'Fuck! Fucking pig shit!!'
'Fuck my blasted luck!!'
Posing with the most submissive posture I could think of, I knelt and kissed the ground, waiting for a response from this woman before me.
They called her by the name Assassin here, but I knew her true dogshit name.
The Dagger Flower. What bloody whore...
She was a contract killer who left fields of red flowers in her wake. Calling her famous was a bit misleading since not just anybody could have the chance to employ her.
There were talks that she got herself killed some years ago while doing a commission. Still, when I saw how a flower of blood seemingly blossomed out of the corpse of the fucker I paid, I knew for sure who she was.
She seemed to be working for a pig named Black Nightmare. They were new in the game, so not much had been found out yet other than the maniac's history of slaughtering any brigands he found in the dead of night. I needed more information to establish the facts that could aid me, but it's not like I have the luxury of prying the answer myself.
Running my mouth about that elven family that fat piece of shit fucked had given me a chance to peek at the gates of hell.
I still remember that purple glow in his impassive eyes as he tore and mutilated my soul...It was something I never wanted to experience again...Fucking ever!
"Melkor the Snake." After staying still for a long time, having me drenched in my own sweat, the bitch finally spoke, calling for me.
I could taste the smell of opportunity lingering in her tone. '...Let's play this safe. These bitches must've wanted something from me if they let me live for so long. I need to find out what they want from me. No, I must! That will be the only way I can live.' I thought as much, narrowing my priorities.
"Yes, Dagger Flower!"
Shing!
The tip of her dagger had found itself kissing the tender spot beside my jugular. It happened in a blink of an eye; I couldn't even tell how she moved.
"There's no one with that name in here." Calm and cold, void of any emotions.
I didn't even dare to fucking swallow the spit that had built up.
"I-I understand. Assassin." Fear and rage were juggling in a complex manner inside my mind. 'Go fuck yourself, you whore!!'
"...Stand up. Sit." She walked away, pointing to a lone chair in the room.
'...What is this?' Following her demands, I sit anxiously on the luxurious chair. My mind began churning anxiously.
"Release him." Someone appeared out of the dark and unlocked the anti-magical cuff on her cue.
'Is she playing tricks with me!?'
"What's with your look? Does it make any difference with our without that thing in your hands? Try something if you want." Taunted the bitch with a bemused tone. Her expression was hidden beyond that fucking weird mask, but I could just tell by the tone of her voice and the arch of her eyes.
"I will do anything! Tell me, Dagg-...Assassin. What do you want me to do?" I begged for my life.
"Anything? Getting so desperate so early means you're either worthless or trying to get my guard down before screwing me over...That won't do, will it?"
'The blasted hell is she on about...She's toying with me...' I swallowed the frustration bitterly and took hold of my face in case I got in trouble by showing something stupid.
"I hope it's the latter...At the very least, you're useless to this House if it's the former."
"Don't we have the answer already? I won't be here after all that torture if you have no use left for me." I took a gamble. If this worked, this might just be my ticket to get out of this dastardly hellhole.
"Seeing that your tongue loosened, can you finally think clearly, Melkor The Snake?" Circling around me, the bitch asked.
"..." I stayed silent, quietly counting my chances based on her response. 'She is trying to negotiate...What is it...?'
"What do you want me to do?" I forced out a grin.
Finally, I could sense a patch of ground for me to hold on.
"We will devour Boreas's underground,"
'Stupid, delusional motherfuckers! Going against that man and the Phantom Squad!? Brain-dead fools!!' I cursed and cussed inside to vent out my rage.
"What do you think we need?"
'Other than some fucking brain to think?' I scoffed inside. "Money and Power."
She entered my blindside, yet I didn't dare to turn around. "Yes...Power is something we don't lack. But money is a different issue."
'If she's talking to me about money, then don't tell me...' Then it hit me. "Is that man going to-"
Tak!
"Urgh!" I felt something snipping my right ear.
Her ominous dagger flew past my ear, inches away from cutting it clean before lodging its sharp tip in the wall in front of me.
The soft whispers soon came menacingly from the back, and my spine tingled madly as I felt the reaper come close to taking my life. "That man? It will be better for you not to mention Milord at all if you're going to be this reckless with your tongue."
I gulped dry, feeling so fucking shitty to almost have my ear chopped off due to some bullshit ass crap.
"D-does His Excellency wish to join the game?" Wrung dry from the tension, I studied the pair of green eyes that had appeared once again from the side.
"He has entrusted everything regarding this in my hands. But yes...We figure that the dealings in this kind of business are very lucrative and tempting, wouldn't you say so?"
'This smells fishy...Considering what they say about Black Nightmare and how he reacted the last time, I don't buy that he has turned into a slaver overnight...' I was plagued with doubts, but I was not in a place to show that.
"But, Milord will only permit a sale for battle slaves." Seemingly able to sense the growing discontent within me, Dagger Flower added on.
'No pleasure slaves?' I thought.
"I don't have to explain why, do I?" She sighed unenthusiastically.
"No, I understand."
'How could I not, after he turned batshit crazy like that after seeing some elves get plowed to death...Still, he wants the money by selling battle slaves but not the pleasure slaves? What a hypocrite motherfucker...'
Having a clearer grasp of this situation, I started showing off some of my skills. "If we're speaking about battle slaves, then certain criteria must be put in order. There's a reason why pleasure slaves sell more than battle slaves. There are lots of unique and unpredictable fetishes out there; just showing on some slaves randomly will have buyers naturally."
Since the bastard got easily triggered because of the pleasure slaves, I thought it would be good to explain it only to that point. From there on, I shifted the topic more to the battle slaves.
"Battle Slaves is different. Age, gender, race, condition, potential, and capability. They fetch a hefty price but have many different constraints, and it will be hard to find the one to hit the right balance and satisfy the requirements. Otherwise, they'll be worth dirt cheap instead. And most of all, it was known that Boreas was lenient on pleasure slaves, but strict against the battle slaves, despite their law to forbid the practices of slavery."
'If you're talking about making money with slaves, then pleasure slaves will be the main dough. What're these idiots trying to do without knowing anything.' I almost rolled my eyes in response.
"What if we have the slaves that satisfy all those things you just said?" Stated the bitch with her back facing me.
"You have them?"
She stayed mute.
"It will be good, sure. But that's all to it. Maybe you can have a good chunk of money for selling some, but they will never sell as much in terms of profit if we're talking about pleasure slaves. Besides, they are slaves in the end. Battle and pleasure are merely labels. Who knows what those nobles will do after they buy them?"
'This is why the hypocrite bastards are annoying as fuck-'
"It appears that I might have overestimated you a bit." She turned, facing me while playing with her dagger. "You're a bit slow in the head, aren't you, you worthless worm?"
Cold as winter and bleak as the night were her words.
"W-What...?" I almost choked out myself in shock.
"Does Milord look like someone who will know about whatever wretched fate awaiting some slaves? You've felt it yourself that night; how naive and oblivious he was to the world. Would he go through with this thing if I were to tell him every little irrelevant and annoying detail?"
With each step she took toward me, I could feel my heart beating faster as if raring to jump out of my chest.
"I pegged you as someone quick with your head, but you keep disappointing me...What part of he has entrusted everything to me that you don't understand, you worm?"
My brain spun vigorously as I felt the impending doom approaching. She had taken her sweet time playing with me, but it felt like I could lose my neck if I answered her wrong this turn.
And thanks to that, I was able to realize one simple fact. 'T-That fucker is just a figurehead...She's the one who controls everything.'
"I've done so much to convince him to sell some slaves finally, but what did you say? Who knows what those nobles will do in the end? Tell me, worm. Do we really need to ask Milord what he thinks about that?" Finally, from her impassive and deadpan eyes, a sadistic arch had emerged.
"No...No need, Assassin." I shook my head in terror.
She paused at my answer. After a while, the bitch was finally back to her apathetic self and walked away from me. "...Thought as much. So what slaves will we sell?"
"Battle slaves," I said to her back.
"Right."
Keeping up her posture without even minding whether I would take the chance to attack her, Dagger Flower drew closer to the side of the room, which was drenched thick in darkness.
"Very soon, you'll have the chance to look at what we'll be selling yourself."
And into the dark, she disappeared.