Chapter 5 : Struggle

The plan was as follows.

While the two jerks were away at the Merchandise, I searched the black market for something to make money on.

Then I met a s*ave trader

 I heard that kidnapping orphans and selling them is pretty salty, right? It depends on the quality, but its usually guaranteed to cost at least 70 gold per head.

“Okay. Give me the promised 140 gold.”

The men in brown robes ignored my words and talked among themselves.

“This kid sold two people? He’s a vicious one.”

“One is a black-haired one and one is disabled, but fortunately, there’s one healthy one.”

What are they talking about? Healthy one…?

I snapped at them, ignoring my words.

“Hey, my money!”

“What? Your money?”

Hahahaha.

The men laughed out loud, holding their stomachs.

What is this situation..?

“You’re a funny one. Did you really think you could get money?”

“That’s not what you said earlier..! At that time, you clearly..”

“Shut up.”

One of the men pulled out a dagger from his sleeve and thrust it.

“Kid, you don’t seem to understand. Do you know who has the highest value here?”

Value…?

“It’s you, you
.”

I was hit in the back of the head by the man behind me, and my vision went black.

Clatter, clatter.

Clank.

I woke up to a severe shaking.

Where am I..?

Clang.

My hands and feet were shackled, and I was being transported in a carriage.

Did I pass out after being hit by that old hag’s club?

“Gillian, Gillian! Wake up!”

“Hmm…?”

Gillian was still half-asleep, perhaps because he had inhaled too much sleeping smoke.

“We were tricked by that August. He sold us!”

Looking around, I saw that we weren’t alone. There were also several people with animal ears who were shackled in the same way.

‘Animal ears and tails, beastmen…?’

I don’t know where the carriage is heading, but I have a feeling that I’m going to have a terrible experience if I stay like this.

I slammed the shackles hard on the floor, but not a single scratch appeared on the shackles.

‘It’s no use, there’s no way out…’

An old beastman who was watching my meaningless struggle opened his mouth.

“Give it up. Once you’re caught by s*ave traders, there’s no way out.”

He looked surprisingly composed.

Gulp. I swallowed and asked him.

“What happens when we arrive at our destination?”

“…Do you want to hear?”

The old man tilted his head to the side and showed me the side of his neck.

‘Numbers…!’

“If it’s your first time, they’ll strip you naked and brand your neck with a hot iron. Of course, the branding is nothing. It’s more terrible after that.”

“There’s something worse than being branded with a hot iron..?”

“Whipping. When you get hit for the first time, most people pass out without even knowing they’ve been hit because of the pain.
The real horror starts after that. You’ll be hit repeatedly as soon as you wake up.”

Needless to say, the old man’s body was covered with traces of abuse and violence.

“….You speak as if you’re used to it.”

“If you’re lucky, you might get sold as a s*ave to a noble family. But many of these nobles are shady, and if you’re a young maiden like you, it might be especially painful.”

..That’s right.

There were some among the orphanage’s guests. There were definitely guys who looked at children who hadn’t even fully grown up with strange eyes.

“But at least you won’t starve to death. But if you’re sold to a circus or taken to a labor camp, it’s a different story. I worked in a labor camp for about 40 years.”

“Why are you here even after your labor is over..?”

“…There is no liberation for slaves. When we are deemed unnecessary, we are sold back to s*ave traders. It’s our fate. You’re still young, it’s really unfortunate..”

Just hearing the story made my head dizzy with nausea.

As a s*ave, and forever..?

When I looked to the side, Gillian had woken up and was terrified.

“s*ave…? No way..”

Ah.

How could it be so futile?

I stared at the ceiling with unfocused eyes, thinking that this might be the last time I see the sky.

The moonlight shone faintly through the ceiling of the rattling carriage.

“Awooo-”

The cry of an animal echoed from somewhere.

Is it a wolf? Anyway, I’ve never heard such a loud cry before.

I heard the coachmen talking in the front compartment of the carriage.

”
, is this the Sarkas territory? Should we go around, this..”

“It’s okay, as long as we don’t provoke those guys, they won’t attack.”

Sarkas? That’s definitely what the men said.

Sarkas are monsters in this world. Atypical creatures that attack only humans.

Judging by the cry, is it a wolf-type Sarkas?

“C, can we survive if we’re taken like this..?”

Gillian seems to have completely lost his reason to fear.

He moved his eyes in all directions and chattered his teeth as if he was cold.

And that fear is contagious.

Fear. Helplessness. Despair.

The absolute fear that it’s over forever flowed through my whole body.

How did it come to this?

Should I have left the orphanage with Luna at that time?

If I had, wouldn’t I have been able to survive somehow without getting involved in this?

Yes. August. I shouldn’t have gotten involved with that guy.

This is all his fault…?

If I had taken the pipe and just acted individually, at least this wouldn’t have happened.

or what is we were on our way to the shopping mall, leaving gillian running late, and august and i arrived at mall alone,

from the beginning,

i released luna and i just in the nursery

“Hey.”

“..Yes?”

When I heard the old man’s voice, I looked at him.

“Don’t let fear take over your mind. You might lose your sense of reality.”

What was I thinking?
I was thinking terrible thoughts, even if it was because of the momentary fear.

“Awooo-!”

Once again, a loud cry is heard.

“..The Sarkas are noisy tonight. I wonder if something bad is going to happen.”

…I’m only 7 years old.

If I’m going to be taken away and live a life that’s no different from death, shouldn’t I try everything I can?

I calmed my mind and tried endlessly to find a clue in my thoughts.

..Sarkas…

…Wolf-type Sarkas.

“…Grandfather. Can I ask you one thing?”

“Of course. Ask anything.”

“What does my body smell like right now?”

It might seem like a strange question, but it was an important question for me.

“Let’s see.. Musty cloth, a little sweat, cabbage, and.. the scent of Ypnos leaves. Ypnos!

It’s a very sweet but dangerous herb.”

He even identified the raw material of the sleeping herb that was on our bodies.

“And.. is there anything else?”

“Hmm… Come to think of it, I think there’s one more. I’m getting old these days, so my sense of smell isn’t very good.”

He squinted his eyes and sniffed.

“This smell, it smells like another human’s hair. It’s faintly on your hand.”

“That’s enough. Thank you.”

Amazing.

In a matter of seconds, he identified the smells of the food I ate and even Luna’s hair scent that I had gotten from brushing her hair. It’s an amazing sense of smell that makes me wonder if he’s really an old man.

This has answered my question.

All that’s left is to put the plan into action.

I raised my bound hands and brought the forearm part to my mouth.

Phew. Take a deep breath.

Crunch.

‘Ugh..!’

I bit hard into the flesh of the part of my forearm that had some flesh.

With intense pain, blood with a fishy iron content flows into my mouth.

“Phoo…!”

I spit the blood that entered my mouth onto the wall of the carriage.

“What are you doing…!?”

Blood was smeared on one side of the carriage wall.

“How is it now, do you still smell other scents?”

The old man looked flustered by my sudden action.

“The faint smell of hair is gone, but the other smells are still there.”

‘Not enough yet.’

The arm I bit was trembling. I was prepared, but it hurts so much that I can’t help but cry.

Still, if it’s not enough.

I bit the other forearm with all my might.

“…Kuh..!”

Hot blood flowed abundantly from both arms.

Thanks to that, Gillian next to me seems to have come to his senses.

“Saya, I don’t know what you’re thinking, but stop! You’ll die!”

“How is it, grandfather. Now, do you smell any other scents..?”

“…No, now I can only smell your blood. Oh my god..”

Okay. I’ve smeared the carriage with a lot of blood.
Now all that’s left is to pray that the fish will take the bait.

“Kyaaak-! Blood..!”

Because I made a loud fuss, the other beastmen in the cargo compartment woke up and screamed when they saw me.

At that sound, the carriage stopped with a thud, and a man in a robe opened the cargo compartment.

“What’s all the fuss, you s*ave
-!”

He frowned when he saw me after checking the situation.

“Are you crazy, sitting here self-harming..!”

Crunch.

The man couldn’t finish his words and only his lower body remained, being bitten by something.

At that sight, the people in the cargo compartment all vomited or screamed.
The terrible carnage continued outside the cargo compartment.

“S, Sarkas…!”

“Help me..!”

From outside the cargo compartment, someone’s screams rang out one after another along with a creepy roar. A loud noise that seemed to combine the roars of a tiger and a lion ripped through the air sharply.

The old man opened his eyes wide and asked.

“You, you were aiming for this from the beginning..?

I didn’t think this would actually work.

The method I threw out there, thinking I might as well go for it, was incredibly effective.

“Grrrr…”

The problem is, how do I survive from a guy like this now?

The monster that finished its human meal tore the tent of the cargo compartment and walked inside.

‘That’s, Sarkas…’

The monster, whose entire body was made of black flesh that wriggled fluidly, roamed the carriage with red eyes.

It’s strange that it doesn’t seem interested in the beastmen, even though it could harm them without any resistance.

His only interest was me.

“Grrrr…”

He started to approach me one step at a time when he found me.

Come to think of it, I’m your creator.

So, can’t you spare me just once?

“Kaaaaaang!”

It seems he has no intention of doing so.

Yes. Rather than living as a s*ave for the rest of my life, being eaten by my creation is a reward.

I closed my eyes tightly.

“…?”

“…”

He looked closely at my necklace, then suddenly stepped back.

“Awoooo-!”

Is he wary of this necklace?

He roared loudly at me once, then disappeared somewhere again.

I don’t know why, but I survived thanks to the necklace.

What the heck is it made of?

“Saya, your blood..!”

Gillian said with a pale face.

“Ah, right.”

I forgot because I was focused on the monster.

Before I knew it, blood was flowing from both arms to the point of overflowing.

This, it might be a little dangerous if I don’t stop the bleeding.

At that time, I heard a woman’s voice from outside the carriage.

“Wow, what happened? Was it attacked by a Sarkas?”

The outside must be covered in blood and piled with corpses, but strangely, I couldn’t feel any emotion in her voice.

“Oh! It was a s*ave carriage.”

A muscular woman with rabbit ears, who looked close to 2m tall.

She looked around the cargo compartment and lightly broke the shackles of the beastmen with the hilt of her sword.

‘Steel in one go..?’

“You’re lucky, my beastmen comrades. If it weren’t for me, you would have been trapped here.”

The people who were trapped were helped out of the carriage one by one by the black-clad beastmen who followed the woman.

And, her impression changed 180 degrees.

“..There are also humans.”

She’s talking about us.

“I feel like killing you right here, but since you were caught as slaves together, I’ll let you go once. Get out of my sight right now.”

Thud.

When she broke the shackles, the blocked blood suddenly started flowing again, making me dizzy many times over.

‘This… might be a bit dangerous..’

My vision is spinning.

One side of my head is throbbing with pain, and my body is losing strength.

“Saya. Saya…?”

Gillian was holding me and didn’t know what to do.

Don’t worry.

If I sleep, everything will be fine…. Will it? I’ve lost this much blood.

“Please-!”

Gillian?

Gillian was banging his head on the floor and shouting something.

“My friend.. If you leave her like this, she’ll die..! Please.. Please let her get treatment just once…!”

“Get lost, didn’t you understand me?!”

“I’ll do anything, please help my friend just once….!”

He desperately grabbed her ankle and clung to it.

“Let go! A human dares to touch…”

“Please! It was Saya who saved the slaves!”

Ah.
Gillian. He’s being kicked, but he’s still begging.

“How can I believe that…!”

“It’s true. I saw it.”

The old man who was being helped came forward and said.

“That child deliberately bled herself to lure the Sarkas. She’s not a bad human.”

“….Ugh.”

She nervously grabbed her hair and approached Gillian.

“Hey, kid. You want to save your friend no matter what, right?”

“…Yes!”

“Youngest, bring some meat!”

She cracked her neck, put her hand behind her, and received something.

…Meat?

The bright red meat that hadn’t lost its blood, thud. It’s thrown on the floor.

“…Um, this is..?”

“Eat it. Then I’ll save your friend.”

Suddenly meat? As Gillian was puzzled, she added a word with a smile.

“it is human flesh”