A brief silence fell upon the room, allowing the sight of the smug expression on the merchant's face to linger.
"...W-why?"
Aya's weak, terrified voice softly inquired as she gazed at the intimidating forms, who showed no sympathy whatsoever.
The fat merchant, upon seeing the terrified look on the girl's face, couldn't help but smirk.
"Because you are valuable to me."
Aya's terrified eyes continued to look at the merchant, who was slowly walking towards her.
"If you want to be mad at someone for your misfortune, then you should blame your father." The fat merchant continued smirking. "It was thanks to him that I was able to catch you."
"M-my father? What are you talking about? My father would never do this to me!" Aya worriedly protested, "Besides, I promised to bring you the money tomorrow! So why? Why are you doing this to me?"
"Hahahahaha! You're still hung up on that?" The fat merchant laughed, his spit flying out of his mouth.
"...."
"Did you really think that I was keen on playing around and waiting for some small gold coins you were going to give me? I never cared about your petty money in the first place. The only thing that I wanted from you was your body!"
Aya's eyes froze in terror. Her legs were beginning to tremble at the thought of becoming a slave. A tool that had no will of its own and no longer had any freedom that she desired.
She knew how the slaves in this world were treated. This is why she was terrified to even imagine what would happen to her while she was a slave.
Aya was chained up in the corner of the room, making the fat merchant comfortably walk close to her without any hesitation. He approached her and stopped when he noticed that the girl's hair was gradually turning white around the top.
"Hm….. Is something wrong with her hair?"
The fat merchant questioned the employee who had kidnapped Aya. A well-experienced adventurer, if anyone else, would be the right person to know if something seemed strange.
The adventurer with the visible scar on his eye and around his arms understood what the merchant was asking. That's why, without making an effort to move from where he stood, he let out a small sigh.
"I don't sense any curses on her, so you don't have to worry about that."
"Then how do you explain this demonic sign? There is no way for a normal young human girl to suddenly have demonic characteristics without any reason!" The fat merchant rebuked him for the brief appraisal he gave the girl.
"She was gathering herbs the whole day, so maybe it was some sort of side effect from a random plant she accidentally touched…?" The warrior with scars sternly speculated.
"I can't sell her like this!" The merchant complained, "Do you know any medicine that will fix this? This could even spread to my other merchandise! Do you have the slightest idea how much the quality of my products would decrease just because they have demon traits?!"
The guy with scars on his body thought for a bit as he looked down.
"Not that I know of… Actually, this is the first time I've heard of such a thing."
The fat merchant clicked his tongue at the unsatisfying answer he got. If anything, he was very cautious, which is why he took his time to get Aya into his hands.
The merchant rubbed his own chin as he was about to speak once again.
"Some nobles pay very well for girls like her. But if they notice the color of her hair, she is definitely not going to cost that much."
"If anything, won't she cost even more if she is mistaken for a demon? Some nobles have weird fetishes, so I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to play around with a weak young demon girl. She might sell even higher because of her hair."
The fat merchant frowned for a bit before nodding in agreement at what the warrior with scars on his body was trying to say.
Aya, on the other hand, who was still chained up in the corner of the room, remained with bated breath and widened eyes while listening to what was going to happen to her. She worked so hard until this point, only to get sold to another noble who wouldn't hold back on either torturing her or using her body however she wanted.
Her mind was slowly becoming emptier as all of the events that had happened to her until now were going back and forth.
However, one thing that she still wasn't sure of was what happened….
"....what happened to my parents…?" Aya softly asked with a pleading voice and barely any emotion on her face.
If the merchant never planned on never taking her seriously, then that obviously means that her parents…. were no longer with the other slaves….
"If you're getting sold, then I might as well grant your last wish." The fat merchant softly smirked.
Aya's brows rose as she was waiting for a proper answer from that merchant.
She had courage! Her will was stronger, and she was sure that whatever the merchant was going to say…. She was going to do anything to rescue her parents from whoever had bought them.
However—
"Your parents were purchased by a group of adventurers. You can already guess what happened to them."
—what came out of the merchant's mouth next left Aya with bated breath and wide open eyes. Her eyes were trembling in shock at the worst scenario that she thought could've happened.