“Out of the way! Move!”

Their conversation was cut short as a big carriage came from behind. The driver swung his whip at the two horses dragging the carriage.

Arthur backed away and pulled Chris out of the carriage’s way.

It wasn’t a normal carriage, but a relatively big square-shaped box with metal bars erected from all sides. It was like a mobile prison, which housed several slaves.

“Don’t stand in the middle of the street!” Shouted the driver, targeting Evelyn specifically.

The maid gave him a deadpan look and didn’t seem bothered by his aggressive and unnecessarily loud tone.

“They look pitiful…”

Chris tore his gaze away from the captives inside. They had thick metal cuffs around their wrists and ankles, which were linked by a chain. Most, if not all of them were wearing ragged and dirt-stained pieces of cloth that barely covered their scarred and malnourished bodies.

Naturally, the majority of the slaves were Beastmen. Parts of their bodies were covered in fur and they had distinct characteristics of some beasts or animals. The males had large physiques and despite the lack of proper nourishment, their well-defined muscles were visible. As for the females, they strongly resembled normal humans except for minor differences in ears, limbs, or eyes.

The Beastmen lived on the Western Continent and, not unlike the Demons, they had long been since humankind’s enemy. However, they were oppressed in this continent and treated harshly.

They weren’t as inherently strong as Demons, at least not in Magic, so they were more manageable. Furthermore, the Holy Church prohibited using Demons as slaves, so the Humans had to be content with the Beastmen.

There were also Elven slaves, but due to the amicable diplomatic relationship between the two races, such slaves could only be found in clandestine markets.

Arthur looked at the slaves as the carriage passed by, but his eyes soon focused on one particular figure. A hint of surprise and confusion appeared on his face.

‘But… how?’

The figure itself twitched and raised her head, staring back at him. As their gazes met, both felt a familiar yet uncomfortable sensation as their surroundings momentarily twisted and distorted.

Arthur found himself standing inside the carriage and staring down at the girl.

“What are you doing here? I thought you escaped.”

The girl was none other than Isabella, whom he saved from those black-clothed assassins.

Isabella was equally surprised to see him here. Her eyes were hollow as she hugged her knees and kept her lips shut. Still, she was able to communicate with him telepathically.

‘A slave trader caught me.’

Her voice, which rang in his ear, was soft and weak.

“...”

By the next second, Arthur was back in his body, but he saw Isabella’s translucent body right next to him. She looked around and then at Chris and Evelyn.

‘A slave trader? So he caught you and made you into a slave?’

She meekly nodded her head.

Such occurrences weren’t particularly common, but they weren’t entirely non-existent either. Slave traders were wont to capture helpless and weak individuals they found on the road. Someone like Isabella, who barely knew anything about this world and was dressed poorly, could be mistaken for a runaway slave or fugitive.

“Arthur?”

The connection between the two was cut off as Chris’ voice came from the side. Arthur found himself back in his body as the carriage stopped near one of the buildings in the Slave Market.

“Something wrong?”-Chris

“No. Let’s go.”

Arthur tore his gaze away from Isabella and walked away. He could feel Evelyn’s silent gaze, which seemed to demand answers for his momentarily strange behavior, but he refrained from explaining anything. This wasn’t the time nor the place for that.

…

The rest of the day was spent touring Raml Asfr City and then retiring to one of the many available inns. Thanks to selling the Alchemy Scripture to Sonia, Arthur had enough Gold on his person to be considered a vastly wealthy individual, so there was no need to be stingy and stay in a shallow inn.

Initially, he wanted to rent a room for each one of them, but Evelyn argued that they had to stay together in case of an attack. Chris, too, preferred to sleep in the same room as his friend.

“A good dinner and even fine alcohol. The hot temperature notwithstanding, I can’t say I hate this city!”

Chris, reeking of alcohol, laid on the bed and stretched his four limbs while grinning from one ear to the other.

As for the maid, she approached the absentminded Parasite and solemnly asked,

“Are you going to tell us, Master? It’s clear that something happened earlier.”

“I saw someone I had a connection with in that slave trader’s carriage.”

He plainly and instantly replied, much to her surprise. However, she didn’t properly interpret the meaning of his words.

“Please don’t tell me that you’ve fallen in love with one of those slaves, Master. Dubbing it a connection doesn’t make it easy for me to…”

“He’s talking about his connection with those two women.”

Chris chirped in, but that only made Arthur give him a signalling glare and a soft shake of the head. Evelyn didn’t know about Arthur’s link with Lucy and Isabella.

It wasn’t Arthur purposely hiding it from her, it was just that the timing hadn’t been right.

“Two women? I think I deserve a clarification, Master.”

“I’ll tell you what happened. Arthur is going through one of his gloomy mood swings and trying to make him talk in that state is a waste of time.”

Evelyn sighed and didn’t object. She would rather Arthur clarify, but the man was sitting next to the desk, thoughtfully looking at the wall. He was in a complete daze, a daze she would often see when he had been masquerading as Leonis Sanguis back in Wilsden Town.

In truth, Arthur was contemplating whether to go check on Isabella or not. He had a not-so-small number of diverse hosts at his disposal, so sneaking inside the slave trader’s abode wasn’t going to be hard. The question was: Was it worth it to do so? He had just arrived in the city and although he had not done anything that might attract the Sultan’s attention, that wasn’t enough of a reassurance.

His brief visit to Blackcrest showed him that, even if he tried his best to maintain a low profile, there might be people that know about his real identity as a parasite. He was currently using a male host with forgettable facial features.

Touring a city like this disguised as Leonis was risky, to say the least. Although not a prominent member of the Sanguis family, Leonis could still be recognized.

…

Slave Market, Raml Asfr City

Isabella, along with the other slaves, was taken inside one of the buildings. There were guards everywhere, most of which were stationed at doorways.

She was put in a small but clean cell at the back of the building, where she had to wait for a couple of hours before the Slave Trader came. He wasn’t the one who had caught her and forcefully put her in a cage, instead, he was the owner of this ‘enterprise’.

Dressed in modest attire, he entered the dimly-lit room accompanied by two people, one of which was a man with a receding hairline and a naturally creepy-looking face.

“Good evening. I’m Silcard Fedge, your owner.”

Each slave reacted differently to Silcard’s arrival, but they all looked afraid of him.

“Please do not be alarmed.” Silcard paused and turned to the man on his left, the one who caught Isabella.

“You didn’t feed them, did you? I remember telling you to get them clean clothes and put them with the rest.”

“They’re new slaves, they might have rebelled or-”

The man tried to explain himself, but Silcard’s piercing glare made him swallow his words and apologetically lower his head.

After that, Silcard faced the slaves again and continued, “Although you all are slaves, you can rest assured that you’ll be treated well and are protected from any outside harm. It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

This declaration was met with anger and sneering, especially from the male Beastmen. They gave Silcard murdered looks, and were it not for the metal cuffs binding their hands and legs, they would have ripped him apart already.

“All the paperwork concerning you all has been processed. I understand that it’s unfair to have your freedom restricted, but there’s nothing I can do but offer you protection and well-earned rest. You will not be treated harshly or subjected to any torture or maltreatment. I promise you.”*

“T-then… release us! Please!”

A pregnant female beastman opened her mouth and pleaded, but Silcard shook his head.

“You are regarded as slaves. Even if I let you go, my peers would jump at the opportunity and catch you before you even leave the Slave Market. I know it sounds bad because I’m the one who says it, but your best bet is to stay here. And before you jump to any conclusions, let me show you that this place isn’t as bad as it seems.”

With that, Silcard gestured for the man to his right.

“Open the cells and remove the cuffs. They’ll be taken to the Main Room.” The man, who had a slim physique and long dark hair, pushed back his spectacles and ordered the three men standing guard.

They were already used to this procedure, so they did as instructed. The slaves were confused and thought it was a trap, but none tried to attack even after they were unbound.

It wasn’t the cuffs that bound them, but Magic too. Slaves weren’t expected to obey their owners simply because they were physically bound. They were all under the influence of a potent spell derived from Black Magic. That was how the Slave Traders made sure they were obedient and capable of pleasing the buyers.

Once they were sold, the ownership, which was actually the ability to control the slaves through the Enslaving Spell, would be switched to the buyer’s control through a commonly used magical artifact.

Silcard and his two subordinates followed the slaves to the Main Room. Unbeknowst to anyone, however, an invisible lizard was lurking in the corner of the hallways.

It moved soundlessly and crawled on the wall as it chased after them.

Arthur hoped that Isabella would notice him or for the connection to trigger again, but nothing of the sort happened. He remained undetected.

The guards working under Silcard were dressed in properly knight-like armors, but it didn’t look like any of them was well-versed in Magic. In fact, only the slim and bespectacled man had an above-average quantity of Mana inside of his body, which could mean he was a mage or, at the very least, capable of casting spells.

Soon, the slaves were brought to the so-called Main Room. It was a spacious area within the building. There were at least three dozen slaves there, but they weren’t chained.

In fact, none of them looked malnourished or in a poor condition.

“Ah! New blood. Hello, Mister Fedge.”

More surprising and unexpected was that the slaves warmly greeted Silcard Fedge. They stood in an orderly manner and were all smiles. It didn’t seem to be an act to fool the newcomers, those slaves were behaving in a genuine manner.

“Except for me, Alan, and Robert, and a couple guards, this room is off-limits to anyone else. You can freely move around here, but please don’t try to cause distress or attempt to leave. I can see that you’re all nervous and scared, so I’ll let you rest tonight and return tomorrow morning, after breakfast.”

Silcard smiled and soon left along with his two men.

Isabella, who kept silent, looked around. The old slaves soon circled around the new ones and reassured them. They were even handed water and food, which wasn’t particularly fancy, but enough to satiate their thirst and hunger.

A couple minutes later, a guard came in and brought fresh clothes for the new Slaves.

“Please change into these. I’ll come to pick up your old clothes tomorrow. And keep it down, okay?”

“Come on, Fin, we have to celebrate a bit. It’s been a while…”

A middle-aged human slave, chiselled and with scars all over his body, approached the guard and spoke those words in a friendly manner.

Fin- the guard- shook his head and retorted,

“There’s a high-status client in the city and he has set his eyes on the Fedge Slave Entreprise. Apparently, he has had a feud with the boss, so it would be for the best to not act natural. No parties and no celebration. You’ll get that when the storm has passed.”

The slave frowned and nodded once. He wanted to inquire more, but Fin quickly left and locked the thick metal door leading out of the Main Room.