Tick, tock.

In the dim stone chamber, flickering candles cast dancing shadows.

On the wall, a slender black silhouette appeared elongated in the feeble candlelight.

Following the light source, a man bound by iron chains stood upright on a wooden stake.

His head was covered with a brown sack, and his body was covered in bloody wounds.

Suddenly, the sack was untied and removed, tossed aside.

The man opened his eyes. In the darkness, mixed with a bit of light, he felt momentarily uncomfortable.

As his eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness, he widened them.

His body moved, and the sound of steel colliding entered his ears - his limbs were completely locked.

Looking up, he saw a dense circle of mysterious figures surrounding him.

They were all wearing black hemp-colored cloaks, their faces half-covered, leaving only a pair of eyes staring at him.

"You! Do you know who I am?!"

No one around him spoke, but a voice came from the side.

"Do you know who I am?"

Lia sat in a leather chair, one leg crossed over the other.

She held a sharp carving knife, seemingly bored, carefully filing her nails.

The man looked closely, and when he saw Lia's delicate face, he froze.

Lia Kravina.

Now, the Kravina family was quite famous throughout the royal capital, their reputation no less than that of the royal family.

Moreover, in the city of Brayston, the Kravina family could be said to have absolute power.

Even a stray dog passing by on the street would wag its tail and bark twice at Viktor, calling him "Lord".

What? You say dogs can't talk?

Take it away and stew it!

At this moment, he never imagined that while he was eating and singing at the most luxurious restaurant in Brayston, he would suddenly black out and be kidnapped by the Kravina family.

The man's body began to tremble uncontrollably, his lips quivering, his entire body drenched in cold sweat.

"Miss Lia... What is this...?"

"What, never seen a kidnapping before?"

Lia twirled the carving knife in her hand and stood up.

With her movement, the mysterious cloaked figures around her also gathered closer.

The man's body shook violently, fear seeping into his eyes.

Lia raised the carving knife and pressed it against the man's throat, lifting his chin.

With a hint of a smile in her alluring eyes and curiosity in her tone, she said:

"Didn't you just ask if we knew who you were?"

"I'm quite interested now. Tell me."

The man's mind went blank, forgetting even to tremble.

Saliva caught in his throat, he didn't dare to swallow.

Leon, standing beside Lia, said softly:

"Miss, his name is Hanna."

"He's the carrier for the Reiser family, transporting goods between the north and south of the empire."

Lia listened to the report and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? From the Reiser family?"

"You know the grudge between your family and ours, yet you dare to wander around here?"

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Cold sweat dripped down Hanna's forehead, allowing the beads to flow down his nose tip, not daring to move an inch.

"Miss Lia, I... I just got lost..."

"Lost?"

Lia suddenly flung the carving knife in her hand, sending it flying towards Hanna, fiercely embedding it into the wooden board behind him.

He could even feel the collision sound of the knife hitting the wood and the whistling sound it carried.

Hanna's breathing became heavier; just a hair's breadth more, and that speeding knife would have slit his throat.

Lia looked at him with a smile and said softly:

"The Kravina territory is so big, and you just happened to get lost right at my doorstep?"

Hanna trembled and closed his eyes, not daring to utter another word.

Lia reached out to the side, and Leon beside her, understanding, handed her an alarm clock.

She wound up the clock's spring and placed it by the man's ear.

Ding!

A crisp sound suddenly burst out.

Followed by the continuous ticking sound, like the death knell of the Grim Reaper.

"Where are the goods hidden? Speak up."

"If you can't say it before the alarm goes off, your head will be relocated."

As soon as the clock's ticking started, Hanna was scared into a howl.

His features twisted together, his expression pained, as if he would burst into tears the next second.

"Cry?"

As the voice rang out, one of the cloaked figures stepped forward and slapped the man hard across the face.

Slap!

With a crisp slapping sound, the miserable howl that was about to turn into crying abruptly stopped.

Lia stroked the alarm clock, smiling as she said:

"Crying counts as time too."

Ring ring ring——!

The alarm clock suddenly began to vibrate, metallic sounds echoing continuously throughout the small, dark basement.

Around them, the sound of several cold blades being unsheathed rang out clearly.

Hanna widened his eyes, looking at the silver daggers flashing in the candlelight, and immediately nodded frantically:

"I know, I'll talk! I'll talk!"

"That batch of goods, it's... it's hidden at Sano Port!"

Lia smiled, picked up the alarm clock, wound it up again, and turned the hand around once more.

Hanna was stunned, looking at Lia with confusion:

"Miss Lia, what are you...?"

"Giving you another round of time."

Lia smiled with narrowed eyes:

"Just one hiding spot? I don't believe it."

Hanna stretched his face, forcing a smile, tears of fear in his eyes.

"Really... really just this one, really just this one!"

But Lia just smiled, taking out a bottle of red potion from her pocket, waving it constantly in front of the merchant's eyes.

"Do you know what this is?"

Hanna looked at the red potion in front of him, somewhat dazed.

The mana potions sold by the Kravina family were famous throughout the empire's north and south.

One bottle sold for a thousand Geo, but in the black market, the price had been inflated who knows how many times.

Priceless.

And the red potion in front of him, with the same packaging, made Hanna confused.

"My family's new product, two thousand Geo a bottle."

"Want to try it?"

Seeing Lia's ambiguous smile, a bad feeling slowly rose in his heart.

Ring ring ring——!

The alarm clock rang again.

Lia's smile seemed even more joyful.

"Leon."

The elf behind her immediately stepped forward, drawing her dagger.

"Bloodletting."

In the dim room, a cold light flashed across the man's neck.

Accompanied by a slightly hot pain.

Blood suddenly gushed out.

At this moment, Hanna widened his eyes.

Feeling a sense of weakness enveloping his body, accompanied by warmth suddenly draining from his body.

He silently looked at the woman's smile in front of him.

Feeling that seductive smile full of charm.

Like a devil.

.......

The clear moonlight, filtering through the thin misty clouds, fell upon the cold blue sea surface.

At the port, dozens of cloaked figures stood in the open space, quietly waiting.

This was the storage point forced out of Hanna's mouth.

Many guards were patrolling here, guarding the goods.

Soon, those cloaked figures made their move.

Their actions were extremely swift, like hunting cheetahs, silently killing those patrolling guards.

They dragged these bodies into the darkness, throwing them into the surging sea.

The night was their best camouflage.

Only when most of the surrounding guards had been cleared did they gather together again.

The goods placed in the square, like huge boxes, were tightly covered with blue cloth.

Only through the gaps not covered by the fabric below could one see the iron cage-like material underneath.

Quietly sticking close, one could hear the breathing sounds coming from inside.

They nodded to each other.

One of them put her hand on the communication crystal by her ear, relaying messages.

The clouds were slowly blown away by the wind, and moonlight fell on the huge iron cages.

All the dark guards had completely controlled this place, and the surrounding guards had been thoroughly cleaned out.

Under the bright night sky at the port, only dozens of mysterious figures wearing cloaks and hoods remained.

Lia slowly walked out from the shadows, followed by Leon, dressed the same as the others.

Everyone bowed their heads respectfully when they saw Lia.

"Miss Lia."

"This is the last hiding spot."

Lia stood around these large cages, constantly examining them.

"Alright, let me see."

Hearing the order, they quickly jumped onto the high platform, suddenly lifting that huge curtain, revealing the 'goods' inside.

In the iron cages were some living 'people'.

'People' with soft ears like cats and dogs, each with different characteristics.

They were curled up in the iron cages, keeping each other warm.

Their fluffy tails were raised, and their long, pointed animal ears were constantly moving as if trying to discern the surrounding dangers.

Seeming to sense the faint light of seeing daylight again, they raised their heads.

Seeing the crowd observing them, their eyes flowed with obvious fear and panic.

Lia looked at them and sighed:

"Poor 'children'."

Demi-humans.

They were similar to humans, but not human.

Looking almost identical to humans, but with very characteristic animal features.

Within the empire, demi-humans were not common.

The empire had an extremely strict racial classification, with humans at the top.

Therefore, demi-humans were not allowed to enter the empire.

And if demi-humans appeared within the empire's borders, they would either be expelled from the country.

Or, be disposed of at the captor's will.

That's right, demi-humans were not treated as humans at all.

In the eyes of most people, they were nothing more than pets with thoughts and the ability to move.

The Carenthia Empire had no slavery system.

As long as they were human, even beggars could not become someone's private property by selling themselves.

Of course, this was only on the surface.

The noble lords could naturally ignore this rule.

As long as they weren't too arrogant, doing it right in front of the emperor.

Someone would always 'make an exception' for them.

So, if some people wanted some free labor that they could dispose of at will, what should they do?

They just needed to buy some 'demi-human slaves'.

Hiring a human required money, and even paying taxes.

But demi-humans? They were stronger than humans, with more endurance.

Just give them some food to eat, some water to drink, and they would constantly push themselves to the limit for survival.

As long as they didn't starve to death, they would work themselves to death.

Thinking of this, perhaps feeling a bit sorry for these demi-humans, Lia sighed.

"Now, you can be free."

As she spoke, Leon beside her drew a wooden sword from her waist.

The wooden sword flickered with a faint green light.

Rich mana constantly surged on it.

Carrying mana, Leon held the wooden sword and slashed twice horizontally at the iron cage.

The huge iron cage bars were cut open, leaving a gap large enough to escape.

At the cut surface, green light still flickered.

But the demi-humans hiding in the iron cage didn't move.

They just became more afraid, curling their bodies towards the depths of the iron cage.

Seeing this, Lia threw a glance at those hooded dark guards.

They understood, lifting their hoods, revealing animal ears of various colors and shapes.

Pointed, drooping, cat ears, dog ears, even long rabbit ears.

To show that.

They were the same kind.

Sure enough, after seeing this, the demi-humans in the iron cage slightly relaxed their vigilance.

The ears that had been raised due to sensing danger slowly drooped down.

Lia looked at these demi-humans who finally dared to stand up and smiled slightly.

"Now, are you willing to believe me?"

"Hmm, I certainly believe you now."

Suddenly, an abrupt voice rang out, and everyone looked up towards the source of the sound.

At some point, a man had sat on top of the huge iron cage.

On his back was a very luxurious great sword, looking extremely extraordinary.

The man looked down at the crowd below, grinning slightly.

But that powerful sense of oppression constantly pressed on everyone's heads.

Leon sensed danger and flashed in front of Lia.

The man stared at Lia with a smile:

"I was wondering why every shipment to Brayston would get hijacked."

"So it turns out that the famous Kravina family has raised a group of demi-humans as dark guards."

A sneer followed.

"It's really been an eye-opener for me."