It was almost the end of January.
I was now receiving a math formulas class from Professor Lloyd.
It's no different from the math in my previous life; it's the same, only we use it to enlarge magic circles.
Which is irrelevant for me, who only uses my birth attribute.
Professor Lloyd is a man with a simple appearance like me, messy gray hair, closed eyes, and wearing glasses.
"Alright. Now I want you all to try to—"
His words were cut off by the bell signaling the end of today's classes.
"What a shame. Well, kids, have a good weekend. See you on Monday, and don't worry. I won't give you homework for now."
We were all happy to receive no homework.
My friends approached me.
"Hey Razel, do you have anything to do today?" Said Derrick while picking his nose.
"No. Nothing to do. I was planning to go to a game center and waste time."
"And you guys, are you doing anything?"
Cliff replied to me while seeming to want to show off.
"I promised Derrick a long time ago that I'd take him to my house to play on my new console. It's the super Sonic station plus!"
(Damn you, Cliff! I want one too!)
(I thought maybe this guy was going to invite me, so I'll reject him to not hurt my pride further.)
"Oh, how nice. It would be nice if you invited me too, but I have things to do tomorrow."
The two looked at me with surprised faces.
A person approached to leave; it was Cid. Cliff called him before he left.
"Hey, Cid! Do you have anything to do this weekend?"
Cid, with his usual bored face, said.
"Nothing. Why?"
The boys were no longer afraid to talk to Cid, so Cliff replied to him as if he were a friend of the same status.
"If you have nothing to do, do you want to come with us to play at my house?"
Cid took only a few seconds to respond. "Sure, why not?"
(Sometimes I'm surprised how open this guy is to people despite how he acts.)
He looked at me and seemed to want to know if I would also go.
I replied that obviously not.
(I was very jealous of Cliff and I don't want my eyes to bleed.)
Then these bastard friends left without me.
I waited a while for everyone to leave to say.
"Damn you, Cliff, I'll drink your blood!"
Now that I've vented, I proceeded to leave the classroom.
When I set foot outside, I encountered her.
Elize looked at me. Our eyes met, but it was only for a few brief seconds, and then she continued on her way.
Once again, she was alone and not accompanied by her entourage.
I scratched my head and turned around so as not to leave in the same direction as her; at that moment, I ran into another person.
"Ah! Razel-kun."
It was Lily I now encountered.
(Today was another day of romantic events between her and any of the capture targets.)
(She must be going out to meet one of those handsome men.)
"Are you going somewhere?" I asked curiously.
She replied. "Yes. I'll go spend the weekend at the convent. I want to tell them how I've been lately since I haven't written to them."
(Ah, how sweet she is. She cares about her family.)
(But, aren't you supposed to be spending time with those, or that one, who will become your future partner?)
(Today I saw His Highness Regulux waiting at the place where an event was taking place, but you weren't there.)
(How strange is this?)
"Nothing else?"
"No. Should I have something else to do?"
(I can't say anything that makes me look suspicious, so I said.)
"No. Just curious. In that case, see you Monday."
I turned around and left from there.
◇◇◇
A large banquet hall was the current location of a certain girl.
She was a young literary prodigy.
They were celebrating that her new book was selling like hotcakes.
"Attention everyone, please. It is an immense pleasure for everyone at this publishing house to thank Miss Noel Febel for a splendid week of sales!"
A beautiful girl, but in simple clothes, was being greeted and having her hand shaken by different groups of people.
Her hair was long and brown like her eyes; she also wore glasses.
That girl was actually Amy in disguise. She used magic to change her appearance.
She didn't want to come to the capital because she had bad memories.
To this day, she didn't remember how she got into the cage, but she does remember having a deep hatred and disgust for this place.
Just like in the game, the witch Amy despised the imperial capital.
But at this moment, she only felt disgust for the people interested in what she produced.
Due to her mental state and having no one to talk to besides Razel, Amy began to write her thoughts down.
Razel told her. "You should publish a book; maybe you'll earn some money."
And that's how Amy started as a young novelist.
Her books were of various genres and various solo-themed topics.
They called her to the capital to give her an award for it.
She only went because Razel told her it was a way to recognize that what she wrote was very good.
Amy was happy to receive money to buy things for her house.
But she didn't care about the rookie of the year award, being a bestseller, and a young literary promise.
She was drinking a glass of wine while being surrounded by girls who wanted to be as talented as her.
At that moment, she heard something she shouldn't have.
Her eyes opened wide, and she focused on the conversation.
"Oh... how interesting."
◇
After leaving the academy, I went to the game center.
I had fun while crying over my poverty.
After spending all my money on games similar to those from my previous life, I went to the park; it annoyed me to see happy people enjoying their peaceful days.
(If they knew that this world is in danger and that only I know how to avoid it, they would be as annoyed as me.)
(Partly it was a lie, but what I said was true.)
As I looked at the sky, I didn't notice that a woman had sat down next to me.
I was about to shout in fear when she said...
"Razel-sama, it's me."
Amy was disguised; I didn't know why, nor did I really care that she looked like a librarian.
"It's rare for you to contact me. Is something wrong?"
She told me.
"I found some information about them."
"Hoh."
By "them," she meant one of the biggest annoyances I had during the study period in the game.
A criminal organization known as the "Black Crows." Some thugs who only bothered life by always trying to kidnap the protagonist and sell her as a slave.
They are very annoying; I asked Amy that if she found out or heard anything about them, to inform me.
For the moment.
"What did you find out?"
"Before that. We need to go to a certain place; please take this."
Amy handed me a bag; inside was something like jelly.
She told me she would explain on the way.
◇◇◇
Slave shops.
Places located in a specific district.
They were areas for wealthy merchants.
People generally despised them for false reasons.
But in reality, they liked to buy them.
The empire supported and backed the sale and acquisition of slaves.
Many educated them to pass them off as normal servants.
In one of the tallest buildings, pure white, a structure similar to a modern castle.
Two people were entering.
In the center was a student from the academy, and by his side a maid.
A man resembling a waiter received them in the politest way possible.
"Good evening. May I know which family you come from?"
The handsome young man with blonde hair said.
"I am the second son of the Siegrain Household, Dennis."
"We've been expecting you, Dennis-sama."
These people are not who they say they are. They are actually Razel and Amy in disguise.
To go to a slave shop, you have to make a reservation as if it were a first-class restaurant.
At the party, Amy heard a man talk about how his son was going to buy a slave today.
Everything was already arranged, including the key to enter.
Amy had surprised his daughter and the maid she came with to steal that card and leave them unconscious.
Razel had been casually observing that student; the reason was that he disliked him. He didn't pose a danger to the world, but Razel hated attractive men to death.
That's why he knew how he spoke, walked, and behaved.
The man who looked like a waiter made them wait in a private room.
After a while, he returned with a catalog.
It had photos and descriptions of different articles.
They were all demi-humans; there wasn't a single human there. The reason was that it was wrong to cage human beings, but not demi-humans.
Razel, in disguise, reviewed the catalog page by page. He didn't find anything and told the man.
"I don't want anything that's here. I want to see the real catalog."
"Dear customer. That catalog is only for customers from the lawless city. I'm sorry, but—"
"I'll pay whatever it takes."
Razel took out a white gold credit card. The same as a platinum card in his previous life.
The man touched it to verify it was real, and after confirming it, he said.
"Everything is in order; please come with me."
The two stood up and followed behind the man.
◇◇◇
At the end of the longest corridor was a door.
Upon opening it, everything was dark.
The man pressed a switch, and lights turned on.
It was a long spiral staircase.
They descended slowly until reaching the sub-basement.
The place was a cave.
There were bars in every corner.
"As you can see. Here we have the articles that cannot be tamed or educated, so we sell them at high prices for the lawless city."
Razel and Amy looked around until Amy stopped.
She saw something similar to herself.
(Their goal was to come and get information about what the son of the Siegrain Household was going to buy, which seems to have made deals with the Black Crows.)
But Amy didn't stop looking at a figure in the darkness.
She was chained so she couldn't move at all.
The cell was dark, but Amy stared intently at the figure.
Razel asked the man.
"Who is that?"
"It's an acquisition that a group of our best sellers recently delivered to us."
"They asked us to educate her, but she's very reluctant to behave."
"Reluctant? Is it a female?"
"Yes. See for yourself."
The man pressed a button, and the lights turned on.
There, one could see a young beast girl.
Her hair was long and black as night.
Her eyes were golden and sharp like a predator's.
From the ears on top of her head, her hands and mouth sealed with magic, and the shape of her tail, she seemed to belong to the wolf clan.
(Beast clans were not at all relevant or important in the game; they were just there to add more depth to the story.)
(She seems to be Razel's age or a little older, but the truly important thing here was not her scratched, ragged clothes, but...)
(Those large, long breasts resting on her chest!)
(It's like seeing those sausage dogs.)
(Her breasts were like that. If Amy had large, round ones, this girl had large, long ones.)
(She seems to be somehow related to the Black Crows, and she fits my personal tastes.)
(I'll buy her!) Thought Razel.
"I want her. How much does she cost?"
"That'll be 100 thousand crystalia in cash."
(So expensiiiiiiiiiiive!)
(With all that money, I could buy a small house for my family!)
Razel turned to look at Amy. Although his face didn't show it, he was crying like a child inside.
Amy replied.
"No problem. The young master can buy whatever he wants."
"Perfect. Let me sedate her so you can take her away."
The man pressed a button on the wall, and a large electric shock coursed through the girl's body until she fainted.
Amy saw that and could only bite her tongue as the unconscious girl convulsed on the floor.
◇◇◇
After they paid for their purchase, a personal vehicle from the company took them to the location they stated.
They went up some stairs of an abandoned building that would soon be demolished.
Amy removed all the chains from the girl and even removed the slave mark that was engraved with a blood spell on her neck.
Once the beast girl woke up, she visualized two figures in the distance.
Amy was standing to the side of Razel, who was sitting with his legs crossed.
The girl shouted.
"Humans! Enemies!"
And she ran at full speed to bite them to death.
Her luck only lasted that long.
Razel used his leg to kick the girl's jaw.
After spitting out a little blood, he grabbed the girl's head and smashed it against the floor repeatedly.
A large bloodstain painted the floor at his feet.
After a brief moment waiting for the girl to react.
She woke up, stared intently at Razel, and then...
"Master!"
She jumped towards him like any ordinary dog.
(This girl's clan was known as the "Fierce Battle Wolves." Among the wolf beast races, this type was a unique rarity.)
(They lived and died for the battlefield.)
(They fought from pups, meaning small children, until their teeth fell out and grew back.)
(This girl, whose name is Leila, was hit by Razel for that very reason. To demonstrate his feelings through combat.)
(Leila felt that Razel was not a bad person through physical pain. She wasn't a masochist, but her race undoubtedly enjoys enduring blows.)
(Furthermore, Razel was very strong; Leila received strong blows that were even gentle. That's how, upon regaining consciousness, she swore to serve this person. Serving someone strong and fighting on the battlefield were what this clan desired.)
(Partly because they were based on submissive hunting dogs in Razel's previous life.)
Leila told them how she ended up there.
"I lived in peace with my family and friends in a forest in the south. Since we were expelled from our lands years ago, we moved to that region. We lived well until a few days ago when some humans came and started shooting us with strange things that released fire from a small mouth."
"Me and the others fought against them."
Leila began to shed tears.
"My older brother acted as a shield to protect me. Many were killed instantly. The rest like me were defeated and then they threw us into a big iron box."
"After arriving at that place. Several of my friends and acquaintances were sold until only I remained."
Amy wanted to cry, but Razel was annoyed by something else.
(Why does she speak the empire's language very well? I don't understand. Is it a universal language?)
Amy saw Razel's face and thought he disliked hearing that.
"Leila-chan, I have a question for you. Did you hear any of those men mention the words 'crow' and 'black'?"
Leila replied instantly.
"That's right. A guy named Deluc said that hunting us was a request from a high executive of a Black Crow."
Razel clicked his tongue to indicate he was correct.
"Leila. Do you still remember that guy's smell?"
She nodded.
"Yes. I won't forget the smell of the one who killed my family without a fight!"
(Leila didn't mind that they had killed her family; she minded that they had done it in such a cowardly way that didn't align with her beliefs about fighting.)
(For her, that was unforgivable.)
Razel stood up.
"Leila. Tonight, we're going to paint the red of vengeance."
Leila smiled, showing her sharp teeth.
◇◇◇
An underground hideout was the place where a group of men were drinking and eating with animals.
There, a man with tattoos on his arms and a purple mohawk shouted.
"We successfully completed another slave sale! The high executives will give us all a promotion for an excellent job, gyahaha!"
Everyone shouted with joy.
A few hours ago, they had brought a group of girls with cat ears from a forest.
They sold them to the lawless city for a good price.
And now they were using their personal savings to buy food and liquor.
The man with the mohawk was Deluc; like everyone, he wore a mask covering his mouth like the beak of a black crow.
He got up from the armchair he was in to go to the bathroom.
No more than 10 minutes passed, and Deluc returned to the place where everyone was.
Upon opening the door, he found his feet soaked in a river of blood.
◇◇
"Huh? What the hell is this?"
I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
My comrades, who until recently were drinking and eating like animals, were scattered all over the place.
Remains of their bodies, brains, intestines, and even their dangly bits were everywhere.
In the middle of that river of blood, three figures stood.
One of them was a blonde woman.
"Razel-sama, these guys' information is very useless."
By her side was a dwarf dressed in black.
"I noticed. It's all so ambiguous that I can't decipher if they're talking to a merchant or a noble. It'll be very difficult to figure out who the bastard is that asked them to hunt the— huh?"
The dwarf noticed my presence.
"Well, well, Leila, it seems you missed one."
The dwarf looked at a different location.
There was a beast woman; she was dismembering my comrades.
As she lifted her head, she saw me while her mouth was covered in blood and viscera.
"Go."
Said the dwarf as I turned around to run out.
(Don't fuck with me.)
(Don't fuck with me...)
(Don't fuck with me!)
(I don't want to die!)
(There are still many things I want to do.)
(I left the slums to make a name for myself and become known to the world.)
(For these nobles, we live like vermin.)
(What's wrong with wanting to live at the expense of others' suffering when we ourselves suffer that?)
I went up the stairs and hid on the second-to-last floor, in a secret closet.
I covered my mouth so my breathing wouldn't be heard.
(I'm scared.)
(Mom, I'm sorry.)
(If you give me another chance, I promise to change.)
A long time passed.
(How much time passed?)
(I don't know, but it seems they're gone.)
(The beast girl's footsteps were no longer heard.)
I calmed down; it seems it's all over now.
"Hide and seek is over!"
I heard a voice coming from somewhere. A hand pierced through the floor and grabbed my leg.
I was pulled straight down and fell several meters while looking at the beast girl.
The fall lasted less than five seconds.
(I'm in pain.)
(A lot of pain.)
(Mom, help me.)
"Leila, you took too long looking for this guy."
"I'm sorry, but I wanted to make him feel the desperation he made me feel when I saw my parents die."
The dwarf and the beast girl conversed normally while I bled out.
"Once you're done with this, what will you do?"
"..."
The beast girl looked at the floor for a while and then lifted her head.
"I would like to be by master's side. Even after avenging my family and clan. I still have his blood in my veins, since he defeated me without trouble. I want to say that he is a person worthy of serving. Please, let me be by your side as your fangs and claws."
The dwarf turned around; he seemed to make an expression of victory.
"Leila. As you know, there are more victims like you out there in the world. I would be glad to have you by my side to purge the world of that scum."
"Furthermore, I would also like you to swear to be part of my harem. I am a man who likes to be surrounded by women, whether they are loyal or desire me. What do you say?"
"Umm... I don't understand anything you said. But, the master wants to have me by his side and be able to kill more of these guys!"
"Basically, yes."
"Yes! I gladly accept!"
The dwarf smiled, and the blonde woman went to take the beast girl's shoulders.
My consciousness is beginning to fade.
"Congratulations, Leila-chan. There is no greater happiness than being by Razel-sama's side."
"Now that everything is said and done..."
The woman looked at me with a face of disgust, the dwarf did too, but the beast girl stared intently at me.
She showed a wicked smile while blood dripped from her.
Her fangs were visible, and then...
"Time to eat!"
Everything turned dark for me, and my eyes closed forever.