Edited by: Kuro and Lille
This chapter was sponsored by: Michelle and Jay! Thank you for the coffees :D I appreciate you both. There is one more bonus chapter from Jay, so stay tuned!
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Just like the last world, he was plagued with nightmares after meeting God System. They weren't anything too serious, but it did make his quality of sleep drop.
Some were about his previous world and what would have happened if he failed the missions, and some were about his first life with his ex-husband.
The worst was when Damien rejected him when he finally confessed.
'System, look into why I keep having these nightmares. They don't seem natural.' After a long night of nightmares, he thought it was best for System 225 to investigate them. They would probably continue on every night for as long as he was in this world.
[Understood, Host. I will let you know if I find anything.] System 225 also thought it was strange that this happened after meeting God System.
'Thanks, System, hopefully, it isn't anything too crazy.'
He could only hope that they weren't anything too serious and they were just his subconscious being anxious and insecure.
Luckily, it was finally the day they would arrest Earl Rottrett, so he pushed the nightmares to the back of his mind and focused on what was in front of him. He was well aware of the plan that Jasper and Liam came up with, so he waited for his time to shine.
As he chatted with System 225 and trained his body, he heard a *Chirp Chirp*
[The young women have been tossed into prison. They would get cleaned at the prison and then transferred to the auction room where they would be put in clean cages. The guards have left to get a servant to get them cleaned up with magic.]
'Perfect, it's time for me to slip in.' Fel put away all of his belongings and left the room. He walked over to the prison and activated a sleep spell, making sure no one noticed him. Everyone in the prison was fast asleep and he unlocked the gates. He scanned the small room and walked over to a young woman. She was considered the "prettiest" out of the bunch, so he decided to replace her for the night.
His face and body slowly changed shape with the use of illusion magic. He eventually became one of the prisoners. He picked up the girl he looked like and walked her to his room, placed her down, and locked the door. She would look like him until he canceled his magic.
After dropping her off, he headed back to the prison room and sat down next to everyone. He snapped and everyone woke up, unsure what happened to them.
At that moment, servants, one by one, came in. They cleaned them up with magic and then guided them into the new cages. Fel was the eighth one in the line. It seemed that the motto for the Earl was not "save the best one for last" but "let's surprise all of them by randomly showing them the prettiest so I can get more money." It also made the others regret their choices, but the ones who knew would be the happiest.
He and the other girls were being lined up near the stage, hidden away from everyone else. There was a large red curtain that covered them, and there were multiple servants, ready to push out the cages that were on wheels. One by one, they would slowly be dragged onto the stage so that they could be bought. Being this close also allowed Fel to hear everything.
On the other side of the curtain, Liam and Jasper were sitting among the crowd. They were disguised as foreign noblemen looking for slaves. They had plenty of gold so Earl Rottrett happily allowed them entry.
They sat in the back row, conversing softly with one another until the show started. They acted like dignified nobles, uncaring about the others. They glanced around the room and saw many familiar nobles from their time socializing. All the nobles in the audience had a masks on their face to "hide their identity," but their voice and body type gave them away, especially for the observant Jasper who was nitpicky about detail.
After a few minutes, Earl Rottrett stood on the stage he prepared for this moment. He wore a form-fitting double-breasted light grey suit. He had a red cravat and black shin-high boots. He probably would've been called handsome if not for his large beer belly and his blonde greasy hair. His skin was a slightly yellow color, showing the man had a liver disease of some sort. He looked as if he didn't take care of himself at all. He was the only one who didn't wear a mask, a foolish move, but it was his private auction so he didn't care.
They were all currently in his reception room which was turned into an auction room.
"My noble friends, thank you for being here," His voice echoed throughout the now silent room, "Today I have a fine selection that you all have been waiting for."
"Ten beautiful ladies from the ages of 10-21. From their faces to their bodies, each of these girls are first-class goods. You all know how picky I am, right?" He said with a chuckle that was meant to be seen as a joke, but many knew the seriousness behind his words. Even though he was picky, he didn't care about gender. He had planned for an auction of female and male slaves, though the male auction would never happen in the story or with Fel around.
A nasty old man who knew Earl Rottrett nodded. "Of course." His drool was already coming out of his small lips. He panted a little thinking about it. He had plenty of slaves and was excited to see his friend's selection. This nasty old man was one of the people who guided the Earl down the wrong path.
One by one the girls were being brought to the front of the stage. Each one was shell-shocked and terrified as they stared at the men and women who were buying them. Though they were cleaned with magic, their hair wasn't styled and their clothes were in tatters.
The prices for these girls were pretty high as they were all beautiful in some way. Everyone knew as long as they were taken care of, their beauty would shine through.
It was until they finally arrived at the most awaited girl of the night.
"Alright, the eighth girl is a beautiful young lady, age 15, with dark blue hair and light blue eyes. She has no name, so anyone who claims her will have the privilege to name her. Starting bid is 5,000 gold."
A cage was brought forward by two guards. The girl sat in the corner of the cage, shivering while hugging her legs. Her hair was luscious and long, but somehow, her messy and hole-filled attire seemed beautiful. Her pitiful blue eyes darted around, like a scared and abused animal. Tears sat at the corner of her light blue eyes, threatening to fall. Her appearance made people want to protect her and hold her close.
It was all Fel acting though.
"Let's start the bid!" Earl Rottrett's servant started the auction.
"5100!" A man in the back said.
"5200!"
A woman in the middle with a mask on raised her hand. "5300." She was one of the few women in the crowd.
"5500."
Many people raised the price by 100 gold until the price went from 10,000 gold to 20,000 gold. It was a high number for a slave.
"20,000." The nasty old man had a look of triumph seeing that no one could outbid him.
A moment of silence.
"20,000 going once? Going twice?! SOLD to the generous gentleman in the back!"
Some people tsked as the old man grinned. He was happy because this girl was the one he wanted as he had already gotten a preview of her before. The other girls were nothing to sneeze at.
Fel knew he had camouflaged into the prettiest girl in the selection so being bought at the highest price wasn't anything surprising.
"Come out here little girl." Earl Rottrett personally opened the cage. It was customary for him to let his customers look at the merchandise up close before bringing them to the back where they would get properly clothed.
Fel slowly came out and smiled at the Earl. The Earl, who was not prepared, felt he was hit in different parts of his body. His body quickly dropped to the ground.
The crowd was stunned except for Jasper and Liam who quickly gave out the signal to their men standing nearby. In a matter of seconds, the rest of the crowd was captured and tied up. The Earl's guards and servants that were guarding the area were subdued quickly now that their Master was down and detained.
Fel didn't pay much attention to the commotion when he heard System 225.
[Side Mission: Save Adelia and the Victims of Earl Rottrett has been completed.
[Congrats host for completing a side mission.]
'Thank you, System 225.' He knew this was one of the easier side missions. All he had to focus on was the main mission. The others would fall into place.
This world wasn't too difficult as it was just an E-ranked world. The only thing he was uncertain about was the female protagonist, Adelia. He hoped that she was like his best friend, Kyle, from the first world, or Lucy from the previous world. If she was easy to get along with, it would make his life easier.
He also hoped that God System, aka Liam, wouldn't be smitten with her. He wouldn't know what he would do if he saw the man flirting with someone other than himself.
Fel pouted just thinking about Liam and Adelia getting together. He snapped the slave collar he was wearing with ease. It was already deactivated so it was a trivial matter getting it off. His appearance slowly changed into his snow fox appearance, captivating the crowd. It was as if they forgot they were being captured.
He ignored the stares as he went into the back room where the other cages were. He quickly unlocked all the cages and destroyed the slave collars before walking to his basement. He picked up the girl, bridal style, and carried her out. Her appearance went back to normal but she was still asleep. She was extremely light and she was asleep so he had no problems.
When he came back to the auction room, many eyes were on him. He handed the girl to a nearby guard, woke her up from her sleeping spell, and slowly walked up to Liam.
Liam, who was staring holes into the back of Fel's head, calmed down and smiled at Fel. He was relieved to see Fel by his side, it was a feeling he was not used to.
Fel smiled back. "How is everything on your side? No problems?"
"No problems at all. Once the Earl is convicted of all his crimes, the grieving families will finally have peace. As for the others, we will see what to do with them."
His and Jasper's men had already rounded up most of the people. The Earl was chained up and locked in one of the cages he had brought for his slaves while his servants were tied up together by their wrists. They were stuck together and didn't make any sounds. They weren't guilty like the Earl was, but their verdict would be looked over by the King. The King had all the say in what to do with these servants.
"That's good, I trust you all won't make any mistakes." When the Earl was executed, that was when he was going to be able to complete his other side mission. If, in some crazy fashion, the Earl somehow escaped, he would just take care of the Earl himself, aka, dragging the Earl to the capital and throwing him at the feet of the King of Frayx. Since it was an easy world though, he knew that the Earl wouldn't be able to escape from the halos that the protagonist had, courtesy of the world plot.
As they talked, Jasper walked by with a woman and a small child. They weren't chained up like the servants of the Earl, but she had guards behind her making sure she didn't try anything funny. This woman was Madam Rottrett and her son.
The Madam looked exhausted but the look of relief on her face was noticeable. "I thank you all for saving these poor young ladies and capturing my husband." She gave a bow as she held her 2-year-old son who had no idea what was going on.
"Feel free to take anything you need from this mansion, I do not need anything here." She had already packed a suitcase with the little number of clothes she and her son had. A lot of her clothes and jewelry were sold by her ex-husband when things were going rough for them. This auction was put together by her dowry anyway. She had almost nothing left.
"We know of your suffering here, so we will be sure to let the King know to allow leniency for you and your son." They already knew that she was the reason the Earl's territory was held together by a string. She couldn't do much for her people, but she did as much as she could within her limitations.
Also, she was innocent and forced against her will to marry the Earl. Many people would sympathize with her.
"I thank you from the bottom of my heart." She was sad, but she could not cry. Her tears had long dried up and all she could do was hold on to her suffering and turn that into her strength.
The madam and her son were allowed to sit in a carriage with the other victims. She didn't mind it though and obediently listened to Jasper and Liam.
Liam, Jasper, and Fel were off to the side, overseeing everything. They made sure that their knights got everything ready for their trip to the capital of Frayx. Well, more like Fel and Liam were talking amongst themselves while Jasper did all the work.
Seeing that, Jasper walked over and interrupted their conversation. He was especially curious and wary of Fel, but he admired the man for his strength.
"And you must be the Fel that Liam talked so much about." Jasper looked Fel up and down and found that the man had an exquisite appearance. Even though Fel's attire was in tatters, his luscious silver hair complimented Fel's face, making him look like a fairy. His silver ears at the top of his head had a bit of fluff around them, making others want to pet them. From his appearance, Jasper could see that he was a Snowfox kin, but for some odd reason, he felt that Fel's appearance at the moment was not his true form.
Fel also looked Jasper up and down and saw that Jasper was an intellectual beauty. Much different from the muscle-head Liam who, though was a good Crown Prince in his own right, was more of a sword maniac than someone who used knowledge as their weapon.
Jasper's hair was also silver in color, as he was a beautiful silver wolf beast kin. He had short hair, golden-rim glasses, and purple eyes. Purple eyes were a symbol of nobility in this world. He wasn't as tall as Liam and was definitely slimmer, all in all, he was more beautiful than handsome.
This was where Jasper's interrogation started.
The detailed and cautious man needed to know everything about Fel to make sure he wasn't a threat. He asked Fel why he was in the basement, how he got captured, why he stayed, and everything like that. It was almost like Jasper wanted to dissect Fel to intimately get to know him in the name of science, which made Fel a little uncomfortable, but he answered as "truthfully" as he could.
After a while, even Liam got fed up with Jasper. "That's enough, my friend! You can get to know Fel later. We should head out."
At that moment, Liam was Fel's savior. Fel was very close to freezing Jasper to death but he knew he couldn't just kill "God's favorite children." The world would collapse with everything and everyone in it, including the Gods and him.
"You are right, we should head out." But Jasper couldn't help but stare at Fel moving about.
Jasper and Liam got on their horses, the only ones who would be using individual horses. The guards surrounded the slow-moving carriages that held all the victims, many tied-up prisoners, and their supplies.
Fel, who was probably going to follow them while floating like the spirit he was, was approached by Liam on his horse.
"Are you coming with us?" Liam asked with his hand held out, hoping that the man would accompany them to the capital of Frayx at least.
"Of course, I must see to this until the very end," Fel replied back with a smile, taking his hand and allowing the man to pull him up onto the horse.
Fel sat in front of Liam intimately. Liam had a hand around Fel's waist to keep him in place. Fel didn't mind it and relaxed in the man's embrace. They didn't establish anything, but Fel couldn't help but relax knowing that it was God System.
Jasper looked at the two and felt conflicted. Even though he interrogated Fel, he felt it wasn't enough. He was a cautious man through and through. This was tempered into him with the many years he was by Liam's side, who had no sense of danger at all!
If his best friend was not going to be wary of danger, he would. That was what he decided as they all headed out, slowly, to their destination.