"Mmm…"
Luluka opened her eyes and met with an unfamiliar ceiling.
'Where… is this…? Did I die and get reincarnated again?'
She rubbed her eyes to clear off her drowsiness. She blinked and began to looked around, but then—
"Kyaaa!!!" Luluka screamed as she jolted up and backed off until her back hit the wall!
A pair of round eyes were staring at her. It was full of innocence and curiosity, but there was also a tinge of sadness within them.
Luluka realized that it was the slave demi-human boy from before.
*Thump!* *Thump!*
"Shut the fuck up!!" The wall behind her suddenly made the thumping sounds as the voice from the other side rang out.
Luluka was startled. In reflex, she backed away from the wall and turned to look at it.
'That voice… I think I've heard it before somewhere..' Luluka tried to recall.
Then she realized, the voice belonged to the gaudy old man from before!
The scenes flashed into her mind like a movie playback. Her pouch got stolen, then she ran after the thief only to realize that it was a trap.
She then fought with the two muscular men who wielded magic swords. She killed them and was about to kill the old man, but…
'So that bastard's successfully captured me, huh? Tsk!' Luluka clicked her tongue in annoyance.
Thinking back, she remembered that before she lost her consciousness, there was a needle pierced into her neck. She reached her hand to check it out but found something even more shocking!
'A… collar?' She could feel a cold metallic object with her finger.
Upon realizing what it was, anger started to boil up within her!
'That bastard enslaved me!'
Her face turned red as she gritted her teeth really hard. Her body started to tremble.
'Just so you wait till I get out, I swear I'll kill you and feed you to a dog!!' Her head became full of rage and vengeance that surprised even herself.
After a while, she started to calm down. She breathed in and out slowly to calm her boiling rage.
Now that she'd calm down, Luluka realized that she was now in a running carriage. The wooden floor kept shaking and making creaking noises as the carriage ran on a bumpy road.
"U-Umm.. Big sister, are you okay..?" A voice rang out from behind her.
Luluka turned around to look at the boy. He had a concerned expression on his face.
Such a small kid was also enslaved by that bastard. He also made this boy commit a thievery in broad daylight. What other terrible things did that bastard order the boy to do in the past, Luluka couldn't even imagine.
She clenched her fist tightly in frustration, but then released it with a sigh. In a situation like this, she needed to stay calm and carefully tried to find a way out of this.
She couldn't just sit here and wait for someone to save her.
Speaking of someone coming to save her, Ruby suddenly came to her mind.
'Will Ruby come to save me after learning the truth about my race…? Will she still be able to look at me the same way she did before…?' Luluka wondered as a bitter smile appeared on her face.
She shook her head to clear off all this thought and turned to look at the boy. Seeing such a small boy in a situation like this, Luluka couldn't help but show him an empathetic smile. Her eyes became gentle.
"What's your name?" She asked.
Seeing such a beautiful girl smiling at him, the boy began to blush. Luluka giggled upon seeing this.
"U-Um… I-I'm called Ruri, big sister.."
"Ruri? That sounds like a girl's name to me."
The boy smiled wryly as he casted his eyes downward. "Yeah… I got that a lot…"
Seeing the boy seemingly reminiscing about something, Luluka didn't pry and just nodded her head with a smile.
"You are a Demi-human, right? Where are you from?"
The boy looked up at Luluka and stared at her for a while. He then casted his eyes downward again.
"I'm from a small village called Chienne….. I was born and raised there with my family. We were very happy... until one day.…" The boy's voice became shaky as his eyes became a bit watery.
He looked like he was about to cry.
But then—he suddenly felt a warm sensation on his head. The boy looked up and saw the beautiful big sister patting his head with a gentle smile on her face.
"It's okay now. You're not alone anymore..."
Luluka retracted her hand and gently bumped it against her chest. "You now have this big sister with you!" She said energetically.
The boy's eyes widened upon hearing this. He stared at Luluka for a while but then casted his eyes downward again.
"Thank you, big sister…," he said with a faint smile on his face, "But… It's no use… After this, we're not gonna be able to see each other again..."
The boy said with a sad expression.
"Why?" Luluka became puzzled as she tilted her head.
"Master always captured beautiful girls like you, and then he would sell them all away…"
Hearing this, Luluka's anger started to boil up again but she suppressed it. Now's not the time to feel angry. She shouldn't let her emotions take control, or it's only going to make things worse.
Luluka patted the boy's head again. "Don't worry. Big sister is very strong. She will take care of everything. Just wait and see, okay?"
Luluka winked at the boy and approached the curtain on the back of the carriage. She pried it open and met with the dirt path in the forest.
She turned to look at the boy with a smile. "I'll be right back, okay?"
Seeing what Luluka was about to do, the boy began to panic as he reached out his hand. "No, big sister! You ca-"
Before the boy could finish his sentence, a suffocating cry suddenly rang out!
"Arghh!!!!" Luluka was clutching the collar on her neck as she cried out in pain!.
The collar was choking her so hard, making her feel suffocated!
"Big sister!" The boy yanked Luluka back inside, causing both of them to fall on top of each other.
After a short while, the collar started to release its grip and became loose again. Luluka began to cough violently as she panted hard.
The boy couldn't do anything to help. He could only sit there looking at Luluka worriedly.
After a while, Luluka's breath became stable. She wiped the sweat off her forehead.
"What was that?!" She yelled.
Then, laughter suddenly rang out from the other side of the wall. "Hahahaha! Just give it up, bitch! No matter what you do, you can't get out! Hahaha!!"
It was that old bastard's voice again. Luluka gritted her teeth and clenched her fists tightly. Her suppressed anger started to boil again.
It seemed like this collar on her neck had a magic enchantment in them, preventing her from getting out.
'Tsk! How annoying.'
Luluka tried to destroy it. She activated her skill [Blood Manipulation] and tried to create a dagger, but—
"Arghh!!!!" Luluka cried out as the collar began to choke her again!
In reflex, she deactivated her skill. After a while, the collar finally released its grip, leaving Luluka panting and sweating heavily.
*Thump!*
"Damn it!!" She shouted out as her fist slammed into the wooden floor.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!!"
She kept slamming her fist into the wooden floor, trying to vent out her frustration. The old man from the other side of the wall kept laughing as if to mock the foolish girl, which only served to anger her even more.
Then suddenly, the laughter came to an end as the carriage took an abrupt stop!
Luluka's and the boy's body slammed into the wooden wall, making them yelp out in pain.
Then, the old man's voice rang out from the other side.
"Wh-What the fuck!!?"
————————-
[Ruby's POV]
Ruby kept moving at a very fast speed. Her body blurred as if she became a wind herself!
In no time, she finally got out of the city. The guards at the city's gate couldn't even comprehend what was going on. They could only feel a strong gust of wind blowing past their faces.
Ruby got faster and faster. Her speed kept increasing as each second passed by.
'M'lady, please be safe…'
Ruby silencely prayed to the goddess to keep her mistress safe. But then—
"Arghh!!!!"
Through her [Expand Senses], she could clearly hear her mistress's voice crying out in pain!
Ruby's heart skipped a beat as her eyes widened in surprise. She then furrowed her eyebrows as she gritted her teeth tightly.
Her mistress was in pain, what could have happened?
Ruby didn't know, but the only thing she knew was that she needed to get faster!
"Arghh!!!!" "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!!"
Her mistress cried out again followed by a man's laughter. Anger started to boil up within Ruby.
'You bastard!! Don't you dare lay your fucking hands on my mistress! I'll fucking kill you!!!'
She gritted her teeth and pushed herself to the limit. Her body began to blur even more but she didn't stop there. She kept pushing and pushing and pushing as her speed got insanely fast!
She knew this would take a heavy toll on her body afterward but she didn't care about that. The only thing in her mind was to kill that bastard and save her mistress!
After a while, she finally reached a running carriage. She gripped her twin daggers tightly and lashed in front of the carriage at an insane speed!
She then threw her twin daggers at the two horses pulling the carriage. The daggers travelled at a very fast speed and pierced into the horses' heads, killing them on the spot.
Without the horses pulling, the carriage came to an abrupt stop.
"Wh-What the fuck!!?" The gaudy old man sitting in the front seat yelled out in shock.
In front of the carriage stood a pretty lady in the maid outfit. She slowly walked toward the dead horses and pulled out the daggers from their heads.
Then, with a murderous glare, she looked at the old man. "You fucking bastard, what did you do to my mistress!"
Her chilly voice made the old man's skin crawl. "Wh-Who the fuck are you?! Wh-What mistre-"
Before the old man could finish his sentence, Ruby lashed at him at an insane speed! But then—
*Clank!*
A clanging sound rang out as a short sword danced into the air. It then fell down and edged into the ground.
In front of Ruby stood a man dressed in all black and a white mask on his face. His hand was raised up high with an open palm as if he just lost his grip on something.
His body began to tremble slightly.
Just now, before the maid could reach the old man, the mask-wearing man suddenly came to his defense. But to his surprise, his short sword was sent flying after receiving a single hit from the maid's dagger.
Ruby couldn't see the man's face, but she could tell that he was shocked to his core right now.
"R-Ringo! T-Thanks god.. That bitch is crazy!" The old man seemed relieved to see the mask-wearing man come to his defense.
Now, seemingly starting to regain his confidence, the old man pointed at the crazy maid. "How dare you try to attack me! Don't you know who I am!? Ringo, kill that bitch!"
The old man shouted out his order to the mask-wearing man, Ringo. He was about to answer the old man, but—
"Ruby!? I-Is that you!?" A girl's voice suddenly rang out from the back of the carriage.
It was her mistress's voice!
"Yes! I'm here, m'lady!" Ruby shouted out to her mistress.
"Y-You came, Ruby! *sniffle* G-Get me out of here.. This damn collar was preventing me from getting out!"
Upon hearing that, Ruby's eyes went wide open.
'C-Collar..?'
Ruby then realized that these bastards had enslaved her mistress. An anger that already began to subside started to boil up within her again.
The anger was so intense that it surprised even herself. The only time when she felt this much anger was when the bloodsuckers killed her family.
Ruby's eyes glinted with murderous intent as black aura around her body began to wave fiercely!
'These fucking bastard! You dare to enslave my mistress... I'll show you what true hell looks like!'