My tongue felt like a brisket sponge as my pale and cursed figure dragged itself down through the crowds and wails that had settled comfortably in the market.

My attire was horrific.

A posh suit gone wrong.

A huge gaping hole in the back showed off my back to all around me.

Fortunately, it seems like other things were at the top of people's priorities.

Things other than looking at little boy's backs.

Eager buyers and anticipating sellers shouted and jabbered, the sounds of coins filling fat men's felicity ringed all around me.

Oddly enough, the slave market was far from depressing, it felt like business central.

Not only that, but it was essentially in the town square, was it legalized?

The slaves wore no clothes, but the dirt and dust that had piled upon them covered all that should've been covered.

"Hey."

My voice felt incredibly irked by the scene before me as I spoke to Vigar who I could feel was still by my side.

"Where are we?"

I nudged through a crowd of musty and hauntingly ruddy middle-aged men and women.

They were weak, probably weaker than the average person yet they had looks of confidence and power that were far above even the most veteran warriors.

"The Kilinid, but right now I think it goes by the name of the Crow Kingdom."

A voice swept deeply into my ears.

It was so impeccably close to inaudibility that my mind had to sort out the whisper and crackle to form a sentence.

"Oh."

The crow kingdom.

I wasn't too shocked by this development, after all, I had heard of few kingdoms where slavery was so blatant and inbred in society.

The kingdom had been waging disputes and unsolved settlements with the Gale Kingdom for a while.

So the attack on the Count had been personal?

But, my tense and solidified mood managed to soften slightly.

This was a kingdom of black magic, necromancy, and witches.

No one would bat an eye at a phantom. A half-Phantom at that.

I continued battling the bumpy crowds with my right arm as my left arm swayed around, dodging rushed and perpascipated civilians who seemed to go out of their way to barge into passers-by.

I soon found myself lost in the sea of thirsted and anticipating buyers.

Bulging stomachs and pale pallors crushed into me from all angles before shifting in a multitude of directions.

I kept my arm out of harm's way but the same could not be said for the rest of my pitiable figure.

Due to my height still being that of an 11-year-old, I could hardly see over the average man. Let alone escape this constantly moving and suffocating horde.

If not for my unnatural strength, unbefitting for my age and stature, then I would probably have gotten trampled and ultimately stuck in this unbothered and ballering crowd long ago.

I had reached the center of the trading hivemind.

All around me were dented and still cages, the noisome and sunken sides of people unveiled themselves, as bulging bellies pressed into cages and groping hands smacked against sweaty and tainted skin.

There were 3 types of people within the cages from the subtle glances I got before being shifted forwards with the crowd.

Devoidance of hope.

They sat null-eyed with knees bent as people caressed them freely and their bodies were full of scratches and bruises.

Loss of hope.

They sat with their head down, shivering and trembling with every touch, smack, and caressing.

Fear of hope.

They ran from the monsters yet only found themselves within the grasp of another.

Whilst observing these unfortunate souls, I felt an incurable strain crush down on my bones.

I couldn't save them.

Even if I could, there was someone I had to save first.

It was partially my fault after all that Audra had ended up in the current situation.

And I don't think even I had the audacity to reunite with the count with the Absence of his only daughter.

My thoughts drizzled out as I found my right side being violently pushed against before my flailing legs eventually gave in.

"Gah."

My hands were covered in smudges of mud and dirt as I wiped them off disgruntedly on my distraught suit.

I had landed on my bottom and found myself hazily standing myself back up.

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Luckily, my left arm remained untouched and still protected by Vigar.

I now noticed that I had astoundingly, been pushed outside of the horde.

Although I had originally planned to see if Audra was there, I was now quite confident she wasn't.

Around me were only 4 things.

In front was the bumbling horde.

To my left and right were complacent and basic bricks that were poorly lined and cemented.

But behind me, lay a similar poorly constructed wall, yet it was covered in beige parchments.

I ambled closer to the unfocused blurs of pictures whilst rubbing the last of the dirt onto my trousers.

My hands were now sore and paled as my eyes stuck and scanned the pictures.

A hairy brown-haired and light-skinned freckled boy was slumped on a gray floor in the photo attached.

Julio Tangarenz

ETA: 2 Weeks

Price Start : 10,000 Judes

Properties: Beast-race, Medium Earth Magical Affinity, 13, Orphan.

A tiny child, no older than 6, malnutritioned and hairless.

Dial Clock

ETA: 2 weeks

Price Start: 500 Judes

Properties: 5, Orphan, Weak water affinity.

My hands traced down the lines of paper and the prices of pain as a multitude of photos had been littered all over the wall.

On the floor beneath my feet, lay a layer of disheveled sheets, presumably past notices. They had flown all over the place and the few under my feet were only the most recent sales.

Reaching the bottom left of the list, my breathing momentarily halted.

A boy with neat red hair, sleeping in a grey room on the ground had been printed.

Nameless

Price-Start: 20,000 Judes

Properties: Sword mastery, Strong/High Potential body, 11, Powerful Wind Magic Affinity, Orphan, Trained, Wind-Magic base.

A crimson-red cross stretched from either end of the sheet.

Ah.

So they think I'm dead?

I suppose I couldn't complain about that development.

But it looks like they had confused my world-energy skills with wind magic. They knew I was an orphan which wasn't too important but they did say I had a strong and potential-high body along with some sword mastery.

It wasn't too bad being complimented by slave traders or warriors.

I shook my head and continued looking for Audra.

No.

It can't be.

My hands crumpled through the paper on the wall.

I had reached the last sheet.

On it was a muscly man.

That wasn't called Audra for certain.

Had she already been sold?

It felt as though a thick iron bar had sunk into my stomach as it pulled me to the ground.

My hands flapped and writhed through the papers as I lifted and turned them, one after the other.

I threw the useless sheets behind me.

Time passed as my hands moved un-coordinately.

"No."

"That isn't it."

"Not this either."

"That one is-. No, it's not it either."

My voice was coarse and flat as the pile behind me gradually grew.

Vigar, awoken by my stumbles spoke from behind me.

The white mass seemed unbothered and chilled.

"What's going on child?"

I let out a breath of tire.

I hadn't stopped since I had dropped to the floor.

"Find me a girl."

I kept looking down and slowly shuffling the papers whilst the white mass swooped around in interest. My voice kept going determinedly.

"Auburn hair, around my age, considered pretty and she should have a water magic affinity. Probably priced immensely high due to her nobles status."

Vigar understood the sincerity of the situation and slowly spread out and became fainter.

I supported my left arm with my own in the meanwhile.

It stung, released from its comfort haven but that sting soon vanished strangely.

I felt my body becomes relaxed and cooled as this white substance spread throughout my creases and massaged my exposed back.

Soon, everything in my site rose to an examinable height.

As if he had invisible hands everywhere, the white cloud crumpled papers and information in a flawless synchronized movement.

After a dreamy minute, the scrunched paper balls slowly started silently hitting the floor.

"Nothing."

The neutral voice seemed so distant as I took in the meaning of that word.

"Nothing?"

My breathing had become steady yet my hopes were far from such stability.

"Nothing. Tough luck kid. Don't let it keep you down."

Vigar slowly faded into the sour air until it was just myself in the alley.

I sat kneeling.

So what now?

Do I just go on?

As I mourned in my kneeling state my knees bent themselves upwards.

I put my hands on the wall in front of me.

My emotions crashed down and my face seared and burned.

My eyes stung and felt as if they were being hosed.

My ribs felt like they were breaking off.

"Haa."

Plan.

I need a plan.

What if I just leave?

No that probably won't solve anything.

Wait. What if I just wait here?

Maybe she's being prepared or something-?

No.

I need a real, proper refined plan.

What if I... maybe... possibly I could probably-.

"Move."

A thick accent mixed with a discontent grunt emerged from behind me.

I found my body awkwardly curling forwards, to allow room for the man behind me.

He wore a heavy brown padded trench coat, accompanied by an out-of-fashion bowler hat.

His face was heavily wrinkled and looked as if someone had poured a cauldron of hot steamed wax down the front.

He remained ignorant of the hundreds of scrunched paper balls on the floor and took out several beige parchments from the inside of his coat.

Uncaring of much, he scraped off the previous files and began sticking new ones on.

Could this be?

My eyes remained steady as I watched his aged hand move back and forth from his inner pockets.

The paper that he stuck on the wall settled silently, yet each one felt like a gunshot as I read their names in my mind and looked at their pictures.

Delia Donington.

No.

Sam Huntsbery.

No.

Nameless.

No.

Nameless.

No.

Audra Craul.

"Ah."

The Man did not care for my reaction as he kept grudgingly slapping the parchments onto the wall.

I couldn't see the details due to the man's silhouette but it was her.

She was there.

Now I just needed to find a price and work from there.

There should be an adventurer's guild of some kind.

Right?

The man took out a peculiar ink-black tube and digested its contents hurriedly.

Giving me a questionable eye he strode out whilst counting some bills.

Bills.

I was gonna need some money, wasn't I?

Never mind that for now.

I pulled out my right arm and yanked Audra's poster off the wall.

It felt smoother and more defined than all the others.

In the picture was a sleeping Audra, she had clearly been given a better room than the other sales.

I read with hopeful breaths.

Audra Craul

ETA: 2 Months

Price Start: 400,000 Judes

Properties: Gale Noble, High Water Affinity, Position in Gale Noble Society, Pure, 12, Daughter of Count Craul of the Gale Nobles.

The sheet fell from my hands slowly, slipping through my creases before slowly swaying to the ground.

400,000 Judes.

400,000 Judes.

If Slaves were commonly priced quite high in the market, and the common price for a slave was around 3000 Judes.

Then how much were 400,000 Judes?

A manor?

Would it be a couple million in Earth Money?

No.

This is outrageous.

And I have 2 months to gather the money?

I felt my back meet a cold-ridged stone wall.

I can't give up now though, can I?

I don't even know how this whole system works.

Maybe I can get lucky in a magic casino.

Can't lose hope now.

As I rambled worthlessly to my frail self I found an absence of bustling, rambling, and clangs from the center.

In fact, the center was isolated.

The cages had been emptied, the slaves sold away.

All that was present were lines of bumpy stone tiles and architects' works.

Strange.

A curfew perhaps?

I kept looking to my right, dumbfounded as to why the previously overridden center had become a ghost scene.

My head bobbed up and around as I strode out to the center of the square looking for signs.

It was then that a small bustle of noise erupted faintly from my right.

I looked on as a drenched horde of around 13 people, all male with the exception of a tall black-haired female on the utmost right, carried several frustrated and hopeless souls by the arms.

They seemed like a mix of civilians and younglings.

Wearing an attire of black and a hideous blue, their figures slowly and cockily strode down the lanes.

As they eventually turned through the twisted lanes their eyes peculiarly set on me.

That doesn't seem good.

I couldn't rub off the intense and unwanted feeling I was getting in that moment.

No-.

Nobody told me there was a gang curfew?