Chapter 10: Aftermath

It didn’t take long for the s*ave auction house to be annihilated after that.

Bel killed every slaver and auction house staff member she saw.
Even the mercenaries hired for just such an emergency died in vain, swept away by a single wave of her hand.

In the end, there were even humans who soiled their pants and begged for mercy.
Some cried and wailed to stir up sympathy, while others tried to tempt her with money or power.
But none of it worked on Bel.

When the still-living people trembled in fear at the sight of the corpses, Bel erased the bodies and pools of blood altogether.
It became clean.
As if nothing had ever happened.

When Bel stopped moving after finishing everything, a heavy silence descended.
It was truly over in an instant.
As if a storm had passed.

With the corpses and their traces neatly gone, the smell of blood that had filled the space quickly dissipated, making it feel as if they had been dreaming or hallucinating just moments ago.
The effect of the senses is truly amazing.

With even the traces vanished, the people who had been frozen in fear began to slowly regain their senses.

The survivors looked around.
Almost only women could be seen.

They were the ones who had been put up for auction, with only a desperate future awaiting them.
There were no elderly among the slaves—only young women and children remained.

The only adult male survivor here was Lema Valkite.

Until that point, Lema had been busy scrambling after his master’s back.
He neither stood with the humans to fight the unknown being, nor assisted his master, who was rampaging ahead.

He couldn’t judge whose side to take.

His master was an unknown entity.
He had assumed she would kill any human who stood in her way—but in the end, there were survivors.
Moreover, she had been careful to avoid those generally considered weak.
In truth, only the slavers and the mercenaries they had hired died.
All the slaves survived.

Of course, among the slavers, there was a woman.
An old woman—a vile human who lured and sold women.

“Hmm? Hmmm…”
Bel had pondered for quite a while in front of her.

For some reason, the decision seemed difficult.
And in the end, Bel did not kill the old woman.
Among the slavers, she was the only one who survived.

So Lema wondered—if there had been an old male s*ave, would she have killed him?
Or let him live?

He couldn’t quiet the turmoil raging in his mind.

Punishing evil and protecting the weak.
That was the very ideal once pursued by Luxlon, the Supreme God he had served.

But Bel, who had no particular interest in what Lema might be thinking, strode toward the group of women—deliberately avoiding him.

“Hey.”

“I-I’m sorry!”
The woman Bel pointed to immediately prostrated herself on the floor.

Seeing this, the others quickly followed.
It was an act born of complete fear—none of them knew how to act toward the monster who had appeared out of nowhere and committed such acts.

“Did you find your sisters?”

“Yes? Y-Yes…”

At the voice that sounded unexpectedly affectionate, some of the women who had their faces to the ground slowly raised their heads.

“Th-the, the tribute…”

“It’s fine.”

The men here were useless as tributes.
She hadn’t been able to find any information about the fanatics who summoned her.
She still didn’t understand the high-level knowledge of this world.

It would’ve been nice to at least acquire some language data, but even that hadn’t happened.
It seemed she’d have to keep using this substandard language for now.

As expected, she needed to find this era’s summoner quickly.

But before that, she had already secured a temporary tribute.

Bel beckoned Lema to come closer.
“This is enough.”

The women, forgetting their fear for a moment, began to murmur.
It was because of Lema’s appearance—now much neater than when he had been held by the slavers.

His golden wavy hair and green eyes perfectly matched the image of a once-admired holy knight.
Though he’d lost some muscle from his prime, and no longer looked suited for the expected duties of a knight, his slightly delicate features made his appearance even more striking.

To many, it was easy to imagine why Bel—who was presumed to be a noblewoman—would choose to buy someone like him.

Well, that’s the most beautiful thing.

There were quite a few people who agreed with that judgment.

Bel paid no mind to the glances stealing looks at Lema.
But Lema Valkite, who understood all too well what those glances meant, was the only one whose face turned red.

“Th-Then, that person… is there a reason you saved them?”

Bel turned her gaze to where they were pointing.
It was the old woman she had spared earlier.

She was not a s*ave.

She was an old woman who had sided with the slavers, imprisoning other slaves—especially women.

Normally, Bel would have taken someone like that as a tribute.
But she didn’t particularly prefer such things.

So she frowned and answered bluntly.
“No.”

The women exchanged glances, then swallowed dryly before asking cautiously,
“Can we take care of her?”

“Huh? Sure.”

“N-No! Don’t…!”
The old woman trembled and tried to shout something, but her mouth was already covered by several slaves with hardened expressions.

It was easy enough to guess what they were planning.
The old woman would likely be quietly dealt with somewhere out of Bel’s sight.

“I have something to find, so I’m going now.”

“Do you mean you’re leaving this place?”

“Yes.”

The women looked around at one another, exchanging uncertain glances.
By now, it was clear that Bel didn’t kill women or take them as tributes.
But even with that understanding, they weren’t sure whether to feel relieved… or to stop her from leaving.

Not that they had the right—or the ability—to do so.

And although something horrifying had occurred here, the slaves had already lived through hell.
Even after witnessing what they just had, they recovered surprisingly quickly.

Besides, they hadn’t been the targets of the purge.

If there had still been blood, corpses, and the smell of death clinging to the air, perhaps they would still be frozen in fear.
But now that it was all erased… everything felt like a dream.

Even their liberation felt unreal.

Having accepted reality to a certain extent, the survivors judged that—even if they didn’t know what Bel truly was—there was nothing to lose by currying favor with her.
No… on the contrary, they had received a favor.

“Th-Then, the necessary supplies for your journey… we’ll gather them for you.”

“Good.”

Slaves had just been one of the specialties of this place.
There were many other valuable goods stored here.

“Give me a weapon too.”
Bel dusted off her hands.

She had handled everything so far with her bare hands.
While she could clean off quickly, the feeling of gripping internal organs and wiping away sticky blood was deeply unpleasant.

It would’ve been ideal to retrieve the weapons she once used.
But in her current state, that wasn’t realistic.

She wouldn’t even refuse a simple cold weapon at this point.
It’s the same reason humans don’t squash bugs with their bare hands, even though they easily could.
Even if they can wash up afterward, it’s not something they want to do.

Bel needed a tool of some kind—now.

“Ah, I understand. I’ll find something suitable.”

Once she confirmed that the women understood and nodded, Bel felt a wave of fatigue wash over her.

As expected, her body’s mobility and efficiency had dropped significantly.
She hadn’t received a proper tribute.

If things went on like this, she’d end up roaming around again—killing and devouring people.
She wanted to avoid that.

It would be better to rest before that happened.

“I’m going to rest first.”

“There should be a lounge for auction participants. I’ll guide you.”

Bel nodded and then turned to the man who had been awkwardly standing beside her the entire time—silent and unsure of what to do.

“Let’s go, Lema.”

“…Yes.”

Just as Bel was about to take Lema’s hand and walk away—

“Uhm, just a moment. Bel.”

“Yes?”

“Th-That man… you saved him to eat, right?”

“Yes.”

“300 gold coins… I heard you called that.”

“Yes.”

The women, who had quickly shared information amongst themselves, exchanged looks.

She didn’t take women as tributes.
She didn’t like any of the other men in the auction house.
She had saved one man because she liked him.
What’s more, she had originally intended to end the auction peacefully after paying 300 gold coins.

It might have been a misunderstanding—but the picture was clear enough.

Soon, a cheerful, heroic voice rang out from the women.

“Then we’ll wash this man, dress him up a little, and send him. We’ll send him up once you’re resting!”

“…”

Bel nodded nonchalantly.
But Lema Valkite—who understood the implication perfectly—blushed furiously.

And then he was caught by the women and dragged off somewhere.

As he was being led away, Lema hung his head low.

He already knew his situation…
But having it confirmed like this was a fresh wave of shame.

And yet… the emotion pounding in his chest wasn’t just shame.

What’s more, his body was already healed.
He could have resisted if he wanted to.

But he didn’t.

So he simply hung his head low.