Chapter 5
Chapter 5
The Monster in the Slavers
After putting Adrian to sleep, I pulled the dagger from his belt.
I wanted to slip out quietly, but unfortunately I wasn’t good at hiding my presence.
A powerful monster couldn’t help but radiate an overwhelming existence, regardless of intent.
That was why I usually went around slightly adjusting people’s memories of me through memory manipulation. A troublesome habit, but a necessary one.
The moment I broke the restraints and interfered with the mercenary group, combat was probably unavoidable.
When I thought about it now, it was almost funny.
All I had done was take over a room, and suddenly I’d been kidnapped by strangers when I opened my eyes.
Maybe those were the bad people from the back alleys that Lena mentioned. If I accidentally killed them, I’d probably feel a little less guilty.
I wasn’t good at hiding my presence, but I was even worse at controlling my strength.
If I ended up fighting someone, I couldn’t guarantee their survival.
But still.
I decided.
I should just leave.
I didn’t want to stay in this damp, unpleasant place any longer.
Even if I had to kill a few people on the way out.
While walking down the corridor with the dagger in hand, I heard a voice.
“P-please… save me…”
“Hm?”
I turned toward the sound. It came from where the slaves were held.
There, a girl with orange hair and cat ears was bound.
A beastkin slave brought from another town.
She was in a terrible state.
Her body was covered in blood, likely from whips, and most of her clothes were torn apart.
Her arms were stretched upward, tied so she had to support her entire weight, and she looked like she was in unbearable pain.
So humans did this to other humans.
I looked into her memories for a moment.
She had been abused and beaten simply for having ears and a tail.
A low-grade kind of behavior.
I had never done such things myself.
“P-please… I don’t want to die like this…”
The unnamed cat girl begged me for help. She didn’t even know what I was.
It was contradictory.
If I opened this cage and broke her restraints, I might end up eating her.
She was human, and I was a monster.
Monsters hunted humans, and humans fled from monsters. That was common sense.
Was she not recognizing me as a monster because I looked human?
No. She knew.
From the moment I broke the restraints with my bare hands, I hadn’t bothered hiding my identity.
I was already releasing my miasma in the academy to make using illusions easier. Miasma wasn’t something humans could handle.
So she knew.
And yet she still begged me.
Why?
It was a bit strange, but I didn’t dwell on it.
Human emotions were different from mine.
Before opening the cage, I asked her.
“If I open this, I might kill you. Is that okay?”
“Th-that…”
And I waited.
I didn’t promise to save her because even I didn’t fully understand myself.
Even if I intended to spare her, I might change my mind at any moment. Chasing fleeing humans was an instinct for monsters.
I didn’t lie, so I didn’t offer false comfort.
I simply waited for her answer.
But she didn’t respond.
Maybe she couldn’t.
It didn’t matter.
I cut through the restraints.
Two swings of the dagger.
One to sever the cage.
One to cut the chains binding her wrists.
“…Eh?”
Freed, she looked stunned.
I had no intention of killing her. I simply wasn’t in the mood.
Run or don’t run.
I wasn’t interested in humans who didn’t respond.
So I turned away.
But then I thought that since I had already caused this much chaos, I might as well go a bit further.
As I walked down the corridor, I cut open every slave cage I saw.
No reason.
If they didn’t want this to happen, they shouldn’t have kidnapped people.
In the Central Empire, buying and selling human slaves was illegal.
Of course, it still happened frequently in dark places where the knights’ surveillance didn’t reach.
This underground market in a secluded back alley was one such place.
Taking the money, Beorn frowned as he counted the gold coins.
He didn’t seem satisfied.
“Hey. You gave me ten women, right? Forty gold coins? Do you know how many people I’ve got in my crew?”
“We priced them at standard market rates. If you’re still dissatisfied, I’m honestly a bit hurt. Four coins per person is already generous compared to others.”
What the slaver said was actually true.
Beorn had seen places where they went for three coins each.
But that didn’t mean the slaver was honest.
Slaves were usually sold through auctions.
Depending on appearance, the price could skyrocket several times, even dozens of times.
Rarity increased value, and competition made it worse.
Sometimes a single slave could be worth more than ten others combined.
And this batch had one like that.
“Did you see that silver-haired girl? Beautiful face, insane body. You expect me to take her at the same price as the others?”
The slaver sighed.
“If that’s the case… shall we renegotiate? Sixty coins?”
“I’d rather take her and sell her myself.”
“Seventy?”
“Forget it. Deal’s off.”
“Tch…”
The slaver clicked his tongue.
Beorn was more difficult than expected.
But he still didn’t want to let the deal go.
That girl alone could fetch 250 coins at auction.
It was too good a product to abandon.
“Fine. One hundred coins.”
“Now you’re talking.”
Beorn smiled as he took the pouch.
At that moment—
“Boss! We’ve got a problem!”
A mercenary rushed in.
Panting heavily.
“In the dungeon! There’s a monster! The restraints broke and it escaped! We tried to stop it but—!”
“A monster?”
“Yes! It even took down Bradan from the 2nd rank!”
Beorn’s expression changed slightly.
A 2nd rank mercenary wasn’t weak.
Something wasn’t adding up.
A monster strong enough to beat him and multiple mercenaries… and it just happened to be among the slaves?
“Probably drunk nonsense.”
He dismissed it.
But then—
KUUUUNG!
A deep vibration shook the building.
It came from below.
From the dungeon.
“…It’s real!! We have to leave now!!”
Beorn scratched his head.
“Tch. Annoying.”
“Gather everyone. We’re pulling out.”
No reason to fight something stronger than a 2nd rank mercenary.
He’d already been paid.
But then—
“What about the other slaves?!”
The slaver shouted.
If they all escaped, the losses would be catastrophic.
The slaver snapped.
“You idiots sold me a monster?!”
Beorn frowned.
“Hey, old man. You saw the goods and agreed to the deal. Don’t blame me.”
The slaver grabbed his collar.
“This is your fault!”
Beorn sighed.
“I don’t care. I got my money.”
He turned away.
But then—
“Wait! You’re leaving?! At least deal with the monster!”
“Why should I?”
Beorn’s tone turned cold.
“Pay me more.”
“Thirty extra coins!”
Beorn smiled.
“Make it a hundred when I come back.”
He drew his sword.
“Fine. I’ll take its head.”
In the dungeon, the chaos had already begun.
And something white was walking calmly through it all.