Future Knight [EN]: Chapter 71

“Keep injecting mana as much as possible. Unless you want to become only half human.”

“Krrr!?”

Startled by the words ‘half human,’ Loki began to pour mana into the belt with all his might again.

Then, a bright light engulfed Loki’s entire body, and Loki’s brightly shining body gradually began to shrink.

Watching this, Kang Chan looked back and forth between Loki and Zikyon in amazement.

After about a minute, the dazzling light gradually faded, and when the light completely disappeared, Loki, in a completely different form, was sitting in front of Kang Chan and Zikyon.

In a form completely different from the image of an ogre.

“Wha, what happened to me?”

The voice that came from Loki’s mouth was a beautiful voice, like jade beads rolling.

The appearance of Loki, who was an ogre, had become that of a delicate, pretty boy who seemed like he would break if touched even slightly.

Kang Chan was momentarily speechless at Loki’s distinctly different appearance. Then, he looked at Zikyon and asked.

“Is that your taste?”

“How is it? Do you like it?”

“……”

A frail pretty boy for an ogre, the symbol of strength and destruction… this was a terrible, awful taste.

Loki carefully raised his hand.

A transparent and delicate hand, not the huge and rough hand of an ogre.

“Th, this, I, am I human…?”

Loki slowly looked around.

Everything felt huge.

No, he had become smaller.

Loki, who had jumped up from his seat, looked down at his body as if it were amazing.

His body, which was immediately visible, was naked.

The underwear he wore when he was an ogre had now become too huge.

The only thing Loki, who had become a delicate pretty boy, was wearing was the belt Zikyon had given him.

However, not considering such a thing embarrassing, Loki jumped up and down on the bed, shouting excitedly.

“I’ve become human! Wahahaha!”

Loki was happy and excited, but Kang Chan frowned at the sight of *it* wildly shaking up and down, also excited.

“Hey… cover up the front a bit?”

“Huh? Ah? Are you talking about my thing?”

“Y, yes, that damn thing….”

While Loki was running around naked, looking for something to cover himself, Zikyon, who had been thinking carefully, called Loki.

“Hmm, being naked because of the size difference… I didn’t think about that part, I need to add a function. Hey, Ogre! Come here.”

Loki, who had roughly covered his front, approached Zikyon, and Zikyon began to untie Loki’s belt.

The sight of Zikyon, in the form of a woman, untying the belt of Loki, who was almost naked, looked a little awkward, but no one cared.

Loki, who had his belt untied, was once again engulfed in light and quickly returned to his huge ogre form.

Loki, who had been excited for a while, said in a dejected tone.

“Krrr… does the magic wear off when I untie the belt?”

“It is impossible to permanently change a race with magic, even for a dragon. Only God can do that.”
Zikyon replied in a cold tone and additionally engraved a clothing creation function on the belt.

“Now, put on your underwear and transform again.”

“Krr, I understand.”

Loki, who was wearing the leather underwear he had originally worn, put the belt on his finger again and injected mana, and he transformed back into a weak pretty boy.

This time, he was wearing clothes, not naked.

However, the clothes Loki was wearing were not men’s clothes.

“Hey, Zikyon! What did you dress him in?”

“Why? It suits him well.”

“……”

The clothes Loki was wearing were very similar to Zikyon’s clothes, which were women’s clothes.

It goes without saying that it was a sexy style.

However, unfortunately, it somehow suited Loki, who had transformed into a body as slender as a woman.

It even looked better than putting him in men’s clothes.

But no matter what, Kang Chan’s expression as he looked at Zikyon conveyed only one thing.

“My friend is a pervert……”

22. The Great Merchant Mu Kalina

From ancient times, the ones who benefited the most when a war broke out were, of course, the merchants.

Of course. There were unavoidable losses due to problems such as rampant thieves and forced conscription due to security issues, but that was the story of a small merchant group.

The larger the merchant group, the more means they had to endure that level of loss and reap greater profits.

It is like picking stars in the sky to find what you want in wartime [extremely difficult].

This is because almost all production is suspended in all fields.

So, the first thing people do before a war breaks out is hoarding.

However, the longer the war lasts, the more the meaning of hoarding fades, and finally, a time comes when everything withers.

At that time, the prices of food and medicine skyrocket the most.

That’s because food and medicine are the most needed items during war.

Merchants wait for this moment.

With capital and information power that are different from civilians, they begin to hoard large quantities of food and medicine in advance.

After the war, the prices of the goods they sell soar from dozens to hundreds of times, but people buy them because they are grateful just to be able to buy them.

If that is not enough, they could organize a large merchant group and go to other regions that are not involved in the war to find and sell goods.

It is only a matter of time before they sit on a pile of money.

There were also merchant groups that made money by trading with countries.

Such merchant groups were all leading merchant groups on the continent, and they made money by supplying weapons, horses, and military provisions.

Of course, you had to be on the right side to do business with a country waging war.

If you were on the wrong side, you would not be able to guarantee the survival of the merchant group, let alone profit.

However, it was a matter of course that you could aim for greater profits than doing business with civilians because the risk was high.

Because kings and nobles who grew up wealthy do not have a good sense of money.

In addition, there was a way to make a lot of money on the shady side.

That was human trafficking.

Among the weakened security during the war, the most powerful group besides the military is the large merchant group.

They did not spare money to scrape together private soldiers and mercenaries.

This is because there are more than one or two groups of thieves aiming for their goods.

One of the easiest ways for them, a group with such powerful power, to make money is human trafficking.

This place is not like the Earth in the future, where the logic of human rights prevails.

No one guarantees the human rights of those who are kidnapped and sold.

The probability that a person who has been kidnapped and sold to another region can return to his hometown is almost zero.

Of course, even as a corpse.

* * *

On the fifth day of departure.

Kang Chan and his party, who escaped from the forest in two days with Loki’s help, finally arrived at the village.

It was the first human village they had arrived at.

Kang Chan, Ellica, and Loki’s feelings upon arriving at the human village were all different.

Kang Chan and Ellica were new to the feeling of leaving the Elf Forest for the first time and arriving at a village of another race.

Loki was happy enough to cry just because no one screamed or feared him, unlike in the past.

Only Zikyon was looking at Kang Chan, Ellica, and Loki, and sneering inwardly.

‘They look like country mice coming to the city……’

Zikyon, who was looking at the group staring blankly at the village, raised her voice.

“Hey! Hey! Why are you all making such expressions when you see this rural village? Please stop doing embarrassing things and let’s go eat.”

“Okay, lead the way, Zikyon.”

Kang Chan, followed by Ellica and Loki, lined up behind Zikyon.

No one except Zikyon had experienced the human world.

Zikyon looked at the three with a dumbfounded expression and opened her mouth.

“Am I your nanny?”

“Oh great and mighty one, please lead us ignorant ones… is that enough?”

“……”

Zikyon’s head ached again that she, a dragon, had to take care of such foolish and pathetic things.

* * *

The village of Arwen, located on the border of the Montana Mountains, was a small village with a population of less than 200, but it was located on a trade route with the dwarves, so wealthy merchants were always visiting.

Such a small village suddenly began to become noisy.

“Huh? Hey, look over there! They’re all so pretty?”

“Where? Wow! They’re really pretty? Huh? Hey! It’s an elf!”

“An elf?!”

“Look at the ears! The ears!”

“Ugh! I, it’s real!”

The young men of the village, looking at Kang Chan and his party who had entered the village, were mesmerized by Ellica.

This was because elves were not so common in the human world.

In terms of appearance, Zikyon was not inferior to Ellica at all, but the name elf alone was enough for Ellica to become the object of romance for young men.

“Oh, the green-haired woman next to her is hot too……”

“She’s really hot.”

After that, the men’s eyes were fixed on Zikyon’s chest.

Annoyed by the sticky gazes of those human males, Zikyon yelled at a nearby human.

“What are you looking at? Is there a show going on?”

“Oh my! She has a pretty face, but her personality is terrible.”

“Hey! What did you say? Say it again!”

Kang Chan hurriedly grabbed Zikyon as she tried to run at the muttering human.

“Hey, calm down!”

“Hey! Let go of me! Won’t you let go? Hey, you! Stand there!”

Kang Chan almost clung to Zikyon to hold her back.

If he just left her alone, something big would happen.

“Please don’t cause trouble and just go, Zikyon. I’m begging you.”

“Ah! My temper has died down a lot! If it were before, this crappy village would be ashes in 1 second.”

“You can blow it away next time you come. Just bear with it for now.”

“I’m holding back for your sake! Gritting!”

Kang Chan, who had managed to stop Zikyon, who had become very edgy, ignored the gazes of the people and headed to a nearby inn.

However, as soon as they entered the inn, Kang Chan and his party were once again the center of attention.

Even Kang Chan, who was insensitive, felt uncomfortable.

But he had to ignore it.

They wouldn’t be in the village for long anyway, and they couldn’t waste time by causing trouble.

“What are these things…… Ugh!”

Kang Chan gagged Zikyon, who was about to get angry again.

“Zikyon, just bear with it. Let’s just eat and get horses and leave quickly.”

“Tch! Okay.”

Zikyon’s slightly angry appearance was even more attractive as she looked sulky.

“Welcome. Are you just here for a meal? Or are you staying?”

“Just a meal.”

“Yes, yes. Come this way.”

While following the clerk to an empty seat, whistles were heard from here and there.

The atmosphere of the people in the restaurant was different from the people in the village.

They all had rough faces and were dressed as travelers, so they seemed to be outsiders, not villagers.

In addition, judging from the fact that they were all heavily armed, they did not seem to be doing ordinary work.

After roughly ordering, Kang Chan asked the clerk.

“Is there a place nearby where I can get horses?”

“Are you looking for horses?”

Kang Chan nodded, and the clerk made a troubled expression.

“Well, you won’t be able to get horses in our village right now.”

“Why?”

“There are two huge merchant groups staying in our village right now, and they have bought all the horses in the village. You will probably have to talk to the people in that merchant group to get horses.”

“Then, where are they?”

“Right in front of you……”

The clerk carefully pointed to the rough-looking people at another table, and Kang Chan nodded.

“Hmm, thank you. Go ahead.”

When Kang Chan waved his hand as if he was annoyed, the clerk, who had expected a tip, frowned and returned to his seat.

“Zikyon, what should we do? They say they bought all the horses?”

“We can just take them, what are you worried about?”

It was a very dragon-like mindset.

As he spent time with Zikyon, Kang Chan seemed to be becoming more and more assimilated with Zikyon’s personality, and he accepted Zikyon’s thoughts very positively.

“I see, then let’s eat first.”