"Boss, what should we do with them? I think we need to take their identities and merchandise."
"Idiot! Don't do it so directly, we will take everything from them little by little until they end up on our side."
"Just imagine if they become our subordinates. Not only will our strength increase, we will also have new toys~"
"Hihihi~ That's right, we can seize everything they have and make them bow to us."
"That way, we can take control of this city more easily! We will take all their rice and corn and sell them outside at high prices and quality!"
"Calm down, first, we must think about the citizens on the western side. They do not give us any profit at all."
"What if we kill them all? Then we spread the news that the demon army was the one who killed them. We just need to give a speech in front of them and say it."
"Should we request unit one? They are currently free, they haven't even returned from that prostitution place."
"Ah, that brothel, huh? The captain always spends a long time there, I don't know where they got such a thing."
"What about the slave trade? Our last consumer already bought quite a lot, right? We still have some superior products, you remember those little cat girls, right?"
"Ah, that child. The quality is very high, whoever buys her will surely be very happy."
"Ahahaha."
The voices of those people slowly brought back my consciousness that had faded earlier.
My head was struck with a blunt object until I collapsed and lost consciousness. Perhaps the same thing also happened to my other companions.
Their voices all belonged to middle-aged men, perhaps even older. Their voices were heavy, filled with laughter, and the sound of their footsteps bounced as if they were jumping in excitement.
They made laughter over the suffering and pain of others their daily entertainment.
I heard everything they were talking about right now, and one thing I could be certain of was that they were illegal slave traders.
And they did something that ultimately allowed them to almost completely control this city.
They were evil people whom I absolutely could not allow to continue if I could defeat them now, but I could not do it.
I slowly opened my eyes and tried my best not to make even the slightest sound.
If I was not careful, they could realize that I was already awake and might begin torturing me.
Oh right, that's true. I already have a reason to kill them all without leaving anyone behind. Truly, I have one now.
How dare they say they wanted to make the four of us their toys. That means Luke and I would become servants they could whip and torture.
As for Hime and Yuu-chan, I cannot even imagine it, but I am sure they would become prey for those greedy people who are obsessed with power and pleasure in this world.
I cannot accept it if the two of them are treated as their toys. I truly feel angry right now.
My chest feels tighter, yet filled with hatred.
My mind is filled with thoughts of Hime, Yuu-chan, Luke, and of course myself. That way, I can still feel the hatred remaining in my heart.
W-what is this condition I'm in right now? I can see something like iron bars in front of me. Could it be that I am inside a cage?
My hands and feet are completely tied with ropes that feel extremely difficult to remove.
Those people tied the ropes very tightly, it even feels quite suffocating now that I am conscious.
Fortunately, my mouth is not covered with cloth or anything that would prevent me from speaking.
My body is sitting still on a chair, and along with the rope, I just realized that the rope is also tying me to this chair.
No wonder my body felt restrained from the start, so this is why.
Huh, there is nothing on my right waist, did they take my sword? Wow, they really intend to take everything I have.
Moreover, that sword is made of Mithril. If sold, I think its price would be extremely high, especially if the seller likes to make unreasonable offers.
That means I cannot move on my own to free myself from these bindings. I am completely helpless being treated like this.
I looked around the cage surrounding me, and I found the three of them in the same condition.
The chair used to restrain Hime is on my left, and right beside me on my right is Luke.
Then at the far right from me is Yuu-chan. At least we are still close to each other, even though none of us can move.
Wait a moment, I narrowed my eyes slightly to see more clearly. Yuu-chan's eyes are open, and she seems to be trying to free her hands.
She repeatedly rubs her hands, hoping the rope binding them will loosen and allow her to escape.
What is she doing? Thank goodness, Yuu-chan is already awake. I just need to ask her to wake Luke, who is very close to her.
"Psst, psst."
I only made a very quiet sound to call Yuu-chan, and fortunately she noticed me.
She immediately looked at me, and I could feel that she was happy when she saw that I was awake.
Wait, is she trying to say something? She moved her mouth as if speaking to me.
Yukito-sama... what... should... we... do... now... we all... are... in danger...
I am... trying... to free my hands... you... try it too... I will... wake... Luke...
This is strange, how could I know that this is what Yuu-chan wanted to say to me? Could it be that I know the three of them more deeply than I thought?
Ah, whatever. I must do what she asked. That was what I initially wanted to ask her anyway.
"Hime, Hime! Wake up, please!" I whispered, hoping she could hear it.
A few seconds after I said that, Hime slowly began to open her eyes.
When she became conscious, she immediately looked at me and tried to say something.
"Yukito-san? Where are we right now, and—"
"Lower your voice! We are being held by those people, can you free yourself from those ropes?" I asked.
Hime began trying to move her hands and feet before something surprising happened.
After she tried, the ropes did not move at all, instead they seemed to become tighter.
The binding on her hands suddenly glowed briefly before disappearing again.
She tried moving her hands once more, and the ropes looked looser, and I think she could remove them whenever she wanted.
I immediately felt happy because she could free herself, and I wanted to celebrate.
"Hime, just release—"
"Wait, I cannot do that now. You will see it later when they realize that we are awake, I do not want to make them suspicious," she replied.
Alright, if she says so, I cannot say anything else except follow her.
If Hime says that, those people should realize we are awake and begin asking us several things.
Maybe earlier Hime used some kind of magic near her hands, but is there really magic that works like that? I am truly curious about it.
Then, Yuu-chan cannot do the same thing as Hime. Does that mean only Hime can do it?
—
A few minutes later, one of those people realized that he heard a faint sound coming from our cage.
And everything that happened afterward was exactly as Hime had said.
"You guys, wasn't there some kind of sound earlier?"
"Huh? What sound? Don't change the topic, we are discussing your next task—"
"Shh! I definitely heard something, I will check it."
Even though they were only a few steps away from our cage, none of them intended to look in this direction.
Until that man finally turned and saw that all of us were awake except Luke, for some reason he was still unconscious.
The man smiled until I could see his slightly yellow teeth, and he walked toward us, which of course made his companions realize that we were awake.
"They are awake? Take everything, Boss! Make them conscious."
"We will continue our plan, boss, just focus on our new slave candidates."
Clang.
The man opened the lock that closed these bars and walked toward me.
I do not know why he focused on me directly, but I did not care about that at all.
"Oi, that look of yours is very disgusting, you know! Well, it doesn't matter, you might become one of my precious valuables, you should be grateful to me."
"But I did not expect you to truly trust us so easily, even though I had done something suspicious when we first met in that slum settlement."
Wait, was he the man who rode the horse to take us here? Damn it!!! He really managed to trap us.
"Ahaha!! I like that expression of yours, you truly show the face of someone who is angry when looking at me! Sorry, sorry, I cannot hold back my laughter, ahahaha!!"