BSS 63

Chapter 63

I wrapped my arms around Iluje tightly.

Kids are still just kids, I thought again.

I was more worried about them than myself.

“They said they caught something fresh, so a VIP’s coming. If we’re lucky, we might even sell both at once.”

We were powerless, and the men easily pried Iluje and me apart.

“Let go!”

Ash tried to rush in to save us, but it was useless.

He too was subdued with one hand. We all struggled with everything we had, but the difference in strength was hopelessly large.

Maybe that was what scared him—because Iluje suddenly screamed.

“KyAAAAH! No! Daddy!”

And at the same moment, one of the men screamed too.

“ARGH!”

Ash had sunk his teeth into the man’s forearm and was biting with everything he had.

That little kid had guts!

He bit so hard that blood started dripping, pattering down from the man’s forearm.

Ash’s mouth was covered in blood too.

Seeing the blood must’ve enraged the man—his face flushed red and he struck Ash’s head mercilessly.

“You little brat! You brat!”

The sound of a person being hit is something truly awful. It made me wince without meaning to. I didn’t want to see it, but I couldn’t look away either.

Ash still clung to the slaver’s forearm with his teeth.

“Ghh…”

Even while groaning, he didn’t stop.

I couldn’t understand.

If he’d just stayed still, he wouldn’t be hit this badly.

“Stop! Ash!”

Stop resisting. I yelled, but the man hitting Ash didn’t hear me, and neither did Ash—my voice was drowned out, too angry, too small.

Only the man holding me laughed mockingly.

Damn it! He thinks I’m staying still because I’m scared!

If I summoned Ador, maybe I could take down three of them…

I opened my mouth to call him—then bit down hard instead.

I couldn’t waste mana.

I had to save enough so Undine could return here.

That was the top priority. If Undine disappeared while guiding the knights, and they got lost, we would never be rescued.

But knowing that didn’t make any of this easier to swallow.

Why did I have to endure this? Why was this the answer?

“Let go of him!”

Even while my frustration suffocated me, Ash wouldn’t come off the man’s arm.

Like a rabid dog, he clung on with vicious persistence, and the man—desperate to shake him off—hit him even more brutally.

It hurt just to watch.

Should I call Ador?

But what if I ran out of mana?

Enduring was the safest choice.

This was too risky.

My thoughts spun so loudly they rang in my skull.

And while I was stuck thinking and thinking—

“Don’t hit Ash! You stupid poop-pig!”

Iluje started resisting in his own ridiculous, petty way.

Oh please, kids…

“Don’t hit my friend! You stupid mutt! Why are you hitting him? Why!”

Since when were you two even friends?!

Provoking slavers was never a good idea.

They were fundamentally rotten people—that’s what being a slaver meant.

People who’d given up being human.

They had no sense. Seeing Iluje get grabbed by his hair just for raising his voice—I squeezed my eyes shut. I couldn’t watch anymore.

That black hand yanking his pink hair felt like something out of a nightmare.

“KYAA! It hurts! I said it hurts! Let go!”

“You little turds! You all really want to die together, huh?”

“Oi, don’t damage the face. We need to sell ’em.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

Iluje’s shrill cries echoed painfully inside the cramped room.

My heart pounded; my ears rang.

Inside my head, a cowardly, rational voice insisted I stay still or I’d end up the same way… while another voice screamed to kill every last one of them.

“GyaaAAH!”

I opened my eyes when Iluje was hit.

In my blurred vision, I saw Ash spit something onto the floor.

Small, red, raw flesh… probably a piece of the man’s arm.

That kid was terrifyingly stubborn. With that kind of grit, he could do anything!

The slaver whose arm was torn let out an inhuman screech and punched even more savagely.

Ash wheezed, choking for breath. Iluje was hurled into a wall like a rag doll.

I watched Iluje’s body go limp.

I was overwhelmed. I couldn’t endure anymore.

“Ador!”

[Ta-da! I have arrived! Master!]

[You called! My liege!]

Ador appeared together with Rai.

“Go back, Ador.”

Since Rai was here, I didn’t need Ador. I quickly unsummoned him.

Mana-free Rai was far more useful right now.

[What! You can’t just—…]

He tried to protest, but I didn’t hear the rest.

He was probably cursing me out in the spirit realm.

“What’s with the snake?”

“A white snake. Would make great liquor.”

The two men finally turned their eyes toward Rai, who had appeared clinging to the ceiling.

They didn’t yet realize the tables had turned.

“Rai, bite!”

[Kssha!]

Rai, who was always told to restrain himself, practically danced with joy when given freedom.

“You’re free, Rai!”

[Freedom!]

“Break all of them!”

Crack—!

Kragk—!

Rai darted excitedly, leaping on the nearest human, snapping ankles, twisting thighs, then—before the man could even fall—flying at the next one like a sugar glider and snapping his arm cleanly.

It all happened in seconds.

“Urgh…”

I covered my mouth, nauseated.

“AAAARGH!”

“K-KKAAAGH! Aaaagh!”

Rai didn’t hesitate at the hands reaching to stop him—he seized another slaver’s arm and twisted it until it was utterly useless.

Kakak—

Krddd—

Thanks to Rai, I’d grown used to the sound of breaking bones.

“AaaAAAH! M-My… my arm…”

The slaver whose shoulder and forearm were crushed foamed at the mouth and collapsed.

Rai, drenched in blood, looked a little frightening.