78 Circumstances
Everyone was silent as we ate. They seemed quite hungry, the food on the table was quickly disappearing.
Quietly yet steadily. That's despite their table manners looking slow.
Knives, forks, spoons. All of them exactly the same as my past life. This should have weirded me out, yet the fact that I just accepted it was more scary. I even felt like I'd lose if I cared.
I can't help but suspect a lot of things in this world was 'Shored up' by god. Copied from the earth.
It's gotten to the point I think I'd better of stop caring about it for the sake of my mental well being.
The food was good. Every single one was simply a delight to the stomach.
I drank some water to wash down the food.
And ended up blurting out something inappropriate from getting too relaxed.
"What was it like as slaves? Were you treated badly?"
I was curious about the existence of slaves in this world. Wanting to know if 'Slaves' were treated as bad in this world as mine.
But it hit me right away. That was utterly boorish of me.
(Oh crap, this is pretty much a sexual harassment... I didn't have a drink did I...)
The wine-like booze had no bitterness to it, sweet with a bit of sourness instead. It was so good and smelled novel.
Wait this isn't time for that, I followed up.
"I get that it's hard to talk about, so don't worry about it. I mean, err, um yeah, that."
I tried to take it back but failed. My incompetence hurt.
But what seems to be the leader of these six elves started speaking.
"We are people who live in the Great Forest, located further away from a country humans referred as Empire. Our clan led a modest life relying on the blessing of the forest."
(Huh? She started narrating from there even though I didn't ask... oh no, this'll take long.)
"That day we could not find any prey thus we walked far into the forest. After discussing among ourselves, we decided to hunt just outside the boundary."
(Err, this is a bit too heavy for an after-meal chat... but it's too late to interrupt her I feel...)
"A little while after leaving the barrier, we managed to find a prey but that was when we all let our guard down. It was a trap. Normally we would have been able to sense their presences. We ended up getting caught in a net falling overhead."
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(That's a classic. Different 'Worlds' yet same 'Problems'.)
"We couldn't react fast enough due to confusion, had swords pointed at us, and got those collars put on us. We are stronger than humans. However, that pride became our fall. The long years we denied human contact made us forget about how cunning they are."
"Ah, I should apologize as a human. I'm sorry. We're not all bad people, I hope you can at least entertain that idea."
"I understand. There is no absolute evil or good, no matter they are."
Just when I thought we were done, she resumed.
"However, those people were a group of evil men. But they did not harm us further afterward. Not even a finger touched us. Damo had ordered them to keep us chaste."
(Ah, that's where my doubt lies...)
"We had braced ourselves to become playthings of that man, but in the end he never made a move on us. The reason for that was inane."
(Huh? Not erotic doujin pattern? Inane, like what...)
"Damo who had fattened up from endless food and liquor was unable to lead a normal life without assistance, but he could not bear having sweaty men attending to his need day and night. Elven slaves would take their place instead. That was the sole reason he brought us here."
I was dumbfounded to hear that. Even though there was no sexual violence involved, that reason is just too much. What a disaster for them.
(...Did that guy have no sex drive? Feels like that's not it. Maybe like all desire got concentrated on gluttony? Or maybe he had a bulimia? Or perhaps he was the type that experienced euphoria from eating?)
Either way, the man in question is dead. No point in asking.
"Helping with excretion, with entering and exiting bath, changing clothes, and even spooning him."
I recalled a documentary of someone that weighed several hundreds kilo in America.
"He made us cook our elven food and complained how it tasted bad or flavorless. All while cleaning up his plate."
(What is that, a mother in law from 2C*? There's so much to retort I don't even know where to begin...)
The elves seemed to recall the food they cooked getting dissed, they all had grim looks on their faces.
"Ah, that's, um, yeah I can't find the right words..."