It's the 18th day since Rena arrived in this world.
She had stopped crying these past few days. Lamenting her current situation wouldn't change anything. Now, the only hope she had was to escape when the ship arrived at Tawarr, but she still hadn't had any idea how to do that. She wondered if toilet excuse or pretend death would be effective...
A few hours ago, the ship finally docked.
But alas, her body was weird today. Feeling hot and feverish, difficulty breathing, she couldn't think clearly. She thought she really was dying. At this point, she was mentally and physically exhausted so it wasn't surprising to her if she caught a fever. Rena cursed herself why she must get sick at this time, her possibility of escaping was unlikely.
(If I died, would I be able to return to my homeworld?)
(I want to go back... Please, let me go back.)
*click* *clang*
Someone opened the door.
"Hey, get out."
The pirate captain entered the cell, he brought something that looked like a collar. Indeed, it was a collar... and he put the collar on her. He grinned, enjoying such view. Then he pulled the chain that was attached to the collar, dragged her out to the deck. It hurt her but she couldn't do anything.
When Rena stepped on the deck, she was welcomed by the humid breeze and the smell of the sea. The sound of waves crashing the shore and hungry seabirds. She looked above. For the first time since she came to this world, she saw blue sky.
In a normal situation, Rena would love watching the scenery, spending her time under the sun, and watching the glittering sea. Right now, she could care less about that.
"You, come with me. You'll drive the wagon, cause I'm bringing her personally to the auction house." The pirate captain commanded his crew member.
Rena saw a wagon parked close to where the ship was docked. Inside the wagon, she was the only one there. Rena was curious about the whereabouts of the other women.
"Uh... Where... are... the others?"
With feverish voice, she asked the pirate captain.
"Ah, this morning we took your relatives on the slave market. We got a good amount of money from selling them. But from just you alone, we could expect to get more."
"There will be a lot of nobles and rich merchants who were willing to spend a lot of golds for you, you know." He touched her lips.
Rena shook her head reflexively, avoiding his hand.
"No!"
"Hehehe... Don't be shy. You should at least let me do this much."
(I would bite that finger of yours if I wasn't this weak.)
Anger building up inside her.
"Don't touch me, bastard." Rena glared at him.
"Ohh, nice glare, darling. You still have some fighting spirit in you even with that condition. Actually, I'd love to play with a feisty girl like you, but you know, if I sell you I could easily get more women and booze for a full year. Hehehehe..."
He licked his finger he used to touch her lips and grinned wide.
(Ugh, disgusting...)
For the rest of the time, Rena ignored the pirate captain while the wagon kept moving to the place that will seal her fate. Finally, the wagon stopped at the destined place. He got off from the wagon to talk with some guys there. She had never seen him again after that.
After a while, a bunch of people came in and took her inside the building. The building was made from limestone, fancy flags were hanged outside the building. The style reminded her of an ancient middle eastern building that her dad took pictures of. The corridor inside the building was roomy and neat, bright crystals hung from the ceiling, giving the place a glamorous look. Luxurious decorations were used, as expected for a place for high class people.
She was led to a big room that was full of cages. The atmosphere here was gloom, a complete opposite from the luxury surrounding this place. There were beautiful girls, boys, and several strange creatures waiting to be sold. One particular cage took Rena's interest, a black beast with humanoid features. Covered by black fur, cat ears, and distinctively different color eyes. His appearance quickly reminded her of a panther.
(Is that what you called a beastman?)
The beastman glared at her, surprised, she quickly broke the eye contact. With nothing else to do, Rena switched her focus to the sound behind the curtain.
"Then let's start our next bidding!"
"Our merchandise here is a former noble from Xi La Kingdom. 14 years old. Reddish brown hair, blue eyes, and beautiful face. He is well tempered and will be good as a pet!"
"The bidding price starts at 25 gold coins!"
"35!"
"40!
"45!"
...."Sold for 85 gold coins!"
...One by one they were gone. After about an hour, there was only Rena and the panther guy left. Finally, they took his cage to the stage. There was a buzzing sound when the bidders saw him.
"Ladies and Gentleman, this is a beastman warrior from Southern Island. It's hard to catch them because they are fast and aggressive. This one is proud and challenging to own, but at the end of the day, you won't regret to have this shiny black fur on your collections! The bidding price starts at 100 gold coins!"
"120!"
"130!"
"140!"
....The bid continued.
"350 gold coins! Any higher offer?!"
"Then our beastman here is sold for 350 gold coins!"
When the announcer said that, Rena sighed weakly.
"...It's my turn."
For the last eighteen days, she kept wishing that somebody would wake her up from this nightmare. But every morning when she opened her eyes, she was still in the same dark stinky cell.
"Aren't those fantasy stories in the light novels supposed to be great?!"
"Where is the god who supposed to give me cheat ability?!"
"Where is my wish fulfilling story?!"
By now, she had accepted her reality, she couldn't escape from it. Those people behind this curtain would only use her as a toy. A sex slave. What a terrible fate waiting for her, but she decided not to give up.
Rena wanted to see this world. That had become her dream and motivation.
(I'll do everything I can! Be whatever it takes, I swear I'll get my freedom back someday.)
That was her promised to herself.
"Now Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a special merchandise today!"
"I'm sure everyone here is familiar with The Legend of The Amethyst Wizard. The strongest wizard who defeated Evil Lord and ruled over both continents. The only wizard ever existed who possessed purple eyes."
"Ooooooh..." the bidders got excited.
"Since then any individual who was born with purple eyes were said to carry the blood-line of the strongest wizard. They were admired, desired, and envied."
"Ooooooh..."
"....We don't know how many of them left today. But one thing for sure, their numbers keep declining in the last centuries. Tonight, all of you will witness the descendant of that great wizard and one fortunate guest tonight will be able to bring her home!"
"Let me present you the girl with purple eyes!"
*Zzzaaaa*
The curtain opened.
"As you can see, our merchandise here is special, not only because she has purple eyes but she is also a beautiful young girl! Even better, she hasn't been touched by a man!"
Buzzing sound filling the hall.
"200!"
Someone shouted even before the announcer said the bidding price.
"225!"
"250!"
"275!"
"300!"
"325!"
"350!"
...in a few seconds, the bid has gone up higher than the previous entry.
People kept bidding.
And finally...
"...500!"
Rena looked at the person who bid her.
He's a fat man near his 50s and has a sadistic smile. His face reminded her of a certain mythological creature from Japanese legend who liked to eat cucumbers.
"510!"
The other guy was a big muscular guy with a mushroom hairstyle.
They were the only ones left who kept bidding on her.
"520!
"...530!"
"550!"
"....Any higher offer?" said the announcer.
"Ugh... 560!"
"650!"
"....."
The big guy stopped bidding.
"Oooooh! ...Is there any higher offer?!"
"I repeat, is there any higher offer?!"
"Then the final offer..."
"1000."
Everyone turned around looking at the source of the voice. The hall became quiet.
She too looked at the direction of the voice. There, a wavy blonde hair man wearing a light brown robe. His dark long muffler hung on his shoulders, covering half of his face. Their eyes met. It surprised her... She's never seen such a striking pair of eyes before. A clear sea-green color, she was drawn by that brilliant gaze. For a moment, Rena forgot about her current situation.
"Sold for 1000 gold coins!"
Both of them didn't know, their meeting was something inevitable. Someone who had seen this future possibility, betting her own life to move the wheel of destiny that bind these two together. Just what kind of future she had seen, enough to sacrifice her own life for two people she never met.
And now, their story was about to unfold...
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