"Has he still not awakened yet? Could it be that he is just a normal person?"
*Snickers*
The faces of the man and women were vague but the contempt in their expressions was not at all hidden.
*Giggles*
'M-must be my imagination, r-right? B-but why did no one wake me up?'
*More Snickers*
"Ah, I Knew it. What's that look? We're the ones going through a hard time!"
*Laughter*
"Everyone in the neighbourhood knows! Because of you, the other kids look at us all weird!"
*More giggles*
"Mon was crying because of you!"
*Several Chuckles*
'The young masters are acting harsher than usual. Did I do something wrong?'
*Several Laughter*
"You don't believe they love you, do you? Hehe Come on, naive lil fool they were embarrassed, that's all. You are just a stain in their family"
*Laughter getting rowdy*
"WHY CAN'T YOU DIE!!!!"
———
"Huff- huff- huff- huff-"
Noah abruptly shot up from the bed, panting and sweating, the brain slowly regaining clarity as he wiped his forehead with his hand, sweeping back the long bangs covering his eyes.
Still fatigued despite his short nap, he lay back down and closed his eyes, resting his arm on his forehead to avoid the rays of the noon sun through the curtainless window. His whole body was wrapped in the uncomfortably hot rays of light.
He was about to drift off to sleep, when——knock* knock* knock*
Someone rapidly knocked on the door.
"Coming!"
The pre-teen, who was half asleep, quickly got up and madly rushed over to the door.
He tripped over his foot and grazed his knee, but bared the pain as he unlocked the lock and turned the knob.
Standing there was Mr Adrian, with a sour expression on his face.
"S-sir, w-what's wrong?"
"Follow me."
In a fluster, he shut the door and chased after Mr Adrian's back.
Mr Adrian did not usually talk to him.
They left the house in the car, driving for about 20 minutes before Mr Adrian parked in an underground parking lot and exited the car.
As the door closed behind him, Noah took in the parking lot.
It was jam-packed with black cars.
To the point not a single spot was empty.
And very, very dark.
It almost seemed too dark, with far-off areas of the parking lot shrouded in the shadow.
Instead of the exit elevator, they went deeper in.
If Noah was by himself, he probably would never step foot into this place.
Ignoring the quite sizable elephants in the room—how Mr Adrian so precisely knows where to park, despite there seemingly being no vacant spot at first glance; why all the cars parked here were black, and some of these even looked brand new, Noah followed closely behind Mr Adrian.
As one would expect, the boy who became uneasy moved his lips, wanting to ask Mr Adrian a question, but knew better than to voice his queries.
Since even if he asked, there would be no response.
Noah, who had given up on asking even before asking, followed Mr Adrian in silence.
Eventually, they reached the far end.
The surroundings were as dim as ever; the gloomy atmosphere didn't look like what one would expect in the middle of the day.
Filled with questions, Noah gathered his courage and was about to speak, when Mr Adrian turned towards him, extended his hand——and grabbed hold of the hair on top of his head.
He expressionlessly dragged him and took him towards the direction of the male that had been standing there some time ago.
"It hurts, it hurts! Please stop Mr Adrian!"
The boy's painful cry only vainly resounded, and no one's heart was moved.
"Hehehe, this is really fine merchandise. Such a pretty girl."
As he said that, the man lowered his back and rubbed his hands with a flattering expression.
"Aah, it's fine. It's just trash."
Mr Adrian threw Noah in front of the man as if he was literally throwing trash away.
"Ah!"
Noah was thrown against the hard ground. getting up from the cold ground, he looked at Mr Adrian in a daze.
They have never been violent to him in front of others before.
He did not understand what was happening.
When Noah looked up at Mr Adrian with a frightened expression, he glared at the boy with an icy expression.
"Mr Adrian...?"
"A piece of trash dares to call out my name!"
As if responding to Mr Adrian's anger, a pebble came flying at Noah.
"Hu!?"
Fired like a bullet, it grazed his right cheek and drew a slight red line.
It was a stinging pain.
"Ah! This is not good, she's merchandise. One that's for sale after all."
"Sorry, I suddenly flew into a rage."
"Well, a cut to that degree will disappear on its own."
Connecting the dots, Noah finally realised the other man who stood there was a slave merchant.
"N-no, NO!... I don't want to become a slave!"
"That is not for you to decide."
"B-but Why, why do I have to become a slave? What d-did I do!"
"Why...?"
Mr Adrian's expression warped into anger in response to Noah's words.
"You bastard—do you not understand how much trouble you have personally caused so far!? If you didn't exist, things would have progressed as planned! Because of you! because you exist, my flawless plans have been thrown into disarray! Because of a beggar like you! Because of an imperfection like you, who could not even awaken! Do you know how much of a sin that is? Hurry up and die!"
That was too unreasonable.
But from Mr Adrian's point of view, Noah's existence itself was unreasonable.
Noah always felt guilty because he also thought of himself as a burden.
But he could not believe that just because of this he would be sold.
In despair, Noah tried to comprehend what he was hearing
However, as for Mr Adrian, he did not care about her intentions.
"Well, whether you believe it or not is up to you. At any rate, reality won't change. You will be sold. At Least with this, you could help the family. Isn't this good, that you can actually make a contribution to us?"
Noah wanted to run away but knew he couldn't. Even if he did, he would just be caught. But how could a normal person stand a chance against an awakened and an A-ranked one at that?
Mr Adrian kicked him and put his foot on his chest and slowly applied pressure.
No matter how much he groaned, no matter how much he screamed, Mr Adrian would not set him free.
Noah grabbed Mr Adrian's foot with both his hands and tried to get away from him but of course, it didn't work.
But arms made of concrete suddenly rose out from the ground and detained both his hands and feet.
He was restrained in a crucified state.
He tried to squirm but that was of no use at all. While Mr Adrian smiled, he approached Noah who was shedding tears and with a crisp Clap—Slapped his cheek.
"Ah!"
A short scream came from Noah's throat. The tears fell from the corner of his eyes.
After a round of beating, Mr Adrian, who looked into Noah's eyes, said,
"This is retribution for disturbing the life of my family and me. Serves you right"
And with a chop, Noah was left unconscious.
Mr Adrian looked at the boy who fainted on the floor and removed his foot.
Then he turned towards the slave trader.
"It seems like you surprisingly had fun, Mr Adrian-san."
"Well, when I think about the hardships I suffered until now, it's not sufficient enough."
"However, please do me a favour and do no more. She is a precious commodity after all."
"I am not at the point of being a savage and killing her. Well then, I'll receive the promised payment."
"Ah, yes, this way."
The merchant brought out a small wooden box from his van and handed it to Mr Adrian.
With a firm hand shack,
"Let's never meet again"
The merchant responded with a wide grin, "Yes"
Receiving the box and opening it to check the contents, he smiled widely.
When he looked back, the merchant had started to restrain Noah with the tools he had prepared beforehand.
——Thus Noah completely lost the right to live as a human being.