make it rain in your greenhouse so your cabbages can grow faster."

Narsiz rolled his eyes, "I am asking seriously."

Irisk still glared at him, "I am serious—" Her stare intensified, "—if you get my brother, I will do whatever you want, without questions."

Narsiz leaned back to reach into his pants pocket. He pulled out a piece of snow-white parchment, and with a finger whirl, the ink from behind her began to move toward them.

"Deal, now tell me everything about him and his daily life—" He smiled genuinely at her, "—so we can get him out as easy as possible."

Irisk was sceptic, "Is this blackmail? A way to control me?"

Narsiz rolled his eyes, bringing the ink back into another bottle, "Fine. You want to know why I want you to be happy?"

Irisk nodded, becoming tense. Getting her brother out of their house wouldn't be too hard, but it would also be quite a risk. However, it was too weird for her that someone was this nice to her, and before she did something, risking her brother's life, she wanted to know exactly what they wanted from her.

"There is the method of inventing rumors and gossip, but Alex has told me how those methods could be done much more efficiently, potently, which he called so cutely fake news, so..."