Demon King: Hero, don’t run away!

77: Chapter 77: Talking to a Duck as to a Chicken 77: Chapter 77: Talking to a Duck as to a Chicken “Talking about yourself as a baby, since when can a baby talk so much…”

Iyas muttered to herself, but she wouldn’t give up over this minor setback.

“I know you are uninvolved, and I apologize for presumptuously asking for your help.

You said earlier that you saved me out of kindness, so could you please show some compassion and help me save my brother?”

Iyas still believed that since Yang Yu managed to rescue her from the dark research institute, he would surely be able to find the auction house and rescue her brother as well.

“You really haven’t grasped the crux of the problem.” The smile on his face disappeared, and Yang Yu’s expression suddenly became extremely serious, “First, can you answer a question for me?”

Although unsure of what Yang Yu was planning, since he was her only hope at the moment, Iyas had no choice but to go along with his pace.

“What question?”

“A simple question.” Yang Yu paused briefly before continuing, “Do you know if your brother and you were sold by that auction house?”

“Although I don’t know, such a question should be easy to investigate and find out.”

“Although I don’t know, such a question should be easy to investigate and find out?”

As Iyas began to speak, Yang Yu echoed her words, and they both unwittingly said the same thing at the same time.

Iyas was taken aback, her eyes widening as if Yang Yu already knew what she was thinking, using that mocking tone to tell her that the harsh reality differed greatly from her thoughts.

“Humans as a group are even larger than you can imagine.” Yang Yu leaned back in his chair with an air of composure, “Take the example from earlier, if a few children were scribbling graffiti at your doorstep, you wouldn’t blame all the kids in your village.

Now, let’s expand that range a bit—suppose there were another village next to yours, would the children from that village be involved with what happens at your door?

If that’s still possible, imagine yet another village next to those villages, and repeat this a hundred times.

Would a child who is ninety-nine villages away from yours know about the kids in your village drawing graffiti on your door?

And even if they did, how much time would that take?”

Rendered speechless by Yang Yu’s words, Iyas knew that even within her own village, news would take quite some time to travel from one end of the village to the other.

Yang Yu scoffed disdainfully, “Then do you know how many auction houses we humans have?”

Iyas shook her head, “I know that searching one by one will definitely take a lot of time and effort, but I’m really worried about my brother’s safety, so please!”

Having said that, Iyas didn’t hesitate to bow her head, her words carrying an extra measure of earnestness.

It was rare for a noble elf to lower their head to a human unless they truly faced a situation where they had no other choice.

Iyas was beginning to realize the gravity of her situation and the difficulty in solving her problem, but her hope rested solely on this young man before her, and she sincerely hoped that he would lend her a helping hand.

However, Yang Yu merely offered her a cool smile, “Kindness is also a matter of ability and price.

It’s like when someone is sick, you can’t expect someone with no medical knowledge to cure them, right?

Just how many auction houses there are among humans, I have no idea.”

Yang Yu’s words mercilessly shattered Iyas’s illusions.

“Practically every major city is equipped with an auction house, and some larger towns have them as well.

Humans now have three nations, each composed of countless cities surrounded by some scattered small towns, and what we’re staying in is just one of them.

This town has at least ten thousand people, and if you don’t believe me, I can take you out right now to see for myself.

In such a human society, remembering everyone in the entire town would be the mark of a true genius.

This is quite different from the tiny villages you’re used to, where you can’t even see your neighbors.

“To traverse so many towns in search of your missing brother is undoubtedly like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

Ten thousand people?

And that’s just a village?

Even he didn’t know how many such villages there were?

Could there really be so many humans?

Iyas felt like her head was about to crash.

“Do you know how much it would cost me to help you?

First, since you don’t know where the auction house that sold you is, we can only investigate them one by one.

It’s completely normal to have tens to hundreds of kilometers between towns, and just the investigation would take considerable time and travel money.

You probably don’t even understand the concept of travel expenses.

To put it another way, you can’t just not eat or drink, right?

With all that travel, you would need a lot of food, and human towns aren’t like yours where you can hunt and forage everywhere, with vegetables ready to be picked right at hand.”

“Don’t underestimate me; we understand the concept of money as well!”

“Then you should understand what I just said, right?” Yang Yu stood up and opened the door for Iyas.

“We’re strangers to each other.

I rescued you from the darkness underground, and getting you out of that cruel fate should already count as more than enough.

You can go!

The clothes you’re wearing, consider them a gift from me.

Now fend for yourself!”

Iyas wanted to say something else, but looking at Yang Yu’s uncomprehending expression, a surge of anger rose in her heart, and she stormed towards the door.

“Really!

I get it.

If you don’t want to help, then forget it!

Even if I’m alone, I’m going to rescue my brother!

No matter if he’s at the end of the earth or at the edge of the sea, I will save him!”

Iyas walked past Yang Yu without looking back and into the narrow corridor.

Hmph—really, if you don’t want to help, just say so.

There’s no need for excuses.

Money is entirely unnecessary.

It’s just a tool to facilitate trade.

Even without money, I can rely on my skills to find food and survive.

It might take some time, but as long as I persevere, one day I will search every human town with my own Strength.

Hake, you must wait for me.

After descending the stairs, Iyas left the inn.

Outside, the sunlight was bright.

“The sun is truly the same no matter where you are.” Iyas raised her hand to shield the blinding light, taking a moment to adjust.

“Human towns are just larger villages.

As an exceptional Elf Warrior, such a small difficulty will certainly not defeat me.”

Lowering her hand, what caught Iyas’s eye were houses packed tightly together, a road paved with Qing Shi slabs stretching as far as she could see, various merchants setting up their stalls along the street, and the town bustling with incessant traffic and people coming and going, lacking even a hint of the forest around.

“How can this be?

Without a forest, how do these people survive…” Iyas was utterly astonished.

At that moment, a little girl looking around caught sight of the dumbfounded Iyas and playfully raised her hand, pointing at her.

“Mommy, look!

An elf!

A real elf.

Just like the ones in the books!”

The child’s innocent voice exploded like a bomb into the crowd, and in an instant, nearly everyone on the street turned their gaze to Iyas…