"I know your lord has... dealings with the Ratfolk."
She had seen plenty of Ratfolk walking around Free City when she arrived. One had even been buying goods. It was unbelievable.
Jack looked even more uncomfortable. "That's not it. It's..."
He had no choice but to admit that the Ratfolk the scouts had found was a One-Eared Ratfolk. As for why it had only one ear, that went back to the last campaign of the Allied Forces...
He awkwardly explained how they had worked with the Ratfolk to hunt down millions of rat ears for the sake of their ranking. The elf instructor's brows drew tight at first, then relaxed.
"What a clever lord."
Huh? She didn't mind? Since when were elves so easygoing?
Seeing the look in the elf instructor's eyes, Jack understood. It wasn't that elves were easygoing. They were easygoing with Lord Annan.
In that case, they really might be able to do what Lord Annan had asked...
The Eared-Off Ratfolk was soon brought over. Jack made no attempt to avoid the elf instructor as he asked, "Can you communicate?"
The Eared-Off Ratfolk shrieked in a bizarre version of the Ratfolk Language, with only the occasional "Human Thing" mixed in.
"Do you recognize us?"
Jack spoke in authentic Ratfolk Language.
The Eared-Off Ratfolk froze. "Human Thing, how can you..."
Good. It could communicate.
As for why Jack knew the Ratfolk Language... a visit to the Mage Tower for the procedure had taken care of that.
"Want to make another deal?"
Jack pointed at its missing ear. The Eared-Off Ratfolk's scarlet eyes lit up. It would never forget that day last year, when it had traded a single ear for a basket of rotten meat.
Jack felt a pang too. The average Ratfolk rarely lived beyond ten years.