Chapter 2

* * *

“Haah, haaah.”

Jinah let out a ragged breath. She could still hear the shouts behind her, but her arms and legs trembled. She couldn’t run anymore.

Looking back, she could see the carriage that she had just rode on. She barely made it into the alley. It was evident that her body was weakening.

As people gathered on the main street to see His Majesty, the alley was relatively quiet. Just when she placed her hand on the wall to catch her breath, she heard a woman’s voice just around the corner.

“What? Mother knew everything? This invitation was so hard to get! I’m not going!”

“Miss….Please think carefully. If you buy a slave you like from here, Madam would be enraged enough to drive you out of the house. Rather, let’s just please Madam and then buy one next time, alright?”

‘A slave?’

Jinah’s eyes widened. Originally the Empire had a strict class system. Of course there was also slavery. However it was abolished a few years ago due to Jinah’s persistent efforts. Now, buying and selling slaves was clearly illegal.

Jinah brushed her hair aside to look at the woman. From the looks of the woman’s flashy but slightly tacky attire, it seemed like she was a noble lady from the countryside. This isn’t a remote and shady back alley, but it is also not a path that a noble lady—who has only brought one maid—should take. Why have they come to this place?

“Ah, dammit! I was going to buy a slave from the capital to shove it in Elise’s nose! You don’t know how much airs that bitch put on with her slave. I heard that if you’re a well-off noble in the capital, it’s a must to take at least one or two slaves along with you!”

“Wouldn’t it be better if you explain that to Madam, and then come buy a slave next time with her? The more money you have, the better your chances are to win the auction bid for a slave.”

“Well…..that’s true.”

“Then my lady, you will be going home, right?”

“Dammit!”

The woman, unable to control her temper, roughly crumpled the paper she was holding, and threw it into the alley.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes, Miss.”

The two of them quickly left the place.

“Slave? Did she say auction?”

Jinah picked up the paper that the woman had thrown away. It was an envelope that contained a letter labeled ‘Invitation’.

Putting together the contents of the invitation and the woman’s words, Jinah found out that the “slave auction” would be held ten minutes later in the basement of the store down the street.

“Are these guys crazy? Hosting a slave auction on a boulevard like this in broad daylight?”

I have to report it right away.

Jinah was about to leave the alley, but she stopped walking.

Right now, the festival seemed to be at its peak. Most of the main roads were restricted for the parade, and narrow alleys were crowded with people who came out to play. Most of the security guards were deployed to maintain order, and only a few remained at the headquarters. Even if she were to report it, the auction would be over by the time the guards would arrive.

‘What should I do? Should I go in to check it out and report it?’

You don’t know how hard it was to abolish slavery. Because of that, all the nobles of the empire almost turned their backs on her. Jinah abolished slavery through the argument that when Demon King would declare war, he could enlist the slave commoners to join his army.

Jinah fell into a dilemma. There were people suffering under slavery. If she had not come across this incident, she could have gone on without noticing, but, now that she knew, she couldn’t pretend otherwise.

‘Still, I am a Saintess…’

It was the Saintess’s duty to save the people from suffering . From the age of 17 to 27, Jinah had lived her life as a Saintess. Even though her duty was over after defeating the Demon King, the once established sense of duty did not easily disappear.

So, Jinah stepped towards the slave auction house.

* * *

When she showed him the invitation, the slave trader let Jinah in easily into the auction.

It was a strange atmosphere. For an illegal slave auction, the slave employees had let down their guards, and guests were relaxed as if they were on a picnic. Although they covered their face with a mask, they seemed to have no intention of hiding their identities as if they were attending a masquerade. They even called each other’s names, saying, “Count so and so, and so and so’s wife.”

As soon as Jinah sat down, the auction began. When the first slave climbed up to the platform, Jinah could see the reason for this relaxed atmosphere.

It was not an ordinary person who came to the platform; it was a woman with a similar appearance to a human, but she had no ears and had a big horn on her forehead.

“What the hell!”

Swear words naturally came out of Jinah’s mouth. Just a year ago, these people were being slaughtered at the hands of the demons. If the Saintess had lost, they would have been living under the control of demons, trembling with fear and anxiety and living a life no better than livestock.

But now they were making demons slaves for fun? 1

“Oh my, That’s an impressive horn. But I’m not interested in women.”

“Is that so? But the horns are cool. If you just remove her breasts, I think she’ll give a boy-like feel.”

Those sitting at the same table continued to chat to see if one of them had any intention of winning the bid. Jinah carefully intervened in their conversation.

“But isn’t it a little scary? It’s a demon. Won’t it be dangerous?”

“Oh my, miss, is this your first time participating? You’re worrying for nothing.”

“Yes, I’m actually visiting from the countryside….”

“Oh. Look at that demon’s neck–that collar. With it, even if they are demons, they are no different from us humans.”

“That’s correct. It is a masterpiece made by wizard Ansidra at His Majesty’s order.”

“Ah……I really didn’t know…..”

“Was it 3 years ago? That slavery was banned. We only endured it then because it was such an urgent situation but life without slaves is unimaginable. It’s not the aristocratic way. Even so, we couldn’t revive the same slave system that was abolished by the Saintess….So, His Majesty came up with a clever idea to enslave all demons.”

“Although I like human slaves more…The abolition of slavery is a legacy left by the Saintess, so what can we do? It’s a relief that we can have slaves like this.”

Jinah doubted her ears.

‘His Majesty did this? This slave auction is legal….So that’s why everyone is acting so openly.’

No matter how much she thought about it, she could only think they were all crazy.

What clever idea ? They were just going to trust a collar and have a demon beside them? Did they want to be served by a slave that much?

Come to think of it, the nobles here had always been like this. Thanks to the rigorous class system, it was given that nobles treated slaves like objects. Since it was suddenly banned, their habit didn’t disappear and so they found a sense of having slaves by all means. It had only changed from humans to demons, but their cruelty had not changed.

Jinah felt deeply disillusioned.

“Oh my, oh my, look at that demon!”

Suddenly, there was a buzz in the hall. At the fuss made by the woman sitting next to her, Jinah also looked at the stage. While chatting, a few demons had passed by, and what came up on the stage this time was a very handsome male demon.

The stage lights illuminated every corner of the man’s body. The light flowing from the solid chest–as if he wore armor–to the well-defined abs stimulated one’s libido just by looking at it. Whenever the man turned left and right, according to the auctioneer’s words, his thick forearms muscles rippled threateningly.

On the outside, there was no difference from humans, but his red eyes and decadent smile around his mouth were devilish.

It was natural that the people in the hall reacted enthusiastically. A man with such an appearance and aura that she had never seen a man like that before in her life, both as a demon or a human being.

The host confidently called the starting amount. It was a higher amount than other slaves, but it was far less than some special ones. The demon had already captivated everyone in the hall from the moment he appeared.

Jinah couldn’t take her eyes off him either. But her reason was a little different from other women.

‘Where have I seen him before……?’

Just then, she made eye contact with the man. And his bored eyes lit up.

‘It couldn’t be….’

He was a special demon from the demon army. When Jinah appeared on the battlefield, he threw away everything and rushed towards her. Jinah couldn’t forget the strangely flashing red eyes hidden behind the terrifying helmet covering his face.

‘Commander-in-Chief of the Demon King’s Army, Varat Baal’

He was a key figure in the Demon King’s Army. As the right-hand man of the Demon King, he maneuvered the military with tremendous combat strength and beast-like senses and drove the allied forces to a corner.

However, he was one of the unpredictable idiots who couldn’t differentiate between allies and foes. When he was excited during the battle, he did not hesitate to kill even those on the same side. There were times when he suddenly acted fickle and lost in vain. One of the biggest questions his allies had was why the Demon King had such a man as his right arm.

‘How can such a big shot be in a place like this? Most of the leaders of the Demon King’s Army must have fled after the war and returned to the demon realm. Was Varat Baal the only one captured by the slave traders?’

The symbol of Varat Baal was a terrifying helmet modeled after a mythical monster. He had never taken off his helmet. The helmet covered his face, so one could only see his eyes.

There was no crazy human being who would enslave Varat Baal even after knowing his identity. The slave trader might have put on the collar without knowing that he was the commander-in-chief of the Demon king’s Army. No one would have expected the terrifying demon to be so handsome.

Jinah also didn’t know what his bare face looked like. However, she believed that there could be no other person in the world with eyes like Varat Baal. Whenever he appeared, red blood flowed like a river over the dry ground of the battlefield. The eyes flashing through the helmet resemble the redness.

Jinah quickly lowered her eyes.

Kame: I would be mad as well…