I Inherited a Beautiful Wife and a Territory - Chapter 51

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Inheriting a Beautiful Wife and Estate Episode 051

51. Dark Elf

Slave Knight.

Though Cliff had already obtained two of them, originally they weren’t easily available for sale.

The reason someone like Bellman could obtain such individuals.

‘He said the Shadow Races live here.’

Shadow Races.

By another name, Dark Elves.

Cliff understood why they were called Shadow Races, or Dark Elves. Seeing them up close, Dark Elves certainly didn’t differ much in appearance from elves.

Their skin was simply darker, but everything else was the same as elves. Masters of stealth who hide in their opponent’s shadow before rising up to immediately subdue their target.

“M-My lord…”

Leticia called out to him with a dismayed expression.

He could read guilty emotions on her face. The person responsible for his escort had instead failed to notice the enemy and been captured.

Cliff let out a sigh.

‘Right. We did come in too deep.’

They had come deep into the mountains to catch Shadow Wolves.

Before they knew it, they were crossing over the mountain. If beyond here really was Dark Elf territory, it was about time for them to appear.

“Speak. How did you know I was here?”

The Dark Elf who had subdued Leticia opened her mouth.

It was a husky female voice.

Cliff smiled.

“Your shadow was fixed and not moving. Other shadows were swaying because of the flames… but only Leticia’s shadow was fixed in place.”

Cliff honestly revealed the reason he had noticed her.

“…I see. I made a truly basic mistake.”

The woman muttered bitterly after hearing his answer.

Watching her, he guessed. The opponent wasn’t as experienced as he’d thought.

Above all, perhaps because they lived hidden away, she probably had little experience dealing with people.

‘So she couldn’t even be aware of such mistakes… maybe this means we can get through this well?’

Cliff’s eyes gleamed.

“Cancel the magic in your hands.”

She threatened by bringing the knife she was holding closer to Leticia.

At that moment, Leticia opened her mouth instead.

“Nonsense. You seem to think you can threaten my master by capturing me, but I’m a slave. No matter how expensive a slave I am, there’s no case where a master would sacrifice themselves for a slave…”

“There, I’ve canceled the magic.”

Her words were cut off.

Cliff had really made the fireball disappear. Because of this, darkness rushed in momentarily and only silhouettes were barely visible.

Leticia was flustered.

Cliff opened his mouth again.

“So now, would you please remove that wicked thing from my precious one?”

Leticia was indeed precious to him.

He was always receiving her help, after all.

At Cliff’s words, the Dark Elf woman was momentarily flustered.

‘He really canceled his magic?’

The fact that he had used magic meant Cliff was a mage.

A mage’s greatest weakness was the delay that occurred before casting magic. Though magic’s power was tremendous, mages couldn’t use magic in an instant.

Only spirits and dragons with spirit speech could do that.

In other words, their lives had now passed into the Dark Elf’s hands.

“…No. That’s impossible. The moment I withdraw this blade, the spirits this woman summoned will harm me.”

The Dark Elf who had initially hesitated at Cliff’s request.

But she chose to refuse Cliff’s demand.

Cliff let out a sigh.

“Hah. That’s unfortunate.”

While speaking, Cliff pondered.

It might be a simple misunderstanding, but the feeling he’d been having.

The opponent was a younger Dark Elf than he’d thought.

‘Even if she’s not young, she has almost no real combat experience.’

A woman who had grown up without crisis.

For someone like that, she was earnestly guarding against them now, but still, it seemed like he could hear the sound of her eyes darting around.

Then how would it be best to handle this?

‘For now, if I bring Hades and the others from outside, we could probably capture her…’

While Cliff was having that thought, the Dark Elf opened her mouth.

“More than that, how are you living among all these Shadow Wolves without being attacked?”

Hearing those words, Cliff recalled.

Shadow Wolves.

These were originally untameable creatures. That’s why they were classified as magical beasts despite being rare spirit beasts.

“And what exactly are you scheming right now?”

“I’m Cliff. The woman you’re holding is Leticia. What’s your name?”

Cliff asked while sitting down in that spot.

“What?”

“If you’re going to ask questions, let’s at least exchange names. Tell me a name to call you by. My name is Cliff, the woman captured there is Leticia. We’ve already revealed our names.”

“…Lin.”

She reluctantly answered.

“Good. Since you answered my question, I’ll answer yours too. What should I answer first?”

“I asked how you’re staying with those wolves in this place.”

“Ah, our puppies? They just approached me asking to be petted when we met, so I’ve been keeping them while petting them a few times.”

“That’s completely absurd…!”

“To be precise, I made a ‘contract’ with them. They’re spirits in the end, aren’t they?”

At Cliff’s claim, Lin shouted.

“That’s nonsense!”

“Shh. The kids are busy with their personal matters right now, but if you raise your voice too much, they’ll notice.”

“Gasp!”

This woman is naive.

He could see her surprise and confusion in an instant.

Still, she rolled her eyes and opened her mouth again.

“…Those wolves also live harboring power like spirits, but they absolutely never contract with anyone.”

“I don’t know much about spirit contracts… but I heard that if you channel magic through a summoning circle, spirits attracted to your magic will be summoned.”

Spirit contracts that could only be formed when the magic compatibility between spirits and practitioners was good.

Ordinary people’s magic wasn’t liked by spirits. That’s why spirit mages were always rare.

And the spirits each spirit mage could contract with were different.

“Then each spirit has characteristics of magic they desire, and I happen to have the magic characteristics that those Shadow Wolves like.”

“Such nonsense… Phew. No, never mind. Anyway, since I’m seeing it with my own eyes, the truth of that claim isn’t important. For now, I’ll assume your claim is correct.”

“Then it’s my turn to ask questions?”

Cliff smiled.

“Are you going to kill us?”

“…I’m considering it.”

She probably hadn’t intended to kill them.

If she had, she should have immediately slashed with the blade instead of subduing Leticia like this.

‘And carelessness always leads to regrettable results.’

His eyes had finally finished adapting to the darkness.

Cliff used the magic he had learned first.

Message.

-Shh. Listen to me quietly. If you can hear me, blink once.

Blink.

Good.

Even in this darkness, he could confirm her eyes blinking.

-Good. I’m going to surprise the opponent soon. Can you capture the opponent through your spirit then? If possible, blink three times, if unsure, twice, if you can’t, just once.

Blink. Blink.

And another blink.

Though he couldn’t see clearly, it seemed Leticia was quite wounded in her pride by the current situation.

-Then that’s settled. I’ll give you the signal.

While Cliff was secretly conversing with Leticia, Lin suppressed the complex thoughts in her head and asked.

“I’ll ask again. Human. What are you scheming right now?”

“It’s my turn to ask a question this time.”

“Stop with the nonsense and answer me, human. Do you know how terrifying Shadow Wolves are and still act like this?”

Cliff tilted his head upon hearing those words.

The Shadow Wolves that Cliff knew.

‘Big… wolves?’

They were larger and stronger than ordinary wolves.

And what he newly learned was that they could also restrain opponents using shadows.

But that was all.

‘I’ve only seen shadow binding once so far…’

Probably only the leader-class Shadow Wolf that received a name from Cliff could do it.

Setting that aside, fundamentally these wolves that Cliff knew weren’t particularly threatening existences.

‘Even the leader-level ones would probably be similar to that guy who was Baron Ballard’s nephew?’

The dead Baron Ballard’s nephew.

Hades might be different, but Cerberus and Charon would probably be around that level at most.

That meant they were weaker than Adolf.

The other ordinary individuals went without saying.

“You… seem to be unaware of their terror.”

Cliff looked at Leticia.

Though it was hard to see her expression clearly, she would probably have a similar reaction.

If she had known, she would have told him beforehand.

“Hah. How pathetic. They are shadows. Usually they’re weak because the shadows they possess are small, but the more they gather, the stronger they become.”

Is that so?

Since they live in packs, that would make sense.

But her words didn’t just mean simple numbers or tactical changes through them.

“Among Shadow Wolves, special individuals are sometimes born. They have the possibility of growth. Those born naturally stronger than others become leaders who lead a pack.”

I see.

“But fundamentally, there’s only one leader per pack. If there are two or more, that already foretells the birth of not a leader, but a lord.”

“Ooh.”

The more he heard, the more interesting it became.

He forgot about coordinating signals with Leticia and became absorbed in the story.

So when they become lords instead of leaders, they get even stronger?

“Leaders don’t usually submit easily.”

No, they did it easily though?

“A wolf that subjugates such leaders evolves into an even stronger individual. First a High Leader, then next a Lord…”

“How strong are Lords and High Leaders?”

“The larger the pack grows, the stronger they become. Stop even now. This pack already has a High Leader-class individual on the verge of evolving into a Lord.”

Cliff tilted his head while listening to her warning.

“You’re saying my friend is getting stronger?”

Hades was his friend.

If he got stronger, that would actually be good.

“Don’t say ridiculous things! A Lord of those wolves is itself a calamity for the world!”

Just how strong must they be for her to say such things.

Now he could listen slowly. Having that thought, Cliff was about to give Leticia a signal.

While Leticia also took a deep breath and prepared for counterattack.

“Awoooooooo!”

The sound that had been blocked until just now was heard again.

The howling sound of wolves.

Flinch.

Just from that sound, the woman named Lin’s body stiffened.

Tremble tremble tremble.

‘Huh?’

She trembled as if pressed down by a skill.

One possibility came to Cliff’s mind.

‘Could it be… Shadow Wolves are natural enemies of Dark Elves?’

Leticia seemed to have the same thought he did. She withdrew the wind barrier that had been blocking the sound.

Soon the sounds from outside spread inside, and sounds from inside spread outside.

Awoooooooo!

The howling sound came again.

Awoooooooo!

And it wasn’t just one or two.

Several wolves began howling and responding together.

“N-no…”

With a startled expression, Lin released her grip on Leticia. And her body, which had been trying to flee quickly, stopped abruptly.

Cliff didn’t do anything.

But he could tell who had done this.

“Hades?”

Hades was looking here with a dignified posture.

He didn’t know when he had appeared.

But he could clearly see that the shadow extending from him was firmly holding Lin.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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