She slipped her hand between his sleeves and slowly pulled out the card.
As the card slipped from Satina's hand, the card hidden in his sleeve fell onto the table with a thud.
"This, this is...!"
Satina smiled sweetly at the baron, who was staring at her with a flustered expression.
"Let's stop with the cheating, shall we?"
She tossed the card she had taken from the baron's sleeve onto the table.
The spectators erupted into chaos.
"That, that bastard! All that logical deduction nonsense he was spewing—it was all a scam?"
"No wonder! I thought it was weird how he was always bundled up, even in the middle of summer!"
"Wait a minute! Could it be that he also cheated when he played against me before?"
"Now that you mention it, I lost money to that scoundrel too!"
"That con artist! Give me back my money!"
The enraged spectators lunged at the baron, and the gambling hall quickly descended into chaos.
Satina gathered the money on the table and swiftly slipped toward the exit.
'This commotion is bigger than I expected. Maybe I should just head home today.'
She hesitated for a moment when the dealer approached her quietly.
"Are you planning to leave already?"
"With all this madness going on, I don't think I can continue playing."
Satina hefted the heavy money pouch in her hand as she spoke.
"But I'm a bit worried about carrying all this money home."
Everyone in the gambling hall knew by now that Satina had won an extraordinary amount of money.
If she left the hall just like that, it was likely more than a few people would target her for her winnings.
From the casino's perspective, they didn't want to let go of a customer carrying such a large amount of money, either.
"In that case, how about visiting a special market we can introduce you to?"
"A market, you say...?"
"It's a place with rare and valuable goods, carefully curated by our casino. Only a select few are allowed to visit."
'She took the bait!'
Satina grinned and responded, "Well, that sounds great to me."
"Then, please follow me."
Leaving the chaotic gambling hall behind, Satina followed the dealer down a secret passage.
Before long, they arrived at an underground warehouse.
"Hey, what's going on? It sounded noisy upstairs."
The slave trader sitting at the desk looked at the dealer and asked.
A round face with three strands of a mustache and a fedora perched on his head.
'He looks exactly like he did in the game. I've found the right place.'
"There was a bit of a commotion, but nothing to worry about."
"Is that so? And this lady is...?"
"She won quite a sum in our casino, so she's looking for a place to spend her money. I thought I'd introduce her to you."
"Ah, you've come to the right place! Though I say it myself, we only carry the finest goods here."
At the dealer's words, the slave trader's expression immediately softened as he welcomed her.
"Is there anything you're looking for? How about a special elixir from the Eastern Continent? Once applied, it makes the skin so radiant that many noble ladies seek it out. Or perhaps this diamond necklace? With your beautiful skin, it would suit you well."
"No, I'm not interested in those. I prefer something living."
"Oh my, I failed to understand your refined taste! You've come to the right place, indeed! Follow me, please!"
With a heavy creak, the iron door opened, and the slaver led Satina further inside.
"Hehe, though it may be immodest of me to say, our stock is known for their strength. Whomever you choose, I'm sure you'll be satisfied."
The slave trader guided Satina into a room full of young male slaves.
It seemed he had misunderstood Satina, thinking she was searching for slaves to satisfy some secret noblewoman's desires.
As it happened, the target character she was looking for was indeed a young man, so Satina calmly followed the slave trader, inspecting the people behind the bars.
Wherever her gaze landed, status windows appeared showing the species, age, price, and current condition of the slaves.
"There are a lot of non-humans."
"Well, it's easier to capture non-humans. Lately, it's been tough to procure human slaves."
Then, her eyes landed on a boy sniffing and sobbing in one of the cages.
Judging by the large ears and long tail on his head, he seemed to be a rat beastman.
'Wait, isn't that...'
She was sure she recognized the face from the game.
Species: Beastman (Rat)
Age: 11 years old
Price: 70,000 gold
'Alright, I'll take that one, too.'
Noticing Satina's gaze, the slave trader chimed in.
"Ah, that one's not bad either. We caught him not too long ago. He's still young, but he's pretty sharp, so with proper training, he'll be quite useful. Even though he's a rat beastman and won't grow much even when he matures, there are those who find the small ones charming..."
Satina tuned out the slave trader's chatter and headed toward the cage at the far end.
What caught her eye first was the jet-black hair, blending into the shadows.
"That one...!"
Unlike the other slaves, who were relatively well-groomed and seemed in good condition, this one lay flat on the ground like a dog that had been harshly beaten by its master, watching Satina with hollow eyes.
[You have encountered Target Character 4 for the first time!]
[Your impression has increased by 2 points.]
'He looks different from what I remember in the game.'
In the game, he had been described as having black hair and brown eyes, with a gentle, abandoned-puppy look.
But this one was more like...
'A snake?'
With pale skin that seemed to have never seen the sun, black hair, and pitch-black eyes, the figure lay twisted on the floor, staring at Satina. His expression showed no signs of resentment or caution.
It seemed this creature, having never interacted with humans, had not even learned the most basic emotions, like a raw, untrained beast.
His pitch-black eyes made it hard to discern what he was thinking.
'In the game, he definitely had amber eyes. Did something happen while he was away from the capital?'
[Since this is your first encounter with the character, we are measuring favorability based on first impressions and other rumors.]
[Please wait as we measure the favorability of the character based on the Star of Destiny.]
[Time remaining for favorability measurement: 30 minutes]
Satina glanced at the status window that appeared next to the character.
Name: A1687
This was the name the Target character had used before the heroine had given him a proper name, back when he was still a slave.
Though his appearance was somewhat different, it was clearly the same person.
'Well, there's no need to hesitate, then.'
"I'll take this one."
"You want... this one?"
The slave trader looked hesitant.
"Why? Is there a problem?"
"Well, as someone who's been in this business for a while, I'd like to think I still have a bit of conscience left. The boy looks decent, sure, but I'm not sure you'd be happy with him..."
He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.
"He's completely brain-dead, you see. A total fool."
"A fool?"
"Yes. He used to be well-behaved, clean, and quite docile, but not too long ago, he caught a fever. He started foaming at the mouth and having seizures. After that, he completely lost his mind."
'Ah, it's that event.'
In the game, the character had told the heroine about it—how he'd suffered from a severe fever years ago and felt so weak and lonely.
It seemed that particular event had already occurred.
"No matter what you say to him, it's like he can't understand a word. He won't listen to commands either. I tried beating him with a stick to knock some sense into him, but... well, I was ready to sell him off to a southern farm because he's just too much trouble."
In the game, this character had been sent to a southern farm after temporarily losing his mind due to the fever, and he slowly recovered his health there.
'After that, he returns to the capital and becomes the heroine's slave.'
"It's fine."
"Are you sure? In his current state, he's completely useless."
"Yeah, I'm sure."
He would recover with time, and even if he didn't, Satina wasn't too concerned.
It was better than dealing with someone like Sharan, who constantly drove her crazy.
Seeing Satina's firm resolve, the slave trader's face brightened.
From his perspective, she was willing to take off his hands a troublesome product that didn't follow orders or understand commands.
"Ahem! Well, he may be a bit out of it, but as you can see, we've taken great care of him, and with his handsome face, he might still bring you some enjoyment."
"So, how much is it?"
"Well, normally, I'd ask for 1 million gold, but since I'm a reasonable man, how about 450,000 gold?"
"I'll give you the full 500,000 I won today. But I want that rat beastman as well."
"No way! That little..."
"There's no point in sending a fool like him to a farm anyway. You won't get a good price for him."
"Ugh... That's true, but..."
The slave trader, conflicted, eventually gave in to Satina's offer, unable to shake off his reservations about the fool.
"Alright, alright! But no refunds! Absolutely no refunds!"
Satina had no intention of returning the character anyway.
She immediately paid from the 500,000 gold she had won today.
'Now I'm back down to just 199 gold.'
But in exchange, she gained a key Target character and the opportunity to receive a new quest.
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