episode_0015

The auction, which had been heating up for a while, did not end on that spot.

The heat didn’t suddenly cool down. Rather, the problem was that the atmosphere was too heated.

At the auction, two nobles who were competing for a high price for Emma gradually became more emotional and began to fight.

It may have been quite a rare sight to see nobles who were normally quiet fighting as ugly as street thugs on the market floor, but the attendants had to stop it for now as it might spread into their own fight.

The auction organizer seemed to have waited until the nobles reached an agreement, perhaps because they thought that selling the product to one side in a hurry in a situation where they were fighting like that could incur great hate from the other side.

That’s why Emma is now tied up again.

Even after hearing all the explanations, Emma asked with an expression full of disbelief.

“…So? Why are we telling this story? What do you want, human?”

At least for a moment, she could be happy that the gag and some of the restraints were looser than before.

Of course, even that little bit of freedom was a common request from the greedy nobles who wanted to buy her, and the fact that she had to waste it on a conversation with a strange person who came in the night took away even a moment of joy from her.

Liber understood her disbelief.

This is because she, a member of the Centaur tribe who had already suffered great damage from humans, especially mercenaries and adventurers hired by slave traders, had no reason to trust him, an adventurer of the same level.

Normally, it was a token that would guarantee decent treatment by the standards of this world if shown, but at this moment, it was only an obstacle to persuasion.

The good news is… I didn’t necessarily have to persuade him. All I had to do was deliver it.

“To answer your question… there might be a chance for you to escape soon, and for you to escape with your people.”

“…What? What on earth?…”

“I don’t have time, so I’ll summarize briefly. It’s probably going to be crazy here soon. I can’t tell you how I found this information, but…

How can you seize the opportunity to escape and free the other centaurs… then don’t do anything else and run straight to the meadow.”

“Humans are helping me? Why do I believe that-”

“That’s good for me. The slave traders who captured you are in competition with my employer, so the more they lose, the better it is for us.”

In fact, there was also the fact that she, who still looked young, had been captured and sold as a slave, but River believed that telling him how he felt now would only backfire, so he decided to just say it.

In any case, it was better to hurry now.

“In your view, humans are the ones who harm their own people because of greed, right? So there’s nothing strange about it.”

He raised the spear, hoping that she would understand this.

“Wait?! What are you trying to do?! Ouch!!”

When Liber suddenly swung his spear, Emma closed her eyes and flinched, but when she slowly opened her eyes, she realized that what he had cut with the blade of the spear were only the harnesses that were restraining her.

“Still, if possible, I hope to return safely. Humans also have their own concerns about things that have nothing to do with their own benefit.”

Liber, who released Emma’s restraints, quickly left.

The young centaur just stared blankly at the back for a moment.

Then she shook her head and came to her senses, quickly got up and carefully looked around.

In any case, there was no reason to stay still once the restraints were lifted.

She moved slowly, making as little noise as possible, and soon saw the unconscious guards and realized how the human had approached her without any restraint.

At the same time, I gained some trust in his words.

‘…This is definitely the place where my mother and other centaurs were taken earlier…’

The Rottweiler, which had been tracing clues in the dizzying memories of the day with its head slightly sticking out of the tent, was startled by the light that suddenly illuminated the darkness and quickly put its head back in.

‘Could it be that they’ve already been caught… Damn it…’

But fortunately for Emma, the shouts and screams that followed showed that it was not simply the light of a torch carried by a human returning to confirm her capture.

“Kill all the humans!”

“It’s a rebellion! The slaves are running wild!”

“Adventurer! Where are all the escorts?!”

“Damn it! Be careful when catching it! All of that is money!”

The commotion was happening in a completely different direction than during the day.

Finally, she was dragged out to the auction house, wielding weapons hastily picked up from all kinds of races she hadn’t seen, and venting her anger at the empire and humans who had captured them and tried to enslave them.

Of course, they were at a disadvantage in terms of armament as they used hastily cut wooden clubs or weapons dropped by humans, but since most of them had bodies stronger than humans from the beginning, they were doing well thanks to the advantage of surprise.

In addition, the nobles and slave traders, who still had not properly grasped the situation, were placing restrictions on their ‘property’ not to be destroyed, and it was only after the guard in front of them was knocked down by the slaves’ angry fists that they realized that something was not normal and were shaking. But it was already too late.

“Quaaah!”

“Guards! Quickly call the city guard!”

‘It really turned out as he said…’

After assessing the situation, she quickly left the tent and started running. As she looked at the scene unfolding around her, she couldn’t help but think back on what the human had said earlier.

‘…He’ll be safe, right? ‘Because I knew in advance that this would happen…’

Human corpses are often seen while running.

Normally, it would have been exhilarating, but perhaps because of what happened earlier, I was anxious that the faces of the corpses might be those of the human who had freed him.

I don’t know if the human knows, but unlike humans, centaurs, who are the children of the goddess Epona, do not easily forget the help they received.

Of course, there was one more thing that should never be forgotten.

“Mother!”

“Ema?! How are you?”

“Please wait a moment!”

Lifting her front leg with all her might, she crushed the cage chains that were imprisoning the other centaurs with her hoof, and then quickly began to free the other centaurs.

As the freed Centaurs began helping other members of their race again, everyone was able to be released sooner than expected.

Among those captured, there were several who were not from Emma’s tribe.

“You did really well. Emma. It was a courage worthy of the blessing given by Epona.”

Her mother, as well as other compatriots, praised Emma’s courage in coming to save them, making her blush.

“Now… let’s show the wrath of the grassland to those greedy humans! Sisters!”

However, in the midst of this, when her mother was cut off with an angry face and cried out while clutching her remaining arm, Emma, who suddenly came to her senses, recalled what the human who had released her earlier said.

‘Don’t do anything else and run straight to the meadow.’

“Mother! Please wait a moment!”

“? Why are you doing this, Emma?”

“Now we have to leave for the grassland first. It seems like the humans have dug a trap again.”

“A trap? Where did you hear that?”

“That’s-”

Is it okay to say this? Emma thought for a moment.

If I were to tell my mother that this information was given to her by an adventurer, like the human who took one of her arms, when he freed her, would she be able to accept it?

“…Okay. I understand.”

“! thank you Mother.”

Fortunately, there was no need to explain it in detail.

Anyway, Emma had just saved the centaurs, and the half-human, half-demon form she revealed was a blessing from Epona.

None of them doubted Emma’s words.

A group of centaurs quickly ran through the chaotic market and began to leave the city.

‘…Amazing.’

And Emma, who finally had time to truly feel the power of her own image, felt admiration for it.

Now Emma was running alongside her mother, who was the fastest in the tribe.

It was a surprising change, considering that he had never been able to catch up with her before.

Emma could even vaguely sense that this was not the best speed she could run at now.

With the wind caressing my cheeks, the blasphemous doubts that had built up over the past few days seemed to be washed away.

In that way, their escape seemed to go smoothly.

That is, until Emma’s ears perked up and she read something.

It was an urgent moment, but for some reason she felt she had to stop.

“Die! Human!”

“Wait! Wait a minute! We are just slaves like you!”

“They usually looked down on us, saying we were the same species as those guys, but now they are calling us their same slaves!”

“That’s right! Kill them all!”

When she turned her head and looked at the source of the sound, she saw that the orc slaves were roughly herding the humans into a corner.

The only difference from before was that the people being cornered in this way also had chains hanging around their necks.

“Please! We never did that!”

However, the orc holding the ax, which he had gotten from somewhere, seemed to have suffered many things from humans, and did not even listen to his pleas.

“You guys are just like the guys who put chains around our necks!

When we are fellow slaves, they brag about us in front of us, but after we become a little successful, they spit in our faces!”

A human slave falls and crouching down and closing his eyes due to the force of an orc that looks as if it is going to hit him with an ax at any moment.

When Emma froze at the sight, the other centaurs also turned their gazes there.

The expressions on the faces of the other centaurs who saw the scene were not so good.

It was true that there were many human slaves who acted as minions for their masters, but at least the slave who was currently lying on the ground did not seem to have much to do with it.

Epona, whom the centaurs follow, taught that punishment should always go only to the person who committed the crime, and that only those who committed a crime should kill an enemy who lost their will to fight and surrendered, so there was no way they would be happy to see a scene that went against those teachings.

Of course, that didn’t mean they were loyal enough to step up for the humans they met for the first time while their own escape was urgent, nor did they have the right to meddle in the affairs of other races.

I just tried to pass by with a sad expression, predicting what would happen soon.

Emma also slowly tried to turn her head as her mother’s hand rested on her shoulder.

Until I saw a spear blade blocking the striking ax and ran away.

“Hey. Calm down. I bet you don’t want to waste your time here… The city guard will soon be clearing this whole place-”

“He’s an adventurer! There is an adventurer here!”

“Everyone, raise your weapons! I’d rather die here than get caught and taken back to the mine!”

“Adventurer. Please save us! Those ignorant orcs are trying to kill us all-”

“Look at that! As soon as you can hide behind another human being, your attitude changes! If we leave those guys behind, the city guards will definitely tell us where we ran to!”

“I’m going to spin.. really..”

Even though he showed his displeasure at all of this, just like he did when he looked at Emma, River bounced the ax blade towards the spear, caught his breath, and prepared for the fight.

Nevertheless, Emma, who jumped between the Orcs and Liber, was so fast that even he, who had been skilled in combat for several years, reacted one step late.

“Wait!”

When Emma shouted loudly, the imminent situation stopped for a moment.

Even if it was just her appearance, the group of centaurs who quickly followed her could not help but notice.

“What.. what is it? Centaurs? Weren’t you also captured as slaves by humans in the steppe? Why are you trying to protect humans?”

“You really don’t listen… But thanks to you, I survived. Thank you.”

Although she looked at Emma, who had jumped in as if to protect herself, with some confusion, the gratitude in her eyes gave her confidence.

It would be Epona’s wish to repay the help she received from that person.

Once she becomes confident, her next words become more powerful.

And what should I say to convince everyone here?

“Human! You said earlier that we all need to get out of here right now! I demand that the reason be revealed!”

It was Emma’s choice to give Liber the opportunity to speak.

At least, looking at his actions so far, there was no doubt that there was an understandable reason.

“The city guards coming here right now will try to burn the whole place down to destroy evidence!”

“……”

“……”

It was a somewhat overly understandable reason.