Chapter 33: CH 33

“Grrrrr.”

“Nathan?”

Juliana’s eyes widened. The Gerada desert fox was lying face down on the ground. He seemed to have accompanied her when she teleported.

“Are you okay?”

Juliana hurriedly looked at Nathan. The adorable desert fox clung to her arm.

The fox grabbed her attention by rubbing his face against Juliana’s forearm.

“Fufu, yes, okay, I understand. Nathan.”

Juliana hugged Nathan and smiled softly. First things first, she needed to find out if there are carriages in the village.

‘It’s strange.’

The village seemed to be in a remote part of the Burart Estate, as she saw people sitting in front of shabby storefronts and on the streets. Juliana naturally recognized she was in the slums.

Juliana had a bad feeling when she saw the crest of Dark Guilds everywhere. She hurried her steps.

“Uh-huh? What’s wrong, Nathan?”

Suddenly, Nathan writhed and slipped out of her arms.

“Wait, Nathan! You can’t go there!”

Nathan entered an alleyway. As the startled Juliana tried to follow Nathan with her eyes wide open, Tak, an unidentified figure from behind struck her on the neck.

‘Huh? When……….’

Her vision went dark. Juliana’s body fell to the floor.

***

“Juliana?”

In the empty room, Louis called the woman’s name in a desperate voice. His heartbeat, which had been regular, grew faster.

“……Julie.”

Louis stared blankly at the fluttering window curtains. As if quite some time had passed, the temperature in the room got colder.

“…G*ddamn it.”

The man clenched his fists so tight that his veins looked like they were about to burst. The eyes of the growling black beast with a cracked voice flashed.

***

‘…Where am I?’

Meanwhile, Juliana, who opened her eyes, was tied to a rope. She was dumbfounded at her current appearance.

The carriage, which stopped with a rattle and a loud noise, made Juliana’s body lean forward.

“Huh… Huuuhh!”

She saw several women of varying ages were tied up just like her. From as little as eight years old to someone who looked like they were in their thirties. There were also rare Elves.

“What should we do, we…… hic……”

A sniffling sound reached her ears. She didn’t feel good. Juliana calmly leaned her back against the carriage.

A few men could be heard chattering outside the stopped carriage.

“The slaves captured this time seem like they will go for a good price. We caught Elves, and luckily got our hands on a blonde.”

“Master will like it. Let’s leave the blonde-haired girl aside. Master is crazy about blonde hair, hahaha.”

After that, conversations with poor content followed which made her ears feel dirty. Juliana contorted her face with a great urge to cleanse her ears.

She didn’t even need to see them. It was obvious what type of people they were.

Slave traders.

Juliana was caught by slave traders that were secretly working in the shadows. Juliana, who quickly grasped her situation, laughed.

‘This is madness, it is forbidden to own slaves.’

Slavery was illegal under Imperial Law. But wasn’t it illegal to be doing it secretly everywhere? Unfortunately, it seemed that she was caught by slave traders.

Juliana could only laugh in vain at her ridiculous situation.

‘Let’s calm down for now.’

Juliana tried to think calmly. She was an ice wizard. She didn’t worry too much as she could use magic.

‘It’s enough to knock them down with magic.’

Although, because of her teleportation motion sickness, she had a handicap, Juliana was still an excellent wizard and she could use high-level magic. She was particularly good at attack magic.

‘But, the problem is these people.’

Juliana glanced at the women who had been held captive like her.

She knew that her body would be safe, but she wasn’t sure if the other captives would be able to escape quickly.

‘What should I do?’

Juliana couldn’t ignore the crying children. She also couldn’t find Nathan which made matters worse.

Juliana bit her lower lip and hoped that her fox was safe.

“Are the slaves tied up well?”

“Yes, Master.”

That was then.

She heard a husky voice from outside.

“First, take out the products to be presented to the client. Leave the kids at the auction house.”

‘Client? Was he a mercenary?’

Juliana opened her eyes carefully. Soon after, the carriage door opened and three or four men rushed in.

‘Two on the left, three on the right.’

Juliana calmly but quickly glanced at the men who she believed were mercenaries. She didn’t know if she could deal with five people alone.

‘I don’t know if there are other mercenaries watching from the other side.’

It would be difficult if there were others who could help them.

“… Б ё о і н а л .”

Juliana lowered her eyes and mumbled a spell without anyone noticing. She submitted a report to the imperial criminal investigation team.

‘Until the investigation team moves, I’ll have to look into the situation.’

As she thought this, Juliana’s gaze met a purple-haired man, who had an oppressive air among the mercenaries.

“!”

The man slowly puffed smoke from the cigarette he was holding. He glanced at her arrogantly.

“That girl.”

He nodded his head and pointed to Juliana. Juliana, who was pointed out by him inadvertently, became nervous and her heart dropped at the tension.

‘Did he notice?’

“……Bring that woman to my room.”

The man fiddled with the cigarettes in his hand in a very arrogant manner.

Unpleasant cackles and whistling could be heard from all directions. Juliana frowned at the man who pointed at her.

Whatever it was, she had no intention of following his will.

Korrurrk-.

Juliana’s stomach rumbled loudly.

‘Evil! Slave traders aren’t even human!’

Juliana gulped as she grabbed her hungry belly. Even the Lunatic took care of her food… These people had been starving her for over a day.

Her belly skin was probably already stuck to her back.

“What the hell?”

Juliana frowned and remembered last night.

The purple-haired man who seemed to occupy the highest position in the slave traders hierarchy was called Master.

He ordered for Juliana to be moved to his bedroom, but changed his words along the way.

‘No, put her in the dungeon.’

Juliana had no intention of following the man to his bedroom, but the impending event stopped at the man’s whim.

She was confused about his words that didn’t make sense.

[I don’t think I should touch that girl. I have a bad feeling.]

What did he mean?

“Ah!”

Something ran through her mind. Juliana exclaimed briefly and nodded her head.

She seemed to have realized what it was. Why the man didn’t take her.

‘Maybe he secretly noticed my magic skills.’

The man they called Master may have not realized that she was a wizard, but he may have noticed that she was not a normal person either. Perhaps that was why he hid her.

‘Anyway, it would be hard to go back to the residence.’

Juliana let out a deep sigh and remembered the Grand Duke’s mansion.

‘Huh! Why the Grand Duke’s…?’

Her own home is the Duke of Hariens. Juliana shook her head from side to side, and dispelled her absurd thoughts.

As she shook her head like that,

***

‘I’m worried.’

In his bedroom, the purple-haired man was holding a cigarette.

‘I didn’t feel good about her yesterday. If she is a noble, I’ll get in trouble.”

The man’s name was Dean.

He was the someone who had risen to the position of Master because of his hunch. It was thanks to his good judgment and sense that he rose to the position of master at a young age.

‘It feels really bad.’

Dean remembered the woman whose blonde hair reached down to her waist.

The woman was pretty enough to attract men’s attention once in a while. She was quite tall for a woman, but thanks to her slender legs, it didn’t feel like a flaw.

Dean, who saw and dealt with many slaves, found her attractive, enough to make his mouth water.

However, due to the unknown anxiety, he did not let the woman into his bedroom, and left his regrets behind.

‘I’ll probably just send her back. Being involved with nobles is a pain in the a$s.’

The man cleared his head and exhaled white smoke. As he closed his eyes slowly,

“Hi?”

He heard a gentle voice behind his ear.

“!”

Dean reflexively flinched and went into an attacking stance.

‘Since when have you been behind me?’

He didn’t feel any signs at all. Dean’s eyes hardened at the sensation of goosebumps on his back. He quickly glanced at his opponent.

The man was wearing a robe. He seemed to be close to 190cm, but didn’t feel huge because of his slender body.

His height was 180cm, so the man would probably be 187cm.

“Since when?”

Dean asked and stared at the man coldly. The man answered meekly in a bored and languid tone.

“While you were burning all your cigarettes?”

There was a sense of relaxation in the way he spoke.