บท 9: Emi
Nagisa could finally spot it in the distance, the capital, Tria. The long awaited year finally came to an end when the carriage left him standing upon its outer high walls. Nagisa was left flabbergasted by the very sight, it was as impressive as when he had left.
Magical knights being stationed on full patrol, from both the ground to the very top of the three layered center wall. The capital had two entrances, one for the higher end families in the richest two upper quarters, the Magical one where the academy laid ahead of him in the upper western one. Then there was the lower entrance for the common folk, the southern entrance.
The two lower quarters were where all the trading was going on, of shady items, common ones and other various kinds you could find. Odo carefully instructed Nagisa to stay strictly away from the market unless he needed something in particular.
He said it was worth spending the additional penny in the upper quarter for not only improved quality of life items and food, but also the safety issue. Nagisa passed through the gate's entrance and got magically scanned.
"Iwase Nagisa, successfully scanned upon entering Tria - Please enjoy your stay", An inner lady voice resonated inside his head.
He had almost forgotten his new last name. Risa had only mentioned it once and refused to talk about it.
There was a small brief of light, blinding him for a small second passing through, but on the other end when Nagisa had opened his eyes, the street was flooded with people passing by and marketing.
Nagisa approached the yelling apple store and disregarded his spendings and decided to treat himself to an apple with a fading red color. He took an immediate bite and a sour taste filled his mouth.
"Wow… even apples taste different here, I thought red ones were supposed to be more sweet not bitter," Nagisa remarked.
It was for sure a change of pace, although it made him miss Risa's outside garden with the sweet strawberry just around the corner of their house. A commotion was heard coming from the center of the plaza before the streets would be separated into the different town buildings and smaller streets.
"Gather around folks! A rare catch is on for sale today! A young werebeast girl!" Nagisa scratched his head.
Werebeast? If his memory served him well, those were furry beasts being slain in games from where he came from. When he had reached the front row, that is when he laid eyes on her.
A small frame built girl with animal ears and a tail. She appeared to be quite young, from the looks of it, she looked like a regular twelve year old. The girl had rugged and dirtied silver hair, making it look more grayish, and her eyes appeared all drained of color and were of a faded blue.
Her tail and her eyes were silver as well and shared the same dirt color of her hair. It appeared she was in a poor condition, covered with bruises and clearly treated harshly by whoever was holding the auction.
"The bid will commence at two gold coins!" The man announced with a malicious smile around the corners of his mouth.
"You can treat her however you want, as long as you have this magic enhanced slave collar attached around her neck!" The man gestured in a cackling laughter while rolling his palms together.
As soon as the auctioning had begun, people bid quickly. Nagisa immediately realized at this quarter this was possible the swift illegal plaza square, where almost no rules or laws followed. Else there would be less rich looking or shady people around in the crowd altogether.
The bid increased quickly from three, to four, and onwards to six gold coins before it slowly came to a halt. People were hesitant, whispering, above five gold coins for a mere slave, even if it was a werebeast seemed a bit hefty.
A middle-aged man with a refined beard that made him appear noble-like approached the front row next to Nagisa.
"Eight gold coins," he confidently bid.
The crowd quieted down. Nagisa shook his head at the entire endeavour. Watching these seemingly high profile people smirk and their clear filled heavy lust looming in their eyes.
It had caused a suffocating aura that even he could sense, let alone the poor girl who shivered in front of him on the ground who clearly felt the terror of it. She was barefooted and barely clothed with ripped and almost see-through fabric. The girl trembled in fear so much that Nagisa decided to take action.
"Eight and a half!" Nagisa immediately countered.
His decision was clear after taking one good look at the poor girl, who was in desperate need of rescuing without giving it a second thought to his spendings. It reminded him of the times when he used to be bullied back in school, when he was ganged up on. All the noise and terror, and the foreseeable beatings.
This girl would have it even worse coming and it punched a hard hole inside his stomach, making it turn. The entire event made him feel nauseated. Remembering the harsh times and what would succumb of her if she were to be bought by the man standing next to him.
The man promptly brushed off a look at the young looking boy who had over bid him. Giving him a cold distant look, as if to say, "This one is mine, how dare you over bid me?". He bid once more instantaneously after giving Nagisa the creeps
"Nine gold coins, final bid," The man smirked and assumed his much closed victory.
No one was mad enough to pay double for a slave girl, even if it was a werebeast. People shook their heads, this was clearly overpriced. Nagisa gulped and took a look at the girl and then his coin pouch, it was clear what he had to do.
"Ten gold coins," Nagisa countered again.
The man instantly turned and hatefully gazed upon Nagisa. He then angrily frowned then shook his head in disbelief and turned to walk away in a distasteful manner after suffering defeat.
Everyone appeared utterly shocked, this young boy with seemingly ordinary clothes had ten whole gold coins on him. The auction concluded after no more bids and people scattered while the man approached Nagisa with the young girl being dragged by all fours to him.
"Stop, I will come to you," Nagisa signaled him to prevent her from being dragged any further.
The seller had a smug drooling look drawing upon his face while counting the gold coins one by one, totaling them to ten. He was overjoyed thinking how he had made quite the marginal profit of a dumb young kid who had paid a clear overprice for a werebeast slave girl.
"Where would a young master such as yourself gather such fortune at hand?"
The slave trader asked.
He assumed Nagisa was in disguise, portraying someone not belonging to the capital to shelter his noble status.
"None of your business, your kind irritates the living soul out of me," Nagisa immediately gave a serious cold look in response.
The slave trader began sweating cold from the aura and intent he emitted, it was clear this young boy understood what would have happened to the girl if he had not bought her.
"Here is the contract of purchase and your ring which has a magical link attached to the collar," The man rushed the transaction and rapidly scurried off.
"Tssk… What a lowlife," Nagisa bit his lower lip in discontent.
Nagisa then turned back around, looking at the frail girl now belonging to him who was still sitting in front. Nagisa attempted to reach out to her by touching her shoulder to let her know things were okay. However she instantly lowered her head to look away, closing her eyes strongly. Her entire being shivered and increased the more she sensed his hand approaching her.
"Mm-mm…" He pondered while retracting his hand and sighed out loudly.
Nagisa looked down at the ring in his right palm and could sense a magical bonding within the ring, very similar to "World Magic" on how swords were forged.
Angrily, Nagisa clenched his fist, analyzing its structure with his Arcane ability and began infusing an overflow of magic into it. Bit by bit, slowly it began to crack and blood began to seep through his fingers as the material and magic were pressing and overflowing from the inside of his palm.
The ring fully cracked in the end, and the material got dissolved into a magical pink floating essence coming out of his hand. The collar around the girl's neck cracked and fell, then dispersed before it hit the ground.
She began to cry, in mesmerization of the scene, being purely captivated by her new supposed owner, and how he had unshackled her. Nagisa reached out with his left hand for a second attempt and connected, patting her on the head, slowly and gently.
"Everything will be alright, you are free now," Nagisa bowed down with a smile and hugged the frail figure who was sobbing heavily.
A few minutes passed and he looked to part ways, but as he turned to walk away, he felt her tugging away at his shirt, indicating shyly to follow.
"Oh right…" Nagisa stupidly realized he still owned her despite freeing the werebeast girl.
"Alright, let's get something to eat, shall we?" Nagisa grinned.
A grin and mention of food made her face light up and she excitedly began wagging her tail. If that was not enough of telling a sign, after a few seconds her stomach gave off a tiny growl in agreement. The growl made her timidly and embarrassingly look away.
Nagisa chuckled quietly and took her hand to proceed forwards. It was about time to venture deeper into the capital.
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