From Slave to King: My Rebate System Built Me a Kingdom With Beauties!-Chapter 233: Find Byung.
Naz had traveled for quite some time now, her horse maintaining a steady pace that ate up distance without exhausting the animal. She’d left home with determination burning in her chest, driven by the certainty that her son’s fevered warnings were more than simple nightmares.
The landscape had gradually shifted from familiar farming territory to wilder, less populated regions where the roads were poorly maintained and civilization felt distant.
But on her way through a particularly desolate stretch, she saw something unusual lying on the road ahead. At first glance it appeared to be a wounded woman collapsed at the roadside, her body positioned in a way that suggested she’d fallen and lacked the strength to rise. Naz’s first instinct was concern—leaving someone injured on a deserted road was asking for them to die of exposure or be killed by predators.
As she drew closer, however, details became clearer that made her reassess. No, not a woman exactly. Those ears weren’t that of a human—they were elongated, pointed, rising gracefully from a head of hair that even matted and dirty carried an otherworldly quality. The bone structure of the face was too refined, too perfect, the proportions slightly off in ways that marked this being as fundamentally different from any race Naz had encountered.
She gasped audibly as she got down from her horse with hasty urgency, her mind struggling to process what she was seeing. What was an elf doing this close to orc and goblin territories? Elves never left their fortress, never ventured into what they considered "lesser" lands inhabited by "barbaric" races. Their isolation was legendary, their superiority complex well-documented even among those who’d never met one.
The elf looked up at Naz’s approach with an expression of pure disgust, her lips curling in distaste at having to acknowledge an orc’s presence. But despite the contempt in her eyes, she was clearly in an absolutely dreadful state. Her once-fine clothing was torn and filthy, hanging off her frame in ways that revealed significant weight loss. Her skin carried an unhealthy pallor, her eyes were sunken, and her movements as she tried to shift position were weak and uncoordinated.
She looked desperately hungry and utterly exhausted, her body displaying all the signs of someone who’d been surviving without adequate food or rest for an extended period. And there was something else—an emptiness around her that Naz couldn’t quite articulate but felt instinctively. With her access to magic completely lost, severed in ways that left her feeling hollow and incomplete, the elf knew with crushing certainty that she no longer had a home to return to. Elven society had no place for the magicless, no tolerance for those who’d lost their defining characteristic. So why not simply die here on this forgotten road? It would be easier than facing the shame and rejection awaiting her.
Naz didn’t take the elf’s obvious disgust personally—she’d dealt with prejudice her entire life and had learned not to let it dictate her actions. She approached cautiously, keeping her movements slow and non-threatening despite the elf’s hostile body language. She had never thought these creatures were actually real beyond stories and legends, and this was genuinely her first time seeing one of the legendary elves in person. One could certainly understand her hesitation as her mind raced with racing thoughts, questions piling up faster than she could process them.
But the most important question, the one that made her heart pound with recognition: why was an elf positioned directly in the path her son Grigmor had mumbled about in his fevered dreams? He’d spoken of directions, of landmarks, of dangers that awaited. And now here was an elf, a being that absolutely shouldn’t exist in this location, lying exactly where her son’s visions had suggested something significant would be found.
She was now absolutely sure this was no longer just a dream born of illness but a genuine vision, some kind of magical connection between Grigmor and whatever it is this world was hiding.
Naz tried to hand the elf some food after hearing her stomach rumble loudly enough to be audible several feet away. She pulled out dried meat and hard bread from her traveling pack—simple rations designed for long journeys rather than palatability. The elf looked at the offered meal with renewed disgust, her nose wrinkling as if the food itself was offensive. Surely this wasn’t actually edible by civilized standards? The food looked dried and preserved, something one would use to put an animal on a strict diet rather than nourish a person, much less someone of her elevated status.
But her stomach was actively fighting against her pride, cramping painfully, demanding sustenance regardless of quality or source. She’d gone too long without eating, had burned through her body’s reserves until continuing to refuse food meant certain death.
This wounded elf was none other than Aelindra—the first elven warrior who had fought directly against Byung and engaged with the dwarf during that chaotic confrontation. The dwarf had systematically stripped away her magical abilities, severing her connection to the power that defined her entire existence and purpose. The loss had been more than physical—it was existential, leaving her feeling like a ghost inhabiting her own body.
Naz sensed there had to be a significant reason why this particular elf was here. She decided to take a gamble on her instincts and asked directly: "Have you seen a goblin? One with abnormal features, evolved beyond typical appearance?"
Aelindra’s reaction was immediate and visceral. She immediately took a defensive stance despite her weakened condition, her body tensing as if preparing for combat she clearly couldn’t sustain. "I knew it!" she spat with as much venom as her exhausted state allowed. "I knew you beasts were working together! The goblin sent you, didn’t he? To finish what he started?"
But the defensive posture was pure bluff. She was far too weak to actually move effectively, much less fight. She hadn’t eaten properly for days, possibly longer, and with the complete loss of her magical abilities, she couldn’t sustain herself through the arcane means elves normally employed during hardship. Her body was failing in ways she’d never experienced before.
Naz had absolutely no idea whether she should feel relief or fear at this reaction. The elf’s hostile response confirmed she’d definitely encountered Byung recently. But the defensive terror in her eyes, the way she spoke of him like a threat—did that mean it was actually Byung who had put her in this terrible state? Had her gentle, evolved King done this to another living being?
Without answering the elf’s accusations, Naz simply handed her the food package and turned back toward her horse. She knew with growing certainty that if she traveled further down this road, following the path her son’s visions had indicated, she might be able to find Byung and get actual answers about what was happening.
Aelindra was genuinely surprised the orc wasn’t finishing her off, wasn’t taking advantage of her helpless state to eliminate a traditional enemy. She looked at the food package in her hands for a long, conflicted moment, pride warring with survival instinct. Then hunger won decisively. She took a bite, expecting the worst.
To her shock, the flavor was actually... good? Simple, certainly, but well-seasoned and more palatable than appearance suggested. She found herself consuming it in record time, barely pausing to chew properly, her body screaming with gratitude for finally receiving sustenance.
"Wait!" Aelindra shouted at Naz’s retreating back, the word escaping before she could stop it.
Naz stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder, her expression curious but guarded.
Aelindra struggled with what she was about to say, every word feeling like swallowing glass. Her pride screamed against it, but pragmatism and desperate need for answers won out. "I’ll... I’ll help you find him," she said reluctantly, the admission clearly costing her greatly. "The goblin. I know where he went. I can... I can guide you."
