“How much will we sell out?”

“I don’t know. It’ll depend on the auction atmosphere that day….”

The man who was muttering inadvertently wondered why he was answering this so obediently, huffed and closed his mouth. He was so embarrassed that he got angry for no reason.

“This impudent brat! Shut up!”

“If you let me go, I’ll give you more money.”

“What…?”

At the suggestion, the man’s eyes wavered. Though soon, he pulled up the corners of his mouth as if he were laughing.

“Little girl. You’re quite clever, but stop talking nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense.”

At the confident attitude, a hopeful expression crossed the man’s face. He quickly scanned the two children.

Just by looking, it seemed that the atmosphere they gave off wasn’t that of nobles. However, the clothes the girl was wearing were quite expensive, so it seemed that she could be seen as the child of a successful merchant.

On the other hand, the boy was clearly a commoner, neither more nor less than a servant.

“If you let us out, we’ll give you a gwenerous reward.”

“Give me the money first, and then I’ll let you out.”

The man who thought it was a deal worth trying responded roughly. However, he couldn’t hide his surprise at Izeline’s following words.

“Contact the Armanty mansion in Souvri. I’ll give you the money there.”

In this Empire, there was no one who didn’t know the name ‘Armanty’. Weren’t they a family who held power comparable to the Imperial Family?

“Hey. What’s going on?”

At that moment, as the commotion ensued, a colleague who had been nearby came looking for him. The man asked, unable to hide the flustered look in his eyes.

“Who brought in these children?”

“The same guys we always deal with. Why?”

The slave market operated quite systematically. Small-scale slave traders who bought slaves cheaply from various places sold them to large-scale slave traders who were stationed next to the auction house.

The large-scale slave traders made much money through the auction.

The man put his arm around his colleague’s shoulder and took him to one side. He whispered softly so that the children couldn’t hear him.

“The girl says she’s from the Armanty Duchy.”

“…What?”

The man who came later looked back in surprise, scanned the two children, and said, “Even so, they’re probably just the children of servants.”

“Wouldn’t this get complicated?”

“Let’s just pretend we don’t know anything. It’s only for a day or two.”

Everyone here knew that they were people who secretly kidnapped and traded innocent people. They just kept quiet because they made money. Sensing that things weren’t going as planned, Izeline grabbed the iron bars with both hands and shouted.

“If you let us go now, you’ll get a huge reward! He’s the adopted child of Duke Armanty!”

“Me…?”

When Camry looked at her blankly, Izeline gestured wildly. He blinked blankly and belatedly responded.

“Oh, yes. I’m Camry, the adopted son of Duke Armanty.”

“….”

Was he stupid?

Even though she wanted to ask why he was revealing his real name, she swallowed her words as she watched Camry, who could’ve been sentenced to death for impersonation, show courage.

She asked with a gesture.

‘Can you handle this?’

‘Ugh…’

Camry swallowed his saliva, barely holding back a groan. Putting aside the fact that he had committed the terrible act of impersonating a noble, the men were wavering. There was a sign that they would be able to escape from this place.

One of the men asked.

“How do you prove that?”

“If we’re sold to a noble, there’ll be chaos. Everyone who knows will know.”

If this was true, it was a major emergency. Not only would they have to close the auction, but the necks of those involved would all fly off and be thrown outside the castle.

The man who came later left, judging that it wasn’t a problem that they could solve on their own, saying that he would report it to the head of the auction house. Soon, a middle-aged man with a sharp impression arrived.

His serpentine eyes scanned the two children sharply.

As if rapidly tapping a calculator in her head, the man finished his thoughts and opened his mouth to Izeline.

“Alright. Instead, since you seem somewhat clever, bring me proper proof.”

“….?”

“We did a fair deal. It’s hard to believe with just words, so bring me money or a witness. Until then, the fake… no, I’ll keep this young master, who is supposedly his adopted son, by my side.”

Mistrust was the premise of his words. Even if she gave him hundreds of reasons, Camry didn’t look like a child that a noble family would adopt. Nevertheless, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that the duke secretly adopted the child on behalf of his ill son.

Although it seemed like if he did adopt a child, it wouldn’t be a child like this. In any case, he decided to be cautious just in case.

Camry’s eyes wavered, seemingly anxious.

‘Don’t leave me alone.’

Izeline hesitated at the pleading gaze. In the meantime, the man gestured to his subordinate.

“Watch her.”

“Yes.”

It was the man who had been skeptical of Izeline’s words at first. She bit her lip tightly when the situation became complicated, even though she thought they would both be released.

Still, she soon made up her mind and grabbed Camry’s hand tightly to ease him.

“He’ll go to the jail.”

“Huh…”

Camry’s eyes were filled with fear and terror. The thought of being locked up alone in a dark and unfamiliar place like a prison cell already felt like hell.

“I’ll give you a week. If you don’t return by then, I’ll sell him at auction.”

Izeline whispered to Camry over the man’s threat from beyond the iron bars.

“I’ll definitely be back within a week. Hang in there, Camry.”

“Mnn…”

He barely nodded after managing to reply.

A short while later, Izeline exited the building with the man who had accompanied her as a guard. After learning that she was in a completely unfamiliar city called Toulouse, she said to the man that she had to go to Souvri.

Then, the man asked her with a slight suspicion.

“Is it true?”

“You’ll know if we go.”

“.…”

Come to think of it, this little shrimp had been speaking informally to him since earlier. However, there was a chance that she was truly related to Duke Armanty. Hence, the man endured his impatience, telling himself to just put up with it for a week.

As she walked next to the man, who was looking around for transportation, Izeline’s green eyes widened for a moment.

“Oh?”

Why was he here…?

She locked eyes with Oren, who was leisurely eating meat in a tavern in the middle of the day. She blinked, thinking she was seeing things, and then she immediately frowned.

His beloved disciple had disappeared, yet he was drinking and eating meat like a bum…!

Oren spat out the meat he had just taken a huge bite of and stared blankly at the paper in his hand and Izeline alternately before suddenly uttering a single word.

“…Huh?”

Izeline approached him, seething.

“Master!”

The guard, who had been sullenly opening his wallet, was caught off guard and grabbed the back of her collar, which was sticking out while cursing.

“Where do you think you’re running off to?! You little rat!”

Whoosh—!

At that moment, something flew through the air and struck the man’s wrist. It was the bone that Oren had just neatly stripped clean with his masterly skills.

“Agh! Who the hell is that!”

An angry voice erupted.

As if that was a signal, Oren, who was holding the crumpled paper in his hand, stood up from his seat. His lips formed a dangerous curve as he walked forward slowly.

“How dare you do that to my disciple.”

“Oh…”

That was kind of cool.

She widened her eyes as she rubbed the part of her body that had hit the ground when the man let go of her.

In the meanwhile, as the enraged man fearlessly charged forward, Oren lightly leaned his waist back and kicked him in the groin with his right foot.

“Ugh!”

The effect was tremendous despite the light sound. The man collapsed, clutching his leg and groaning in pain.

“You… you coward… b*stard!”

Oren smirked as he looked down at the man, who was shaking with anger.

“You must have been hit too softly since you still have the energy to yelp like that.”

As he spoke, he lifted something up. A kitchen knife, likely belonging to the tavern owner, shone brightly in the sunlight.

The man’s face turned pale.

“W-wait, you crazy b*stard…”

Oren flashed a villainous smile as he swung the knife toward the man who was desperately crawling backward on his knees.

The target was the same spot he had just hit.

“Aaahh!”

Anticipating excruciating pain, the man collapsed, foaming at the mouth. He had considerately covered his vitals with both hands. Oren stopped the knife just short of its target and clicked his tongue at the pungent smell that tickled his nose.

“What a waste.”

“….”

Izeline was speechless.

She had expected her master, who was the hidden powerhouse and had defeated the Commander of Ignite Knights, to finish off the slave trader with a cool swordsmanship, even if it was an unofficial match.

“Are you okay?”

“…Yes.”

“Can you stand?”

“Yes.”

Izeline dusted herself off and stood up. The two of them walked side by side, leaving the collapsed man behind.

“Why are you here, master?”

“I came to save you.”

“Really?”

A hint of doubt flickered across her green eyes as she heard his words. After all, he had been enjoying his meal so much…

Oren made an excuse as if he had been wronged.

“Why else would I come all the way to Toulouse?”

“Because there’s a delicious restaurant here?”

“How can you distrust your master like this? I came here to participate in the auction, you see.”

“Oh?”

Apparently, he had planned to bid on Izeline and Camry if they were put up for sale at the auction. He was carefully looking over a paper with the auction schedule. Of course, since he had come all the way to Toulouse, he couldn’t just leave without visiting the famous tavern and filling his stomach.

“I have to eat, don’t I?”

“Of course. It’s annoying that you didn’t come to save me sooner, though.”

“Still, you escaped just fine?”

His face was filled with questions about how she had managed to escape. Izeline glared at him, and Oren added an explanation as if he couldn’t help it.

“I’m a pacifist, you see.”

“You?”

—