(Erza's POV – Witnessing Yuuta's Memory)
He turned toward the water, reaching, but froze.
The wolves were closing in.
No one was coming.
"Please…" he whispered, sinking to his knees.
"I'm tired… I don't wanna run anymore…"
He didn't scream. Didn't fight.
He just sat there, trembling, staring up at the sky as though waiting for someone — anyone — to take him away from this world.
"Onee-chan… I'm sorry…"
The lead wolf growled and lowered its body, ready to strike.
Yuuta didn't move.
He closed his eyes.
And then—
Thwack.
An arrow sliced through the forest, straight into the wolf's skull.
The beast dropped instantly, crashing to the ground with a thud.
The others jolted back, startled. They sniffed their fallen packmate, then backed away. A moment later, they turned and vanished into the trees.
Yuuta opened his eyes slowly.
Confused. Alive.
And from between the trees, three men stepped into view.
They wore long cloaks and merchant robes. Crossbows slung over their shoulders. Packs on their backs. They looked like travelers — but their eyes watched too carefully. Their hands never strayed far from their weapons.
One of them called out, smiling.
"Hey there, kid! You alright?"
Yuuta tried to stand. He swayed on his feet, soaked and bruised.
"I… I think so…"
Another man stepped forward and knelt beside him, gently brushing dirt from his arm.
"What's a little guy like you doing way out here all by himself?"
Yuuta looked at them, blinking slowly.
"I ran away…" he said quietly. "From a lab."
The men paused.
Their smiles stiffened just a little.
"A lab, huh?" one of them repeated.
Yuuta nodded. "They… they hurt people. But my sister… she helped me escape. She made a tunnel under the walls. I crawled through. I fell in the river…"
"And where's your sister now?"
"She stayed behind," Yuuta said, his voice falling. "She couldn't move. Her leg was hurt bad…"
He hesitated, then added softly:
"But she's really pretty. She has long pink hair… and ears like this—"
He raised his hands beside his head and pointed them upward, mimicking the shape.
"Like pointy ears. Not like mine."
The men glanced at each other.
Their smiles vanished.
One of them muttered under his breath.
"Elf."
That was when he arrived.
I saw him before Yuuta did.
A man—no, a monster—emerged from the woods. Fat, draped in jewelry, his robe smeared with oil and sweat. Rings clinked on every finger as he waddled closer. His eyes lit up at the word "elf" like a vulture spotting fresh meat.
"What's this I hear?" he said, licking his lips. "Long ears? Pink hair?"
Yuuta turned to him.
"Do you know her? Can you help her?"
He still had that innocent look in his eyes. That flicker of hope. He didn't understand yet.
"She's in the lab. She's still there. Her leg… she couldn't run…"
The fat man crouched in front of him.
"Of course we can help her," he said smoothly. "But first… tell me where this lab is."
"I don't know," Yuuta admitted. "I just crawled through the tunnel… then fell into the river."
The man's smile twitched.
"You sure about that?"
Yuuta nodded.
"Don't lie to me, brat."
Smack.
The slap echoed through the trees.
Yuuta staggered, clutching his cheek.
"You seriously expect me to believe you just fell out of a lab and have no idea where it is?" the man growled. "Where. Is. She?"
Yuuta stood still.
Silent.
Something in his eyes had changed.
He understood now.
"…You're not good people," he said quietly.
The man sneered.
"What did you just say?"
Yuuta looked him straight in the eye.
"Even if I die… I'll never tell you where she is."
CRACK.
The boot slammed into his ribs.
Yuuta hit the ground hard, gasping. Curled in pain.
"Throw him in the cage," the man barked. "We'll see how long that stubborn mouth lasts after a few weeks in the dark."
Two guards stepped out from behind the wagons. Their faces were blank. Their hands, practiced. They didn't hesitate.
Yuuta didn't scream.
Didn't fight.
He just looked up at the sky one last time—
—and let them drag him away.
I stood there.
Frozen.
Watching.
"I still don't understand..."
My voice cracked, low and uncertain as we stood in the swirling memory fog.
"Why are humans so obsessed with elf girls?"
I wasn't asking out of curiosity anymore. I was asking out of rage. Disgust.
Because no matter how many slaver camps we destroyed, no matter how deep we dug… it was always the same.
Chains. Dungeons. And somewhere—hidden in the coldest, darkest cell—
An elf girl. Alone. Bruised. Always caged like a trophy.
Why?
"Because elves," my grandfather said, "aren't just rare. They're seen as perfection."
I turned to him slowly.
"What?"
He stared into the memory ahead—Yuuta's still form flickering in the smoke.
"They age slowly. Their bodies don't wrinkle. Their voices don't lose warmth. They live clean, long lives—pure diets, strong bloodlines, gentle hearts. To men corrupted by greed, lust, and vanity… elves are a prize. A thing."
He sighed, bitterly.
"They don't get pregnant easily either. Long lifespans mean long reproductive cycles. So the twisted ones see them as 'safe.' Something they can use… without consequence."
I couldn't speak. My jaw locked. My chest felt heavy.
"And because they rarely leave their homelands, actually capturing an elf is like catching a star," he continued. "If a slaver finds one? He can name his price. Gold. Land. Even power. That's why…"
He turned to me now.
"That's why when Yuuta—without even knowing—described Sophia's ears, her hair… they knew what she was. He said, 'she has ears like this.' Pointed. Innocent. But to them… it was like announcing he'd found buried treasure."
I swallowed hard, my throat dry.
"So they tortured him," I whispered. "To find her."
He gave a slow, solemn nod.
"And you should be warned, Erza. What you're about to see… it may break you."
He raised his hand.
And the memory surged forward.
(Months forward – Slave Camp, Liben Forest)
The canvas flaps of the slaver's tent blew in the damp wind. Rain had fallen earlier—mud clung to everything. The air was thick with rot, blood, and smoke.
I saw Yuuta.
My heart stopped.
He was hanging by rusted chains. His arms stretched above him, feet barely touching the ground. He'd grown—he was five now—but his frame looked even smaller, swallowed in shadow.
His body was a map of pain.
Cuts across his back. Bruises blooming like ink across pale skin. Fingers swollen, blood still dripping from the nailbeds. His lips were cracked, face bloated from where fists had found him again and again.
He wasn't crying anymore.
He couldn't.
Even that had been beaten out of him.
His head lolled forward, barely conscious, breath shallow.
"They didn't just beat him," my grandfather murmured. "They conditioned him."
I blinked. "What do you mean?"
"They tried everything. Withholding food. Sleep deprivation. Burning, whipping. Asking him where the 'elf girl' was, over and over. But he never spoke. Not once. He only repeated her name. 'Onee-chan.'"
I stared at the child. No warrior. No soldier.
Just a boy. A child who clung to love as his only shield.
And still, they kept hurting him.
The tent flap snapped open.
The boss entered.
That bloated pig of a man, rings clinking on every finger, draped in fur he didn't earn. He walked with a sneer, like the world owed him something.
He stopped before Yuuta, looked him over like rotting meat, and spat in his face.
"You've got some spine for a brat," he muttered, grabbing Yuuta's hair and yanking his head up. "But spirit doesn't sell. Pretty little elves do."
He turned and shouted to his guards.
"Get ready to sell him. He's useless."
Yuuta didn't speak. His lips trembled, but he stayed silent.
That alone made the boss angrier.
One of the guards, curious, leaned in.
"Boss… wait. Look at his mouth."
He pried Yuuta's jaw open roughly—and his eyes widened.
"He's hiding something."
The boss came back quickly, snarling. He reached in—and pulled out a small silver ring.
Elven craftsmanship.
Delicate. Ancient.
Beautiful.
Yuuta gasped, weakly reaching for it.
"No… please… that's my sister's…"
The man's grin widened as he examined it.
"This… this is real. This is elven work." He slipped the ring onto his pudgy finger, admiring the glint. "With this? I could buy a mansion."
Yuuta's eyes filled with panic. Not for himself—for the ring.
For what it meant.
"Don't… please… she gave it to me… it's all I have left…"
The boss just laughed.
"And I don't need you anymore."
He raised his hand.
"Sword."
A guard stepped forward, blade drawn.
Yuuta didn't scream.
He just closed his eyes.
Still holding onto his sister.
Still protecting her.
And then—
A tremor.
Dirt shook. The chains rattled.
The candlelight flickered violently.
And from outside the camp—
A scream. Not human. Not beast. Something… else.
The slaver turned toward the flap.
"What the hell—?"
And everything exploded.
To be continued…