Chapter 2: Fixing the Broken Female Knight

Beyond the iron bars, the slaves, treated worse than beasts, were all in a wretched state.

The people of this world can’t properly distinguish between beauty and ugliness.

They only care about whether someone is strong or sick.
But it was different for me.
The talented shone brightly and beautifully, while the untalented appeared ugly and repulsive.

And the slaves’ appearances were…

To put it nicely, they looked unique.

To put it badly….

Hmm…
Um…
Uh…

You know what I mean….

‘It makes sense that someone so talented wouldn’t easily fall into slavery.’

I thought to myself, swallowing the bitter feeling.

“Hey, you there, the one who looks useful! Drag him over here! He’s got some muscle, but I wonder if he can even use his strength properly!”

Victor, the second son of the Marquis family.

He was ordering a sturdy male s*ave around with a jerk of his chin, treating him like a piece of luggage.

Victor said he’d fight well if given an axe, but I had my doubts.

I scanned the area a bit more, but there didn’t seem to be any slaves worth buying.

“Are these all the slaves you have?”

“There are some unsold slaves over there, but most of them are defective.”

Clinging to a sliver of hope, I made my way to the darkest, gloomiest corner of the market.

The corner was literally piled with slaves who were treated as ‘defective goods’.

Many of them looked even more wretched than the slaves in the central area.

Just as I was about to turn back in disappointment, ready to give up.

“Huh?”

I thought my heart stopped.

A girl, huddled in the corner, covered in dust and filth.

A bloodless face, eyes that had lost their light.

But in my eyes, her face was more perfect and dazzlingly radiant than any sculpture.

Delicately sculpted features, skin that seemed to hold a soft glow.

She was, without a doubt, a peerless beauty.

The people of this world would never recognize such aesthetic value.
But I was different.

However, that admiration soon turned into a brutal recognition of reality.

The girl had no arms.

Below her shoulders, I could see crudely wrapped bandages.

Judging by the dark, dried bloodstains, they must have been brutally severed during a battle.

Through the thin cloth, her body, though emaciated, revealed toned muscles in her waist, legs, and the stumps where her arms used to be, suggesting she wasn’t from a common family background.

Even through the tattered clothes stained with dirt and grime, the girl’s breasts were surprisingly full and shapely for her age.

Shock, pity, and a sense of awe at the immense talent hidden within her mixed together, causing my heart to pound violently.

The conviction that I was the only one who recognized this girl’s true worth sent a shiver down my spine.

“What happened to that child?”

At my question, the s*ave trader glanced at the girl in the corner with a look of displeasure.

“Ah, you mean that armless wench? She’s a prisoner from the North, said she was a knight or something. With that rare silver hair and red eyes, they said it was a sign of some great bloodline in the North, so I brought her over thinking I had nothing to lose. As you can see, it was a bad move.”

The s*ave trader clicked his tongue and continued.

“No matter how good her bloodline is, what use is she like this? Unless you dump her at a temple and pour a ton of gold into fixing her arms… she’s about to be disposed of. She can’t understand a word, so she probably doesn’t even know what I’m saying right now.”

His voice was laced with a cold indifference that placed no value on her whatsoever.

“How much for that child?”

Instantly, the bored expression on the s*ave trader’s face vanished.

His eyes narrowed, then glinted with a greedy light.

Like a merchant whose eyes change the moment he sees a chance to sell even a dead fish.

“Pardon? Are you perhaps trying to buy that child? Hoho, the young master has quite a unique taste… Very well! As a special offer, just give me 40 copper coins!”

I scoffed inwardly at his complete change in attitude, right down to his tone of voice.

But on the outside, I maintained the most nonchalant expression I could and retorted.

“You’re asking for 40 copper coins for a s*ave with no arms? Do you have a conscience?”

I continued, feigning indifference.

“Exactly 10 copper coins. I can’t give you any more than that. Who would even buy a s*ave like that?”

The s*ave trader studied my face for a moment, then clapped his hands once as if giving up and exclaimed.

“Aish, it’s a losing business, but take her! I was wondering what to do with her anyway, so this works out! Of course, the branding fee is a separate 1 silver. As you know, branding is essential for someone who was a knight.”

A 10-copper-coin s*ave with a branding fee of 1 silver (100 copper coins).

The tail was wagging the dog.

But I didn’t hesitate.

“Fine.”

Just then, a voice full of ridicule came from behind me.

It was Victor.

Having approached at some point, he tapped my shoulder and mocked me.

“Did getting kicked out of your family make you go crazy? 10 copper coins for an armless wench like that? What are you going to use her for? Are you going to fix her up at the temple or something? Tsk tsk, you’re insane.”

On the outside, I showed no change in expression, but inwardly, I was cheering.

‘That’s the golden answer, you idiot.’

The s*ave trader also looked delighted to get rid of her, even for a cheap price, as he happily pocketed the money.

“Now then, let’s proceed with the branding. This way.”

The place he led me to was a shabby tent in a corner of the market.

Inside, along with a musty smell, a seal faintly imbued with magic was drawn on the ground.

The girl stood motionless, as if she had resigned herself to everything, or perhaps anxious about what was to come.

Her gaunt shoulders seemed to tremble faintly.

‘1 silver. That’s by no means a small amount of money.’

My entire fortune had been 12 silver coins and a ring, so this was a price a full ten times more expensive than the girl herself.

But it was worth it.

If I could buy her permanent loyalty with this one brand, it was a cheap bargain.

Of course, I had heard plenty of stories that if you treat a s*ave like a beast, their resentment builds up and they might betray you one day.

But how could I ever treat such a beautiful girl poorly?

‘I’ll get her fixed up, give her a good place to sleep, feed her well, and dress her well.’

Before I could even finish my resolve, the s*ave trader roughly lifted the hem of the girl’s tattered clothes.

With a faint light, the magic seal was engraved just below the girl’s white lower abdomen.

Her body flinched with a small groan.

I found myself staring at the spot.

The blood-red s*ave brand was complex, yet gave off a sharp impression.

The pattern, starting just below her navel on her white lower abdomen, spread out delicately to the sides like the wings of a small bat.

At its center was a core emblem reminiscent of a small heart, and the lines surrounding it stretched out in sharp, sleek angles rather than soft curves.

The color, a base of red with a subtle mix of purple, was definitely…

‘A womb tattoo!’

The thought that it was strangely similar to the so-called ‘womb tattoo’ I had seen in all sorts of bishoujo games I played in my past life flashed through my mind.

In any case, this child was now completely mine.

After the girl’s s*ave branding was complete, I left the s*ave market.

The branding cost an extra silver, but I had no regrets.

The girl in tattered clothes followed me silently.

I had spent almost all my money, and my future livelihood was uncertain.

But seeing the girl’s overwhelmingly beautiful face made such worries melt away like snow.

First, I had to go to the temple.

Fortunately, it hadn’t been long since she lost her arms, so it should be possible to heal her with divine power.

On the way to the temple, I observed the girl carefully.

Even in her desperate situation, the light in her eyes hadn’t completely died.

No, in fact, her eyes seemed to shine brighter the closer we got to the temple.

---

I became a s*ave.

No, in this state, it would be more accurate to call me a mere s*ave candidate.

I was once a glorious female knight, said by my comrades to even possess the talent of a Sword Master.

But what about now?

I lost both my arms in a barbaric foreign land, reduced to a s*ave who couldn’t even communicate.

Every moment, a biting despair and shame enveloped my entire body.

There was no way anyone would want to buy me in this ghastly state.

I was simply waiting for death, treated worse than a beast day by day.

But today, a man with a strange aura bought me.

Why?

His gaze was different from the others.

It wasn’t contempt, nor was it simple curiosity.

It was… an incomprehensible gaze, as if he recognized my value.

Could he be someone with a peculiar taste?

Even though I’ve ended up like this, I prided myself, with my last shred of dignity, that my body, forged by war, was still quite attractive.

I was getting thinner by the day, but still, if I ate well, I’m sure I’d be like before…

Perhaps becoming this man’s s*x s*ave was the last role given to me, a useless cripple with no limbs.

The moment the brand was seared onto my lower abdomen, the shame was more painful than the burning hot iron on my flesh, and a tear trickled out.

After leaving the s*ave market, that guy… no, my new master, led me somewhere.

As we left the market, the sight of a familiar building came into view.

A temple.

A place filled with a solemn and sacred aura.

In that moment, a single possibility flashed through my mind like lightning.

‘No way… It can’t be…’

It was impossible.

There was no way a foreign temple would bestow mercy upon a stranger like me, let alone an armless s*ave.

But if, just if, that ‘if’ became reality…

I would serve that man, my new master, as my true lord for the rest of my life and devote my entire being to him.

‘Please… I beg you…’

‘Don’t… don’t give up on me. No, please don’t…’

It had been almost six months.

My heart, which had been like extinguished ashes, began to pound with a faint warmth for the first time in a very long time.

For me, who had lived having forgotten even the word hope, it was an incredibly unfamiliar and intense emotion.

And so, we slowly stepped inside the massive doors of the temple.