‘T-this is it…!’

It was a fleeting moment. As he desperately bit down hard on the tail, the iron grip suddenly loosened. Not missing the opportunity, Egru escaped and dashed outside without looking back.

“Have some shame! You pervert!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…!”

He felt an immense killing intent at the back of his head.

The thumping footsteps in pursuit closely followed Egru.

‘If I’m caught this time…’

I’ll really die.

Egru cut across the beautiful flower garden. Could that person have cultivated all of this?

Clank.

“Aagh…!”

As he was running frantically, a sharp pain shot up from his ankle.

Clatter.

It was a hunting trap.

Blood flowed from his ankle, caught in the sharp metal teeth.

‘So the flower garden was a ruse to hide the traps.’

Beneath the dazzling flower garden lay horrific traps.

Limping.

But he couldn’t stop.

Egru ran desperately with the clattering trap. Reaching the crude fortress, he looked left and right.

‘H-how could such a stone wall…’

No matter how far he looked, there was no exit.

It was a fortress built solely for defense.

But it was just built high without any technique.

Egru could tell because he had experience building castle walls himself. Unlike human workers, without any safety equipment.

“Do you really think you can get out of here alive?”

Gilbert asked. Suddenly, his voice was tinged with composure.

For some reason, his pursuing footsteps had also slowed.

‘Either climb up or die…’

Egru began climbing without hesitation.

With one hand and one foot, he somehow headed upwards. The blood from his ankle flowed down the stone wall.

He felt a presence slowly climbing up from below.

“You’re a criminal. You’ll receive punishment beyond what your walnut-sized brain can imagine.”

Despite Gilbert’s curse, Egru silently looked up at the sky. When he lost his footing, he bit down hard on a protruding stone with his front teeth.

“Huk… huh…”

When he finally reached the top after great effort,

Egru could now understand Gilbert’s nonchalant attitude.

Outside the fortress was a sheer cliff. It was so high that the bottom couldn’t be seen through the thick fog.

“Good, stay right there.”

It was Gilbert’s voice, suddenly much closer.

Before he could catch his breath, he felt hands reaching for him from behind.

Egru reflexively threw himself forward. The giant hands barely missed him.

Wobble.

“Ah…!”

But he instantly lost his balance. His insignificant body began falling down the cliff.

The image of Gilbert looking down at him from atop the fortress quickly shrank to a dot.

Though he knew it was meaningless, Egru stretched out his arms and legs towards the sky.

Splash!

Just as he was hoping to grab onto anything, he fell in headfirst.

It hurt like death, but he wasn’t dead yet. When he involuntarily took a breath, cold water rushed in instead of air.

It was a river with a strong current.

Swept away by the rapids, Egru soon lost consciousness.

***

In the forest at midnight.

Barden, the Orc Chief, handed a torch to Tuunri and said:

“You’re the last one, Tuunri. I hope you stay healthy.”

“…Right.”

The demons who had escaped from the Empire had been moving together under Barden’s direction until now.

Thanks to him fulfilling his responsibility as the leader of the representative race of the Allied Nations, all the demons were able to safely return to their own homes.

After escorting Bei to the Dwarf cave colony, only Tuunri remained.

“It’s my first time visiting the Lizardman swamp.”

Barden said, lifting his mud-covered boots.

“It’s usually hidden by a magic barrier.”

Tuunri said, shrugging her shoulders.

“Even you can’t enter carelessly unless you’re a diplomatic envoy.”

“It was nice meeting you, Tuunri.”

Jabel reluctantly began her farewell.

“Although it wasn’t under good circumstances. Still, we’ll be able to meet again, right?”

“…Sorry, I can’t give you a definite answer on that.”

“Huh? Why?”

Jabel asked with a hurt expression.

“Did I do something wrong?”

At Jabel’s words, Tuunri furrowed her brow for a moment.

“No. It’s definitely not because of you. It’s just…”

Tuunri turned her head, touching the corner of her eye.

“When I see you, I keep thinking of Egru. I don’t know if it’s because you’re of the same Orc race.”

“…”

“I’m sorry for only thinking about myself. I can’t help it with Bei since we’ve known each other for a long time, but I think I’ll need some time before I can see you again. I still feel like Egru’s death was my fault.”

“What?”

“If only I had returned a little earlier that day…”

“Tuunri.”

At Barden’s call, Tuunri smiled.

“I know. I know. You’ve told me many times. I understand it in my head.”

“Right, don’t blame yourself. Egru wasn’t the only kinsman we lost that day.”

“But because of Egru, all the remaining demons were able to survive.”

Barden nodded quietly at Tuunri’s words.

“Let me ask you one thing, Barden. Are we going to war?”

“Regrettably, it’s certain.”

“If that happens, make sure to contact me too. I’m practically an outsider among the Lizardmen, so I don’t receive important information.”

“Will you be able to meet us?”

“Never mind meeting, I want to crush the Empire. I’ll support with all the medical supplies and personnel I can. Make sure to contact me no matter what. I’ll join the front lines too. Personal and public matters are different, right?”

“That’s reassuring.”

“Isn’t this a personal matter too?”

Jabel chimed in, smiling discreetly next to the grinning Barden.

Tuunri raised her eyebrows. It was a playful gesture suggesting that Jabel should be more mindful.

Jabel smiled knowingly and stepped back.

Tuunri also smiled and shook her head.

“You’re always so quick to catch on.”

“It’s fascinating.”

“What is?”

“Bei said the same thing to me. She contacted me separately saying she wanted to participate in the war.”

“Of course she would. She’s my closest Dwarf friend.”

Tuunri turned towards the Lizardman swamp with a smiling face. Her mouth, which had been hesitating for a while, slowly opened.

“Take care.”

“You too.”

“And you.”

Barden and Jabel replied to Tuunri’s farewell.

But for some reason, Tuunri kept lingering in place. Jabel asked:

“Is something wrong, Tuunri?”

“Well, you know.”

“?”

“You’re my closest Orc friends. Including Egru. Now I’m really going.”

Tuunri dashed across the swamp.

Barden smiled warmly, and Jabel’s face turned as red as Tuunri’s.

“…Is reporting all that’s left now?”

But the warm atmosphere didn’t last long. It was because Barden took out a video communication device.

“Yes. We’ve successfully completed the mission of safely returning the remaining demons.”

“Unfortunately, we failed the royal command.”

While a steady dial tone rang, Jabel smiled bitterly.

“We should have brought Egru back, but the heavens were cruel. How heartbroken Queen Leugor will be. I should have listened to you, Chief, and not been so stubborn. I should have read the letter the Queen sent earlier…”

“Don’t blame yourself too. Looking back now, the path seems clear, but at the time it was ambiguous. We all had hope that we could save Egru then.”

A gentle light emanated from the video communication device. It meant the call with the other party was connected.

“King Leugor.”

As Jabel fell silent, Barden solemnly began to speak.

“I’m reporting on the mission commanded by the Queen.”

Through the video communication device, not only the Orc king but also the Queen of Imperial noble birth could be seen. Barden could only lower his gaze bitterly at the glimmer of hope in their eyes.

“…The mission target has lost his life.”

***

In his sleep, Egru heard someone crying.

“My son, please find my son…!”

Next came a sharp scream accompanied by the sound of a whip.

“Your son was sold off ages ago, and you’re still going crazy!”

Egru’s eyes flew open.

‘Was it a dream…?’

The person begging to find their son was nowhere to be seen.

“Ah, thank goodness. He’s breathing.”

“I told you. I said we could save him.”

Only two rough-looking men were looking down at Egru.

Egru turned his head with difficulty, coughing up water.

He didn’t have the strength to move a single finger. He felt soaked earth behind his back.

‘W-where is this…’

His memories of what had happened were fragmented.

He had resisted the current, struggled desperately, but in the end, it seemed he had lost consciousness.

“To think an Elf would roll in. We’re lucky today.”

Elf?

A dirty hand grabbed Egru’s face and turned it this way and that.

“Even Elf corpses sell well. They’re used for medicine too, I hear. He looks like he’d sell well no matter what we do.”

“Hey, wake up.”

As his dazed eyes were about to close again, someone slapped Egru’s cheek.

His blurry eyes snapped open again. His reflexive attempt to get up was stopped short with a clanking sound.

‘Iron chains?’

His neck was fixed to the ground with a heavy piece of metal.

“Hehe. We really hit the jackpot. If he’s an Omega, we could retire from this business. How long has it been since we’ve seen an Elf?”

“After pulling him out of the water with our dicks nearly falling off, he’d better be worth it.”

Egru looked up at the men drawing blood from his arm. His blue-tinged lips parted very slowly.

“E-Elf, what do you mean by Elf?”

The two men looked at each other with puzzled faces.

“Where are you from?”

“Pardon?”

“Where did you live before coming here?”

“The… the Empire…”

“You mean the Empire? Have you lived there all along? Never left once?”

As Egru slowly nodded, the men’s cheekbones jutted out.

“Wow, we really struck gold here. Elves have such insufferably haughty personalities that they usually die off quickly, unable to control their temper.”

“No need for ideological education, and he’s obedient too. He’s a bit skinny, but a few days of good feeding will fix that.”

“It pays to live righteously! At last, the whatchamacallit god is answering us!”

“Hey, hey, remove all the handcuffs and shackles. They’ll damage his skin. Ah, but leave the magic restraints on. For the injured limbs, hey, newbie!”

One of the men turned around and shouted.

“Bring all the remaining healing potions! And prepare some clean clothes too!”

“Bring food as well! Not the slave feed, but plenty of what we eat!”

Looking around with tired eyes, Egru instinctively knew.

‘This, this is…’

So this is the slave market I’ve only heard about.