One of the men with a mix of what seems to be anger and disgust in his voice, started speaking, "I hate being paraded like I'm some kind of meat in the market!" The stoic face he had a while ago, now showing clear traces of anger.
Another man, whose face looked helpless and sad said "It is not like we have a choice. We are orphans taken in by the academe. Our purpose is to assist those women in their life here. We have to pay back for the education, clothing and housing we received since young. You just have to be patient. When we reach the age of 25, we will be freed since we have already worked for 10 years by then and have repaid everything. It is still better to live here than outside or in the entertainment district."
Everybody stayed silent for a while. One of the younger boys said, "It's too bad we were not chosen this time. I hope the next summoning will be in a few months or at most a year? It would be easier to get out if a lady picked us and like us enough to pay for our freedom. If I can be a concubine of someone from here, I don't have to suffer hunger or abuse. Well, hopefully."
One of the older men then replied, "You are still young so you are so optimistic. Your freedom being paid for is only possible if you are young but for us that are 20 years old or older, we could only wait for the 10-year slavery contract to expire. Women like their men young and energetic no matter which world they come from. You can see it clearly from the people that was picked today."
The first guy who spoke laughed and said, "Yes! We are nothing but slaves. All women are the same! Don't be naive to think that just because they like you, they will buy your freedom. Not because you become a concubine, a lover or even an official husband, you will be treated well! They can't kill us here but it doesn't mean we can come back to our rooms each night unscathed. At least the people in the entertainment district can pick their customers and choose who can buy them out." Nobody talked for a while after that.
That's the only time they noticed my unconscious body in one secluded part of the magic circle. One of the men said, "Is that a dead person?"
All the remaining men then looked at that direction. Finally! Somebody noticed my poor unconscious body. The short tempered guy walked leisurely to where I was and put a finger near my nose and said nonchalantly, "She's not dead. Must be a weakling who doesn't have much mana. I couldn't see her face since it is covered with her hair but still I think it would be such a waste to serve this one. I don't even want to touch this. Can somebody bring this to the infirmary?"
One by one, the men walked out of the door and ignored my unconscious body. They treated me like some kind of trash not worthy of their efforts. I simply thought, "They have a lot of anger towards women. I don't blame them though after hearing all the rants they had. It is just too much that they don't care that I may be injured or something and I am not even one of the people who have hurt them."
Somebody walked slowly towards my unconscious body. He was one of the silent ones and should be part of the group who are in the over 20 years old age range. I looked at him and damn he is handsome though he looks strict and cold. He has those bulging chest and arm muscles! I am quite sure he has abs too. Ahem. I hope he helps me.
He suddenly spoke and talked to the unconscious me, "I am Ioannis, my lady. I know you couldn't hear me but I still want to ask for permission. I will be touching your body just enough so I could carry you to the infirmary. I apologize in advance for this." He then put his strong muscular arms under my legs and the other under my neck. He then walked carefully towards the infirmary making sure my body won't be shaken too much.
He passed by the guys that walked ahead that didn't even care about me being unconscious. They leered at Ioannis and said, "You are too kind for your own good. Do you think if she wakes up, she'll choose you. Your face looks scary and your body looks like that of a mercenary. Women like their men soft and cute." Everybody laughed but his face remained cold and emotionless and he simply passed by them like he heard nothing.
He arrived in the infirmary and placed me in one of the beds gently. He called for a nurse who was, luckily an elderly female. She looked at Ioannis and then me laying motionless on the bed. She then asked, "Is this your new lady? Were you finally picked?" Ioannis, smiled a bit and said, "No. It is not like how I look is pleasing to those females. She was unconscious. It must be the backlash of the summoning ceremony. Can you check on her please?"
The elder woman said, "Sure! Since you brought her here though, you will have to take care of her on your own. I have to check those other 26 women to see if they are healthy, how much mana they have and their fertility of course." He simply said, "Yes." and looked towards me.
He touched my face a bit then started removing the hair that is covering my face. I finally saw how I looked like. I looked at Ioannis and I can also see the evident surprise in his eyes. He stared at me for a bit. The elderly nurse said, "She's really otherworldly beautiful, isn't she?" Ioannis snapped his head to look at the elderly nurse and then he coughed a bit trying to hide his surprise a while ago.