“What the?!” the man gasped.
A pudgy man in pajamas holding a lantern stared at us with absolute astonishment. Perhaps the commotion had already caused him to stir, as he was on his way to check it out. Yusurika readied her wand and prepared to pounce, but I extended my hand to quietly stop her, instead advancing on the man with my Dark Hand. Countless shadowy hands stretched out from me and restrained the man in a flash. My Dark Hands grabbed at his hands and feet, pinning him in place, and also covered his mouth to ensure that he wouldn’t scream.
“Amazing,” Yusurika praised.
“Instead of flattery,” I began, “find your own way to restrain others without hurting them.”
She visibly deflated, slumping her shoulders.
I don’t know who this man is, but since he looks quite affluent, it’d be best to leave him unharmed. Injuring him would be taking a huge risk. Obviously, killing a man of high status was out of the question, but allowing him to live after striking him would be even worse. If slugging him with a blunt weapon were an option, I would much rather kill him, destroy all evidence of my coming, and burn this place to the ground.
I glanced at the large, bulky, gaudy bed that he’d been sleeping on, and spotted a young, half-naked girl there. Appearing to be around Fol’s age, her eyes were devoid of light and her body was unmoving. Though the man in front of her had been restrained, this girl didn’t react at all and made no attempt to flee. She only sat there, emotionless, her dead eyes turned toward us. Her garments were neat and lavish, but I could see bruises mottling her face and body, indicating that she was being physically abused and beaten on the regular.
“I suspect she’s a slave,” Yusurika whispered into my ear.
“Yes, I gathered as much. Only announcing it to the whole world would make it any more obvious,” I replied sarcastically.
The plump man by my feet was crying in a muffled voice and wriggling around, much to my annoyance. I created another Dark Hand and plunged it into the floor below, just barely missing his face. At once, the man froze in place, his terrified eyes glued on me.
“Don’t make a fuss,” I warned. “If you stay quiet, I won’t kill you.”
The man nodded vehemently and stopped resisting. I approached the half-naked girl sitting on the bed, who looked up at me in a daze. Even now, she doesn’t choose to run. She made no attempt to cover her breasts that were on display, but more concerning was the painful bruise that bloomed on her left cheek. She must’ve been punched there... A quick scan of her body showed several more bruises, but when my gaze landed on her feet, I furrowed my brow with concern. Several deep gashes were around her ankles—her tendons must’ve been sliced up so that she couldn’t flee. It’s not that she isn’t fleeing; she can’t run. Pitiful girl.
“Young Master,” Yusurika said. “Er, I...suspect that the man physically abused her.”
“Gee, you think?” I replied. “I thought they were having a picnic.”
Yusurika looked a bit uneasy to point the obvious out for me, but I wondered if she was mocking my intelligence. There were only so many reasons why a young woman like her would be taken in as a slave, and callous as this might seem, it could’ve been worse. She was simply beaten, abused, and used as a means for this man to entertain his lustful desires. Her ankles and tendons were cut up to ensure that she couldn’t run, and she likely had no hope for her future...but all things considered, she was in a better condition than how most slaves ended up. To be a slave was to not be treated as a human at all.
It was common for them to be used for human experimentation, their bodies morphed and disfigured beyond recognition, wishing for death but never granted its embrace. Many were used as an ingredient for curses, possibly even cut apart while still alive. The fact that this girl was still alive and still looked like a human was fortunate by comparison. Still, I suspected that she herself felt that she had reached the bottom; no doubt these slaves used for sexual pleasure wished for death and no longer clung to life.
“Are you Norn?” I asked, looking down at her.
The moment the name left my lips, her hollow eyes widened ever so slightly with recognition. She parted her lips and tried to speak, but her voice didn’t come. Lowering my gaze to her neck, I saw numerous cuts there as well. Her throat’s probably destroyed too. This girl wasn’t allowed to run or ask for help—this man really had his bases covered. But the fact that she reacted to that name means she must be Norn.
Yusurika stood there silently, but her glare toward the man on the floor was downright murderous, her intentions clear as day. Perhaps she sympathized more as a fellow lady. Look at him like that all you want, but don’t do anything rash.
“Yusurika,” I ordered. “Treat this girl and clean her body.”
“Yes! At once!” she replied.
She swiftly approached the girl and cast healing magic upon her. Yusurika’s abilities allowed her to regenerate lost limbs if need be, so I was confident that healing Norn’s bruises and cuts would be simple. I’m glad I brought Yusurika with me. With her around, she could treat most major injuries so long as the patient was still alive. The moment I’d heard that Norn was sold off as a slave, I knew that she was still alive but was prepared for the worst—for her to have lost all of her limbs, or be transformed into some kind of abomination. After all, in the third arc of the tale in my nightmare, Norn had undergone various procedures and changed her form completely, turning into some kind of monstrous creature as she stood before the main character and his friends.
Looks like Norn was sold to the empire through this man. Which means she was first used as an object of lust by this man before being shipped off for human experimentation. A pitiful end, indeed.