Chapter 75

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Lucy took out the doll from her bag.

A soft, yellow chick doll.

Agrevan’s red eyes lit up when he saw it.

“Give it to me…”

Agrevan stretched out his hand with a desperate expression.

Lucy hid the chick doll behind her back.

“I’ll give it to you if you transform into your original form.”

“But this is my original form…? I always look like this.”

“If you don’t transform, I’ll give this to Hon.”

Lucy turned to look at Hon.

Hon had climbed down from Lucy’s arms and was now sitting on the floor.

When Lucy shook the chick doll, Hon stuck out his tongue and wagged his tail.

“No!”

Agrevan frantically reached out his hand.

But Lucy hid the chick doll behind her back again.

“Last chance. Transform into your original form.”

“Why…?”

“Because it’s cute.”

“What?!”

Crimson flames erupted around Agrevan.

“I’m a high-ranking demon! How dare you call me cute! Don’t insult me!”

Lucy sighed and handed the chick doll to Hon.

“Ah, no!”

Agrevan’s body began to crack and crumble.

The black scales, sharp claws, and three pairs of horns disappeared in an instant.

What remained was a small, adorable figure.

“Is… is this okay?”

Agrevan squirmed, seemingly embarrassed.

Lucy smiled and handed the chick doll to Agrevan.

“Hehe.”

Agrevan beamed as he accepted the chick doll.

He cradled it as if it were a treasure, gently stroking it.

Lucy asked,

“Are you a boy or a girl?”

His face had an androgynous look.

His hair reached his shoulders, and his voice was youthful, making it hard to tell his gender.

Not that a demon’s gender really mattered, but Lucy was just curious.

Agrevan stroked the chick doll and said,

“It’s a secret.”

“Why?”

“It’s just a secret.”

“…”

Lucy narrowed her eyes.

Part of her wanted to use shadow binding to check for herself.

But that felt a bit too much.

Even if he was a demon, tormenting him too much seemed pitiful.

She figured she’d find out someday.

“Now, get to work. I gave you the doll.”

“Ah, okay.”

Agrevan hugged the chick doll and looked at Lucy.

“What should I do?”

“This is a slave hunters’ hideout. Kill the slave hunters and rescue the slaves.”

“Got it. Can I keep the souls of the ones I kill?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you!”

◈

Kurt was sitting in a chair, counting gold coins.

This month’s profits were good.

“Hehe.”

Nobles didn’t hesitate to spend money on pretty female slaves.

While they pretended to value honor and dignity in public, they secretly poured money into satisfying their ugly desires.

Thanks to that, slave hunters like Kurt could make a living.

And a pretty comfortable one at that.

Glug, glug.

Kurt poured himself a glass of premium wine.

He usually hunted for slaves in rural villages.

No matter how remote the village, there was always a pretty girl to be found, and more often than not, she was a virgin.

Country girls were much more conservative than city girls.

They considered it natural to preserve their purity until marriage.

If they broke that rule, it would be hard for them to marry in a small village.

Kurt knew that well.

After all, he was from a rural village himself.

So while other slave hunters scoured slums or red-light districts, Kurt roamed the countryside.

Whenever he found a pretty girl, he would kidnap her and sell her.

The most valuable slaves were those with pretty faces and good figures.

But whether they were virgins or not could make the price difference several times over.

Slaves were possessions.

Of course, many nobles believed they should be the first to own them.

As a man, Kurt understood that well, which was why hunting in the countryside was the most rational choice.

“But this time, I really hit the jackpot.”

A while ago, Kurt was heading to the countryside to find a girl to kidnap.

While passing through a forest, he spotted a girl.

Mysterious purple hair.

Animal ears and a tail.

She was a rabbit beastkin.

The girl’s long rabbit ears looked soft, and her tail was fluffy like a ball of cotton.

Beastkin slaves were rare and could be sold for at least ten times the price of a regular slave.

Plus, she was pretty and young.

She was worth her weight in gold.

Kurt immediately kidnapped her with his men.

The girl, true to her rabbit nature, was fast, but she was hit in the thigh by a dagger Kurt threw and collapsed.

―P-please, spare me. I-I didn’t do anything wrong…

―Heh heh, that’s right, you didn’t do anything wrong. Just accept it as your fate. It’ll be easier that way.

Kurt tied her up and brought her to the hideout.

She was now locked in a cell.

Her leg wound hadn’t healed yet, so there was no worry of her escaping…

“Boss, we have a problem!”

“What is it?”

“The rabbit girl escaped!”

“What?!”

Kurt jumped to his feet.

“You idiots! I told you to keep a close eye on her! Do you know how much she’s worth?!”

“S-sorry, boss. We took our eyes off her for just a moment… But we’ll catch her soon. The guys are already chasing her…”

“If you don’t bring her back, you’re all dead, got it?!”

“Y-yes, boss.”

“No, I’ll go look for her myself.”

Kurt immediately left the room.

Just then.

“Kyaaak!”

A scream echoed from afar.

Kurt flinched and looked at the subordinate standing beside him.

The subordinate shook his head, looking just as clueless.

“Idiots.”

Kurt clicked his tongue and drew his sword.

He ran in the direction of the scream.

As he ran, more screams echoed.

There were even sounds of something breaking.

‘What the hell is going on?’

The only thing he could think of was an attack.

Either the city guards or another slave hunter faction had raided the place.

But that was unlikely.

He regularly paid a hefty bribe to the city guards, and he had already eliminated all rival slave hunter factions.

A pungent smell stung his nose.

A foul, nauseating stench, as if flesh was burning.

Moreover, the usually cool air felt unnaturally hot.

Kurt frowned as he turned the corner of the hallway.

Then, he abruptly stopped in his tracks.

“Wh-what is this…?”

A horrific scene unfolded before his eyes.

The hallway was filled with crimson flames.

Charred bodies were scattered everywhere.

They were all Kurt’s subordinates.

Thud. Thud.

The sound of someone approaching.

Kurt slowly raised his head.

A small, slender figure with golden hair was walking toward him.

The child’s doll-like face was beautiful.

But it was hard to tell if they were a boy or a girl—their appearance was androgynous.

“You… what are you?”

Kurt tightened his grip on his sword.

His hands were trembling.

The child’s red eyes stared straight at Kurt.

“Behold, human.”

The child whispered softly.

“The end of the desires you’ve built up, consumed by flames.”

Crimson flames rose from the child’s hand.

“Your gods are silent, and your sins cry out. So listen. The greed you indulged in…”

“Hurry up and finish it. Stop showing off.”

Someone spoke from beside the child.

It was a girl with white hair.

“Or I’ll take the chick doll back.”

“Ah, no, you can’t do that.”

Chick doll?

Now that he looked closely, the golden-haired child was holding a chick doll.

Kurt furrowed his brows.

“What are you? Are you messing with me…”

Whoosh!

Kurt’s words were cut off.

Crimson flames shot from the child’s hand and engulfed Kurt.

The pain of his flesh burning.

Kurt writhed on the ground in agony.

“G-gyaaak!!”

In his final moments, Kurt barely managed to lift his head and look at the golden-haired child.

The child was smiling brightly, watching Kurt die.

◈

Indeed, as a high-ranking demon, Agrevan was incredibly powerful.

With a single gesture, countless slave hunters were engulfed in crimson flames and turned to ash.

Once the slave hunters were dealt with, Lucy asked Agrevan to find the slaves.

Agrevan used the souls of the slave hunters he had killed.

The souls retained the memories of their lives, and using those memories, finding the slaves was as easy as pie.

“This way!”

Agrevan scurried ahead.

Following him, they found a cell with iron bars, inside which several women were imprisoned.

All of them looked terrified.

Some were huddled in the corners, while others hugged their knees with trembling hands.

“Is everyone okay?”

Anna asked the women.

“I’m a priestess from the Bellagard Cathedral. We’re here to save you.”

Relief washed over the women’s faces at Anna’s words.

Marco found the keys and opened the cell door, while Brian and Thomas helped the women out.

Finn and Anna healed the injured women.

“You’re safe now. Come with us outside.”

“Th-thank you…”

They led the women toward the exit.

“Huh?”

Just then, Agrevan tilted his head and muttered.

“But where did the rabbit beastkin girl go?”

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
You would think his first instinct was to escape, but he just stood there and died like an idiot. 

I guess intelligent lifeforms are rare in the slave trading industry.