Ch.5353. The Iron-Barred Knight (2)

I had spent nearly three days confined in this iron cage, contemplating my situation.

After three days and nights of chewing on this hard bread while thinking, I finally accepted this reality.

I, who had made a name for myself as a top-tier Hunter in Korea, was dead. Now I was Ray, waiting to be sold off as a so-called male knight.

“God is really too cruel.”

I deeply regretted all the wealth and fame I had built up on Earth.

If I had known this would happen, I would have spent all my money living extravagantly.

I was too foolish, just running Dungeons and working all the time without ever properly enjoying myself.

It’s unfair, so unfair.

Still, there’s one fortunate aspect.

‘At least I won’t be treated as a labor slave, I suppose.’

My purpose as a slave has already been determined.

Male knight.

The fantasy creature that the perverted women of this gender-reversed world desperately desire.

Not only do I have a decent face.

Despite being a man who didn’t receive Mana’s blessing, this Ray fellow awakened to Mana, so he was trained to imitate a male knight.

As a result, he learned how to draw a bowstring, swing blades somewhat impressively, and even ride horses. He’s scheduled to be sold to a noble family under the title of male knight.

‘If I’m sold, I’ll probably end up as a trophy or sex slave.’

Well, that’s probably not too bad, all things considered.

It’s not like I have the same values as the men born and raised here who cherish their virginity as a matter of integrity and principle.

And those noble daughters who care so much about appearances and ceremonies…

Surely they wouldn’t keep me locked in their rooms all day and let me waste away.

In any case.

I think such a life would be far better than being an unpaid slave doing hard labor at a construction site under the scorching sun until death.

I’ve long since resigned myself to my fate.

The only problem is…

‘It’s just a temporary reprieve in a world that will eventually collapse.’

This world will eventually be conquered by Demonkin and monsters and fall to ruin.

Having experienced death once, I don’t want to experience such a terrible death again.

Yet I’ll have to face it once more someday.

The Status Window babbled about me boarding a new fate in this damned world.

But in a world already destined for destruction, what difference could one more male knight with barely any Mana make?

My mood sank instantly.

That’s when it happened.

“A high-ranking person has arrived! Stop lazing around and look busy!”

One of the employees hurried in and shouted.

At her cry, an employee who had been sitting idly in a chair slowly got up.

“Who on earth came that you’re making such a fuss? My ears are ringing.”

“Someone from Sianella has come!”

“Sianella or whatever. It’s not like a direct blood relative came, so why are you—”

“The lord has come in person!”

“Gasp…!”

The lord? The lord personally came to a place like this?

The women who normally couldn’t be more bored began moving in a hurry.

I watched them for a while, then sat down on the cold floor, sighed, and closed my eyes.

Someone of a lord’s status would have no reason to buy a male knight.

No need to worry about it.

So I closed my eyes and waited for time to pass as usual, but—

“Respected Lord, could you tell us what kind of slave you’re looking for…?”

“Wait.”

I heard an unfamiliar woman’s voice right in front of me.

At her words, the noisy voices and bustling movements suddenly stopped.

I could feel a lingering presence and gazes directed toward me.

Wondering what was happening, I opened my eyes and looked up at a woman.

With silver-white hair reaching down to her chest.

A woman of extraordinary beauty was looking down at me with azure eyes.

As I calmly met her gaze, I could see the staff behind her looking flustered and helpless.

‘Ah. This person must be the lord they mentioned.’

Judging by the staff’s reactions.

From her clothes that were visibly of different quality, to the prudence and dignity evident in her every small movement.

Anyone could see she was no ordinary person.

‘But why would someone of a lord’s status be interested in me?’

Could it be that even a lord has fallen for the male knight fetish?

I don’t understand why she’s staring at me like this.

I wondered why such a proper-looking person would stare so intently at a slave like me.

As I stared back at her with equal curiosity, the lord opened her mouth while continuing to gaze at me.

“This slave. What’s his name?”

“Do you perhaps like this slave?”

“I don’t need unnecessary comments, just a simple explanation.”

At the lord’s clear, measured words, the facility supervisor who had been excited to introduce me adjusted her expression.

It was obvious that the lord wouldn’t listen no matter how sweetly the explanation was presented.

“This is Ray, the slave we cherish most at our slave market. He’s also being trained to become a male knight in this seventh iron cage.”

“Male knight?”

At the mention of “male knight,” the lord finally took her eyes off me and looked at the supervisor beside her.

The supervisor, not wanting to miss this opportunity, explained:

“Our Ray is a man who has awakened to Mana. As a male slave who has awakened to Mana, we’ve trained him properly and taken great care of him.”

“Oh? He awakened to Mana, you say.”

The lord stroked her chin.

“If he’s awakened to Mana, he probably won’t struggle with most hard work.”

“Of course. Thanks to Mana, he’s much healthier and has better stamina than other men. If you purchase Ray, my lord, you’ll certainly be satisfied at least in terms of stamina.”

“Hmm.”

Regardless of the supervisor’s lewd smile.

The lord swept her long hair back and tilted her head.

Seeing her examining my appearance from head to toe, I could only come to one conclusion.

From asking about my stamina to scrutinizing my appearance. This lord is definitely steeped in the male knight fetish.

If I’m sold to this noble lady, I’ll likely become her plaything rather than just a trophy slave.

Just as I thought.

“You said he’s a male knight. Could I see his swordsmanship skills?”

“Of course.”

True to her male knight fetish, she wanted to check my swordsmanship as well.

The supervisor hurriedly unlocked my iron cage at her words.

Leading me outside, she whispered in my ear:

“This is Lady Ainel, the lord of the County of Sianella. It would be much better for you to be sold to her than to other nobles. So act as impressively as possible. Understand?”

“…I understand.”

Led by the supervisor’s hand outside the iron bars, another woman handed me a practice sword.

As the heavy sword came into my hand, I felt a sense of vitality flowing into my stiffened muscles.

“Come on, show us quickly.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

With the supervisor urging me from behind,

I simply demonstrated the movements I had learned here from memory.

Just some impressive-looking upward strikes and horizontal slashes.

Still, thanks to years of experience in Dungeons, even these crude movements had a certain smoothness and sharpness to them.

But that was the extent of my swordsmanship.

Yet somehow, this person named Ainel seemed to see through something in those casual movements.

She nodded with a thoughtful look in her eyes.

“So that’s his level of swordsmanship. The flow of his movements is surprisingly skillful. Enough to intimidate common thugs at least.”

“Isn’t he good? He’s also learned archery… would you like to see him shoot? He’s much more proficient at that than swordsmanship.”

“No. I don’t think I need to see his archery skills.”

“Does that mean…”

“How much for Ray?”

At Ainel’s words, the corners of the supervisor’s mouth turned up.

Seeing how happy she was at the thought of making money, I inwardly sighed.

I wondered what kind of life awaited me under this so-called lord of the county.

It was obvious I would be sold to this Ainel, this male knight enthusiast.

While various branches of imagination about my future bloomed and withered repeatedly,

Ainel returned to me with the supervisor.

“Can I take him right away?”

“Of course! From now on, Ray is your slave, my lord.”

Ainel nodded at the supervisor’s words.

“If you’d like to look at other slaves—”

“No. Other slaves won’t be necessary. I only intended to buy one from the start.”

“…I understand.”

The supervisor licked her lips.

She must have been hoping to sell more slaves.

Behind her, Ainel commanded me in a rigid tone:

“Follow me.”

I bowed my head at her dignified words and followed behind her.

Moving away from the cage that had confined me, I finally escaped this wretched slave market.

Perhaps because I had been locked in that cold cage seeing the same scenery every day,

everything outside seemed unfamiliar and interesting. As I slowly looked around, Ainel said to me:

“Ray. From now on, you will be a servant of the County of Sianella.”

“…Yes.”

I slowly nodded at her words.

It seemed that Ainel

had quite a fantasy not only about male knights but also about ruling over male servants.

* *

“Ray!”

As I was walking down the corridor, reminiscing about the past, I saw Sione standing in front of her room door, calling me.

“Lady Sione? Why are you here instead of resting comfortably in your room?”

“Hmm… you were taking so long that I was just about to check on you.”

“Ah… thank you for your concern, Lady Sione.”

After I replied, Sione stared at my face for a moment, then smiled brightly and asked:

“You seemed to be deep in thought as you were coming. What were you thinking about?”

“Ah, about that.”

I smiled gently at Sione, who was showing such concern for me, and said:

“I was just reminiscing about the past.”

“About the past?”

“Would you like to hear about it?”

“…I would. Can you tell me?”

Sione’s cheeks flushed slightly at my smile, her eyes sparkling.

I led her into her room while continuing:

“I’ll also tell you about my conversation with the head of the family, so let’s talk inside.”

Inside Sione’s room, I shared everything except the story about the princess’s coming-of-age ceremony.

It was quite entertaining to see Sione’s reactions change dramatically, and we chatted away, losing track of time.

After that, ordinary days continued.

And today, two days later.

Siabel Sianella woke up from her long sleep.