"What a pity, I didn't get to greet that big sister." Amy wore a forlorn expression as she looked at the departing Anna and Joshua.
What an adorable little girl. It's sad that they're so wary toward elves like us. Blour also wore a wistful expression as he turned toward Sally with a meaningful glance. He then also paid his bill, and left the restaurant.
Sally was quite distraught as she looked on with hollow eyes. The beliefs that she had held all her life thus far were beginning to crumble.
Was it really true that the Wind Forest had become an elven prison? Were the elves wandering the continent really happier than the elves in the Wind Forest?
A series of questions appeared in Sally's mind, but they were all rhetorical as the answers were already apparent. "Give all elves true freedom..." The words that Blour had spoken the night before drifted through her mind. She recalled all those defeated, dejected faces, and then compared them to the smiling faces of Joshua and Anna. In that instant, a beam of light seemingly lit up in her mind, and she felt as if she suddenly knew what she should do next.
About five kilometers outside of Chaos City in the Northeastern direction, there was a small village. Within a large courtyard in the village, there were a few burly demons and orcs eating meat and drinking wine together.
There was already no one left living in the village, but there was a wall four or five meters tall surrounding the large courtyard. There were also dozens of orc and demon guards patrolling the walls.
Within the courtyard, an orc with a sinister saber wound on his face turned to a burly abyss demon, and asked, "Boss, we've caught quite a few piggies this month; they should fetch us quite a bit of money, right?"
The other demons and orcs also turned to the abyss demon upon hearing that, all of them with greed shimmering in their eyes.
"If only that was the case; I just received news from them yesterday that the piggies we caught are too weak for their standards. From this month onward, they're going to pay based on the power level of the piggies. If we catch piggies below the 3rd-tier, we may as well not hand them in, because we'll be getting next to nothing for them." Olef slammed his bowl onto the table in an enraged manner.
"What?! How could they do that?!"
"They can't just suddenly change the rules like this! In the past, they were willing to take piggies that don't even know magic. All of the piggies we've caught this month are really weak."
"There are less than 10 above the 3rd-tier, and most of them are only at the 4th-tier. These piggies are really good at running away as well; it's really hard to catch them in the forest."
The demons and orcs were furious upon hearing this change in policy.
"Boss, I think we need to have an in-depth discussion with them about this matter. If they insist on doing things like this, then we'll be out of job soon. Those piggies will probably fetch more even if we sell them to Rodu or the Demon Islands," the orc from before grumbled.
"Exactly. We have to keep these piggies watered and fed, and prohibit our brothers from taking them for themselves. But what about now? If this is the price they're offering, then we might as well let our brothers have some fun with them before selling them off." A minotaur demon's eyes were wide with rage.
The other orcs and demons also concurred with this suggestion, and they all rose to their feet.
"You can do that if you all want to die. Don't forget about what happened to Kreon's team last year. All of them were wiped out because one of them molested a piggie." Olef looked at everyone with a cold expression.
All of the demons and orcs immediately shuddered as if they had been doused with cold water.
Olef looked at everyone, and continued, "Remember, we're doing this for money. If the piggies dare to resist, it's ok for you to kill one or two of them. However, there are some things that we cannot do. You'd better watch yourselves, or even I won't be able to protect you. If you want women, you can pay for them in Chaos City once we get the money."
"Yes!" The orcs and demons all bowed their heads respectfully in response. Olef was the most powerful being among them at the 8th-tier, and was also their squad leader. The two deputy squad leaders were only at the 7th-tier, so his word was absolute.
"Terry, Ebenezer, come with me." Olef stood up and walked away, quickly followed by the two deputy squad leaders.
Olef led the two of them into a room, and closed the door before casting a soundproofing spell. He then turned to the minotaur demons, and instructed, "Terry, make a trip to the Demon Islands and find out the piggie prices in the black market. Forge a new identity and sell off some piggies there if it's more profitable. Then, go to Rodu and do the same. Remember, don't let anyone discover your new identities."
"Huh?" Terry's and Ebenezer's eyes widened in unison as they stared at Olef with incredulity. "Boss, didn't you say that we can't do these things?" Terry was very perplexed. Olef's warning had made him give up on dabbling in any shady business, but he was now being instructed to do the very thing that he had been warned against doing. "The prices offered by the Wind Forest are way too low; we won't be able to make any profit from this batch of piggies, so we have to sell them off, then work on improving the quality of our future batches. Don't let any of our brothers hear about this, though. Those idiots have sh*t for brains. Piggies have to be clean to fetch a good price. If they end up mounting the piggies before we can sell them, their market value will drop significantly." Olef pursed his lips in response.
"But what if the elves from the Wind Forest find out?" Ebenezer was still quite concerned.
"That's why we need to keep this strictly confidential. Otherwise, all three of us will be hunted down and killed." Olef also adopted a grave expression as he turned to Ebenezer, and said, "I've already thought of a way out. We can't terminate our deal with the Wind Forest yet, as that would make what we're doing now too obvious. However, we need to improve our efficiency, so we have to start targeting more powerful piggies. Only they will fetch us worthwhile reimbursement from the Wind Forest."
"Come to think of it, there are quite a few powerful piggies here in Chaos City, but most of them have settled here permanently. If we try to capture them, our actions most likely won't be able to escape the notice of the city lord's castle and the Gray Temple." Ebenezer nodded in response.
"We can't touch anyone from Chaos City. The people from the Gray Temple are absolutely insane; we can't mess with them. We should target the piggies that have just arrived here from the Wind Forest. I received news yesterday that an old piggie and a young piggie have arrived recently, and the old one is likely to be over the 5th-tier in terms of power level. Go and capture them." Olef smiled coldly as he said, "As long as we can offer up a few powerful piggies a month, the people from the Wind Forest won't suspect us of any foul play."