Chapter 2:
Flum’s Blessing in Disguise
THE SLAVE TRADER lifted Flum by her reddish-brown hair and threw one kick after another at her stomach. “You worthless wretch! Do you know how much money you lost me?! Why…you…little…!!”
Flum heaved and gasped as the toe of the man’s shoe landed. A trail of drool ran out the side of her mouth and down her chin. A droplet fell onto the man’s shoe, which only spurred a new outburst of violence.
“What’re you doin’ actin’ like the victim in all this?? It’s all your fault that you’re so worthless that no one’ll buy ya!”
The dull thud of boot meeting flesh continued to echo throughout the room.
When the famed hero Jean Inteige had first approached him to say he had a girl to sell, the merchant had almost gotten down on his knees to thank the heavens right then and there. Forcing an innocent girl into slavery was obviously against the law, and to make matters worse, she was one of the heroes chosen to defeat the Demon King! But this also implied the unfortunate soul had some pretty impressive stats—stats that would sell for a very nice markup on the open market. Even Jean himself had said “the reward is well worth the risk, I assure you.”
And so, the merchant did his due diligence and kept to his part of the deal. He avoided asking questions; not because he was being polite, per se, but because Jean gave him the impression that he wasn’t supposed to. In retrospect, that had been a clear sign that something was off. Jean had been tight-lipped with information and hadn’t even tried to haggle for more money.
How could he have been so stupid?
The first time the merchant started to worry was when he saw how Jean dragged Flum over and how he disparaged her. “Useless,” he had said. Right in front of the man who was hoping to buy this girl at an exorbitant price. But he was dealing with a legendary hero—a sage, even!—and so the merchant had accepted his terms sight unseen.
It was only after completing the transaction and making his exit that the man finally decided to check Flum’s stats. Fortunately, this was easily accomplished with the Scan spell, simple magic anyone could use, regardless of their affinity.
Flum Apricot
Affinity: Reversal
Strength: 0
Magic: 0
Endurance: 0
Agility: 0
Perception: 0
When it became apparent that Flum’s stats were all zeroes, the blood drained from the merchant’s face. And by that point, of course, Jean was already long gone.
Under normal circumstances, he would always use Scan prior to making a purchase. Now, he realized Jean would probably have called off the deal right there if he’d tried to use Scan at any point during the transaction.
It came down to this: he’d been played. Jean had seen right through him.
About a week had passed since the merchant had so readily parted with a large sum of money to have this girl foisted upon him. No matter how sour he was about the whole affair, he couldn’t exactly return her, and considering he’d bought her on the black market, a girl with stats that were all zeroes was pretty much unsellable.
But that was all about to change.
The merchant grabbed Flum by the collar of her threadbare shirt and dragged her down the stone corridor, the rough flooring scraping against her skin as they went.
“Ow…owww…”
She no longer put up much objection to this degree of pain. Nor did she have the mental energy to try and imagine where she was being taken now. It wasn’t going to be nice, that much she knew. She might be sold to someone else, or maybe even killed—either way, her future was grim. The moment she was branded a slave, Flum knew she would never be going home again.
She’d cried in the beginning, but at this point, Flum had given up. She didn’t even struggle as the merchant dragged her down a flight of stairs, only letting out small yelps of pain when her legs or thighs slammed into the step below. Once in the basement, the merchant unlocked a cage and threw her inside before quickly locking the door behind her.
Flum hit the ground with a loud thud and collapsed to the cold floor. “Nnnng…”
She propped herself up and looked around the cage. She spotted four other slaves in here with her, their dull eyes confirming that they had all accepted their impending demise. It seemed no one was bothering to feed these people, since they all looked sickly and frail.
The cage was also filthy, though that was to be expected. It smelled absolutely foul, causing Flum’s nose to instinctively scrunch up. In one corner was a woman surrounded by her own feces and urine. An eerie smile graced her face. Her heart was still beating, but inside, she was already dead.
Suddenly, she heard the merchant speak up from where he sat in a chair just outside the cell.
“Well, it’s getting pretty full in here. I guess it’s about time.”
It was clear something was about to start, but none of the walking dead in the cell seemed to show any interest in what that something was. The man stood from his chair and walked away to start his preparations. For the moment, the only sound in the basement was the slaves’ breathing.
Flum crawled to the back of the room and rested her back against the wall. As she slowly began to control her breathing and took in her surroundings, her gaze came to rest on an odd-looking figure, their face covered in bandages.
She figured she’d make some small talk to pass the time. “How…how long have you been in here?”
The figure slowly turned to face Flum. When they finally spoke, it was to say, “I was brought here three days ago.”
Flum hadn’t realized she was a girl until she heard her speak. She was so thin that the outlines of her bones were visible just underneath her skin, and the bandage wrapped around her face obscured her features. Her light grey hair brushed against her shoulders; Flum figured it might even be silver if given a good wash. The length of her hair alone might have given away her gender, but it was ragged, as if it had been cut forcefully with a rusty blade.
The girl’s clothing was dingy, her skin smeared with grime, and she carried with her a slightly pungent odor. And yet, there was something about the way she looked into Flum’s eyes that left her breathless. Her eyes were absolutely beautiful. Flum couldn’t make herself look away.
In those eyes, she saw a beautiful femininity and a look of pure innocence. Had fate treated her differently, Flum was certain that this girl would be leading a truly happy life. She could tell just by looking into her beautiful eyes, a stark contrast to the disgusting dungeon they found themselves in.
“Umm… So…uhh… I suppose everyone here’s going to be killed?”
“I don’t know, but the master said that he’d be disposing of us all.”
“The master?”
“The man from earlier. No one will buy me, so that makes him my master.”
“Oh… I see…”
Flum could tell that she and this other woman had lived completely different lives. It sounded like she had been a slave from a very young age and was accustomed to this.
Upon closer inspection, Flum noticed that some of the skin under the girl’s bandages was red and inflamed. She shuddered to think about just what punishment the other woman had received at the hands of their so-called master.
Flum didn’t feel like continuing her conversation with the bandaged figure, though she was surprised at just how young the other girl seemed to be. As she let the silence envelop them, she noticed the girl stare at her for a while longer before finally turning her gaze back to the ground.
The two sat there, hugging their legs to their chests for warmth, staring vacantly at the grey floor. Flum watched some bugs she’d never seen before squirm around the cell on their countless legs. Under other circumstances, she’d have been disgusted by the sight and tried to get as far away as she could, but now she stared, fixated.
After an indeterminate amount of time, she heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Looking up, she spied the merchant standing on the other side of the bars. He set a small chair down in front of the cell and sat, crossing one leg over another.