Chapter 209
Chapter 209: I’m Truly a Pacifist (2)
Ascon, feeling something was off, irritably spoke up.
“Ha, truly, the Lord doesn’t understand. You can’t even afford to kill us, so why act all tough? What do you think will happen if I become the representative and lead? We are the best at having fun!”
“You’re going to become soldiers now.”
“……?”
The elves exchanged bewildered glances at Ghislaine. What did he mean they’d become soldiers given their worth?
Ascon, perhaps thinking he misheard, laughed and asked again.
“We’re… what?”
“Proud soldiers of the territory.”
“Are you kidding? Knowing our worth, you want us to be soldiers?”
His words became more curt. Ghislaine, however, replied with a genuinely kind expression.
“Right. A healthy body carries a healthy mind, so starting today, let’s refrain from alcohol and tobacco for a while and focus on physical training.”
“What physical training?! We’re not doing that!”
Ascon shouted, with other elves nodding in agreement. After living a life of leisure, who would want to suddenly do such things?
And if they were to be soldiers, why did they spend so much to buy elves in the first place?
It was utterly incomprehensible.
Ascon soon seemed to catch on, nodding.
“Aha! You’re trying to provoke us because you think we won’t listen, right?”
“I don’t waste time on such things.”
“Then why bring up training and soldiers? Have you ever seen elves fight? Huh? We’re a race specialized in just having fun. That’s why we’re all pretty and handsome!”
The notion that being beautiful means they should indulge was nonsensical. Yet, everyone seemed convinced by such reasoning.
Of course, Ghislaine completely disagreed. In a territory where there was hardly any entertainment, those who merely played around shouldn’t be necessary.
He had a special plan to utilize the elves as soldiers.
“Elves can train. They can fight very well. So, from now on, we’re entering military training. Let’s be reborn anew.”
“And I’m supposed to become the representative elf of this silly soldier thing?”
“That’s right. I want your active cooperation.”
“Ha, hell! Lord! This is super annoying! I’m not being a representative! Why can’t you understand what I’m saying? Do I look like a mere slave? Do I look the same as those lowly human slaves?”
“Ooo….”
Ascon’s comment had thoroughly crossed the line. Ghislaine wore an impressed expression.
Even with such rudeness, Ghislaine’s close associates stepped back without intervening. They instead began to look up at the sky, pretending not to notice.
Oblivious to this atmosphere, Ascon shouted in anger.
“Why are humans like this? What elf goes through military training?! We can’t fight for crap! Are you insane? And if I had succeeded in my first love, there would be a grandchild the size of you, so what rebirth are you talking about?”
“Ha….”
Hearing Ascon’s rant, Ghislaine couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Are you laughing? Is what I’m saying funny? Do you know how many times my master has changed? Huh? It’s the seventh time, the seventh! Damn, I have anger management issues, you know? They call me Anger Management Ascon, and even noblemen know my name! You’re a noble and don’t even know it?”
‘I’ve never heard of it. I should ask Meriel or Rosalyn later if they know this crazy elf. What? Anger Management? A potty mouth? Is that a nickname for an elf?’
Looking closely, Ascon was really red in the face and seemed like a reckless trash talker.
While all elf slaves were like this, letting them play around comfortably meant getting scammed by the slave trader.
Ghislaine absolutely despised being a fool.
“Ha, after all, people just don’t listen to good words. You’re really asking for it. I genuinely wanted to treat you differently because you’re a different race… Wait? Different race?”
He was not a racial discriminatory but pursued non-violent pacifism. He wanted to live like that as much as possible.
But just because he lived that way didn’t mean he could eliminate the widespread racial discrimination in the world. He had to change people’s perceptions entirely.
Suddenly struck by a realization, Ghislaine felt chills.
“If elves in the human world are… isn’t that just a long-lived human with pointy ears?”
Right, he just had to think of them as humans, not elves. That, in itself, was real racial equality.
He reflected on the underlying racial discriminatory mindset he had unconsciously harbored. All races are now humans.
With a bright smile, he said, “From today, you’re a human. A human with pointy ears.”
“What? I’m a noble elf!”
“No, from today, you’re human. And I will consider all the elves here as humans! That’s true racial equality!”
As Ghislaine began to spout nonsense, his associates took a step back.
Ascon looked completely dumbfounded.
“No, what the hell? Are you crazy? Why am I a human?”
“No, you are a human. And humans have a different way of communicating than elves. A very quick and efficient method.”
Due to their long lifespan, elves generally had laid-back and leisurely personalities. Therefore, it took them a long time to make decisions, and changes were slow as well.
It wasn’t wrong; it was simply a characteristic of the race. But Ghislaine didn’t have the time to wait for them to open up slowly.
He truly needed the elves’ active cooperation.
Thus, there was only one quick answer.
‘Mental reprogramming.’
Slowly rolling up his sleeves, Ghislaine continued speaking.
“You seem to not have heard about me yet, but I’m a renowned physician in the kingdom. I specialize in things like anger management issues. That’s truly my specialty.”
“Uhhahaha! What a fool, did you say treatment? How will you treat me? I was born like this! Is there good medicine or something?”
“I’ll proceed with physical therapy instead of medication.”
“What?”
“To avoid any misunderstandings, I want to clarify that I have no negative feelings toward you at all. I’m not that petty. This is just… as a fellow human, wanting to treat you.”
“What are you suddenly babbling about…?”
“Bite this hard. Your tongue might slip.”
Kabam!
“Ugh!”
As Ghislaine’s fist moved, Ascon’s scream echoed.
Kabam! Kabam! Kabam!
“Ugh! You crazy bastard! Do you think this will make me submit? Ugh! Do you think I haven’t been hit my whole life? Damn! Aaaah!”
Ascon kept cursing while getting hit by Ghislaine.
In fact, he had been hit many times by nobles trying to fix his temper. But their attempts were ineffective.
They couldn’t kill him or make him completely incapacitated, so punishment could only go so far.
In the end, the nobles with both hands tied had no choice but to sell Ascon again.
“Try hitting me as much as you can! Ugh! What pain you can’t kill me with only makes me angrier! I didn’t just grow up like this! You, little brat, your blood hasn’t even dried yet! Ugh!”
Knowing it would end without aftereffects, there was no reason to be scared. It was clear that he would be sold again once he got tired of this.
What elves feared were the truly crazy ones with strange tastes. Those would genuinely torment and kill.
But most couldn’t afford to do that. And after enduring long terms of slavery, elves had keen insight to distinguish such characters.
“Ugh! You’re just doing this because you don’t want to waste money. Do you think I haven’t lived long enough as a slave to figure that out? If you were truly cruel, you would have killed a few as examples by now.”
Ascon sensed his victory. After all, humans were all the same. If they weren’t truly insane, they would hit him moderately and sell him again.
But Ascon and the elves did not know that there existed a type of maniac entirely different from anyone they had encountered before.
Kabam! Kabam! Kabam!
“Ugh! What’s this? Why does it keep hurting more? No, why isn’t this bastard getting tired? How much longer is this going to go on? Aah!”
Normally, when a person is hit enough, they should either faint or stop once they’re blue in the face.
Yet the lord in front of him quietly went about his business.
“At this rate, you should already be incapacitated or dead, right? Why am I in pain, yet my body is still intact? Aah! This hurts way too much!”
No one enjoys getting hit. Ascon was no different.
He knew that if he resisted just a bit, his future life would become easier, which was why he was deliberately causing more chaos.
But this kind of pain was genuinely unprecedented. He wasn’t breaking a bone; he was just hurting.
He wished he would faint, yet every time he got hit, a sharp pain surged, keeping him acutely aware.
Ascon, suffering, asked, “W-what the hell! How long are you going to keep hitting me?! Ugh!”
Quietly continuing to hit him, Ghislaine replied, “Until you actively cooperate with my work. You should’ve just cooperated when I told you nicely.”
“If I die or get messed up, you’ll lose money! That’s a huge loss!”
“Don’t worry about my finances. I can guarantee you won’t die. That’s what I’m best at.”
“Fuck off! I’m not cooperating! Go ahead, try it! Let’s see whose lifespan is longer! Ugh!”
“A severe patient, huh? I like that kind of battle too.”
By then, dusk had started to set. Still, Ascon was resolutely holding out. No, he was trying to.
“Young Master, it’s time for dinner.”
As the servants hurriedly brought simple food on trays and stood by, Belinda handed Ghislaine one dish at a time.
Both of them were skilled enough to successfully hand over and receive the dishes while on the move.
Ghislaine was hitting Ascon with one hand and receiving food with the other.
When dinner finished, Lowell approached with a few documents.
“Lord, this part requires your approval.”
Ghislaine casually glanced through the papers, still hitting Ascon with one hand while signing with the other.
The elves gaped, astonished by the sight.
‘He’s hitting even while doing everything else?’
‘And everyone’s just watching like it’s nothing?’
‘Is everyone here… crazy?’
Looking around, there didn’t seem to be anyone normal.
As Ascon tried to endure to the end, he realized a new fact from observing everyone’s behavior.
‘This guy… is an expert among experts. I really picked a wrong fight. At this rate, I’ll really get ruined for life. The folks around here aren’t ordinary either.’
He didn’t even know how long he had been getting hit. The observing elves were increasingly turning pale.
Elves were used to the back-and-forth of taking and giving, handling matters in a way that suited them.
But this human continued to hit him with no sign of stopping? What was this nonsense?
This was truly problematic.
After getting hit a little more, Ascon couldn’t endure and finally screamed.
“F-fine! I give up! I’ll become a soldier! Just stop! Let’s negotiate! Like civilized people!”
Kabam! Kabam! Kabam!
Yet Ghislaine showed no signs of halting his fists. He was also practicing manipulating mana while hitting Ascon.
‘Hmm, I wonder how it would feel if I moved like this to hit?’
“Keheh!”
In fact, Ghislaine’s mind was already filled with thoughts on the best way to manipulate mana. He had long since forgotten about Ascon.
“Please, save me! I was wrong!”
‘Ah, is this more effective?’
Kabam!
“Ugh!”
Ascon felt like he was going insane. Every time he was hit, he sensed something entering his body. But every time something stirred inside, unbearable pain surged.
While he appeared intact on the outside, internally he was nearing breakdown; it was a high-level torture technique.
“Wait, just stop! Please, I’ll do everything you say! I’ll cooperate actively!”
In the end, Ascon had lost. Before overwhelming violence, his anger simply couldn’t hold up.
For the first time in his life, he began to plead.
