“Hello there. Are you okay, sweety?”

A female beastman, who seemed to be ‘in charge’, approached the short and thin Isabella.

“...”

“Don’t be nervous or afraid. It’s going to be alright.”

The woman tentatively patted Isabella’s shoulder then took the new clothes from her hands. She pointed to a small room adjacent to the Main Room and spoke again,

“Let’s get you all changed, okay? Then we’ll eat.”

She smiled and, while trying to be as non-threatening and kind as possible, she took Isabella by the hand and guided her to the changing room.

All the new slaves were repeatedly reassured. The human slave from earlier explained a few things to the new male slaves, including the Beastmen, whereas the white-haired woman focused on the females.

There was a distinct difference between the attitude of the new male and female slaves. After all, the male slaves would generally be bought off and forced to do extreme manual labor such as mining or getting into brutal fights for the sake of their owners’ entertainment. It was doubtlessly a cruel life, but the female slaves were treated in a similar, if not worse manner.

They were at the mercy of their buyers, which tended to be- unsurprisingly- wealthy businessmen or aristocrats, all of which wanted to satisfy their carnal desires by using the female slaves as sexual toys.

Almost all slaves, whether male or female, lived in horrible conditions when bought. When they were no longer useful, they would be discarded in more than way. Either tortured to death, bid to fight an unbeatable foe, or even dissected and literally cut into pieces for their body parts. More specifically, some scholars that dealt in clandestine markets would pay hefty sums for the eyes or fur of certain Beastman tribes.

“This may sound ridiculous, but Mister Fedge is really on our side. He’s not going to treat you badly.”

After everyone got dressed and fed, they all grouped in a circle. The human male, named Jonathan, and the white-haired female beastman, Kha’rya, stood at the center.

“That’s right. He’ll not let the greedy and fat aristocrats get their hands on you. I would say that staying here is better than being bought, but none of you would want to spend the rest of their lives in this room, right?”

“Aren’t you from the Astral Fox Tribe? How can you submit to those humans?!”

One of the new slaves, a burly beastman with raven-black fur and menacing face, stood up and yelled at Kha’rya.

“Don’t raise your voice, please. I’ve just started explaining the key parts and it would not be to our benefit if you get too emotional. Also, no one, including you, gets a say in what I should or should not do.”

Kha’rya washed the smile off her face and coldly looked at her kin.

“Unless you’ve forgotten already, you’re a slave now. There are not just beastmen here, but humans too. We’re in the same boat, so I suggest you remain calm and don’t vent your anger on the rest of us.”

“I’m talking about that fat bastard! I’m not going to fall for this. That Slave trader is as deplorable as any other human!”

“Stop it. There are kids in here!”

Jonathan, who was a head shorter than the beastman, approached him. He gave him a chilling look and motioned for him to sit down and lower his voice.

“I might be a slave, but I’m not going to-”

Before he could finish, he was hit in the stomach by Jonathan. He knelt down and groaned in pain.

“Before you start flaunting your useless superiority as a beastman, let us finish this exposition. Look around you.”

Jonathan pointed at a red-haired female beastman: She was dressed in clean clothes that contrasted the overly-revealing outfits the slaves were commonly forced to wear to attract buyers.

“That’s Himna and her boy Yan. They’ve been here for 3 years and they weren’t sold only because Mister Fedge wanted to sell them together and to a proper buyer rather than a perverted aristocrat.”

Jonathan then pointed at an elderly beastman that was missing a leg,

“That’s Herny. He had been struck by a curse, one that Mister Fedge paid an accomplished Mage to treat. He was even offered back his freedom, but he agreed to live here. Venturing outside and trying to survive as a beastman while missing a leg would be nothing but a death sentence.”

Jonathan proceeded to patiently introduce the old slaves one by one.

The rebellious and angry beastman eventually calmed down and remained seated. Although he wasn’t entirely convinced that Silcard Fedge was truly a good person, there was no denying the fact that the slaves here did look healthy and reasonably happy with their lives.

‘Sounds too good to be true.’ thought Arthur to himself. He was still invisible while possessing the acid lizard. Sneaking into this place was laughingly easy, much more than he had anticipated.

There were no Detection Spell laid outside, and the guards weren’t that perceptive or strong. Then again, not every place was as heavily-guarded or filled with magical wards as the Shadow Keep Penitentiary.

‘Maybe Jonathan and Kha’rya are moles planted here to boost morale and make sure things don’t go bad. Still… This Main Room is well-decorated and the slaves don’t seem to be acting. I should investigate.’

It took Arthur a lot of deliberation before finally coming here. He wasn’t the type of person to save every person that was in distress, and although he felt sympathy for the slaves, he wouldn’t risk revealing himself to save them. However, Isabella was different.

He wanted to know why he was connected to her, and for that to happen, letting her stay here wasn’t beneficial. Her severe lack of knowledge and inability to protect herself would only result in a tragedy sooner or later.

At first, Arthur thought about extracting her from this place using subtle means, but that could cause unwanted attraction and possibly put a mark on him. He still didn’t know what the Sultan was capable of, and after hearing about this high-status aristocrat that set his eyes on Silcard Fedge, causing a commotion by breaking Isabella out might not be a good idea. There was also the issue with the Enslaving Spell that had been put on her, which was something Arthur couldn’t remove on his own.

Brute-forcing his way was never his way of doing things, so, in light of current circumstances, a more casual approach would be a significantly safer option.

Arthur had no reason to linger there for any longer, so he started moving toward the exit. The door locked, but the host was relatively small and able to pass through the gaps between the bars at the top.

Kha’rya’s fox-like white ears twitched, her figure shooting forward toward the door. She moved with an impressive speed, her hand extending forward in a grabbing motion.

Alas, the acid lizard, still invisible, easily dodged her attack and quickly slipped between the gaps.

“Kha’rya? What was that?”

“Something was here, Jonathan. It was barely noticeable… but I felt its presence when it moved.”

She leaned closer to the door and focused her eyes, but she couldn’t see the creature. All she knew was that it was a living creature.

Ever earlier, she felt watched but not even her sharp senses caught anything. A couple of seconds ago, the chatter of the slaves had quietened down and she heard an audible sound.

“Are you sure? I didn’t sense anything.”

“I’m not being paranoid, Jonathan. Something was watching us.”

“I believe you. I’ll inform Mister Fedge tomorrow.”

The rest saw Khar’ya and heard the exchange, but they were just confused.

Isabella lowered her head and remembered the man who had helped her. She barely knew anything about him, but she wished she could connect with him again and ask for help a second time.

Things weren’t as bad as she expected them to be in here, nonetheless, the thought of becoming a slave made her feel desperate and scared. Her insane regenerative ability notwithstanding, she started having regrets about leaving Earth and coming to this world.

“The girl. She wasn’t in the list before, Alan.”

Silcard sat behind his desk while holding a piece of paper. He didn’t look particularly pleased with Alan, his unruly employee.

“We found her on the road. She can’t be nothing but a fugitive. It was for the best to take her with me. She’s not that pretty but she could sell for a decent sum. It’s better than nothing.”

“I do not gather slaves for the purpose of enriching myself, Alan. I do this so they can lead a somewhat decent life despite their unfortunate circumstances.”

“Then you shouldn’t have become a slave trader… sir.”

“Quite the opposite. I think this is the best profession for me. And if you keep talking back and doing this without my consent, then you have no place here.”

Even though he was threatened, Alan didn’t seem fazed. He stared back at his boss, his expression distorting and turning ugly,

“I don’t understand why waste all this money for a bunch of useless garbage like them. They are slaves. Give them enough sympathy and they’ll betray you in the blink of an eye. They should be caged like all the rest in the market! Look at Mister Mehrid’s slaves! They’re as docile as trained dogs! And they sell for high pric-”

“Mister Mehrid? Since when do we call our competitors in such a polite and respectful manner? Ah- I see. He came to you with an offer, right? That’s why you’re behaving like this.”-Sicard

“...”

Alan didn’t deny this, he just let out an audible grunt and walked out of the office.

After a brief bout of silence, the bespectacled Robert, Silcard’s assistant, tore his gaze away from the documents in his hand and spoke up,

“It’s better to cut him off. None of the slaves like him and his violent tendencies do not suit the image of the Fedge Slave Entreprise.”

“I need a good replacement first.”

Sicard’s moderately fat body slumped back on his rocking chair as he let out a sigh of exasperation.

“As for the girl. I don’t think she’s related to any current or fallen Aristocratic family. At least not the ones in the Militant Syndicate or the Empire. Her appearance doesn’t match the description of the handful of missing young ladies of the past year or so. She most likely was at the wrong place and at the wrong time and got caught by Alan.”

“And I guess he branded her with the Enslaving spell?”

“He did. However, as she’s not amongst the official list of slaves, there’s a bit of a leeway to get her out. I personally think we should keep her.”

“Oh?” Sicard frowned and looked at Robert, who was a man that always had the same deadpan and unmoving expression.

“It seems, when she was found, her physical condition was poor and she refused to talk. Either she’s been hurt or was running from someone. Furthermore, she was found West of the R&Q Resort, not far from the farms. As it happens, a family died there recently and the entire house was burned down. It’s not far-fetched to assume that she might be linked to that.”

“...”

“If I could investigate more then-”

“Don’t. This doesn’t concern us, Robert. We’ll take care of the girl and I’ll talk to her when she’s ready.”

It was apparent that Sicard knew more than he was letting out, specifically about the incident that happens in the farms.

“As you wish. We’ve been notified that Mister Garcia will be coming tomorrow morning. He’s been going around and buying slaves from other traders and you’re next. Considering your past with him, it would be best to cooperate and let him have his pick.”

Sicard grumbled in annoyance and simply nodded. Garcia Espero was close to the Sultan and someone hailing from a powerful Aristocratic family in the Despot Collective. He was infamous for being a sadistic fool that liked to flaunt his influence and power over those less privileged than him.

“I suggest you let me take the lead and meet up with him. If he sees you, he will bring up the past and possibly cause trouble.”

“I’ll think about it. Just because he’s grown up and inherited his father’s position doesn’t make me scared to face him. Idiots like him don’t change, hah!”