No offence meant, but that's even less plausible than slavery continuing into the 21st century in the first place. It's a total contradiction of what being free even means. It's perfectly believable that Lin would prefer not to be freed for her own reasons without needing such a silly rationalisation to explain it.
Harem Hotel is not in the 21st century. It's not based in reality either.
In our world, people were slaves for various reasons.
In the Harem Hotel world, ELVES are enslaved.
Think about it this way. We keep zoos, we capture animals and put them in cages so we can enjoy ourselves by seeing these crazy exotic creatures.
This is almost exactly what's happening in Harem Hotel. Elves were only found 300 years ago on an undiscovered continent (The one Harem Hotel is based on). People saw these Elves as no more than smart animals. People think they're sexy, so they buy them, and enjoy themselves with them.
So, what happens when you let your cat go outside? If she's not tagged, someone can pick her up, and now your freed cat is theirs. This is even discussed in game. You mention Elves having Humanity to Cornwall, he says "Do you hear yourself? Elves aren't human, thus they have no humanity." Lin says "If I'm freed, that means anyone can pick me up and claim me. They can scan my face, realize I have no owner, and claim me."
A freed slave is a freed human. A freed Elf is a wild animal.
People treat Elves as animals in Harem Hotel. I'm not trying to make bullshit up or come up with excuses, I'm building a lore.
(Disclaimer: I do not endorse slavery. I'm just stating the facts of the game.)
wasnt Sylvia free up until she was taken? i mean shes kind of living proof that a free elf doesnt mean a safe elf. then again i might be remebering the conditions to her slavery wrong.
You can kind of see a hint in game if you pay attention. Sylvia is a one man army in this.
You can see the example of Sylvia as the one I'm pointing at above as well.
Sylvia was free, but now Sylvia is a slave, someone scanned her face, noticed she was not taken, and then someone took her.