W-what’s happening?

Egru’s mind went white. First the sudden undressing, and now being touched in such a private place.

I-I was just…

He had only wanted to ask if they could take the twin children with them.

Why had they stripped him? Wasn’t it to check for diseases? And why had they touched him there?

While Egru remained rigid, the slave trader addressed the Marquis.

“An excellent choice! If you could name your price first, we can adjust from our side…!”

“I’ll relay it through my butler.”

The implication was that the price of an elf slave didn’t matter. A fountain of gold erupted in the slave trader’s mind.

“How magnanimous! Would you like to take possession now? Or shall we deliver him to your mansion? Ah, you know our establishment charges no additional delivery fee?”

Following the retreating Marquis, the slave trader rubbed his palms together eagerly.

“What name would you like to give the slave? Ah, would you like some tea first? We just imported leaves from the south—the aroma is exquisite.”

“You, come along. My pretty gold nugget.”

Another slave trader with a grin stretching ear to ear led Egru.

“Kh! I want to shower you with kisses, but I’ll hold back…”

The slave trader withdrew his hand that had been about to pinch Egru’s cheek. Such was the high price the merchandise had fetched. The slave traders moved the confused-looking elf slave with beaming faces.

In a small changing room in the corner of the reception area, countless hands dressed Egru in Kemmel Kingdom attire.

This was to at least nominally hide his demon slave status during inspections. Though the Marquis’s status alone would suffice, they were going through the motions of following procedure.

“Stay still and don’t do anything unnecessary.”

When a new restraint was fastened around his neck, Egru instinctively resisted. But the restraint activated faster than he could escape.

“Ugh…!”

This time it wasn’t electricity. It was an unpleasant sensation of all strength draining from his body.

“Got to save some energy, right?”

“Yeah, need strength for the first master after all.”

The slave traders snickered as they lifted the collapsed Egru back up.

“Hold up!”

Just then, one slave trader burst through the door.

“Everyone forget the packaging and prepare a room!”

“What?”

The busy hands of the slave traders stopped.

“He wants to use him now?”

“Yeah. Says he’ll take him after doing it once. The old man was pretending to be unimpressed, but he’s quite virile.”

The slave trader closed the door and entered with a leering smile.

“The mongrel dogs should be leaving soon, so it should be fine. Consider yourself lucky to be sold to the Marquis. The guests who just arrived also want an elf, but they’re trouble. That Vice Guildmaster who came with them is so arrogant…”

The slave trader spoke while spraying expensive perfume all over Egru from head to toe. Egru sneezed repeatedly.

“That guild is famous. Wonder if they’re trying to break into the slave trade business too? Better treat them well and not offend them.”

“Of course. Everyone just loses their minds over elves.”

With the slave trader’s mocking laughter, they began stripping Egru’s clothes again.

A see-through gown was draped over his cream-colored skin.

It could barely be called a gown with how little skin it covered. What little fabric there was had mesh-like holes throughout.

“No punching or kicking. Don’t use your teeth either, just do as you’re told.”

“Should we apply lubricant to his back entrance?”

“Nah. The perverted old man prefers doing that himself.”

Egru retreated at the slave traders’ conversation.

Back entrance?

His trembling amber eyes looked around. Saliva passed down his parched throat. With the movement, he acutely felt the tight restraint around his neck.

“Come along quietly.”

One slave trader tugged sharply on the rope connected to Egru’s restraint. As his body lurched forward, Egru found himself following the slave traders.

W-where are we going?

His questions didn’t last long. After descending several floors in the manual elevator again, a corridor stretched out with ornate doors on both sides.

“Marquis, Your Excellency.”

Knock knock. One slave trader knocked while speaking. Large carvings of entwined nude figures decorated the door.

“We’ve brought the merchandise you ordered.”

“Send him in.”

“Yes, right away.”

The strong scent of incense wafted through the gradually widening door gap. Just as a cold back was being pushed forward by the slave trader’s hand—

“Not that way! Damn it! There’s nothing there!”

Commotion began to be heard from outside the building.

***

On another floor of the reception building.

“How can you say we can’t even see the elf slave’s face!”

The Milfia Guild’s Vice Guildmaster shouted loud enough to shake the building.

“After coming all this way, this is how you treat us! Do you even know who our Guildmaster is?!”

“Of course, how could we not? How could we possibly treat Milfia Guild members like…”

The slave trader explained while dripping cold sweat.

“Regrettably, you were just moments too late. Our regular customer who arrived first has already finalized the purchase. Instead, we can introduce other merchandise at better prices…”

“Ah! We came to see an elf!”

The Vice Guildmaster bellowed.

“Why did you call busy people here then! I bet you just wanted to lure us here to sell other goods!”

“No, not at all. We’d like to show you the elf too, but they’re harder to find than stars in the sky these days. And according to internal policy, we can’t leak information about high-value merchandise externally…”

“Then tell me.”

The Guildmaster, who had only been smoking until now, spoke for the first time. He stubbed out his thick cigar in the ashtray.

The slave trader maintained a business smile while deliberately avoiding the predatory gaze.

“Yes, Guildmaster. What would you like to know…”

“Since I came in person like you asked.”

The Guildmaster spoke while exhaling cigar smoke between his lips.

“Tell me what he looks like.”

“You mean the elf slave?”

The Guildmaster slowly leaned back on the sofa. At his attitude suggesting this was obvious, the slave trader quickly spoke up.

“I’m not in charge, so I only saw him briefly… He had the characteristically beautiful features of an elf, with striking dark brown hair. Ah yes, that’s right.”

The slave trader added as if just remembering.

“His eye color matched yours exactly, Guildmaster!”

Thud.

Levian immediately rose his massive frame. The well-maintained leather sofa was pushed back.

“Guide me.”

“Pardon?”

“Guide me to the bastard who took the elf. I’ll negotiate myself.”

“No, no! I’m sorry but that’s not possible! We cannot disclose customer information as a matter of principle! Please return to your seat…”

“No.”

“Ah, surely you meant something else!”

“Was my voice too quiet?”

Levian looked down at the slave trader with his hands in his pockets. His gaze through fallen red hair was chilling.

The slave trader turned to the Vice Guildmaster with trembling eyes. The Vice Guildmaster made several slicing motions across his neck. A sign that the wrong answer meant death.

The slave trader saw the Guildmaster’s tattoos visible outside his shirt that seemed ready to burst. Black tattoos overlaid right on top of deep scars, as if they didn’t matter at all…

Beep beep beep.

The communication device rang with perfect timing. The slave trader quickly excused himself and answered with relief.

“What? Why would the mongrel dogs now of all times…”

The slave trader’s expression twisted strangely as he continued the call.

“No, how did that…”

As the slave trader kept glancing at the Guildmaster, the Vice Guildmaster cleared his throat and asked.

“Ahem, what’s the matter?”

“How should I explain this…”

The slave trader lowered his device carefully and spoke with an apologetic face.

“They say demon slave enforcement showed up. Apparently the merchandise was completely seized.”

***

Just moments ago.

“Not that way! Damn it! There’s nothing there!”

The slave traders reflexively closed the old Marquis’s door again when they heard the commotion outside the building. The sound of armor, out of place in a slave market, followed.

“Then this must be the right way.”

“Hey! I’ll really die if you go in! Will you take responsibility for my livelihood if I get fired?”

“We demons are not your source of income.”

“Just wait a moment! Let’s resolve this through dialogue!”

Just then, running footsteps were heard from the end of the corridor. It was the sound of a low-ranking rookie running breathlessly.

“S-section chief!”

“What’s all this commotion about.”

The slave trader called section chief asked. The rookie frantically explained.

“Th-that is! The mongrel dogs are coming this way! Looks like they’ve caught on…”

“What?”

“I didn’t say anything! The kids from the Fruit Church suddenly started blabbing!”

“Damn it! Can’t you even keep them quiet properly?”

The rookie spoke while dripping with sweat.

“I-I didn’t expect this…! That’s why I said we shouldn’t skimp on sleeping medicine!”

“Shut up and wait! Hey, should we just throw him in the room?”

“No! If regular customer information leaks, we’re really finished!”

The slave trader right next to the section chief cut in. The section chief ground his teeth and spoke while putting the blindfold back on Egru.

“In that case, we’ll have to send him for delivery right now.”