“Is that still behaving like that? That’s incredible, really.”

“It’s not the will of a normal person. The more she’s like that, the more loyal she’ll become once she submits.”

The two men, who were adorned with all kinds of gold on their bodies like a nouveau riche, giggled for a moment and left.

Ellier squinted her eyes open and looked at their retreating backs, before turning her gaze away. It wasn’t the time to care about those guys.

‘No matter what, I must succeed today.’

Ellier observed the humans that were passing in front of the cage.

For some reason, since a while ago her vision became blurry, so she couldn’t see clearly. However, Ellier kept her spirits alert so as to not miss this chance that will never happen again.

Just then, she noticed a man who appeared to be a well-trained knight escorting another man wearing a hooded cloak.

Although she could not examine their behaviors in detail, Ellier could recognize from their attitudes that they were aristocrats with a glance. 

‘Pretending to be noble while snooping around the slave market.’

It was obvious that he would have a strong pride, so it was clear that he wouldn’t be able to tolerate it if he was provoked or insulted by someone who seemed lesser than a beggar.

‘Great. I’ll give you the honor of ending me.’

As the shreds of reason wavered back and forth in her mind, Ellier giggled to herself. 

Fortunately, they were fairly close to her cage.

Ellier quietly waited for a chance, and just as they were about to pass the cage, she reached out and grabbed the hem of the man’s cloak.

Tung!

Although she had managed to grab his cloak, he didn’t notice that and moved on, and as a result Ellier’s skinny arms collided with the iron bars and made a small noise.

“Hey!”

Ellier shouted loudly, afraid that he wouldn’t hear her and just pass by.

This time, his gaze turned towards her.

Although a bruise forming on the arm knocked against the iron bars of the cage was a matter of course, it wasn’t something to make a fuss about as her entire body was covered in a litany of bruises. 

“Slave trading is a sin. You rotten noble b*stards!”

Her throat was hoarse causing her voice to be lower than expected, but there’s no way the man didn’t hear it.

But contrary to her expectations that he would immediately pull out his sword and cut her into half, he did not move rashly.

He seemed to have been startled, and just patted his chest.

“It seems like you’re just a crazy slave. Let us move on.”

The escorting knight was about to lead him away.

Ellier grew anxious and grabbed his clock with even more strength.

“Why are you running away? Are you scared of me? Aren’t you clearly aware of what a b*stard like you are doing here? You rotten bast*rds! Cowards!”

Ellier provoked him with all her might, hoping that he would draw his sword in anger and stab her. 

But he only looked down at her quietly and asked.

“What is it that you want?”

It was a very dry voice, without displeasure, without alarm and without sympathy.

But his eyes that were dry like a desert, did not look away from the venomous eyes of a dying slave.

“What do I want? Why? Am I hoping that you’ll be my benefactor? Just kill me! Oh, but you’re such a coward that you don’t have the courage to kill a slave?”

For a moment she felt him still. A little more and she could die at his hands.

And in his wrath she hoped that he will be make a fuss with the slave trader that tied her here. If it goes well, the sword that cuts the Ellier might pierce the slave trader’s belly.

That was Ellier’s grand plan to screw with the slave traders and die today.

But the problem lay somewhere else.

“Hah… kill you…”

She didn’t realise this while she was crouched, but it seemed that she had quite the low stamina. 

It wasn’t enough for her to suddenly move her stiff body, when she shouted with all her might, her vision quickly turned yellow.

In the end, before the man could extract the hem of his cloak from her, the strength in Ellier’s hand gave in first.

Up until she fainted completely, she looked up at him earnestly. 

“Kill me…!”

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘

A land that wasn’t marked on the map, but a place that everyone knows of, Rubelfast.

It was a place that was considered the best for anyone in need of a slave.

Although slave trading occured in various parts of the Empire of Pardinas, none of them dared to compare with Rubelfast. 

The slaves of Rubelfast submitted perfectly, more than slaves from anywhere else, and if a slave that was sold caused any trouble, the slave trader responsible for the sale would obediently condition it once again. 

But, to those that were being sold as slaves there, it was also a place where they would experience hell while being alive. 

Ellier never thought that she would realize this in her lifetime though.

‘Just why am I a slave? Why must it be Rubelfast, of all things?!’

It was unbelievable, but Ellier had died once and came back to life.

Additionally, he, though it may seem far-fetched, was the Emperor of this huge Empire, Pardinas.

The problem lay in that he woke up in the body of a certain slave girl, returning to 17 years in the past before he, the Emperor, died. 

‘No, just why the heck…!’

As Ellier was starting to get worked up over this dog-like situation again, a man with a bulging belly, decked from head to toe in golden accessories approached with a swaying gait.

“Hey, let’s stop being stubborn and carve the engraving, hm? If you would just engrave that, you wouldn’t have to suffer. Is it because you think it’ll be hard to live as a slave? Hehe, everyone lives like that. Compared to the free people that worked to death trying to earn money, isn’t it much more comfortable to be a slave that doesn’t have to worries of food and shelter. You’d look pretty all dressed up, why do you suffer needlessly?”

Ellier opened her eyes wide and stared at him, spitting a few words towards him with difficulty.

“Can you read the atmosphere and not touch me when I’m reminiscing about the past?”

At her words, the slave trader laughed mockingly.

“You don’t even remember the past, what are you talking about… Oh, that’s right! You’re going to change your mind after organising your thoughts about the past, right? That’s a good attitude. Let’s carve the engraving on you, dress you up beautifully, and after meeting a good master, you can live a pleasant life.”

In order to crave the slave’s engraving on her, the slave trader had been ranting nonsensical bullshit for days. 

“Am I crazy? You’ll carve an engraving?”

Ellier didn’t think that it was funny, and rejected the slave trader’s suggestion.

Slaves that were engraved had a higher price tag, but the slave’s consent was required to carve the engraving.

And the engraving of slavery meant ‘the animal that gave up on being a human’.

It was a mark of being as low as an animal, no, perhaps even lower than an animal.

So even if she died, she would not let them carve the engraving.

‘Even if I am at this state, someone that was an Emperor cannot become a slave.”

She would rather die that being a slave while she had the soul of an Emperor, so it was something that was absolutely impossible.

“Don’t be noisy and get lost, you pig.”

To her, the only pleasure she could derive fromile living in Rubelfast was watching the slave trader’s fat face distort. 

It seemed that they had a bet on when she would give in, but she had no intention of letting the slave traders win.

The slave trader wondered if he was really on the verge of losing the bet, and all his patience flew out of the window as he burst into anger.

“This toxic b*tch! Today’s events have made it clear that there isn’t any difference between you and a beast.”

He then placed a dog collar around Ellier’s neck, and shoved her into a cage that looked like it was meant for birds, placing Ellier in the middle of Rubelfast Square on display as a spectacle.

The surroundings were exceptionally clean and the people were particularly busy today. 

‘Ah… So today was the day the slave market opened…!’

The slave market was held once every fortnight, and was possibly a day where slave traders have been waiting for. It was also the day that she has been anxiously awaiting, as it was a golden opportunity to screw with the slave traders and escape from this agonizing place. 

Ellier was trapped inside the cage like an animal and breathed heavily, but the humans in Rubelfast did not pay her any attention as they eagerly prepared for their opening. 

And not long after the sun went down from the sky, a cheap band dressed indecently began to make a loud noise.

The slave traders waited for a little while longer before finally opening the door.

“Welcome to the best slave market in Paldinas, Rubelfast!”

With a loud bang, as the doors opened, an entertainer greeted the guests with an exaggerated tone and gestures.

A large crowd that were waiting outside the entrance even before the opening, started to squeeze through the slave market, loud music welcoming them in.

In the middle of the spacious square, a luxurious fountain spouted water, and food and drink stalls were displayed by the roadside with colourful awnings, awaiting customers. 

If one was unaware that this is a slave market, it might have been thought of as the perfect place for a date in a plaza-like atmosphere in a big city.

However, what was different here was that iron cages were littered about the square, and trapped within were slaves that begged to be bought.

In order to buy slaves, the people who were waiting for the day the market opened ran inside to snatch up their preferred type of slaves, rushing to view the plaza’s interior. 

Slaves that experienced popularity were sold by auction, but those who weren’t had to beg to be bought while labelled with price tags.

“My Lords! Please buy me! I can do well. I’ll take care of you sincerely!”

“Master! Here! Please look over here!”

Thoroughly educated as slaves, they desperately implored those who were judging them from outside their cages to become their masters.

This is because the longer they remained unsold, the price of the slave would lower, and the probability of being sold to a place with harsh working environment would increase.

The observers weighed the usefulness of such slaves and bargained with the slave traders.

About an hour or two later, some people had finished purchasing their slaves unknowingly. They sat under the awning, quenching their thirst of satisfying their hunger while enjoying their leisure time.

Around that time, people walking around the plaza discovered Ellier.

“What is this?”

“There’s something written over there.”

In the cage she was kept in, there was a notice written by the slave traders.

Perhaps this slave trader had been rolling around the bottom for a long time, so he was able to weave together words that would stimulate perverts.

Unsurprisingly, those that obviously had such tastes licked their lips as they came over.

To them, the young and skinny slave whose gender could not be distinguished, became the object of their games.  

They swore obscenities at Ellier as they used the tip of their canes to poked at her crouched body.

“You should reveal your feet in the cage, and bark! Bark!” They giggled after.

However, at Ellier’s firmly crouched form that did not respond, their interest cooled and after spitting at her, they moved away.

It was then when Ellier spotted two men with upright postures and an unusual atmosphere amongst the crowd of disgusting people.

‘Great. I’ll give you the honor of ending me.’

Although her death was imminent, Ellier’s lone figure remained arrogant, and grabbed the hem of the man’s cloak while shouting. 

“Slave trading is a sin. You b*stard nobles!”