episode_0001

In the street filled with vagrants, thugs, and prostitutes, the word hope is nowhere to be seen, no matter how hard you look.

This place, Outer Street, where continuously occurring negative emotions cause a chain reaction, staining or ostracizing people with proper hearts.

It was truly a simple name befitting a marginalized area.

“You!! Hurry up and move!!”

-Slap!

“…….”

A rough-looking gang member mercilessly swung his whip.

He had to hand over the children to the ‘Wax Doll Collector’ as quickly as possible, but one girl wasn’t listening.

-Slap! -Slap!

Even though she was handcuffed and couldn’t resist, the girl stared at the man whipping her with vacant eyes.

Even though she was seventeen years old and her body had grown to some extent, it must have been painful enough to be hard to bear.

However, the girl only moved briefly when she was whipped, then continued to stand firm.

“Damn it! You were following well until just now, what the hell’s gotten into you suddenly!!”

He kept whipping her, and despite red lines being drawn on her arms, she endured.

If he had his way, he would whip her until she moved, but that would damage the value of the product.

The ‘Wax Doll Collector’ had requested children in unharmed condition.

Any more injuries were more unpleasant for the gang member than for the girl.

“Alright. I’ll show you what happens if you resist.”

-Swish!!

The man swung the whip again.

This time, its direction was not towards the girl.

-Snap!!

“Kyaaaak!!”

As an irrepressible scream tore out of the mouth of a young child following behind,

-Flinch

The girl reacted.

The man didn’t miss that reaction and captured it accurately.

Having led countless slaves until now, the gang member could be said to have considerable skill in how to handle them.

He knew how to handle the girl… he had figured it out.

“Ho oh…. Are you saying you don’t want to see the other children hurt?”

-Slap! -Slap!

“Uwaaang!!”

“Don’t hit them…! I’m sorry…!!”

As the man continued to whip the children, the girl finally opened the mouth she had kept shut.

“Stop….”

“What? I can’t hear you clearly.”

Crunch

At the sight of the gang member slyly scoffing, the girl ground her teeth once and shouted.

“I’ll go, so stop it!!”

“Tsk…. See? You should have just followed along from the beginning.”

The man pulled the iron chain around the girl’s neck and moved forward.

Even without that, the sight of the Wax Collector raging and running wild if they didn’t arrive on time was so clear that his vision went dark.

He remembered how much effort he had put into appeasing the old man who had raged about turning someone into a wax doll last time.

Perhaps because of that, he felt quite resentful towards the girl who had stood firm like that, dragging out time.

“Hurry up!”

-Clank!

When he pulled the children who were linked together in a line by chains, like sausages hung in a butcher shop, they followed limply.

It had already been three years since he joined the Jackal organization, but having to do work that only a low-ranking member would do made him feel a surge of annoyance.

Walking with large strides without paying any attention to the children’s pace, they arrived at a street where not a single ray of sunlight entered, always filled with damp humidity and a terrible stench.

“Uh uh uh… uhh….”

The street was filled with vagrants lying sprawled out, intoxicated by drugs, waving their arms in the air.

The man kicked away the zombie-like vagrants who were approaching the children, reaching out their hands.

-Thwack! -Crack!

“Ack…! Uh uh uh… ack…..”

The gaunt vagrants tumbled over with a single kick.

And then they cowered like a roly-poly and sniffled.

Utterly disgusting and hideous.

“Bolivas bastards. How many drugs have they scattered?”

Just a while ago, this street wasn’t overflowing with addicts to this extent.

But the Bolivas of the back alleys, whose main business is drug trafficking.

It was clear there was some unpleasant ulterior motive in expanding their business like this to raise funds.

‘I need to hand over the children and report.’

Even if you are a low-ranking member, being in the shadow of a large power brings many advantages.

And reporting information like this might improve his standing.

As he continued to walk, the sight of vagrants began to fade away.

“Tsk…….”

Even those addicted to drugs have places they avoid.

If you go even a little closer, it’s the terminus of unpleasantness where an unknown stench and the smell of wax assault the nose.

At the end of the alley was the Wax Doll Collector’s workshop.

Even if he expressed his unwillingness to enter by clicking his tongue, he had to enter.

Displeased with this situation where there was no choice, the man nervously pulled the leash.

-Crash!

The children, losing their balance from the sudden impact, fell, but the man didn’t whip them.

Although it was his fault they fell, normally he would have whipped them without hesitation.

But not this time.

‘Anyway, they’ll be taxidermied into wax dolls soon.’

However, not whipping them didn’t mean he didn’t rush them.

“Get up right now? If you dawdle any longer, I’ll hit you again.”

The children, having no choice, stumbled up and went down the stairs.

Moving to an unknown place was frightening, but more frightening than that was the man’s whip.

The sound of many children’s tear drops continued, sometimes sounding like the pit-pat of falling rain.

“Heh heh….”

Even at the children’s tears, the man paid no mind.

He was just happy that not a single child had been left behind.

If things went like this, there would be more small opportunities for interception along the way, so he simply couldn’t contain his excitement.

His greedy heart was expressed with an unpleasant laugh, and soon transformed into greedy hands to open the wooden door.

-Click

“I brought the children you requested-”

The Wax Doll Collector’s workshop was the same as usual.

Taxidermied children lined up along the wall, and devices for making them into taxidermy.

The difference was that the Wax Doll Collector was bound to one of the devices, and a man he had never seen before was standing leisurely beside the device.

“…Who are you?”

Having made his judgment instantly, he pulled out the dagger from his waist.

The act of drawing a weapon is an act that reveals hostility without filtering.

It was no different from saying, I will harm you, without any concealment.

For some reason, the squinting man paid no mind, and looked clearly at the children – especially the one who had endured the whipping – and spoke.

“Pleased to meet you, everyone. My name is Owen.”

With a suspicious face and attire combined with that kind of way of speaking, the children who had been holding back burst into tears.

The bound Wax Doll Collector, the crying children, Owen just smiling. And the gang member standing awkwardly with a knife.

A confusion like four incompatible puzzle pieces put together was unfolding in the collector’s workshop.

-Waaah!

-Sob… sniff…

“Shit, shut up!!”

In an already headache-inducing situation, the children’s crying echoing in his ears made his annoyance surge to his head.

Sometimes, in situations of extreme stress, people unconsciously perform actions they do repeatedly in normal times.

In his case, it was swinging the whip at the children.

-Slap!!

But at this moment, he had to restrain himself.

“…They don’t know when enough is enough if I don’t acknowledge them.”

Owen, who had been smiling cheerfully, his expression hardened for a moment.

-Swish!

As Owen reached out his hand, the internal magic began to converge towards Owen.

Tiny particles gathered and gathered again, and were completely absorbed in an instant.

“Gather. Enhance.”

The magic particles quickly coalesced, taking the form of a thin awl.

And then-

“Accelerate. Rotate-”

-Flick!

“Penetrate.”

With a sound of something passing quickly, the magic that had been swirling internally dissipated in the blink of an eye.

Everyone- no, everyone except one person- thought that nothing had particularly changed.

-Thud!

One person. Just one person collapsed onto the floor.

His posture was very awkward.

The arm holding the knife was stretched downwards, while the arm that had been swinging the whip was raised high.

A red line was flowing from his forehead.

“Whew, well now….”

Silence fell upon the scene of the man who died instantly without even being able to scream.

With the occasional sound of hiccuping as background noise, Owen gave an awkward smile and spoke.

“There was a bit of a commotion, wasn’t there?”

***

Ithis thought.

What is that man?

He said his name was Owen. She knew nothing else.

But…….

“Ho ho. How terrible it is to trade children.”

That sight of him smiling and waving his hand.

It wasn’t grotesque or strange, but it was somehow unpleasant.

Where did this unpleasantness originate?

This workshop where children are taxidermied into wax dolls?

That was certainly part of it, but it wasn’t solely because of that.

Then the terrible stench caused by wax and vomit?

Her sense of smell wasn’t paralyzed, but at some point, smelling things had become faint, so it wasn’t because of that either.

“Hmm? Why are your expressions so stiff? It’s safe now, so please smile. Smiling is most beautiful at your age.”

……That man.

That man who was humming as if subtly enjoying himself and giving an unpleasant smile.

Unlike the terrible surroundings, his cheerful way of speaking and his squinting-eyed smile gave a sense of disconnect while also giving unpleasantness.

Moreover, the caretaker who dragged us here.

What the squinting man did to him was clearly imprinted on her retina.

‘Is that also magic?’

She had accidentally witnessed a magician fighting when she was young.

If their magic was the universal form of magic described in fairy tales or books, the magic he performed seemed very alien yet free.

Furthermore, it was a wondrous sight, as if casting stages and manifestation were omitted and it was just realized.

The caretaker couldn’t even scream.

“…….”

“Oh dear, are you perhaps too tired to even speak? That’s truly unfortunate.”

“…What do you want from us?”

“What I want? Is that what you say to someone who saved you?… Although the situation is a bit ambiguous, isn’t it? Anyway, this is all just for your sake? For your sake….. indeed, ho ho.”

“………Let the children go.”

Judging by his skill in using magic and his relaxed attitude, the option of overpowering him and escaping seemed virtually impossible.

There is a saying that it is too early to give up, but that only applies when there is some possibility.

As soon as I heard his words, I knelt down, in a position that was as servile as possible, showing no intention of resistance.

“The children have done nothing wrong…. So please… please just let the children go.”

“If you say that, does it mean you have done something wrong?”

“…….”

“Well, that’s fine. I just asked out of curiosity. But there is something important.”

-Slide

The man approached until he was so close I could feel his breath, and then just squatted down there.

Amidst the stench of wax, a faint scent of mint and lemon passed by.

An strange sensation arose, as if my mind was calming down.

“…If it’s something important?”

“Why should I let the children go?”

“…….”

He was asking as if he was truly curious, but no.

A despicable way of speaking, wanting something but hiding it.

However, there was nothing I could pay him with.

No money, no family, no home. Simply nothing. All gone.

The only thing I had left was…….

“Ah.”

“Oh. Did something occur to you?”

“…My body.”

“……Pardon?”

The only thing I could call my own.

The only thing I could do as I pleased.

“All I have is this body. I’ll do whatever you tell me to do. So just let the children go-”

-Thwack

At that instant, a pain in the back of my neck made my consciousness feel distant.

My body falling and my eyes closing.

In between, Owen’s expression of disgust was captured.

His eyes looking at me as if I was a strange person.

It was utterly confusing.

***

Perhaps because he hit the back of her neck cleanly, Ithis was unconscious.

The sight of the protagonist from a novel lying defenseless, having collapsed, felt unexpectedly new.

Her face was bluish and her body gaunt, perhaps from having been abused for a long time.

“Inhale…….”

Certainly, her physical condition was serious… but it seemed her mental state was even more serious.

“The kid is saying strange things.”

First, she asks me to release the children when I wasn’t even holding them, and then just because I asked back about it, she offers her body.

…Not to mention, she treats me as if I’m someone who does strange things.

“Whew…….”

It seems Ithis urgently needs mental care and psychological education.