~ Chapter 110: Keltaru's story ~ (Part 1)

[Keltaru's point of view]

The sounds of rustling chains echoed around me. They belonged to the slaves who were about to be sold in the upcoming auction. Many of them stifled their tears and tried to put on a poker mask, to pretend like they did not care or were not bothered by this at all. Yet, for those who looked at them carefully, they could see the dark circles under their eyes and the traces left behind by the salted tears. On mine there was no such things. I had no reason to cry or weep.

I was sitting inside the cage for males, while in front of me was the one for females. Soleya and Neya were there. The two draconians were hugging their knees and looking down at the dirty ground in front of them. Fear, sorrow, and even hope were long gone by now. Neither of us was expecting to see a change in our current status. We knew all too well that we couldn't escape the chains of slavery anymore. Even if we did, there was nowhere for us to run off to, no place to call a home.

From servants to royalty, we had fallen to mere slaves sold by humans.

It was then when my name was called out.

I got up and walked to the door. From here, I was led to a platform on which I stood still while the people bid for me. In these moments, other slaves usually looked around and tried to appeal to the masters they found more to their liking, but I just stared ahead at empty space.

Simply put, I didn't care what happened to me anymore...

“125 Gold Coins!” someone shouted.

That voice... but... it can't be... I thought, and for a moment, I glanced around.

The humans were looking at me as though I was a piece of meat, judging my uses and possible skills, or maybe how they could train me. Such disgusting way of thinking was typical for all those who went about to purchase a slave.

At one point, even I held the same gaze in my eyes.

“150 Gold Coins!” the woman called out again.

It wasn't that hard to spot her. The draconian species was rather tall when compared to the human one. She looked like an adult among small children, who looked old and ugly as if they had been pummeled by a sturdy log several times.

I gulped.

Those red eye, those scales like beautiful flakes of gold, that red hair which flowed like a crimson river, that aura of absolute elegance, without a doubt, only one person in the world could possess them.

“500 Gold Coins!” she called out again, a sum that surpassed the previous offer by 150%.

In an auction, it was ridiculous, but at the same time, it showed the determination and seriousness of the bidder.

It can't be... She's supposed to be dead... I denied such thoughts.

I couldn't believe it was possible to be her, but then I felt the pull of the chains, and I was returned to a special area where I was to await my new mistress.

While I waited, I couldn't help but doubt what I saw and rack my brains over how to explain it. Was it just my imagination playing a nasty trick on me? Was it a ghost or maybe a look-alike? It couldn't have been her, certainly, not Princess Ayuseya Pleyades. The curse should have killed her years ago. No, actually, it was supposed to have been that Supreme Dankyun Alttoros who ended her life.

It's got to be someone else... but just as I was thinking this, I saw Soleya being brought over by one of the men working for the slave merchant.

“Sit down next to the el'doraw.” ordered the man with a gruff appearance.

“Yes...” she replied in a quiet tone of voice and nodded once.

Without her eyes glued to the ground, she took a seat next to me and coiled her tail around her legs.

Once the man turned around and left, I looked at her and saw her frowning over something.

“Did you see her too?” I asked.

She turned her head and looked at me with lips parted and big open eyes.

“But she's supposed to be dead...” Soleya said.

I nodded.

The draconian woman was one of the Princess' former personal maids, and for a time she was... no, that was an awfully long time ago.

“How have you been?” I asked her with a whisper.

She pulled her legs closer and then shook her head “I don't want to talk about it...”

Well, this isn't exactly the perfect place where we can have a conversation, and that was certainly one of the stupidest things I could have asked... I reflected.

After a few moments and seeing how more and more slaves were brought over, I let out a sigh and placed my hand on her shoulder.

“It's going to be alright.” I told her with a soft smile.

Soleya tossed me a quick glance and nodded once. This was her only reply.

Later, Neya joined us as well.

“So you too, huh?” she said as she sat down next to Soleya.

“Yes.” I nodded.

That was the end of our conversation. Given how the three of us had spent our time ever since the slavery collar was put around our necks, such a small exchange of words was the best we could we do.

As such, we remained silent and waited...

When the auction was over, the contract with our new buyer was written and the magic in our collars was bound to her. It was then when I noticed that she had a companion, a tall woman with a long thin black scaly tail, which moved around restlessly. The armor she wore gave off an air of intimidation, and it felt like she was glaring at everyone around us.

As for our new master, she looked exactly like Princess Ayuseya Pleyades, but maybe I was mistaken, maybe I was seeing things.

Or maybe it's just one of her relatives... I thought.

“Ayuseya Drekar Deus. Is this correct?” the slave merchant asked to verify her name.

“Yes.” she nodded.

Ayuseya? But... wait no Pleyades? It can't be... Unless she changed her name, but that's impossible. A royal's family name can't be overwritten that easily unless she renounced it of her own will... or she entered a more powerful family, but that's impossible, right? I thought while looking at my new mistress.

Next to me, Neya and Soleya both wore an expression of shock and confusion. Luckily though, the formalities for transferring the slave ownership were finished quickly without any trouble. The draconian woman paid in full only with Gold Coins, afterwards, she grabbed our chains and dragged us out of there.

Not long after we left that place, I felt the urge to ask her if she was the real Princess, if she was the one I had served for so many years. Yet, despite my desire to ask who she was, another question came out of my mouth.

“Why? Why are you still alive, your Highness?”

I immediately regretted my poor choice of words and froze on the spot.

Of all the stupid things to ask! What if she's not Ayuseya Pleyades?! What then?! She could punish me or worse! I thought as I feared my now bleak future.

“Because my husband is a wonderful Dungeon.” she replied in a calm tone of voice while showing me a small smile.

“Huh?” I blinked surprised and looked at her as if I was the most stupid el'doraw in the world.

“Nyahaha! I guess the kid's surprised!” the woman who wore the intimidating armor laughed, but where had I heard that voice before?

“It is possible, indeed.” Princess Ayuseya nodded.

“Keltaru, it's me, Nanya!” the woman with a big toothy grin said while pointing at her.

“Huh?” I said and then looked at her chest. “Impossible.” I shook my head.

SLAP!!!

I don't know what happened next, but when I opened my eyes, I found myself with a bleeding nose and looking up at the sky.

“Are you alright?” Soleya asked me while leaning over and wiping my blood with a handkerchief.

“What happened?” I asked and then tried to get up, but my head was hurting.

“Teacher Nanya slapped you so hard you fell unconscious.” she replied with a wry smile.

“Teacher? You mean to say that it's really the woman from Fellyore?” I asked as I looked up at her.

“Who else were you expecting? Tuberculus in a dress?” the one in question said while raising an eyebrow and glaring at me.

[At the same time, in another part of the world]

“ACHOOO!!!” I sneezed. “Hm, I think someone's talking about me.” I said and wiped my nose with my sleeve.

“Forget about that and KEEP RUNNING!” the lovely pink haired elf beauty told me while countless giant spiders were trying to catch us and turn us into lunch.

“Yes, good plan, my love!” I said while I ran holding my hat.

“Geesh! Tuby is an idiot! Why did you have to grope my chest while I was trying to sneak past them?!” she complained.

“Because it's the law of the universe, my beloved Yandrea!” I declared while giving her a thumbs up.

“You stupid pervert human!!!” she cried out.

Ah... she's mad at me... But she did let out such a lovely squeak! I thought.

[Back to the main story, Keltaru's point of view]

“What? It's really you? Then...” I tried to get up, but I felt like the world was spinning around me.

Soleya caught me, and I let out a groan.

“Sorry kid. I sometimes forget my own strength. Just be glad I didn't send you flying across the town! Nyahaha!” she laughed.

“Keltaru, please stand still for a moment while I heal you.” someone from my right said.

It was her Highness, Ayuseya.

“Princess... then it's true?” I tried to stand up straight again, but she did not let me.

“Yes. I'm alive.” she showed me a smile and then a warm light was cast around me.

This... This is healing magic, but how is it possible? She's supposed to be unable to cast even the simplest of spells. I thought as I remembered how much she struggled even with gathering a little bit of Magic Energy, let alone enough to cast a spell.

“You Highness, that...” Soleya said as she noticed the same thing as me.

“Please, just call me Ayuseya right now. I'm no longer a Princess nor part of the Pleyades Royal Family.” she told me.

It was a bit hard for me to understand what she meant by that, or rather it was something I found hard to accept as true. Who could possibly give up their Royal family name? Although it was possible in theory, but this was true only if she married into another Royal Family.

“He looks skinny.” suddenly, someone approached us with a tray filled with fried potatoes and cooked chicken legs.

That's probably her Highness' food. I thought.

The man then placed the tray down on a table which... popped out of thin air?

Huh?! Was that table there before? I wondered.

Maybe teacher Nanya struck me harder than I thought?

“He hasn't eaten that well in a while. This food will be good for them. Is Zoreya healing Neya right now?” Princess... Mistress Ayuseya asked.

“Yeah, she's over there. Savannah is teaching the kids a bit of geography. Hm?” the man saw something that caught his attention.

Now that I took a better look at him, he was a well-built man with emerald-green eyes and jade-green hair. Although he wore a hooded white robe with a gray border, he didn't give the feeling of a wizard.

When I followed his gaze, I saw a human looking towards us. Given the way he stood with his back straight and waiting for us to engage in a conversation with him, I had a feeling he was a butler. A noble would introduce himself at once, but a servant would usually wait for the other party to approach him, more so when speaking with a stranger. If we were at his master's home, however, he would have asked us immediately what we were doing there and if we had an appointment with his master.

These were things I knew because I had spent a lot of my time around nobles and their servants. I myself was born in the Dowesyl Viscount family of the Mondravia Kingdom on Sorone Continent.

“What's wrong, buddy? Are you lost?” the man with jade-green hair asked him in a casual tone of voice as he approached him.

“Good evening, gentleman, my name is Tobias Reluar. I am a butler in the service of Marquess Gaharian.” he introduced himself.

“Good evening, mister Tobias. I never heard of this Marquess fellow, so can you state your business with us? I'm kind of busy.” the rude fellow tilted his head as if those words meant nothing to him.

This could easily be seen as disrespect towards his master! Doesn't this man know the basics of interacting with nobles? I thought in a panic, but when I looked at Mistress Ayuseya, I saw that she was ignoring the scene completely and focusing on my healing.

Teacher Nanya was yawning.

What's wrong with them? I wondered.

“Ahem! Marquess Gahariam is one of the four great nobles who govern over this beautiful city of Polis.” he said in proud tone of voice.

“Mhm. Can you skip to the 'my business with you' part?” the man with jade-green hair said waving him off.

“How rude! But looking at how a country bumpkin like yourself doesn't know of how great my master is, I would advise you to watch your manner and language! In this town speaking ill of the four great nobles can lead to undesired circumstances.” he smirked.

He's threatening him... He's basically saying that we hold no power here. I hope this man understands in what sort of danger he could be tossing us in. I thought.

“I'm done. How are you feeling, Keltaru?” Mistress Ayuseya said as she showed me a smile.

In the time I was paying attention to the two of them, I had been healed of the damage teacher Nanya may have given me. It would be no lie to say that I didn't feel a thing, but such a thing could happen only in the case of an advanced healing spell.

Since when can Mistress Ayuseya use something like this? I wondered.

Getting up on my feet, I moved my body a bit to confirm my current status. There was no pain anywhere, and I did not feel weak anymore.

“This... This is amazing...” I said as I looked at my hands.

“As I was saying, I have come because of the draconian woman over there.” Tobias said as he pointed at Mistress Ayuseya.

His words caught our attention.

“Me? What did I do?” Mistress tilted her head to the left and knitted her brow in confusion.

“Yeah, what did she do?” the man with jade-green hair asked.

“What she did is of no importance. My master is a most generous man and has already forgotten about it. However, he has ordered me that to deliver a message to the one who holds the chains of those non-humans.” he declared.

In other words, she's guilty of something, yet at the same time not guilty. So, Mistress Ayuseya did something legally which offended the Marquess in some way... Hm, could it be that something happened during the auction? I wondered as I listened in on their conversations.

However, something told me that his choice of words was a bit insulting towards everyone here. It would be the same as saying non-el'doraw or non-draconian. In certain circles, this formula was used in a derogatory form, but it was wildly avoided when in public.

“Aha... Non-humans, you say?” the man with jade-green hair said in an absentminded tone of voice, but the air around me was giving me the creeps.

“Yes. My master wishes to inform you, politely, that such manner of conduct should not be approved in any way or manner while within the walls of this glorious city of ours. If they continue to behave like savages again, their owner will be the one to suffer nex...” before he could finish his words, the man with jade-green hair grabbed him by neck and lifted him off the ground.

He moved so fast, I couldn't even see when he got close to him!

“You know, I'm going to inform you and your master, politely, that these non-humans you speak of are my wives.” he told him with a piercing gaze, but his hand grip was so tight it was cutting off the man's air “So, if you dare insult them in any way or manner, I'm going to make sure you won't have a glorious city to speak off. Got it?” he then tossed him away.

Tobias gasped as he fell on the ground, rolling two times before coming to a stop. Everyone around us was already watching the scene with their breath taken, but most of them looked with fear at the butler and not at the man with jade-green hair.

“Y-You! Do you have any idea with whom you're messing with?!” the butler yelled in an angry tone of voice as he pointed at the man with jade-green hair.

“I don't know, but here's what I think. I am not afraid of your boss or anyone in this town of weaklings for that matter. I am here to do business if I can, then I'll be on my way. However, just like it happened before, everyone who gets in my way or messes around with me or my family will have Lady Death knocking on their door.” he replied in a calm tone of voice.

“Do you real wish for me to take these words of threat to my master?” the butler asked while glaring at him.

“Why not? You seem quite keen on threatening us to begin with. It shouldn't be a problem if we answer a threat with another threat, right? Besides, if you didn't use such a disrespectful tone towards my wives, maybe I wouldn't have gotten so annoyed. Now, if you don't have anything else, please leave or better off go die in a ditch somewhere.” he told in cold tone of voice while looking down at him as if he was nothing more than a bug.

“You! You'll pay for this!” the butler declared as he got up and left.

“As if I have never heard that before.” the man with jade-green hair let out a sigh and then shook his head.

Once the man named Tobias left, all those who watched the scene from the sidelines returned to minding their own business. This sort of behavior wasn't anything strange or new. It was clear to me as it was probably to everyone who understood even an ounce of politics that what this strange fellow did was to make enemies with a noble who held the title of Marquess.

In this society, noble titles were easy to understand. There was the Royal Family, with the King and Queen at the top, then their children as well as the children of the previous King and Queen held the titles of Prince and Princess. The one bellow them was the Duke families, who were usually second and third degree relatives of the Royal Family. After them were the Marquess and Marchioness titles. Earl and Countess were next, then Viscount and Viscountess, and lastly Baron and Baroness, but there were also many other titles in-between. Some countries even had Archduke, ArchMarquess, Grand Earl and other titles like that, or completely different arrangement, such as having the Duke rank exchanged for the Viscount.

What's going to happen now? I wondered as I looked at the man with jade-green hair and then at Mistress Ayuseya.

“Huh? Wives?” I realized just then what this meant, and I looked at teacher Nanya.

“Ah, yes. That's Illsyore, the Dungeon Lord.” she pointed at him and shrugged as if it was nothing.

“Hiii!” Soleya freaked out when she heard this and trembled in fear.

For the moment, I remained calm, but even I could feel my pulse rising and my instincts telling me to run away from this man.

“Do not worry, he won't harm you. None of us will.” Mistress Ayuseya told me with a soft and gentle smile.

“Illsy~! I'm bored, nya~!” said a woman with a big chest and feline ears on top of her head.

She jumped on the Dungeon Lord's back and began to nibble on his neck.

Is she crazy?! I shouted in my mind.

“Ouch! Tamara! That hurts!” he complained and struggled to pull her off.

“Then why don't you go and find out what spices are being sold in this city?” Mistress Ayuseya suggested.

“Good job!” the Dungeon Lord made a thumbs up, while the woman clinging to his back perked her ears up.

“Hm~” she let go of him and then tilted her head to the left.

After a moment of thinking, she turned around and looked up at Illsyore, who was rubbing his neck.

“What?” he asked confused.

“Mate, give me money to spend!” she demanded.

Mate? Is she his wife as well? I wondered.

“Sigh... Here.” he replied and then gave her a small pouch of money filled to the brim with sparkling Gold Coins.

That's enough in there to buy another slave like me. I thought, but for some reason, I couldn't believe that Mistress Ayuseya had borrowed money from this fellow.

She was a Princess... or former Princess, it was natural that she had enough money for herself stashed away somewhere safe.

“Good! I'm going! Nya~!” the woman with feline ears declared with a smile and then jumped over the house next to the one where this weird carriage was parked.

“Huh?!” I blinked and made a fool's face as I witnessed this strange moment.

What a frightening jumping power she has! How powerful is she?! No... how powerful are they? I wondered as I looked back at the one called Illsyore and his wives.

“Now then!” he showed me a big smile and clapped his hands together, catching our attention “While we wait for her to come back, why don't you make yourself comfortable and tell us how you ended up in those chains.” he said as he materialized out of thin air a pair of chairs for me, Soleya, and Neya.

I humbly nodded and took a seat.

“Illsy, I will stand guard and keep an eye out for suspicious people.” said a beautiful human woman with stern gaze and long lush blond hair.

That emblem on her shield... is she a follower of Melkuth? I wondered.

“Alright, Zoreya. Savannah? Do you want to listen as well?” Illsyore asked the woman who was teaching something to a group of slaves.

Now that I looked around a little better, I could see that despite the weird carriage with no horses next to us, there were a lot of slaves here. A few of them wore armors and had a sword sheathed at their waist, but the collar around their necks gave away their status. They were all young, ranging between ages of ten to thirty as far as I could tell, but I could have been wrong.

What surprised me when I looked around was the fact that they all appeared to be well fed and healthy. Even their clothes were new, and none of them showed a sign of fear towards their masters.

If I didn't know what the collars around their neck meant, I would have definitely come to believe they were all just paid servants, friends, or followers of Illsyore. Still, this number was enough to begin the construction of a small village. Unless one was a wealthy merchant or a rich noble, it was going to lead to some financial trouble taking care of all of them.

Personally, I could not even see a reason why someone would need more than one or two slaves, even three was a bit too much. Four was overdoing it, and from five and above, I could only see them as useful in the case of working the fields or maintaining a business as slaves were the cheapest form of workforce available on the market.

The woman Illsyore called out to, Savannah, was a beauty just like Zoreya, but the air around her was a bit different. I had the strange feeling, though, that I had heard her name somewhere before, but I couldn't remember where. It was at very tip of my tongue. As for the blond woman named Zoreya, she gave off the feeling of an unmovable mountain, an unbeatable vanguard.

And her shield... is that Melkuth's crest? I thought as I looked at her, but I could have been wrong.

Even if she was a follower of the god of war, it didn't mean that she was of a high standing position within his temple. Maybe she was just someone who prayed for his protection? Many adventurers prayed to Melkuth and a lot more carried with them the symbol of their faiths, be it in him or another god.

“I would be interested to hear it as well, but is it possible to join in after I tell the children the way this city came to be?” Savannah replied in a polite tone of voice.

“Certainly! Actually, we'll listen to it as well!” he declared.

“Very well.” she nodded and showed him a polite smile.

This woman held a degree of elegance similar to that of Mistress Ayuseya, but it was far more... motherly?

“Children, as I was saying, this city was not one constructed by the humans who live in Paramanium but by ancient elves who once prospered on these lands. A long long time ago, their Kingdom was known as one of the richest on the continent, unfortunately, it was too small to sustain a high population and a powerful army. As such, many neighboring forces tried to conquer them.” she began her story, but unlike many of the teachers who taught me history, the tone of her voice and the way she articulated the words caught my attention.

It was like listening to a story about brave heroes as told by an exceptionally good bard rather than a history lesson given by a boring old man who glanced at the cleavage of his students.

[Somewhere far far away...]

“ACHOOO!” I sneezed again.

“Tuby! There's the exit! Once we're out of this cave system, we'll destroy these spiders!” shouted Yandrea, who was now princess-carrying me.

Ah~ such a shame. A man of my age to be carried like this by a beautiful woman like her... Actually, it wasn't that bad, her breasts felt amazing as they pressed against me!

“Ufufu~” I smiled.

“Tuby... Your face is creepy.” Yandrea said, and in that moment, the great mage known as Tuberculus received a fatal blow to his fragile heart...

Ah~ The words of one's wife can be more dangerous than an army of blood-thirsty giant spiders... I thought.