406 Buying Rights (1/2)

Truen didn't back down. The adventurers didn't back down either. Zero eyed the slave with worry. Given their attitude, he didn't think they would be willing to give them the slave even if they were willing to buy. These humans didn't like elves and they currently were elves. Even if they weren't high elves, they were still elves.

”Move,” Truen said when the warrior didn't relent.

Zero inched closer to where the slave was and hoped that nobody noticed but luck wasn't on his side. Almost immediately when he took one step, the rogue threw a dagger that narrowly missed Zero's neck. He didn't have bad aiming so Zero took the hint. It was a warning shot and Zero knew better than to push his luck.

”If you want to pass you'd have to get through us, elf...” sneered the warrior.

The mage looked wary and readied a spell in case Truen pulled anything funny. The lady archer kept an eye on Zero even if the rogue was already watching him. Zero had no chance to pull anything funny with two pairs of eyes trained on him.

”This is the lawless zone,” Truen told them calmly as if there wasn't a sword at his throat. If these people thought that they could throw their weight around, they were dead wrong.

In a flash, the sword went flying high up into the air faster than anyone could blink. Nobody saw what happened because it happened too quickly. However, the way Truen disarmed the warrior's sword and got behind him made sweat soak through their shoes.

He walked forward and the two ladies took a step back instinctively. The mage trembled and her staff shook. The spell was cancelled because of the fluctuation in her mana and the archer couldn't hold her bow steady.

The arrow was let loose when the terrified archer stumbled and fell backwards. Neither Truen nor Zero flinched when the arrow was let loose but the rogue jumped. The arrow flew to a nearby tree and it scared off some squirrels but nobody was hurt, only pride damaged.

Nobody dared to stop Truen from getting to a defeated bee and drew his hunting knife. Zero watched his best friend cut off the stinger and dismantle the monster. At first, none of the adventurers moved but after watching Truen work on the third bee with no sign of stopping, the disarmed warrior regained his senses and bravery.

”Hey!” he yelled after retrieving his sword. ”Those are the monsters that we killed.”

Zero remained silent and watched his best friend egg the dumb warrior on. He was amused when the warrior bit the bait. Then again, it wasn't surprising. He was the dumbest of the lot.

”If you want to harvest these monsters on our watch you should at least pay us a decent compensation for ruining the campsite and damaging our goods!”

Truen didn't even bother hesitating and glanced around at the number of bees they had. He calculated the time they needed to harvest everything before they had to return. Truen eyed the slave and wondered if they would be nice enough to put the girl into the compensation deal.

”How much?” he asked, not wanting to put up with the nonsense for too much longer.

The party was clearly not expecting it so they paused and gathered to discuss the compensation cost. The rogue wanted to rip the elves off but the mage and archer convinced him against doing so. Zero went up to Truen and raised his brow. As elves with a keener sense of hearing, they heard everything in the discussion. These humans are not exactly the brightest of the bunch.

”Didn't you see how he disarmed you?” the mage hissed at the warrior and glared at him.