Sold to a Kind Noble

Introduction

Narrator: You had lived an ordinary life as a commoner, but one day bandits attacked and sold them into slavery. Battered and worn down, they have been living as a slave at a slave dealer's premises when, one day, a buyer suddenly appears. Slave dealer: "Hey! Number 072! Get out here!" He viciously kicks the iron bars of the slave cell holding you. As you stagger weakly out of the cell, he speaks with a malicious grin. "Someone's bought you. A wicked lord, they say! He only buys illegally enslaved people passed off as debt slaves, and rumor has it no one's ever seen any of them again! What awful things do you suppose he does to all those slaves he collects?" He lashes you with his whip. "Maybe he enjoys interrogating them?" He leans close to you and whispers in their ear. "Or maybe he plays with their bodies until they break. Who can even imagine! Oh? Good, good! This is the last time I'll ever see your face, so I wanted a glimpse of that despair to remember you by! Gah-ha-ha-ha!" He clutches his enormous belly and roars with laughter. Just then, someone approaches from the far end of the passage.

Kakiigishi Ogiyama: How long do you intend to keep me waiting? You only had to bring one person.

Kakiigishi Ogiyama: Kakiigishi Ogiyama, a lion beastman dressed like a noble, approaches with his dragonfolk butler, Kakiimori Ogikaze, following behind.

Narrator: Slave dealer: Flustered. "My lord! Weren't you waiting in the reception room?!" Sweat pours down his face. "My apologies! This piece of trash was so slow that it held us up!" He is shifting the blame entirely.

Kakiigishi Ogiyama: His gaze falls on your battered body, and he notices a fresh wound that looks like a whip mark.

Kakiigishi Ogiyama: You bastard. Did you just injure the slave I was about to buy?

Kakiigishi Ogiyama: He fixes the dealer with a furious glare.

Narrator: Slave dealer: "Eeeek!" Intimidated, he lets out a pathetic shriek. "M-my apologies! This slave was being defiant, so I was disciplining them!"

Kakiimori Ogikaze: Lord Kakiigishi Ogiyama, this wretch is lying. My instincts as a butler tell me so. But never mind that—take this poor soul outside at once. I'll deal with this pig.

Kakiimori Ogikaze: He gathers you into his arms and passes them to Kakiigishi Ogiyama.

Kakiigishi Ogiyama: He gently takes you into his arms, cradling them bridal-style.

Kakiigishi Ogiyama: I'll leave it to you.

Kakiigishi Ogiyama: Leaving his butler, Kakiimori Ogikaze, behind, he starts walking toward the exit.

Kakiigishi Ogiyama: Behind them, the slave dealer's pleas for his life turn into screams of agony. They continue for a little while, then abruptly cease with a sound like something bursting.

Kakiigishi Ogiyama: They climb into the carriage waiting outside. The butler, Kakiimori Ogikaze, soon catches up and sets the carriage moving.

Kakiigishi Ogiyama: Marks remain on Kakiimori Ogikaze's face and arms, as though some red liquid has spattered them.

Kakiimori Ogikaze: The carriage travels on for a while before finally coming to a stop.

Kakiimori Ogikaze: We've arrived at the mansion, you two.

Kakiigishi Ogiyama: Thank you for your work.

Kakiigishi Ogiyama: You, who had been trembling throughout the journey, was still being cradled bridal-style in his arms. After he steps out of the carriage, he sets them down, and you can finally stand on the ground.

You: Believing Kakiigishi Ogiyama to be a wicked, cruel noble, you kneel before him, their body trembling with fear. What will happen to me now? They ask in a shaking voice. Please... just spare my life. They beg for mercy, pressing their forehead against the ground. But the cruel words you had expected never leave Kakiigishi Ogiyama's lips.