Elwen the Conquered

Varian loosened the strap around Elwen's head, pulling the gag out of her mouth. She was relieved to finally have it out, but wasn't able to express her gratitude between sobs.

“I t-thought” she cried, “you w-weren't c-comming... I t-thought...”

“Shh... Shh...” Varian pulled her close and gently patted her on the back, “It's ok. I'm here now.” He tried to keep a calm and comforting face, but all he could feel was rage boiling up inside of him.

First, an attendant from the auction house was supposed to come and get him when Elwen was ready, but they never did. Coincidentally, he ran into Darrix, the merchant from the trading company, out in the lobby between sessions of the auction, who had asked him if he was satisfied with their services, assuming that he already had her. When he explained that he was still waiting for someone to bring her to him, he could practically see the shock pop out of his eyes. Apparently, the arrangement between his company and the auction house was that they would deal with him as a priority customer and complete the transaction as soon as he arrived.

Obviously, that didn't happen. Darrix was enraged by this, and swiftly went about escalating the matter to the auction house's owner. He learned that the auction house had a change in structure, and the new managers were apparently incompetent. So much so that Darrix had threatened to stop doing business with them if they didn't immediately rectify the issue. That led to all of them waiting in the owner's office for several minutes while the attendants frantically tried to track down where she was.

When they did finally track her down, it turned out that the attendants in the receiving room weren't aware that she wasn't supposed to be sold and sent her to the prep room with the others. The only reason she wasn't sold was that the auctioneer didn't have her on his list and he didn't know what to do with her at first. If it wasn't for the one of the agents in receiving catching the mismatch between the lists, she probably would have been put up in the end.

Honestly, he wanted to make them pay. If they had been any more incompetent, their mistake could have been irreversible. He could have lost her forever. But, he knew that murder was probably illegal here, so he wasn't able to do that. At least not if he wanted to stay around here. He settled on making this the last time he would ever interact with them and pushing Darrix to do the same. He might not be able to take their lives, but he could certainly ruin their livelihoods, if even just a little. He'll call it mercy; they didn't fuck up bad enough for him to kill them all, and they should be grateful.

Worst of all, they managed to convince Elwen that he wasn't coming for her. Ludicrous. Although, in their defense, that seemed to be more so something that she convinced herself of, after they didn't tell her what was happening. Either way, it didn't matter. He was here now, and he would always come for her.

They stood there for a few minutes as she let out her worries. He was more than willing to wait, despite his desire to leave this place as quickly as possible. When he felt that she recovered enough, he finally opened his mouth to utter something other than words of comfort. “Are you feeling good enough to go?” He had already settled the payment earlier, so they could leave whenever they wanted. The only issue was that he would have to track down someone from the company to get the crest switched over.

“Mm-*Hick*-mhmm” Elwen nodded.

“Ok,” Varian said, picking her up in a princess carry, “Let's go find Darrix. We'll need him to finish everything.” He began walking back to the office, hoping he hadn't left. He could only smile as Elwen snuggled up to his chest and fell asleep from exhaustion.

He could hear the two men arguing through the door as he arrived, although it wasn't distinct enough for him to understand what they were saying. One of the attendants near the door noticed him as he was walking up to the door and quickly entered. The two voices quieted for a moment, listening to whatever the attendant had to say, before bursting out into a rapid-fire argument again. It ended quickly, though, so that when he finally arrived at the door they were already done. The attendant opened the door, letting him in before quickly seeing himself out.

Varian didn't even want to address the owner, his establishment caused him too much trouble to even muster up a greeting. There was no point in it either, as he wasn't planning on maintaining any business relationship with him. Instead, he addressed Darrix. “We've found her. I'd like to be done with this as quickly as possible, so can we switch the crest?”

“Of course.” Darrix replied, “But first, I believe Mr. Forskh has something to say.” Mr. Forskh was the owner. Varian had no intention of remembering his name.

The owner let out a sigh, visibly dropping as he began to speak. “Mr. Shadowstorm, I recognize that were distressed by the unfortunate--”

“Ahem!” Darrix coughed, glaring at the owner. The owner returned his gaze, a hint of anger in his eye. Darrix merely tapped a book on the desk in response.

“--by the incompetence of my subordinates. As such, I will compensate you for your troubles, in the sum of fifty golden drakes. I will also personally ensure that the items purchase by your companion are delivered to you by the end of the business day tomorrow. Now, let's let bygones be bygones, yes?” He placed a piece of parchment on the desk in front of him, this world's version of a check.

Fifty gold was nothing to sneeze at, even if it was pitiful compared to what he paid for Elwen. It was enough for them to pay for a room at a good inn for over a year. It was certainly generous, considering he hadn't paid anything directly to the auction house, except for the items that Reia bought, although he was certain that the owner got a commission for hosting all of the trading company's high end business in the city.

“Fine.” Varian took the paper. He wasn't going to reject free money, even if it was coming from that man.

“Wonderful!” Darrix exclaimed, “Now, I'll need you to sign here and here for the transfer...” Darrix pulled out a contract, a rather simple one used only to make sure the system titled everything correctly. It only spelled out the transfer of ownership from the trading company to Varian, with spaces for both of them to sign, Darrix's already filled in, with nothing else. It wouldn't even hold up as a contact back on Earth.

Once he signed it, Darrix snatched it away, sticking it onto a page in another, larger book that he was carrying. There was a brief flash of light as the content was copied into the book, and he gave the slip back to Varian. “Just put that over the crest and the system will recognize it. Come to our office if you have any problems. It's been a pleasure doing business with you, make sure to come back if you need any more slaves. We also offer other services which might be of interest to you...” Darrix handed him what looked like a business card, “Here's the address. I won't be staying long, but one of our associates there will be able to help you.”

After that was done, Varian carried Elwen back to the room they were staying at. It was a long walk, one that he could almost consider romantic, if it weren't for the fact that he constantly had to dodge and weave through the crowd. There were simply too many people here... They needed to widen the streets or something. Every time he looked down, though, he saw that Elwen was still sound asleep. It put a smile on his face, seeing her in his arms.

Elwen woke up on a strange bed. Well, it wasn't that there was anything strange about the bed itself, it was simply that it wasn't the one that she was used to, and one she didn't remember getting into it. It was really soft, though, so much so that she felt like she was sinking into it. She slept really well, better than she had in ages. Despite this, she was drowsy, like she could fall right back into the heavenly pillows and sleep as soon as she hit them.

But still... How did she get here? All she remembered was... well, the feeling of terror as she thought that she was going to be sold off to some random jerk, relief washing over her as Varian came to save her, and then she... cried for a while. That's... um... embarrassing. But it was also the last thing she remembered before she fell asleep...

So that means Varian must have taken her here, right? But where was he? She looked around the room, not finding him. But there were clear signs of him being here. The jacket he bought was draped over a chair by the table, where pieces of his armor were strewn about, like he left in the middle of maintaining them. His thick boots were by the door, standing next to one of his swords. The sheets smelled like him, a deep and calming scent, like the pine needles her father brought for her one day. She didn't remember liking it much at the time, but now it was one of her favorite scents.

She rolled over, getting closer to the edge of the bed. Admittedly, she didn't really want to get up, but she wanted – she needed – to find Varian. A growing anxiety loomed over her; what if Varian did decide to leave her? She did basically cry herself to sleep as soon as she saw him, she must have looked pathetic. And then she forced him to carry her here, it couldn't have been pleasant.

Her worries were quickly washed away as the door opened. She looked up, watching Varian stride through, carrying a tray with a set of simple meals.

“Ah, good!” Varian smiled as he saw her, “You're awake! I thought you'd sleep 'till morning, I was getting worried. I got dinner from downstairs, are you hungry?”

Her stomach gave her response before she could, rumbling out its complaint of being empty. She nodded. She would have taken a seat at the table, but the table was full... Where were they going to eat?

“I'll get this out of the way, just give me a second.” Varian said, setting the tray down on the table, pushing one of the pieces of armor out of the way. Then, he collected all the pieces and dropped them into his magic bag. “I meant to finish that earlier, but something came up and I couldn't quite get through it.”

She took a seat at the table, right as Varian put her plate in front of her. It was a roast, large chunks of tender meat with soft carrots, potatoes, celery, and a few other vegetables she couldn't identify. She relished the flavor, like it was the most delicious thing she had ever eaten. In the moment, it felt like it was.

“How was the uh... training?” Varian didn't even know what to call it. A stay? A trip? School? Camp? None of those really fit what was going on.

“Um...” Elwen had mixed feelings about what happened at the fort, “It was good, I guess? I didn't really like the first couple weeks, all the workers were mean... But the second half was great! I learned a lot of magic! The food wasn't really good though... Definitely not as good as this.” She said, taking another bite of meat. “Oh! I also learned how to--” Cook was what she wanted to say. Then she remembered how that, about half of the time, ended in a giant fireball when she tried to make anything 'fancy.' “--make some simple dishes.” She corrected herself. He could not find out about the fireballs. If he did, he'd never let her cook for him!

“Oh, I see,” Varian replied, skeptical of her cooking, but not really wanting to broach on that subject, “What kind of magic did you learn about?”

Elwen went on a five minute lecture about all the different thing she learned. Varian enjoyed seeing her so animated about something and took mental notes of her expanded capabilities. He was beginning to think more and more that she would become some sort of massive powerhouse, given enough time. It was strange, looking at that little frame of hers and thinking she could actually be dangerous. She was just too cute for that!

“... And so, that's why I'm really powerful now! Magic is the best!” Elwen boasted, puffing out her chest, practically screaming 'Praise me!'

“Oh really?” Varian chuckled. “Then what level is the all-powerful mage now?”

Elwen had to open her status screen to check. “Level 28!” She puffed out her chest again, like she justified her claim.

Varian laughed, “Really?! The mighty mage is only level 28?” He fake mocked her. It was lower than his, but he wasn't really expecting her to level up to the same level he was, not after what he went through. It was really good progress, more than he expected! It was probably a little bit lower than a normal 'new' player would be after leaving that continent, but that was to be expected. She shouldn't have been doing much that would be earning experience for her classes, unless she took a [Slave] class, which he made sure she didn't.

“What! 28 is good, isn't it? What level are you?” She half pouted. She didn't know what was high level, but this was about as far as she got in any of the other games she played with Varian.

Now it was Varian's turn to flex, “Well, I don't mean to brag (he did) but I'm level 45!”

Elwen was shocked, freezing for a second before starting to clap, “Wow! So strong! How did you get that high level?” She didn't like falling behind, but at the same time she liked that he was so strong. Or, at least, she thought level 45 was strong.

“Oh, y'know.” Varian answered, “I did this and that...” Their discussion continued through dinner, Varian sharing some of what he was up to and Elwen what she learned. They laughed and smiled a lot, glad to finally be back in each other's company.

They had a sweet cheesecake-like dessert after the roast, with a side of fresh fruit covered in chocolate. The cake wasn't quite the right consistency to be cheesecake, though. It was wobbly, almost like jello. It still tasted amazing, with the sweetness balanced with a bit of sourness, almost like key lime pie.

“Now,” Varian spoke after they finished, a glint in his eye, “would you like to... consummate our relationship?”

“Huh?”

“It means--”

“I know what it means!” Elwen's face flushed and the sudden pounding in her heart forced her to look away.

“Well? Do you want to or not?”

“... Please be gentle.” She quietly replied.