You think you're worthy of saving the world?

He nodded in satisfaction when he heard the elves agree.

"Yuri!"

The boy turned around when he heard the voice and saw that it was Stella.

Later, taking advantage of the waiters' inattention, she slipped through the door that Yuri had unlocked and also entered the underground passage.

"Is this over?"

The silver-haired witch curiously looked around the room, and then she saw four elven girls.

This was the first time she had ever seen an elf in person.

In the past, she would probably have been very excited, but after hearing about the elves' dark history from Yuri, her illusions vanished.

Even so, the pitiful state of the elf girls still stirred her pity.

"Let's prepare to leave. We'll force our way through the main gate when we leave," Stella said.

"Wait, don't rush, I have something to do."

Yuri decided to question the prisoners first, since they would be lost once they were taken to the Elven Embassy.

He crouched down and slapped one of them awake.

This was no ordinary slap, but a first-tier spell called "Palm of Awakening".

Range is 0, damage is 0, and it forcibly removes low-level stun, dizziness, and sleep statuses.

In a game, this move would be a useless move that takes up space, but in everyday life it's incredibly useful.

Stella forbids Yuri from using this magic on her in the morning.

"I...I'm so sorry, Sir Knight!"

The slave trader, whose hands were bound behind his back, opened his eyes and immediately knelt down, banging his forehead on the ground and crying for mercy.

"I was just momentarily blinded by greed and broke the law! Please don't hand me over to the Knights Templar, I don't want to die!"

Yuri and Stella exchanged bewildered glances; they hadn't expected this person to react so strongly.

"No! No! I don't want to die! I don't want to die! Ahhh! Waaaaah! I don't want to die!"

The elven girls were terrified by his madness and hurriedly hid behind the two of them.

Yuri crouched down, stared at his face, and asked.

"You know that the elven slave trade is a capital offense... So why do you still do it?"

At this moment, the slave trader stopped his self-mutilating kowtow, looked up at Yuri, and then immediately lowered his head again.

"No... I'm so sorry! I really didn't expect things to be this serious... Waaaaah! Please let me go! I... I have plenty of money!"

He was trembling and sweating profusely as he spoke, and seemed completely out of his mind.

Stella looked annoyed: after all, her family members might have been taken away by slave traders, and she had long hated such people.

However, she also sensed a strong sense of unease from the man's terrified attitude.

Just as Stella was about to remind Yuri, the boy spoke up.

"I have no interest in money, let alone money earned from human trafficking."

But I can't just turn a blind eye to it; you have to tell me the truth.

Yuri then asked in a deep voice.

"Why did you capture the elves and enslave them? Is there some other conspiracy?"

After saying that, he turned to look at the elves behind him.

When the slave trader raised his head, the ragged elven girls huddled together, trembling. He, too, seemed frightened and hurriedly lowered his head.

Seeing this, Stella quickly shielded the elves and asked curiously, "A conspiracy? Have we been dragged into a conspiracy?"

"Hey, I have a question for you."

Yuri kicked the man, who then cowered and trembled as he answered, "No, there's no other conspiracy!"

I was just momentarily blinded by money and couldn't resist the temptation... Yes, that's it! I must be possessed by a demon!

The man grabbed Yuri's trouser leg and shouted, "Sir Knight! Please use your divine power to exorcise the demon spirit from within me!"

"What a boring answer. Don't blame everything on the devil."

Yuri used the first-tier spell "Sleeping Palm" to put him back into a baby-like sleep.

……

……

……

"What...what do we do next, Sir Knight?"

The elves stared at the criminal gang on the ground, trembling as they asked questions.

Yuri thought for a moment and said to them, "Of course I can't just leave you here. I'll take you to the Holy Tree Kingdom's embassy."

"Ah...yes, okay, thank you, Sir Knight." The elves hurriedly thanked him again.

"Hey, Yuri. I have a strange feeling about this place, let's get out of here."

Stella urged her on, but Yuri said, "You take them and leave first."

"What about you?"

"I'll put these men in cages, tidy them up, and then go over there. We'll meet at our usual spot."

Yuri leaned closer to her and whispered, "These elves might have been abused by men and are still wary of me, so you should take them and leave first."

"..."

Stella felt a great sense of responsibility upon hearing this and nodded firmly: "Yes, I know. You should also be careful."

After parting ways with Yuri, Stella left the stuffy basement room with the elf.

"Seriously, I'm exhausted after working all night."

Stella yawned as she walked.

She was wearing high heels that she wasn't used to, and her walking posture was a bit awkward.

"I'm definitely going to have that kid treat me to a fancy meal at a restaurant tomorrow."

The silver-haired witch yawned again.

Sleepiness had been lingering since earlier, making it hard for her to keep her eyes open.

"Hmm? By the way, was this the road I came on?"

Stella continued walking for a while and then came to a dead end.

"strangeness……"

The silver-haired witch frowned and turned around, only to find that the elves following behind had fallen quite a distance behind.

"..."

Stella saw that the fear and timidity on the faces of the elves, who had been trembling just moments before, had vanished, replaced by an eerily cold indifference.

……

……

……

"what?"

Stella frowned in annoyance as she was stared at by four cold gazes.

Things have progressed to this point; even the most oblivious person should have realized something was wrong.

These four elves are definitely not just innocent, pitiful girls who were kidnapped by slave traders and brought here.

"……Well."

A strong drowsiness still lingered over Stella, making her mind wander and her eyelids feel incredibly heavy.

Was this some kind of mental magic cast by one of them?

“Miss Magician, you have no grudge against us, but I’m sorry… we can’t let you leave here so easily today.”

One of the four elves spoke, breaking the silence.

While she was speaking, she and the other three elves had already surrounded Stella in perfect unison.

"What...is your purpose? We came here to help you, why are you doing this?"

As Stella asked the question, she secretly channeled her magic to dispel the drowsiness brought on by the hypnosis.

"Are you trying to buy time? But unfortunately, this is something that magic and divine arts cannot solve."

The elven girl, with one hand on her hip and an air of ease, said, "If you ask why... it's because the object of hypnosis isn't you, but this underground space itself."

The underground area of ​​the Blackjack Club has been covered with countless mind-altering barriers. Unless you can dispel all of the dozen or so barriers underground, you won't be able to regain your senses.

"..."

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Stella's cheek.

The elf wasn't bluffing; she had been trying to regain her senses with magic since the beginning, but to no avail.

My eyelids grew heavier and heavier, my knees trembled, and even the flow of magic...

"Heh, it can't hold on any longer... So weak?"

The elf on the left covered her mouth and chuckled, "Miss Human, do you usually not get enough sleep?"

Young girls need to make sure they get enough sleep, after all, you can't live as long as elves...

If you indulge yourself too much when you're young, you'll have wrinkles by the time you're thirty.

"Mind your own business...you old hag."

Stella gritted her teeth, still trying her best to persevere.

Now she finally understood why Yuri had told her the history of the elves.