.

"(This was not how it was supposed to be…)" Kazuya couldn't help but think as he stared at the face of the person inside the cage.

How could he not be surprised? Ever since Kazuya had realized that he had been given a second chance in life had been hoping to get another chance to once again be summoned to Edea.

Though he had focused on fixing his life on Earth, a part of him was very anxious as there was no guarantee that he would once again be eligible to be summoned as a p.a.w.n when the Zweifel kingdom had used the hero summoning ritual.

His preparations, planning, knowledge, and advantages had been diminis.h.i.+ng because of the fact that he had arrived earlier than his previous life. Though Kazuya had been taking it in stride, it was at this point that the fact that things were already out of his initial predictions had finally hit him.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" a sly grin appeared on the caged person's face as she thought that the young man in front of her was afraid.

Hearing a familiar line from her woke Kazuya up from his daze. He had little doubt that he was mistaking his eyesight after what he heard. He could only sigh inside his thoughts as he was reminded that a little bit of himself at present was still the naïve boy who met a tragic end.

"I apologize for the rudeness. I initially had given up hope in thinking that I would find someone in this section that would fit my requirements." Kazuya looked at the other cages with a disappointed gaze before looking back at her.

"Oh?" the girl sounded intrigued. Though Kazuya looked younger than herself, she was impressed that a young master that would visit this place could turn a blind eye to the dolled-up merchandise that Etha had personally selected to entrap l.u.s.tful people.

"That is until the little one led me to you." Kazuya looked directly at her to show her that he was serious.

"And what do I have to do with your requirements?" The girl was, of course, suspicious of Kazuya's intentions. 

If it were not for Lucia, she wouldn't even be considering him as a person worth conversing with. No one could blame her, considering the place they were currently in, one could only be stupid to think that anyone who is here came with good intentions. 

"Your eyes are enough to tell me that you at least meet the minimum requirements." Kazuya confidently smiled.

"They are not devoid of life, which means that you do not have the mentality of a slave despite your presence here. What I require are not slaves that only follow orders; what I want are 'people' that at least have their pride as individuals intact." Kazuya ignored that shaken reaction of the other slaves that have been eavesdropping on them and kept his gaze on the young woman inside the cage.

"… (pride as a person…)" these words resounded deep inside her as she had sworn to herself that she would rather die than succ.u.mb to becoming just another one of the n.o.bles' playthings ever since she had been caught.

She was unaware however of the thoughts that the young man in front of her was thinking.

"(This d.a.m.n girl lied to me! She never said anything about being a slave before!)" he stared at the slave crest on her left arm.

Comparing her to the version he was familiar with, she looked much softer because not only was her left arm where the slave crest was burnt, the scar on her lower right cheek was nowhere to be found either.

"So, you want to buy me? What is your purpose? What would you make me do?" she had finally treated Kazuya seriously whilst ignoring the glaring girl who was on his side.

"If you agree to it then I would indeed like to purchase you. We can talk about what I need you for later. For now, if you agree, I will let one of the guards escort you to help Raizer out by picking individuals out to come along with us." Kazuya looked over to a guard who nervously nodded and stepped forward to unlock the cage.

"Come along? Where?" She was genuinely curious about this young man who looked to be only a little younger than her. Her instincts were telling her that though indeed he had not lied about why he bought her, the main reason for his interest in her did not lie in his claims nor her appearance.

"To a journey. Probably a long, hard, journey." He paused. "You may choose to stay in your cage for a chance to meet a kind person with money or come with me to experience hards.h.i.+p."

"Hey! Do you really want me to go with you or not?" she felt refres.h.i.+ngly annoyed at him. At one point he's telling her that he was interested in buying her, now it was like he was dissuading her from accepting his proposal.

"I'm just telling you what to expect. My original companions… at least the ones that did not have hidden agendas have all died because of my mistakes." Kazuya could not look her in the eye as he said those words.

"You were betrayed?" she understood what happened after hearing his words but still asked.

"Yes." Kazuya did not hide it from her.

"So, you're gathering people to take revenge?"

"No." he shook his head sideways. "Revenge is for me alone to take. I will not let anyone take that away from me." Kazuya said as a gaze full of killing intent made her shudder for a moment.

She knew that he was not lying. Kazuya's gaze told her that while he may have his reasons for not taking his revenge right away, there was no way that he would let others take away the right to punish those who had betrayed him.

They were the same in that aspect and that was why she could understand him. She had been placed in her current predicament because she too had put her trust in the wrong person. Though it might have not involved the deaths of people close to her, if it were not for the person in front of her, the possibility of her having a fate worse than death was extremely high.

"… but you've learned from your mistakes… right?" Kazuya's eyes widened as he heard her question.

Though it was a question out of curiosity, the innocent query was very significant to Kazuya and his current situation.

"Yeah… I guess you could say that." Kazuya could not help but give a soft chuckle.

The caged girl may not have known it but she had given Kazuya's slowly diminis.h.i.+ng confidence a boost in the right direction.

Things may have already been out of his expectations the moment he arrived in Edea, but, he was still someone who had prepared himself for many of the worst possibilities that could have happened had he arrived at the same time that he had arrived in his previous life.

The only difference now was that he had been given more time to make his preparations as well as additional choices that came with the people that he had already chosen to help.

"(At least the oblivious encouragement you give me still hasn't changed.)" he thought as he turned back towards the girl whose cage had just been unlocked.

"I see… but… before I let you purchase me; I want to let you know that even if means my own death, if you—"

"I apologize but… You are not my type." Kazuya interrupted her with a confident smile.

"Wh!?"

"Pfft!" the girl beside Kazuya gave an exaggerated laugh which made her even more embarra.s.sed.

"Like I mentioned earlier. I plan on going on a very dangerous journey. Though I will be buying you today, if you or every other person I buy today do not meet my standards by the time I have to leave Maynira, I will not hesitate to return each and every one of the purchases I've made." Kazuya said in a stern tone.

Kazuya took a stern att.i.tude because his memories of her were somewhat of a mixed bag. The grin and the arrogant look she had from the moment they met in this life reminded him of how he was teased and treated as an innocent boy by this person who was barely a year older than him.

Despite being the leader of their group, as well as the hero who was summoned to supposedly save the world, the moment she found out that Kazuya was younger than her. His innocence and soft personality made him the perfect target of being taken advantage of by his mischievous party members.

He was not about to make the same mistake in this life. Like she had mentioned, this was not the first time he had dealt with her so he wanted to change the way their relations.h.i.+p worked as well.

"Sir… I will not be able to take the restraints off because the madame has them." The guard who unlocked the cage spoke hesitantly.

There were chains restraining her arms and legs so it would be difficult for her to a.s.sault anyone like she had done in the past. These bindings caused some marks to appear on her wrists and ankles which showed that she still did the same thing even though they had them on.

"No matter. Take her to Raizer and tell him what I sent her there to do." Kazuya did not remove it himself even though he could as the possibility of her escaping was high when he considered how he knew her.

"Looks like you don't trust me?" She looked at Kazuya with a mischievous grin. She did not want someone who was younger than her to look down on her even though this person was going to be her master once the rights to command her had been transferred to him.

"You make it sound like you do not distrust me? Trust is earned. The fact that I asked them to let you out of the cage and given you a task means I'm giving you a chance to gain some. Remember, it is extremely easier to lose trust than it is to gain it. Especially mine."

"You should take the little girl with you then. She is the first one I would like to recommend." They turned towards Lucia who blankly stared back at them.

"I already considered her before she introduced you. You could say that the little one was the one that recommended you." Kazuya grinned.

"I see… That's good then." She turned to give a smug grin towards the girl near Kazuya whose shock and disappointment had been ignored by everyone.

"Y-young mast—"

"My name is Nell, Nell Cypher. I hope that you can call me by name later on, future master." She interrupted the girl and introduced herself to Kazuya officially.

"(Looks like some things never change.)" Kazuya observed the mischievous look on her and remembered how he had always been on the receiving end of this look in the past.

Though he had been continuously annoyed by her continuous teasing and mischief, it was only until she was gone that Kazuya realized how he had wished that at some point during the journey that he once continued that she would once again loudly burst through the door and appear before him like her death had been all a prank.

Kazuya turned to the guard who was going to lead her and gave him a serious look.

"Do not forget to tell Raizer that I have already decided to purchase this one so any harm that befalls her after this moment… will be considered as actions against a person I consider a companion." Kazuya emanated a slight pressure that took everyone near them by surprise.

"(What a strange guy…)" Nell couldn't help but think.

Nell could see that Kazuya was not making any jokes. Although she was still young, her tough lifestyle had made her encounter several different types of people. She already noticed that he had taken an interest in her the moment he had laid eyes on her.

What was strange was that his interest was something she could not figure out. It was not the look of a l.u.s.tful young man and that was already proven by the manner in which she had been rejected even before she could make it clear.

She could not figure it out but Nell knew that there was something in his look that made her think that this may not be their first encounter with each other.

Needless to say, he could not find out more about this young man right now and it would probably be Raizer who could shed some light into what kind of person she was going to be bound to. Since Kazuya already mentioned that she should be treated as one of his companions already, aside from her restraints, she would be able to ask the black-hearted merchant on why Kazuya was treated even more special than the usual n.o.bles that came there.

"(I hope I… won't regret the decision to let this strange person purchase me this peacefully…)"

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