Mia was suddenly forced awake next morning by cold water being sprayed on her, forcing her back against the cage wall. Her arms flailed about as she failed to understand what was happening. After several minutes the flow of water stopped, leaving Mia cold and wet.

“Wake up beast! Your training starts now!”

She looked up, panting as she just started to collect herself and recognized the man from last night, his face swollen and purple. Oddly enough, it was just his face that showed any damage. “Char-?!?” she was once again forced back as water was once again sprayed on her.

“Don’t speak unless given permission!” He shouted, halting the spray “We only have a few hours before your new owner comes…”

Mia propped herself up using one of her arms, gasping for air she then shot a glare towards Charles, clearly he did not learn his lesson and to affirm this she was shot back against the wall with a force of water.

“Be mindful of your expression! A good slave does not glare at their masters!” he then halted the spray, opening the cage door and stepping inside “A few hours to make you… presentable.” He chuckled.

Mia kept her face down, struggling to keep her breath. She glanced towards her status ’15 hp gone…’ three sprays, 5hp each? She already guessed from last night but, this guy was weak… ‘no stop.’ She shook her head, the idea of saving just to kill him floated in her mind again but letting her anger take over would just extend the time she was here, it was not worth it.

She reminded herself she needed to see who the new master was, and if it wasn’t worth the wait she’d just escape and go do something else while waiting for john to be summoned and go from there.

While she was thinking this, Charles was still talking. Noticing she was no longer paying attention to him he sprayed her again, taking joy in seeing her getting knocked around “Pay attention! is that slave collar around your neck just for show!? You are a slave! A slave obeys!” He sprayed her again, turning the flow of magic off and on between shouts. His smirk only growing wider as he took joy in his discipline work.

He brought up his hand, a small ball of water forming in it. “Stand up.” He demanded, unaware of the growing frustrations of the small beastmen below him. “I said stand up!” he brought his hand down, a deluge of water being sprayed forth, colliding with a wall of ice. “W-what?! Ice?! Who?” he started looking around the room, seeing no one his attention was brought back to the wall of ice when he heard a small sigh.

Mia, having saved just moments prior, wondered when she got so short tempered. Was it because of the constant headache from fighting the slave collar or had she always been like this? Or was it simply the stress, she didn’t know.

She revealed herself from behind the pillar of ice, knowing one thing for certain.

“The slave… you were using magic?! How! The inspection said you didn’t…No! this is an order! Lay down and stop this!” He took a step back, seeing Mia raise her hands “Stop! don’t use magic! That’s an order!”

The slave collar tightened around her neck, she ignored it, reaffirming the one thing she did know “I can’t stand being with you.” Then let her magic flow, freezing Charles in mere seconds.

“Stand up!”

Back to when she saved, Mia wordlessly stood for only a few seconds before she was blasted to the ground again.

“Tch, do it faster slave! When a master gives you, an order be sure to follow it with haste! Now stand!”

Mia wordlessly stood, trying her best to ignore her gasping and wobbly legs.

Once again, she was knocked down. “Faster! Stand up!”

The collar tightened and Mia obeyed, standing up with no protest, no thought, she simply obeyed.

Charles nodded “Fast learner, thank me for being such a good teacher.”

“…Thank you master.” Mia replied, void of emotion.

“Now, next lesson will be proper posture and presenting yourself, hopefully we can fix that dull expression on your face, which reminds me.” He pulled his fist back and socked her right in the jaw, sending her to the floor once more. “That was for last night, thank your master for being so forgiving, beast.”

“Thank you master.” Mia said from the floor, unmoving from the position she had landed in.

Charles couldn’t contain himself and laughed with glee “that’s right, now stand!” He watched Mia obey his order “Hmpf, good. We go at this pace, and you will be somewhat presentable, not the full course I would love to give you, but it will have to do. Now, let’s start.”

Mia wordlessly followed his orders for the next few hours, fully giving in to the slave collar’s influence to calm her nerves while keeping a small, very angry, piece of herself aware as Charles went over proper slave etiquette, a crash course. It was very simple and standard, things she had been taught her last time but just straight up ignored towards the end of it.

The standards of how to reply to your master with “yes master.” After given an order, the situations “thank you master” are appropriate, those wonderfully degrading things being drilled into her head again. thankfully that was all they got into, Charles would always find time to discipline her which would only take up more time

After the last spray the sound of yelling could be heard, causing Charles to stop and turn to face the door “Do not speak slave. I think your new master is here.”

“Yes master.” Mia stood up straight, and listened towards the door, not being able to make out anything rather than a very agitated female yelling, that was until the door was opened.

“URGH!!! See this is exactly what I was talking about! I said NO training! Do your ears match your appearance and have clogged over with wax!?”

Mia fought the urge to take a step back, thrown off by the appearance of the lady who just entered the room along with a sniveling Conroy. Gaudy was an understatement, the women was adorned in flowing silk ribbons, feathers in every color stuck in every gap, her face plastered in a thick layer of makeup, a thin sparkling red dress accented with pearls and gems…this was her new master?

“I am sorry miss Trinity but it is a standard that all our slaves-“Conroy started to protest, but was silenced by a swift ribbon slap across the face.

“I have no need for excuses or care for your… clearly lower standards.” The women apparently named Trinity spoke, throwing a disgusted glance around the room as she trotted towards the cage “Urgh.” She spat, pinching the cage door between her fingers and carefully opening it “All my slaves must be taught with the highest level, the highest standard, as all might slaves are in body and mind.”

Trinity glanced towards Charles, causing him to tighten up, she then glanced towards Mia, who had to shove her emotions further into the grasp of the collar to keep her from reacting. “You all promised me some high-quality goods, this is just a child far from puberty.” She turned her back to Mia, as if done with her “You do know what my business is, correct? What happened to the older women? Was the Shrine Maiden not offered as well?” She put her hands on her hips, slumping in a bit of a forced pout “I specifically came here early to nab that before it was waisted on some worthless noble who would ruin her.”

Mia twitched at the mention of the [Shrine Maiden] title, suddenly even more thankful at her [Disguise] skill’s effectiveness. She hoped at this disappointing news she would lose interest and she would proceed towards the auction as planned, but a nervous laugh coming from Conroy halted the thought.

“Ah, well, you see…”

“Conroy just get on with it, I am already thoroughly disappointed, you might as well spill it.”

“yes… of course…” He coughed, clearing his throat and gathering himself “The invasion did not go well, the village was almost empty when we got there… out of the raid we only got old aged beasts and children, her being the best.” He motioned behind him and a young girl entered the room, presenting a roll of paper to him “If you see her appraisal results…” He started to gesture the girl towards Trinity, but she raised her own hand.

“I will be the judge of that.” She then turned towards Mia, her eyes glimmering for a moment “EIGHT?!” she staggered, falling back and catching herself with her foot “With how tiny she is I thought she was five! Maybe six!”

“…” Mia felt a tug in her chest, it was an awkward feeling, but she was well aware how small she was, more importantly… she had appraisal? She quickly checked to see if everything was in order on her fake status page.

“Her titles, Miss trinity.”

She straightened herself out “Right right” she hand waved him off, staring at Mia again with her eyes glowing, a small smile appearing on her face. Clapping her hand, she nodded in approval “[Trophy Maid] is it? That is indeed a rare title.”

Conroy nodded his head rapidly “Yes! A servant can work their entire life in a castle and never receive that title! Truly it was the grace of Gaia that this girl received this title at such a young age.”

‘More like countless lifetimes of being a servant…’ Mia rebuked in her mind.

Trinity pondered for a moment “Yes, this does more than make up for her being…well that.” Trinity said, gesturing to all of Mia “We have ways to fix that tiny physic, her height might be a problem but with that title she may be a late bloomer.” She thought silently for a moment before breaking her silence in laughter “Oh Conroy you old fool, you sure nabbed a big catch this time around!”

Feeling a shiver run down her spine Mia, she didn’t understand what they were talking about when referring to her body, other that it was small, but for the other stuff it made her feel uncomfortable for some unknown reason.

“Yes! The church would be very displeased if they knew I kept this one, which would only raise the price…” A smirk spread on Conroy’s face “So with that in mind… the price would be around-“

“Halt! Conroy, you toad, do not take me to be some dumb noble who will simply cough up what ever gold you demand. I have simply known you too long, and who do you take me for? I am Miss Trinity!” She whipped a ribbon around her neck and made an insulted gesture “There is still the matter that, while she will be worth the purchase in the future, the cost of making her so is astronomical, and she isn’t worth that now.”

Conroy paused, taken aback “But the title…”

“Is only a title that’s only visible effect would be increasing her sale price., she can’t even read for god’s sake.” She knelt down next to Mia, careful not to get her clothes wet she pinched her chin, moving Mia’s face around to look at it from different angles “Dull face, soft skin… with some work she would be…well beautiful would be pushing it but pretty or cute would fit.”

Mia’s ear twitched, feeling the nails dig into her skin and the rough movement from her face being dragged around, not to mention the critic of her face… her patience was wearing thin. ‘just let the collar work….just let the collar work…’

“Ah! So you agree tha-“

“But then there is these…” She jerked Mia’s face to the side, pulling up one of her arms with her other hand aswell “Her skin is plush with abuse, this is why I said no training Conroy, your workers are too rough, the slave collar does most of the work anyways, but this!” she then yanked her face to the other side, revealing the bruise from Charles’s punch “Is without reason! Scars on otherwise perfect products! You expect me to pay full for this?”

Conroy paled, “I, um, you see, I uhm that, that is to say…” He shot an angry glare towards Charles, who was now trying to make himself invisible in the room by shrinking back and away from everyone, hoping to go unnoticed in a corner.

“The fur is also matted from all this cold water, just look at this tail.” Trinity grabbed Mia’s tail, causing her to tighten up, the hair’s on her head shooting straight up, her ears going straight and her eyes opening in surprise for just a moment before she returned to normal “Hrm?” Trinity glanced back, noticing the reaction before her attention was pulled towards Conroy.

“That…Even still it is a high-end product! We run a respectable business here and I cannot let you drive down the price when it has not even been decided on yet!” Conroy said, putting his foot down.

Trinity giggled, standing up and releasing Mia from her grip in the process “Oh Conroy, it is your fault for trying to set it so high in the first place, 2 million, she would have gotten near that in an auction if the others did not notice her imperfections.”

Conroy’s jaw dropped “You jest! That title alone makes her worth at least eight!”

“A title you cannot make public least the church will be very angry you stole a very expensive pawn, it will be very amusing watching your jester performance as you try and play ignorant to that mistake.”

Conroy grit his teeth “Even still! With her being the final piece, she would reach 4 million! Easily!”

Trinity shook her head “Something she will not get to be, since I am buying her now at 3 million. I will be generous and withhold her title announcement for a few years, giving reasonable time for us to say she got it in training.”

He went silent “…you intend to black mail me?”

“Conroy, I have known you for years, if I wanted to blackmail you, I would have plenty of ammo.” She giggled “No, I am just offering you a good deal and a reminder to watch your greed, I’d hate for one of my best sources of new products to vanish in the middle of the night because he offended the church.”

The slave merchant went silent again, weighing his options, regret plastered on his face.

Meanwhile, Mia was shocked, if she remembered correctly, she was sold at 6 million the first time, then half that the second time. She couldn’t remember how much the princess bought her for but for her to be at three million already… she almost felt bad for the merchant, almost, she felt happiness knowing how much she had indirectly caused him to lose, and hoped she’d eventually take all of it and ruin him, along with the church and the rest of this kingdom.

Conroy grit his teeth, his face distorted in anger before it fell slack, giving up “Fine, Deal.”

Trinity clapped her hands together “Perfect! Glad you see it my way, and to show no hard feelings, I will let the shop know you will be receiving a discount next time you come.” She then walked out of the cage, heading towards the door.

“Yeah…” Conroy answered dryly “I’ll be sure to come…Miss Trinity…”

She took a feather off of her dress and affixed it in his hair “now let us get this over with, I want to start on her before sundown and this boring paper work is going to get tiring.”

Conroy squinted, watching her exit he sighed “Yes miss Trinity, right behind you.” He then snapped his fingers, something that caused Charles to react.

“No! it wasn’t my-!”

“Punishment~?”

Mia paled, Bruno… she wanted to look but found she could not move her head towards them, the pressure was too great.

“No Bruno, Charles has decided to leave us, please offer him his severance.” Conroy said, then left the room.

“Severance?” Bruna said in a high pitched, excited, and questioning voice.

“No! Conroy! Please! I am sorry! It won’t happen again!”

“Severance!” Bruno laughed, sending a chill across the room.

“No! no, NOOOOOOOO-!”

And then silence, as Bruno assumingly vanished with Charles, leaving Mia alone in the room with the cage door open…and the front door open… and Bruno occupied with whatever severance meant.

“…”

She saved, then left the cage, the cold floor feeling a lot warmer than the cage. She could just leave… the collar was still on, but she was sure she could force it off or remove it like the elders did, it was just a matter of where to go, she had three years to burn.

To see if it was even an option or if she’d get caught she lowered herself to the ground, trying her best to hide she went out the door and into an empty hallway with only one other door across from her, she heard Trinity and Conroy on the other side so decided to go down the hallway when she suddenly felt dizzy, the hallway warped and twisted, she became overwhelmed with a sense of vertigo and fell face first into the hard floor.

“See? I told you she was resisting the effects of those cheap collars.”

Her ear twitched, looking back she saw Trinity and the ever-nervous Conroy

“It’s what the church gave us, older models but they still should be good…I don’t know how a child is resisting It enough to escape.”

Mia tried to sit up, but the vertigo overcame her, causing her to vomit the empty contents of her stomach.

“Disgusting.” Trinity spat “She did have [Willful] at a pretty high level, honestly if you got that from appraisal you should have taken necessary steps.” Trinity let out a heavy sigh “Get one of the newer models, the ones shipped from Lexon.”

Mia was now struggling to remain conscious as she fumbled around on the floor in her own stomach acid “Have to…load…” She struggled, pulling up with load screen.

“From Lexon? We use those on monsters for nobles…”

“I don’t want for a disobedient slave Conroy, go and fetch it for me.”

Mia reached out, unable to tell where the load option was as even the screen was wobbly and shaky “Stupid…screen…oop!” she vomited again, adding to the growing pool below her.

“Go Conroy! NOW! Before I discount the cleaning bills for your incompetency!”

“Yes! R-right away!”

Mia thought she heard him scamper off, she had to hurry, if only she could find out where to press but the screen. She couldn’t… oh. “Right.” She remembered she could just will this to work, and did so, finding herself back in the metal cage. Now alone, no longer feeling sick, she shuddered. Trinity was dangerous, and was suspicious the collar didn’t have an effect on her… hopefully it was just her acting out that got her noticed…

“Hopefully…”