Become their wicked yet gentle lord.

Chapter 6 The Loyal Half-Dark Elf

“Alright, the first thing is to find your grandson David. And the second thing?” Ryusha nodded, accepting with a clear conscience the fact that Earl Duke was giving Zona to her.

After all, a pretty girl is a must-have, and she's at least an SR-level follower. Furthermore, due to her dark elf bloodline and secret arts, Zona's loyalty is maxed out even though she's a 'slave'.

I wonder how many more of these half-dark elves the count has...

"Let's finish the first task first. If we can't find David, we can't take action against the 'Capital Faction.' And you must find him within five days. The specific reason... I can only say that I'm under a lot of pressure myself..."

Therefore, your actions must be kept secret. Even if they are exposed, you must insist that it is the arbitrary decision-making of Linhu Territory and that I must not be exposed.”

The Earl spoke solemnly, indicating that this eldest grandson was very important to him. Tavis, at forty, had only David as his heir, while Bran had never married.

“If you are exposed, I will have to distance myself from you in front of them, and to protect David, I might even have to turn against Lin Huling. So this matter is of utmost importance, understand?”

"David should be hiding somewhere in the Upper City. If you can bring him back safely, I can give you a few more half-dark elf assassins, or the equivalent amount of money... After this matter is settled, I can also give you half of the territory and property of the third-third of the vassal nobles who are with my wife, instead of the Linhu territory... I have the power to grant baronial titles."

"Understood." Liu Xia agreed. The Earl's promises were tempting enough, and the family secrets he had previously revealed were sufficient to gain Liu Xia's trust. "However, the Upper City is so big, where should I begin?"

Seeing that Ryusha readily agreed, Count Duke breathed a sigh of relief, as if this matter had been weighing on his mind for a long time.

"Haifren Alvarez... She came to David's birthday party as a neutral noble, which made us lower our guard. We didn't expect that after David disappeared, she would openly side with the 'Imperial Capital Faction'. So I suspect that Haifren is the most suspicious..."

"This young girl is no ordinary person. She is the youngest daughter of General Alvarez, a 'Tenth Heaven Rank' warrior. Although she hasn't been promoted to Grand Knight, she's only a step away, and her combat skills are quite unusual. She never attended the Imperial Military Academy; everything she learned was personally taught by her father, so there's very little information about her..."

"Haifulian?" Liuxia's expression shifted slightly, and Count Duke, noticing this, asked, "You've seen her?"

"On the way here." Liu Xia nodded. "She has a squad of elite knights."

“That’s right, so this is a difficult situation. Tavis is not a good person and is prone to impulsiveness when his son is involved. Bran is not cautious enough, and besides, neither of them is a match for Hafren.”

The count sighed and looked at Ryusha with a strange expression: "If only Melanie were still here."

“Uh…” Ryuu's expression turned awkward. It seemed that her ambiguous relationship with Melanie had not escaped Count Duke’s intelligence network.

"Hehe, just kidding. Given the relationship between the Duke family and the Snowfield family, Melanie probably wouldn't help me so readily. After all, her family is already tied to the Third Prince. Although Melanie herself isn't entirely willing, it's a good thing for her to be hiding with you now."

Earl Duke regained his nonchalant expression and teased Liu Xia, "It's normal for a talented and handsome young man to have some female admirers. If only I had half...no, a third of your talent when I was young. I envy you..."

Remember, you only have five days. The only help I can give you is Zona and a detailed map of Sochi. The rest is up to you…”

Earl Duke watched as Zona led Ryuka away through the secret passage, his eyes filled with envy and gratitude. His two sons were utterly helpless in this situation; if Ryuka hadn't arrived in time, he feared he would have been...

No, Earl Duke shook his head. Such a thing should never be considered unless it was a matter of life and death. Even if the entire Duke family were wiped out, he would carefully consider using this last resort…

After passing through a long, dark passage, Liu Xia finally saw the light of day again. Although it was a cloudy and overcast day, it took his eyes a while to adjust to the sudden brightness.

Sochi Castle is indeed a complex structure, worthy of a century of construction. However, the Duke family has dwindled in talent, leaving the Earl in a situation where he has no capable generals to command—a problem faced by many ancient families in the empire…

The more this is the case, the less they dare to easily appoint talented outsiders and lower-level personnel, for fear that their own position will be shaken.

"Let me take a good look at you." Ryuga gave the order to Zona. The assassin obediently came to Ryuga's side, removed her mask, and once again revealed her face full of exotic charm.

Looking at this silent, brown-skinned beauty, Ryuka suddenly thought of Kramer, whose tongue had been cut out, and wondered if Zona would suffer the same fate. That would be a great pity.

"Open your mouth so I can see."

Zona obediently opened her mouth, and a rosy tongue lay perfectly in her mouth, making Liuxia feel both relieved and annoyed.

"So you can't speak?"

"Ah..." Zona was taken aback, then said in a very unaccustomed tone, "I...I will..."

"Then why are you so silent?"

"I... am not very good at communicating with people."

Zona looked somewhat guilty, as if she were a defective product that could not satisfy her master.

Is the Dark Elf's loyalty spell really that effective? Ryuga read the change in Zona's expression and suddenly had a mischievous thought to try it out. He commanded Zona: "You Linlinlin, have you had time to... Linzai?"

“My command just now was ‘Let me take a good look at you,’ not just your face.”

Hearing Ryuka say this, Zona was taken aback and understood what Ryuka meant.

Although this is a dark alley, pedestrians always pass by after dawn. Liuxia's intention is to let her stay here...

What would be a very difficult thing for an ordinary person to do, Zona thought for only one second before obediently starting to undress...

Ryūka's hearing allows him to sense when no one is around, and he can immediately detect anyone approaching. Zona, however, cannot, yet she still carries out Ryūka's orders without hesitation.

Soon, her alluring brown body was exposed to Ryūka's eyes. At first, Zona tried to cover herself with her hands. But after seeing Ryūka's determined gaze, she removed her hands and stood before him at attention, allowing him to examine her...

Chapter 7 Initial Examination

"So obedient?" Ryuka was somewhat surprised, admiring Zona's body while watching her cold expression turn awkward and shy as she asked:

"What's wrong? You seem uncomfortable? Haven't you been seen like this before?"

"Yes……"

Zona looked away, too ashamed to meet Ryusha's gaze. She felt as if her master's eyes were like sharp blades, capable of piercing through a person's psyche.

Ryuka's fingers traced the beautiful muscle lines of Zona's lower abdomen, feeling the power and vitality within, while simultaneously using the [Leader's Certificate] to check her information.

【Zona】(Dark Elf/Human Hybrid) Growth Talent: b

A pale purple light emanated from her body, and as Ryuka saw more and more followers, she gradually became able to discern their individual aptitudes. Although Zona was an SR follower, her quality was not high; her talent was only B, placing her at the bottom of the SR tier.

Zona excels in both assassin and dark magic, but if we divide her strength into three levels—early, mid, and late—her physical and magical abilities are only at the early stage.

Considering she looks about the same age as Kira and has been receiving training, her talent is indeed not that great.

However, if she were so talented, Earl Duke wouldn't have given her away.

Ryuka's fingers made Zona tremble, and the fine hairs on her smooth skin stood on end. She nervously looked around, afraid of being seen.

Seeing her so shy and frightened, completely unlike a cold-blooded assassin, this contrast aroused Liu Xia's playful side. While playing with her and enjoying the amplification of her magic, she continued to ask:

"Why did the Earl give you to me? Is it really as simple as you said before? If you are loyal to me, answer me properly."

As Ryuka's skillful techniques progressed, Zona's breathing became increasingly rapid. She gritted her teeth and answered:

"I don't know. It was entirely the Earl and my teacher's idea on a whim, and I had no say in it."

"Really? You'd make someone else's slave without hesitation? You obediently showed me your body with just a word. Looks like you've been trained to be very compliant?"

Ryūka deliberately used a disdainful tone to provoke Zona, who immediately retorted:

"No! I wasn't a slave before! I was my teacher's disciple! It's just... ha~"

"Just what?" Ryuka asked, tightening her grip on Zona's delicate pink nipples.

"It's...it's because I didn't meet the graduation training standards. Only half-elf disciples who didn't meet the standards...were subjected to a secret technique to become slaves with no disloyalty...I thought I had escaped this calamity because I wasn't subjected to the secret technique before, but I didn't expect it to happen today..."

Zona's voice trembled, and a distinct blush rose to her face. "You Lin Linmei have Lin Kong, you Lin Zaizai, are you...?"

"Really? When was your graduation training?"

"One...one month ago..."

A month ago? Ryuga understood. Perhaps Count Duke had long intended to give Zona to him to befriend him, which was why he had kept her. But the sudden incident in Sochi Territory delayed things.

"So, you were only subjected to this secret technique today? Didn't you even think about resisting or running away?"

“Where can we go… According to our bloodline, once we lose protection and are discovered, we will only be attacked by the Holy See.” Zona’s expression darkened.

She was right. If she hadn't become an assassin under the control of the Duke family, she would have been forced to live a life of hiding underground, just like most of her compatriots.

Even now, despite being humiliated and manipulated by Ryūka, and forced into slavery and assassination, she doesn't want to hide for the rest of her life.

"How many mixed-race people like you are there?"

“Several hundred people, but most of them have low bloodline concentration. Once they reach adulthood and are confirmed to have no obvious distinguishing features, they will be assigned to public positions in Sochi. People like me with obvious distinguishing features will either live their entire lives in the underground villages of Sochi, or they will have to be trained to become useful assassins…”

As she said this, Zona's expression became somewhat resolute, suggesting that she too was someone forced into this situation by fate.

"Really? You were willing to become a slave so you wouldn't live underground. Weren't you forced by Earl Duke and your teacher?"

"No... The Dark Elves' obedience technique requires us to willingly use our own blood to inscribe magical runes, and it can only be used once in a lifetime..."

Ryuka recalled the magical rune that Count Duke had cast in front of her. No wonder Count Duke could cast it even without any magical talent; it was essentially something like a slave contract.

"So, this is the first time you've been treated like this, since you were a free person before?"

"Ah, yes..."

As Ryuka felt Zona tremble with shame, he instantly felt like a landlord.

I thought she had long been the count's slave, already...

"You...you're not still a virgin, are you?"

Liu Xia felt a little embarrassed and asked in a puzzled tone.

Wouldn't that make me look like a villain? So Ryuka quickly stopped what she was doing.

But Ryūka's words led Zōna to misunderstand, believing that Ryūka withdrew his hand because he was disgusted that she might have been touched by someone else—a disguised test from his master. So she pursed her lips, gently parted the two beautiful mounds of flesh covered in silvery-white fur with both hands, and shamefully separated them…

But Ryūka's words led Zōna to misunderstand, believing that Ryūka withdrew his hand because he was disgusted that she might have been touched by someone else—a disguised test from his master. So she pursed her lips, gently parted the two beautiful mounds of flesh covered in silvery-white fur with both hands, and shamefully separated them…

"I...I'm really clean...As long as I can live on the ground, you can treat me however you want..."

Zona seemed to have made up her mind. Being sent to Ryukyu as a slave was not her choice, but she absolutely did not want to go back to the underground! She was willing to pay any price for it!

This action caused Ryuka's blood to rush to his head.

Hmm... Huang Shiren it is, Ryuka honestly followed her heart.

"Hey, I can't see it like this either."

Hearing Ryuka's words, Zona's breath hitched, and she gritted her teeth again, slowly bending her waist backward in the dark alley in the early morning...

"W-Will Master be able to see this...?"

Zona's body was almost bent into a plank bridge, her head about to touch the ground, but her astonishing core strength kept her from falling. Her sexy legs, spread wide in a horse stance in the cold air, revealed a glimpse of that pinkish lining of flesh, a symbol of purity…

"Hey, I see. Get up now."

As Ryuga watched Zona's body bend and muscles tighten, her pinkish area almost stretched taut, causing the thin membrane to be squeezed out, making one worry that it might break. At the same time, he felt an overwhelming sense of wonder and wonder, as if he were a newborn himself.

"Yes……"

Zona straightened up instantly, her amazing abdominal strength and flexibility leaving Ryuka in awe...

Without Ryukatsu's orders, Zona still dared not get dressed properly, shivering in the cold air, fearing that someone might walk into the alley and see this scene at any moment...

Seeing that Zona's eyes were red from her previous humiliating actions, and two tear tracks were running down her delicate cheeks, Ryuka finally realized that she had acted somewhat rashly this time, and picked up Zona's clothes and handed them to her.

"Okay, get dressed. We need to get down to business."

Chapter 8 The Instability of Familiars

Considering that the target of the mission was Hefren, Ryuga couldn't help but marvel at the coincidence. It just so happened that she also needed to find the whereabouts of that batch of magical instruments; besides being able to process various magical tools, the K18 potion she had used before was also something Ryuga longed for.

Ryūka looked at Zorna, who had finally breathed a sigh of relief after getting dressed. Zorna's expression had returned to its previous coldness, and she pointed in one direction:

“Master, please follow me. Heflian Alvarez’s residence is this way.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she immediately began to weave a spell with her hands without chanting. Dark magic enveloped her and Ryuka, and their figures gradually disappeared into the sunlight...

"A dark elf's secret technique, huh? It's even more effective at concealing the eyes of ordinary people than [Charm]. It's truly suited for assassins." Ryuka exclaimed as she followed Zona through the streets and rooftops, watching Zona cast [Silence] and [Invisibility] without chanting. She immediately used her remaining points to learn these two skills.

“Count Duke said you could be of help with this mission, tell me about it.”

Aside from some special magic that helps with concealment, Zona's combat abilities are quite mediocre; she probably couldn't even defeat any of the knights under Hefren's command.

Moreover, considering that Ryusha had seen Heflian's special reconnaissance skills, it was uncertain whether Zona's stealth magic would be effective. Count Duke must have had a reason for sending her.

"About this..."

Zona hesitated, looking as if she was finding it difficult to speak. At Ryūka's command, she finally began to speak…

After David disappeared, Count Duke immediately dispatched a squad of assassins to investigate, and Zona was one of them.

They had initially identified Hefren as the prime suspect, but when Zona sneaked into Hefren's mansion at night, she was discovered by Hefren, causing the operation to fail. The Count subsequently felt even greater pressure from the enemy...

"I don't know how she found me. My stealth was concealed by dark magic, completely hiding my voice, movement, and scent! But I was suddenly exposed just ten meters away from her!"

Zona gritted her teeth. She had originally intended to use this operation to redeem herself and make up for her previous failure in the assessment, but she did not expect Haiflian to be so perceptive.

Hearing this, Ryuu was unsurprised. The peculiar combat technique used by Haifulian was clearly similar to sonic radar, allowing her to sense the presence of enemies without relying on her own senses, but rather on her battle aura.

During her previous encounter with Melanie, she also relied on sensing temperature to counter her own sensory control. It seems that both magic and martial arts, when used in specific ways, can achieve remarkable effects; however, these 'unique techniques' can only be used by the right people. [The remaining text appears to be unrelated and possibly machine-generated gibberish.]

The dark magic used by a half-dark elf like Zona is all secret arts related to dark elves, which ordinary mages might not be able to learn. Perhaps Zona was too confident in her dark magic, which is why she suffered a loss against Haifren.