“How dare you fucking run.” “You sure took up our goddamn time.” “Why is this happening?” “Just what did I do?” “Just take them with us.” “They’ll sell for a lot.”
On one side was a deep voice of a man threatening somebody. On the other was a young girl’s voice trembling and desperately pleading for something. From the fragmented sentences he heard, he guessed that it was probably a slaver having a dispute with their merchandise.
Now then, what to do... It didn’t seem to have anything to do with what the Archangels were doing, so Zagan was troubled. This was because the slave trade was a proper business here, and because freeing a slave didn’t always mean that they would be saved.
To begin with, slaves were sold for money. And as long as they cost money, they had to be in good condition to be sold. At a minimum, they would be given food and clothes and kept in good health until they were sold. A slave’s life was guaranteed until they were sold, and the buyer who ended up spending a lot of money on a slave wouldn’t treat them as disposable either.
Nephy was a perfect example. Though she didn’t put up any resistance when captured, she was properly fed at the time and given beautiful clothes. And while keeping her appearance so well in order, her body wasn’t sullied either.
Naturally, this didn’t really change the fact that they had no human rights and were made to obey. On top of that, both the sellers and buyers tended to be absolute scum, but at the very least they were able to live. There was a mountain of people who were killed for far more senseless reasons in this world. It was surely better to sell a child than to kill them to reduce the number of mouths to feed. If a slave was released from their position as a slave, they would be able to regain their dignity, but there were also many who would just end up dying.
If Zagan were asked whether slavery was something to abolish, then he would also be left tilting his head to the side, but he also believed that as sorcerers who soaked their hands in sorcery to protect the living, stealing what they wanted and treating the lives of others as something worthless was wrong.
No, wait, if Nephy or Foll were kidnapped, I really would just kill the guy who did it... It wasn’t like he suddenly awakened his sense of justice, but that thought was on his mind. And so, Zagan changed the direction he was walking and went toward the voices. It seemed they were having their dispute in a back alley.
After going one block from the shopping district, he found several shady looking paths stretching out before him. Back in his days as a waif, Zagan lived in such places, so it was somewhat nostalgic to him.
“I’ll never hand this child over!”
“Waaah... Hic...”
They appeared to be sisters. There were two therianthrope girls crouching on the floor, and several men with the heads of dogs facing off against them. Four canus in total, to be more specific. One of the canus was pinning down his arm, so it seemed they were all getting worked up over the girls resisting them. One of the canus then pulled out a knife.
“You bitch, don’t get so fucking cocky!”
“Hey, calm down. This one’s a rare breed. If you leave a scar, she won’t be worth much anymore.”
“I get that, but come on!”
The injured canus bellowed in anger as another man tried to calm him down. The more pitiful looking girl was simply trembling, but the one who appeared to be the older sister was shielding her with her body. He at least felt like he wanted to lend them a hand.
Huh? What am I supposed to say in this situation...? Zagan had yet to even decide whether he would help them or not, but he no longer even knew how to force his way into the conversation. And, as he pondered over the matter, he watched the canus begin to bark while eating the apple he just bought.
Can these guys just hurry up and make their move... Zagan felt like it wouldn’t be unnatural if he stepped in after they started something. However, the sound of an apple being eaten ringing out was far too unnatural in contrast to the growling canus.
“The hell do... you... want...?”
The canus finally noticed that Zagan was there and turned toward him, but all of them instantly froze in place. It seemed that even slavers knew what Zagan looked like.
“What’s wrong? Keep going,” Zagan simply continued eating his apple and spoke to them as if he was a spectator watching a boring play. He didn’t intend to do so, but his voice sounded more dangerous than usual. The canus turned pale and began trembling. Even though their faces were covered in hair, calling them pale wasn’t a mere metaphor.
One of them had light brown hair, which was losing its pigment and turning pure white. Another one of them had their hair falling off with a thud. As for the ones that didn’t react so drastically, sweat was pouring profusely out of their entire bodies, making their fluffy looking hair cling to their skin as if they were out in an evening shower. And, as they all trembled with a clatter, the canus began begging for their lives.
“Eeek, I-I don’t wanna die...!”
“P-Please spare us...”
Umm... Do I look that evil? Zagan knew he didn’t have a friendly countenance, but it made him feel a little down that they were so quick to frighten. Or rather, he didn’t really think that people who treated others as merchandise had the right to say, ‘I don’t wanna die.’ A villain should boldly die as a villain.
“If you’re not going to continue, then get lost. You’re in the way,” Zagan said as he held his hand to his chin in a bored manner.
“Y-Y-Y-Yes, right away!”
The canus chucked their knives away and ran. The sisters, who were left behind in a daze, then looked blankly up at Zagan.
Hm? Wait, are these two not actually sisters...? Upon closer inspection, the one that he thought was the older sister had cat ears and a cat tail, which made her a tabaxi. The smaller one had large fox ears, a fluffy tail, and appeared to be a vulpin. After looking up at Zagan’s face, the vulpin girl shuddered with a start. Well, that was only natural since she’d seen a bunch of armed canus immediately start begging for their lives like that. On the other hand, the tabaxi girl let out a relieved sigh.
“U-Um, thank you very much. You just saved us, right?”
The girl smiled as she said that. She had gorgeous black hair that went down to her neck with triangular ears sticking out at the top. The hair covering her ears was the same color as her hair and looked to be very soft, and there were some strands with a thinner pigment to them on the inner part of her ears. Perhaps because her fear had yet to subside entirely, her ears were trembling about with a twitch.
Her clothes were dirtied, likely as a consequence of being captured by slavers, but had fluttery looking sleeves and hems and used black and red as underlying tones. It looked like some sort of native dress. It was different from the one Foll wore and wasn’t something he had seen before. Though she was a tabaxi, it seemed that her human blood ran thicker, since her skin and fingers were the same as those of a human. That made her a cait sith.
She’s not timid at all, huh? Upon thinking that, Zagan immediately realized he was wrong.
Wait, could it be that she’s blind...? The pupils of the girl’s red eyes were completely open, and weren’t reflecting anything. It seemed that was why she didn’t fear Zagan at all. The vulpin girl next to her was completely pale as she clung to her.
“You’re imagining things. I was just passing through,” Zagan claimed as he shrugged his shoulders casually. He vaguely had a feeling that he wanted to save them, but in the end, the slavers ran away without him doing anything. It was rather unreasonable to claim he saved them like that.
There was nothing left for Zagan to do here, so as he was about to take his leave, he looked down at the girls’ feet. They had boorish looking iron shackles around their ankles. The chains tying them together were severed in the middle, so he could tell that was how they ran away. However, it was plain as day that if he left them as they were, they would just be targeted by another similar group.
That
would leave a bad taste in my mouth... Zagan stood before the two girls, and stuck out the half-eaten apple to the vulpin girl.
“Hold this.”
Perhaps believing she would be killed if she disobeyed him, the vulpin did just as she was told and took the apple. And with his hand now free, Zagan tore the shackles off their ankles with sheer force, leaving the two girls staring up at him blankly.
“...Later then.”
Judging that it would look like he was looking for something in return if he did any more for them, he snatched the apple back from the vulpin and tried to stand back up when the cait sith raised her voice in a fluster.
“Ah, please wait... Ooof.”
Even though her shackles were undone, the cait sith fell face first onto the floor. And after getting back up with tears in her eyes, she began groping about looking for something.
“H-Huh? Where did it go?”
Tilting his head to the side, Zagan noticed that there was a long stick on the ground a little further away from the girl.
Ah, a cane. I see... Zagan had heard that the blind relied on canes to sense the area around them. It seemed the smaller girl didn’t notice the cane due to her fear. And so, Zagan picked it up.
Hm? This cane is strangely heavy...? Zagan felt it was far too heavy for a dainty cait sith, let alone a blind one. It also seemed quite long, and looked like the staff a monk would use on a pilgrimage. And though he came to a sudden understanding of just what it was, he handed the cane over to the girl.
“Here.”
“Ah, thank you very much!”
The girl accepted the cane with an unexpectedly cheerful voice. And, as she bobbed down with a bow, Zagan spotted it. On the sides of her head, there were human ears that were separate from her cat ones.
She’s one of those so-called four ears, huh? It was a species that was rarely born through mixed parentage between humans and therianthropes, or in some cases where a human was cursed to have the shape of a beast. Since it was a type of mutation, sorcerers valued them highly. Not only that, but taking a closer look, she didn’t just have one tail, but two. It was a characteristic that Zagan had never seen before. It seemed this was the cause of her abduction.
“I’m Kuroka!”
Now that I think of it, I didn’t ever tell them my name... And just as he opened his mouth to name himself...
“How can I ever repay you kindness... HWAAAH!?”
For some reason, a large amount of water abruptly came crashing down atop the girl as she was bowing her head energetically. Taking a look upward, Zagan noticed that some idiot emptied out a bucket from the second floor of the nearby building. And, as water came dripping down from from Kuroka’s head, she began trembling.
This is the first time I’ve seen someone become so helpless... Chastille was quite a wreck herself, but it felt like this girl was a magnet for misfortune. The magnitude of calamity that befell her was different. It didn’t seem like there was any sorcery involved, but even Zagan thought that she may have been cursed. The vulpin covered her face like she couldn’t handle anything else.
I’m kind of busy today, but... Zagan also couldn’t watch anymore, and spoke in a bitter tone.
“...Come with me.”
◇
“Fufufuuu! How nice! This child is splendid material!”
The one rubbing her cheek against Kuroka while dancing about wildly was none other than Manuela. The green wings stretching out behind her back were flapping about as she looked up at Zagan, finding herself unable to contain her excitement.
“I can do whatever I want with this child, right!?”
“Huh? Huuuh!? Whatever you want!? What is this place!?”
She was surely unable to tell what kind of shop they entered, since she was unable to see and all. Kuroka was screaming with a frightened expression on her face.
I guess it would be better to explain this is a clothing shop, but that’s kind of a pain, honestly... Zagan wasn’t some upstanding gentleman who would pay attention to the worries of someone who wasn’t Nephy or Foll. And so, in the end, he simply stayed silent and watched the scene unfold before him.
“Mmfufufuuu, don’t you worry one bit. Leave everything to your big sister here!”
Zagan suddenly felt like he was doing something bad, but it was somewhat pitiful to leave her walking around drenched like that.
“Anything’s fine as long as she can walk outside. Do as you like.”
“Mmmhaaa! Isn’t this the first time you’ve been so lavish? You usually get all angry, telling me not to do anything unnecessary!”
“I just picked this one up outside. I don’t have any reason to be so concerned about her,” Zagan said, realizing there was something strange about finding clothes for someone he didn’t care about. Still, he made that cold declaration which made Kuroka go pale as if she’d just been abandoned. Manuela, on the other hand, was all smiles.
“In that case, I’ll give you a discount, so bring over more cuties!”
And with that one-sided declaration, Manuela didn’t even wait for Kuroka’s response as she dragged her to the dressing room. Zagan could hear a sorrowful meow from deep within the shop.
Watching that scene play out, the vulpin girl was clattering and trembling on the spot. Looking at her once more, he could tell that she wasn’t actually a child. It was likely that her species simply had a short stature. Her facial features were, well, they were still on the young side, but the parts that were supposed to stick out were doing so. It appeared like she had more development in that area than someone like Chastille, even...
Having said that, her charming face was convulsing in fear. Well, a villainous looking man who sent slavers running away dragged her along to a fancy clothing shop. It was only normal to think she was going to be sold off somewhere again. It wasn’t like he picked up these girls because he wanted to drive them into a corner, so Zagan held out his half-eaten apple.
“Eat... You both looked far too pitiful, so I simply decided to give her clothes. After she changes, you may go wherever you like.”
Zagan had no intentions of looking after them after this. And as she took in his words, the vulpin girl finally opened her mouth to speak.
“U-Um, I’m... called Kuu. Mister, you’re... um... Lord Zagan... right?”
Mister... For the time being, Zagan was still in his teens, so he felt slightly down over that. Although, it seemed even this child knew of Zagan’s name.
“Yes, that is something people call me.”
“I thought... you would be scarier.”
“If you mean that I’m a villain, then you’re not wrong.”
The vulpin girl, Kuu, finally smiled.
“I at least know... that the real villains... are the ones who claim they’re good people. Those canus earlier... were just like that.”
“Then don’t get caught next time.”
“I won’t!”
And while they were making idle chatter, Manuela returned.
“Fuhahahaa, how’s this, Zagan?”
Kuroka, who got dragged back, was practically only wearing underwear. Her navel was completely exposed, and though she had some sort of elastic cloth hanging from her neck to her chest, it only covered half of her top and bits were sticking out. She had panties on that looked ready to fall right off with a tug of a string, and a transparent loincloth that made her buttocks plainly visible. She seemed to be quite slender when he first saw her, but she was clearly more shapely than he’d imagined.
I see. If Nephy were to wear something like... No no no, this is no good... Zagan did kind of want to see it, but he couldn’t make her wear such a thing even within the privacy of the castle.
“I don’t mind if you make her your toy, but at least prepare some proper clothes,” Zagan said as he shot an uninterested looking glance over at Manuela.
“It’s alright! I’ll eventually pick out something proper when I’m done!”
“Wh-What do you mean when you’re do
ne? What exactly am I wearing right now!?”
“Now now, let’s go try on the next outfit!”
“Meooooooooow!?”
After being thoroughly toyed with by Manuela, Kuroka was finally dressed in clothes that were similar to the native attire she was originally wearing.
“Haaah... Girls from Liucaon have such springy skin. It’s so nice.”
“Hic...”
Manuela let out a satisfied sigh, but the cait sith girl was on the verge of tears. In any case, it seemed that Manuela was fully satisfied, so Zagan also stood up.
“You have my thanks. How much is it?”
“Let’s see. Then, how about this much?” Manuela proposed an amount that was less than half the market value. The fact that she was signifying the value using her fingers instead of saying it aloud was likely out of consideration for the girls.
“...Are you fine with that price?”
“Well, you let me have fun, so why not? If I don’t give you a lil’ discount, then you won’t come back, right? A merchant always balances their trade.”
Taking a look at Kuroka, Zagan felt like it didn’t really balance it out...
After finishing with the payment, Kuroka finally came to her senses and began touching her clothes to check them out.
“Um, these are clothes you picked out for me, right? I’ll at least pay for them!”
“...No, I mean, aren’t you penniless?”
“Huh...?”
There was no way she was caught by slavers and didn’t have all her possessions snatched from her. Her clothes were one thing, but it was clear as day that they took everything else aside from her cane.
“AAAH! Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-Wh-What do I do!? I have to go to my new posting, but my letter of introduction is also goooooone!” Kuroka turned pale and covered her face due to that revelation.
“Posting?”
An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride: Volume 5 Page 6
