The slave trader paused. “…Do you intend on purchasing another of the slaves here?” He gestured towards the bunnyman and the lizard man.
“Of course not. You think I have the money to spare for that?”
Truthfully, I did, but I didn’t let him know that.
“…Then you mean…?” He glanced at the back.
I nodded.
“Sir Hero, not to dissuade you, but the goods we keep there-“
“Are near their shelf life or severely damaged, right?”
“Indeed.” The slave trader gave me a curious look. “…May I ask what Sir Hero intends to do?”
“An experiment. Ah, but do you have a place to keep her?” I gestured towards Raphtalia. “I don’t want her to catch anything from back there. It’d be hard enough to keep one alive, let alone two.”
The slave trader hummed. “If you don’t mind, we can just keep your slave here. Anywhere else would be a bit… risky.”
“Hm… alright.” I turned towards Raphtalia and said, “Wait in the cage for me. I won’t be long.”
Raphtalia grimaced, but shook her head. “N-no. I- GAAAAH!”
She disobeyed my direct order and so the slave crest triggered. Raphtalia clutched her chest and collapsed.
I sighed. “Tell me why you won’t stay here.”
With my words, the previous command was canceled.
Raphtalia slowly stood up and turned towards me. She hesitated and then said, “…scared.” After that, she started coughing.
I sighed again. “…Fine. I don’t have the time to deal with this.” I pulled out a potion and handed it to Raphtalia. “Drink. After that, hold my mantle and follow me with your eyes closed. I don’t want you to add anything else to your nightmares, alright?”
Raphtalia stared at me for a while and then nodded. She grabbed the potion and downed it, grimacing at its bitter taste.
It wasn’t much, just a status-immunity potion. It wouldn’t last too long, only thirty minutes at best, but it should be enough for my trip into the disease ridden portion of the tent.
After downing the potion, Rapthalia awkwardly shuffled behind me and grabbed my mantle. Like I told her, she closed her eyes.
The slave trader stared at me, impressed. “Kindness with kindness and malice with malice… Oh my. Our dear king has made a most terrible mistake, hasn’t he?”
“Heh. You have no idea… but show the way.”
“…I ask you again, Sir Hero. Are you sure?”
“Like I said, it’s an experiment. They’re all disposable goods anyway, aren’t they?”
“…Indeed. Well… are there any particular qualities you’re seeking? If you don’t mind the short shelf-life, we do have quite the selection in stock.”
“Level 1, rare talents, and maybe rare species as well.” I glanced at Raphtalia and said, “…Preferably female.”
“Hm… We might have the one. Follow me.”
With those words, the slave trader headed to the back.
I followed close behind him.
As we moved, the scent of decay grew stronger. Behind me, I heard Raphtalia gag and draw closer to my mantle. She held it close to her nose, as if trying to filter out the scent.
With a sigh, I decided to help her out a bit and used ‘Guard’ to draw everything towards me.
At once, the scent of decay amplified another magnitude. It didn’t bother me too much though. Homeostasis kept me from gagging or getting nauseous. It was just… unpleasant.
The slave trader continued to lead that way and I continued to follow. There were still cages strewn about, but glancing at them I noticed the conditions were a lot worse. While the ones kept back at the other parts of the tent may have been in poor condition, they were still somewhat lively. Staring at a few of the ones in the cage, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were corpses rather than living creatures.
There were people with terrible burns, some with missing portions of their torso, amputated limbs… just all-in-all not a good time.
Eventually, the slave trader came to a stop before a cage. “Here we are. A silver fox-kin from a royal bloodline beyond the seas. We obtained her when she was young and sold her at a high price to a certain noble with high expectations… but she was returned like this.” He sighed. “Some people just don’t know how to appreciate high class goods.”
I didn’t respond and simply stared at the one inside the cage.
It was a fox girl. She was… probably young, judging from the size of her body. Maybe beautiful as well at some point. But now…
...Her true state and condition was so terrible I wouldn't dignify it by repeating it. And it seemed it was so bad that the shield was displaying an illusion to my eyes.
Spoiler
[collapse]
So, instead of trying to look through it to a truth that would likely send me to a homicidal rage, I simply stared into her eyes. They were a beautiful violet like pure amethysts... but right now they were blank and stared lifelessly into space.
The slave trader rummaged in his suit for a bit and then handed me a crystal. “Here are its stats, Sir Hero.”
I nodded and examined it.
===
Discarded Slave
Level 1
Species: Silver fox
Traits: Divine Bloodline, Sword Affinity, Illusion Magic
Skills: None
Afflictions: Rot disease, [REDACTED], [REDACTED], [REDACTED], skin disease, plague…
===
...Was it because her true state was so terrible the shield refused to process the words for me to read? There were a lot of things redacted in the stats. I could CLEARLY see they existed, but holographic black bars censored the truth.
After skimming the stats, I handed the crystal back to the slave trader. “Pretty rough shape, huh?”
The slave trader nodded. “It’s a pity really. Such a high class good… unfortunately, even if we restored it, the investment wouldn’t be worth the result. But do you think it meets the need for your experiment, Sir Hero?”
“Probably. How much?”
The slave trader shook his head. “Considering that it might not last the day… let’s say a single silver coin.”
I tossed the guy two. “Get the ceremony ready. I’ll wait here.”
The slave trader nodded and briskly walked back to the rest of the tent. It seemed he was worried about being too late.
I simply stared at the young girl and frowned. “…To treat another person like this, even in a fantasy world. How cruel. If it was someone like Bitch, I could understand, but for an innocent girl… Tch.”
I felt Raphtalia shifting from behind me. I grabbed her head and said, “Don’t. You won’t be able to avoid nightmares if you look.”
She froze and then nodded before moving closer to me.
Not long after, the slave trader returned with that same vase and saucer of ink. “Here we are. I’ll need your blood again, Sir Hero.”
I nodded and repeated the process I did with Raphtalia. When that was done, the slave trader took the saucer and then opened the cage. After that, however, he paused.
“…Sir Hero. It’s very possible that the slave won’t survive the branding process. In that case-“
“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”
The slave trader stared at me and then nodded. “As Sir Hero says. Then… I will begin.” He walked inside the cave and then brushed the crest onto the broken girl’s chest. When the light flared, the young girl gasped, but that was it.
Soon, like with Raphtalia, an icon appeared in the corner of my vision, along with a health bar. Slave B was written on it. But that health bar was draining fast.
The slave trader stepped back and stared at me with concern. “The transaction, Sir Hero?”
I placed a single coin in his hand.
He frowned and opened his mouth to object when he saw what it was. “T-This-? Sir Hero, you-“
“It’s hush money. Kindness with kindness, remember?”
The slave trader’s eyes grew wide and he nodded. “…Sir Hero is quite unfathomable.”
“Ha, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
I stepped forward, with Raphtalia following closely behind.
“Er… Sir Hero?”
The slave trader questioned me, but I ignored him. Entering the cage, I knelt before the sorrowful form of the young girl, my newest slave.
Her beautiful violet eyes turned towards me, but remained lifeless and dull.
I shook my head and then looked at her. Staring closely at her scarred and disfigured face, I said, “Do you want to live?”
She stared at me, her eyes blank. But that was a mistake. The slave crest flared up. Even as wounded as she was, the young girl squirmed in pain. That must have brought her back to reality as her dull eyes focused. With parted lips, she wheezed.
“Tell me. Do you want to live?” I repeated my question. “One word. Yes or no. Either way, I will grant your request.”
Those violet eyes, the only beauty that remained in the young girl, began to water. She moved her mouth a few times, but words didn’t come out. No, they came out, but they were too weak to hear.
I leaned closer… and then I heard it.
A soft whisper from a heart-broken voice, and a single word.
I nodded and then pulled out a bottle from my shield. Unstoppering it, I placed the edge against her lips and then fed it to her.
===
It hurt. Everything hurt.
Pain. Despair. Agony.
She lost everything, and then she became a play thing. At first, she resisted. But they just laughed.
They liked the struggle. They liked the resistance. Fiery, they called her.
They loved watching that fire die.
Every day, pain, revulsion, and fear.
A toy. She was just their toy. Something to be used for pleasure and amusement.
Over and over and over.
She couldn’t die. Even if she wanted to, they didn’t let her.
Why? Why was her life like this? Why did it turn out like this? Why?
Mom… Dad… why?
She did nothing bad. They did nothing bad.
So why…?
…She stopped thinking. If the world was so cruel, if resisting made them happy, if they wanted her to break… she let it happen.
Dark. After a while, they took her back to the place they bought her. That weird man sighed and took her to an even darker place and kept her in a cage.
And then she was alone.
Time blurred past. Darkness and a deep cold.
Nothing.
She couldn’t remember anything. Herself, her past, her family. Too much pain blocked the memories away, eroding them.
Dark.
Slowly, everything that made up who she was began fading. It wouldn’t be long until she did as well.
Nothing.
…That was nice. No more pain. No more agony. No more thinking.
And then it changed. Figures approached.
The cage door opened and that weird man appeared. He painted the crest again.
A brief pain, and then nothing.
Some voices echoed, and then the cage door opened again.
Someone stood in front of her. Yet, her blurred eyes couldn’t make that person out.
A voice echoed. A question.
She couldn’t hear it, so she didn’t respond.
And then pain. Sharp and clear, the strongest she’d felt in a long time.
She gasped and then her vision snapped into focus.
There was a man kneeling before her with cold brown eyes.
“Tell me. Do you want to live?”
She heard it.
He was staring at her, waiting an answer.
“Yes or no? Either way, I will grant your request.”
Was it a dream? A nightmare? The final illusion before death?
Even if it was… that thought sharpened her mind.
Dying? She would disappear. No one would know who she was. No one would know her story. No one would remember the ones who died to save her.
That, she…
“I… want… to… live…”
Using all the breath she could, using all the energy she could muster, she said those words.
But the man didn’t hear. No, he must have realized what she was trying to say and leaned closer.
Her vision was fading. That brief spurt of energy and clarity from the pain of the slave crest was vanishing. The tempting nothingness was nipping at the corners of her mind. Even so, with her dying effort, she breathed a single word, “Yes.”
Spoiler
[collapse]