Chapter 7
It was not long after Sislein had headed toward the mansion to change out of his wet clothes that his scream rang out.
“……!”
Startled, I ran toward the sound of the scream.
As I rounded the corner, I saw the silhouette of an adult dragging a boy, gripping his clothes so tightly they were on the verge of tearing.
“Did you think I wouldn’t find you if you ran away? You’ve cost me a fortune, you wretched little colt!”
The man had yellowish whites in his eyes with gray irises that glinted with greed, and his back was hunched, his hands as thin and dry as tree branches.
From his distinct appearance and speech, I was able to deduce who he was.
What was it? His name? Ah, lightning struck my brain.
‘Viscount Puterio!’
It was that slave trader. The vicious human merchant who had given Sislein his water trauma.
Viscount Puterio was pulling and threatening Sislein without a shred of consideration, as if the boy were nothing more than livestock.
“I’ll teach you a lesson so you never run away again. You are my slave. You are my ‘property’!”
Sislein only hung his head and trembled. It was as if his learned fear had paralyzed his entire body.
The moment I met those red eyes, I felt an unbearable surge of sadness and rage.
“Let him go right now!”
Viscount Puterio twisted his face into a scowl as he looked at me.
“Who are you to interfere! Get lost before I smack you!”
I stared straight at him, eyes wide.
“Let him go, now!”
“……A brat like you dares to be so bold!”
Just as his rough hand was raised high to strike my cheek.
“Aaaargh!”
With a scream, Viscount Puterio began to flail. Before I knew it, Heinri had bitten his arm with all his might.
“Don’t you dare lay a hand on my sister, you filthy bastard!”
“These little rat-like brats……!”
Just as the enraged Viscount Puterio glared at Heinri as if he would grind him to dust.
A cold voice cut through the chaotic air like an arrow.
“What is the meaning of this disturbance?”
Hair pulled back without a single strand out of place, stern golden eyes.
—It was Mrs. Mimosa.
“To cause such a commotion in our Forest. That is something that cannot be allowed in this mansion where children are growing up. ‘Absolutely.’”
Viscount Puterio flinched, seemingly taken aback for a moment by Mrs. Mimosa’s icy presence.
But perhaps thinking he could not afford to back down, he straightened his back and stiffened his coat collar.
“I am Viscount Puterio, who requested an interview regarding my runaway slave today. And on my way to meet the lady, I discovered my ‘lost property’!”
Viscount Puterio pointed at the terrified Sislein.
“This little rat is my possession, so I shall be taking him!”
“……Mrs. Mimosa.”
I pulled Sislein into my arms and looked at Mrs. Mimosa.
With eyes desperately pleading for help.
Because she was the only protector we had in this mansion.
‘I can’t let him be taken like this.’
Especially not to a wicked human who referred to a child as ‘lost property.’
Mrs. Mimosa looked at us with a cold, unreadable face before opening her mouth to address the Viscount.
“First, please follow me inside.”
She then turned and headed toward the mansion.
* * *
“That brat is a slave of mine who was at the ‘Perdes Slave Market’! But the insolent thing ran away while the fire was going on.”
Viscount Puterio strongly asserted his ownership of Sislein.
Watching him, I searched my memories of the original story.
‘He bought his viscountcy with the money he made from slave trading.’
He had originally been a commoner, but he was a highly successful slave trader who used his business know-how and a ruthless heart that never wavered even while buying and selling humans as his foundation.
With that capital, he had bought the title of a ruined noble and was playing the part of an aristocrat.
But it was clear he hadn’t been able to buy class.
“That child was my property to begin with, so I’m taking him!”
To his unreasonable demand, Mrs. Mimosa replied without wavering.
“A child who has become a Tree is under the protection of the Forest. You cannot take him away as you please.”
“……Then what about my property?! Are you trying to swindle me?!”
Sislein seemed to find the mere sound of Viscount Puterio’s voice painful; he trembled even while holding my hand tightly.
Mrs. Mimosa watched Sislein for a moment before speaking.
“I will pay the price for that child.”
Ah, thank goodness……
Paying off a human who came for money was the cleanest solution.
Mrs. Mimosa clearly thought so as well.
“I will give you 10 million gold.”
The average market price for a young slave was 3 million gold, and 10 million gold for an adult.
While there were price differences based on gender, health, and origin, they were minor.
The amount Mrs. Mimosa offered was generously higher than the average.
I could feel her intent to resolve the matter quickly without a major dispute.
However.
“Ha! Do you take me for an idiot?”
Beneath Viscount Puterio’s green hair, his gray eyes glistened with greed. He twisted his lips and said.
“Nothing less than 50 million gold!”
“……!!!”
That’s absurd!
Mrs. Mimosa seemed slightly taken aback, no less than I was. Her expressionless face had cracked ever so slightly.
“To offer 10 million gold just to send me away, it’s clear that this ‘Tree’ thing has great value! Is he an ‘Awakened’ or something?”
“…….”
It seemed Viscount Puterio had come already knowing about the Forest. This was a secret rearing facility, but rumors had been spreading quietly among the nobles.
The vicious man, who had a keen nose for the scent of money, was intent on taking a huge cut.
“To think my property had such value…… I didn’t know before, but now that I do, I will never let him go for a pittance.”
Viscount Puterio chuckled as if he were in a good mood.
“The price for that child is 50 million gold. I won’t lower it by a single coin!”
Mrs. Mimosa lowered her eyes quietly and said.
“……Then the negotiations have broken down.”
As if he had expected this, Viscount Puterio said.
“Since this is the Corel territory, it is only right to follow the judgment of the lord, the ‘Marquis of Corel.’ I shall request it! It would be best to attend to it tomorrow.”
“Very well.”
The two agreed to abide by the judgment of the Lord of Corel regarding Sislein’s residence tomorrow.
Facing Mrs. Mimosa’s face, which was as cold as a marble sculpture, Viscount Puterio wore an inscrutable smirk.
* * *
‘Stupid woman, not even knowing what kind of relationship I have with the Marquis of Corel.’
Viscount Puterio was in the best of moods. He was confident he would win the minor trial tomorrow.
He had often sold the most excellent ‘goods’ he acquired as a slave trader to the Marquis of Corel at a low price.
The Marquis of Corel had then resold those slaves to his own vassals in his territory, pocketing the profit.
‘The Lord will obviously take my side.’
When that happened, the expensive slave would be his property again.
To think he was such a precious Awakened; he could get 50 million gold from anyone he sold him to.
In truth, the children of the Forest were worth far more than that, but Viscount Puterio could not possibly know that.
As the Viscount, in high spirits, licked his lips while looking at Sislein, Annette stepped in front of him.
“Don’t look at him like that. You’re scaring Sislein!”
“Tsk tsk, a little brat like you trying so hard to protect your friend. Even so, your friend will be mine.”
“……That remains to be seen.”
At Annette’s bold words, Viscount Puterio burst into a mocking laugh.
He knew this type well.
Lives that were born like bugs and did nothing but squirm. And even then, weak and young.
“You are lives that your parents threw away.”
“…….”
“…….”
At his verbal abuse, both children froze simultaneously.
“Normal children are born receiving love. But sometimes, there are children who are merely the ‘excrement’ of carnal desire.”
His gray eyes flashed cruelly.
“Just like you.”
Annette’s expression turned blank.
“So, whether you cherish each other, love each other, or have any human-like feelings……”
“…….”
“You will live your lives being sold like objects. Forever. People like you, bugs with no foundation, have no choice but to live that way.”
Viscount Puterio smiled, his eyes crinkling.
“How very pathetic.”
“…….”
Having finished his words, Viscount Puterio cast a look of contempt at the two children clinging to each other and boarded his carriage.
Annette just stared blankly at the back of the carriage as it left the garden.
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