After being brought to the tent which served as a make-shift solitary cell, she was tied to an iron cross.
“Haah, haah... He hasn’t changed a bit, has he?” Sharon mumbled to herself through gritted teeth, her back throbbing. Not only was the whipping as brutal as ever, but Ranbolg had even made it public, subjecting Freiya’s very symbol to grave humiliation.
Furthermore, using the excuse that Sharon’s clothes were the property of Freiya that shouldn’t be torn during punishment, he made her strip to her underwear and take the hundred lashes almost naked. As the so-called knights gathered around her to watch the beating of a half-naked, defenseless girl with lustful eyes, it became clear that Ranbolg simply wanted to humiliate her.
“Is this all? Is this what they call a puni—Oww!” she said, but the burning pain in her back worsened with the slightest twitch.
“Honestly, I’m glad it’s ove—” She was a moment too quick on her sigh of relief. “Who’s there!?”
Feeling a presence different from the guards, Sharon readied herself.
“Hah. The fun is only just beginning!”
Warm candlelight illuminated the tent, but behind that warm light was a face that froze the blood inside Sharon. It was the person who had beaten her with the whip just a bit earlier: Ranbolg himself.
“Your body has changed considerably since the last time we met. You’re nothing like the squeaky brat I once knew.”
A cold sweat broke out on Sharon’s forehead as all her terrible memories came flooding back to her. Back in the day, Ranbolg was not the brute who’d whip her mercilessly, tearing deep into her flesh. He held back and slowly, ever so slowly whaled on her. He beat her hands and legs for hours on end, making her fingers swell to the point where she couldn’t even hold utensils. He reveled in Sharon’s suffering.
There were times when he’d beat her legs so much, she could only drag herself along the ground like a worm. She clearly remembered the taste of the lunch she’d had to eat off the ground like a paralyzed dog. To this day, her body tensed up with fear whenever she saw that whip.
“I have to say, your screams were delicious for a slave.” He poked the defenseless Sharon’s breasts with the hilt of the whip.
“Tch. I’m Freiya’s Diva. You can’t subject me to more humiliation!” Despite being toyed with, she tried her best to keep her spirits up. She couldn’t afford to break now.
“I can’t? Why not? Who’s gonna stop me? The King?”
Ranbolg’s creepy smile set off countless warning signals in Sharon’s mind. She wanted to set herself free and run away, but...
No, I can’t! I’d just suffer even more!
A dark room, candlelight, and a whip. Everything that triggered her childhood trauma was right around her. Ranbolg pressed the whip against her bosom as if he was trying to show it off to her.
“You... Aghhh!” Ranbolg forcefully pushed the base of the whip against her breasts to torture her even more.
“You were a slave back then, but now you’re a Diva! You’ve earned the right to be violated by your gracious prince!”
Sharon wanted to scream, but stopped herself at the last moment. She should’ve been able to fight back; unlike back then, she was strong enough to break those chains with ease. But seeing Ranbolg’s happy yet dirty smile paralyzed her limbs.
“You... can’t...” She squeezed out a tiny word of protest.
Ranbolg was clearly taken aback. A strong stench of liquor entered Sharon’s nostrils as he audibly sighed in front of her, his face distorted with rage.
“Really, now? You may be a Diva, but you’re all mine now. Don’t believe me? Let me show you!”
Her tiny flame of bravery was extinguished; her complexion became paler than candle wax.
No. Don’t. Don’t. Don’t. Don’t, don’t, don’t don’t don’t!
Sharon lost all hope in her weak, frail self who couldn’t resist the man making her into his own plaything. All she could do was make a wish.
Save me, Al...
She knew all too well how futile her wish was. She had willingly turned her back on Al and refused his helping hand, but as Althos’s invasion was imminent, she had nothing to show for her actions. She knew that to Al, she was nothing more than a traitor.
“Gehehe. You’ve grown quite a bit, haven’t you?”
“Ah! No...”
Ranbolg didn’t plan to wait for Sharon to collect herself. He began caressing her bloody back, then slid his hand down her waist and all the way to her bottom. Clenching her teeth, she tried her best to endure the humiliation, but tears suddenly welled up in her eyes. It was unclear even for Sharon if they were tears of regret.
“Hehehehe, I’ll explore every nook and cranny of your body tonight,” Ranbolg said lustfully and stepped closer.
No. No, no, no, no, no! If I have to be ravaged, to be toyed with by this man, then... At that moment, Sharon made a decision. Deep in her heart, she said one last goodbye to the boy referred to as the Demon King, pushed her tongue forward inside her mouth, widened her jaw, and...
“W-We’re under attack!” The guards screamed from outside.
“Tch, just when we were getting to the good part. What’s going on!?” Infuriated, Ranbolg stormed out of the tent.
“I-I’m safe?” After being dazed for a few seconds, Sharon finally sighed the pent-up air out of her lungs alongside words of relief. She tried to recall what had just happened. “Tch, that bastard!”
All she wanted was to run to the river and scrub her body until her skin peeled off, but just as she was fantasizing about removing the filth from her body, she felt another presence approaching.
“Sharon, ya there?”
“Airi, is that you?” Sharon asked, realizing she’d heard that voice before.
“Yah, yah! Oi, Sharon, been a while!”
The person entering the tent answered in a lively tone.
“Airi! You’re alive!”
“You betcha! I ’ave all me digits, too!” Despite being bound by chains, Airi wiggled her toes for Sharon. “Wait, we can’t be foolin’ around! We ’ave to get yer back sorted ’fore it gits worse an’ leaves a scar!”
Airi took a step closer to Sharon.
“Merciful God watchin’ over us, bless me wit’ yer ’ealin’ ’ands.” She placed her hands, glowing with warm light, on Sharon’s back.
“Wait, when did you become a priestess?”
“Nah, I ain’t a priestess! I’m a paladin!” she declared with a smug smile. “Fer goodness’ sake, what was ’e thinkin’, beatin’ ya up like this! That’s how ya’d treat a girl!? What if ’e left scars on yer beautiful skin!?”
She treated Sharon’s injuries one by one while mouthing off against Ranbolg.
“I’m not a girl, I’m a proper woman!”
“Huh!? Whatcha mean, ‘woman’? Didja do somethin’ naughty wit’ Alnoa? Ya got all plump an’ jiggly since we met; didja let ’im play wit’ ’em? Ya can tell me, I’ll keep it ’tween us!”
“Haah... It’s good to know you’re the same old perv I know so well.”
“You betcha! Boobs’re me life!”
“I was just kidding! You don’t have to boast about it!” Sharon acted upset, but deep down, she was grateful for Airi’s unexpected visit. “I also have to thank whoever planned this night raid.”
Despite coming a bit late, she was still grateful for the distraction.
“Hmm? We did that! Well, we really just burned tha storage tent, but at least Ranbolg’ll be out all night lookin’ fer tha attackers.”
Her mysterious savior seemed to be standing right in front of her.
“Wait, then you...”
“Yep! It ain’t no coinkydink! But dun worry, Ranbolg’s lettin’ us Lost Children look after ya!”
“Does that mean all of you are fine!?”
Sharon made a single request of the king before she accepted her duties as a Diva: “Don’t kill any of the Lost Children as long as I am serving as your Diva.” The king had accepted her request, probably because he planned to use them as hostages against Sharon.
“Yah. All five ’undred Lost Children’re alive.”
“Thank goodness.” Sharon released all her worries with a deep sigh.
“Ain’t much ’as changed since then, but at least we’re fed an’ allowed ta go inta battle. They dun rob us of our chastity, neither,” Airi said with a wry smile.
The Lost Children were used as sentinels for encampments. Despite serving under Ranbolg himself, he viewed them as dirt, so he’d never so much as touch them. It was probably a blessing in disguise.
“An’ we can move ’round an’ do a whole buncha things when we’re outside Freiya!” she said happily, but the chains dangling from her legs denied that claim. “But that’s enougha that. Sharon, ya saved our lives! We’re free ta live as long as ya listen ta them, but if ya go against their wishes ’r die, we’ll be killed too.”
“I-Is that so?”
Sharon averted her gaze. She wasn’t used to being regarded as a savior.
“So we trained ’ard ta always be there fer ya when ya need us!” Airi said while gently caressing Sharon’s back. She was done healing her wounds.
Haah, so doing all this wasn’t in vain!
“Okey-dokey, artichokey, I’m done ’ere! Yer still gonna feel pain fer a couple o’ days, but it should be ’unky-dory after that.”
Sharon felt blood rush to her cheeks when she heard Airi’s lively words.
“I appreciate your consideration, Airi, and I think what you did is wonderful. Hearing about it nearly moved me to tears, but could you stop touching me?”
“Huh? How come? Ain’t like they’ll get smaller!”
“Maybe not, but my gratitude certainly will!”
If not for Airi groping her, theirs would have been a perfect, ideal reunion. Regardless, Sharon was incredibly happy to see her again.