Cold. Her back touches the soil. Saki opens her eyes. She sees a dark sky. Tree branches. And moss glowing pale blue. She slowly sits up. Her white uniform shirt is dirty. Her black slacks are covered in dirt. She checks her pockets. No phone. No wallet. "[whispers]Where... am I?" Her own voice sounds so small. It scares her. Deep forest surrounds her. Trees thicker than any she's ever seen stretch endlessly. The air is cool. It smells of earth and grass. The ground is dotted with pale blue glowing moss. Like scattered fragments of stars. It dimly lights the entire forest. She stands. Her legs tremble. The last thing she remembers is lying in bed. Watching videos in her room. A weird ad popped up. Annoying. She closed it. Then— Her memory cuts off. "[scared]Someone... Is anyone there!" She shouts. No answer. She shouts again. A distant sound. She runs toward it. Help. She thought so. But back then, I still understood nothing. — Two men emerged from the bushes. Wearing tattered leather armor. One holds a lantern. The other has a sword at his hip. Their faces are filthy with grime and stubble. Only their eyes gleam. "Oh? A woman?" "Nice find." The lantern man peers at Saki's face. His breath stinks like rotten fruit. "[scared]P-please, help me. I woke up here and..." The men exchange glances. They grin. "She speaks our tongue. No idea where she's from." "Doesn't matter. Grab her." The next moment, strong hands seize Saki's arms. "[crying]Stop! Let go!" She resists. Tries to kick. But the man is too strong. Her arm is twisted behind her back in an instant. Pain shoots through her shoulder. Like it might dislocate. "Don't struggle. I'll break it." "We're taking her to camp. Report to the boss." Saki is dragged through the forest. Her mouth is covered. She can't scream. She just kicks at the ground. The pale blue moss before her eyes is strangely beautiful. That only makes this horror worse. — After a while, firelight appears. A dozen men sit among the trees. Around a campfire. Roasting something. Drinking. When Saki is brought in, every eye turns to her. "Whoa, what's this?" "A lively little lady." "Where'd you catch her?" Laughter erupts. Saki is thrown to the ground near the fire. Dirt and ash smear her face. She looks up. A man approaches. Taller than the others. A huge scar covers the left half of his face. And his right hand—no. In its place, a gleaming metal hook. A prosthetic claw. "She was shouting near the Verden Forest." The lantern man reports. The hook-handed man—Dagan—crouches down. He studies Saki's face. Like appraising merchandise. "Huh. Unusual features." His left hand grabs her chin. Forces it up. "Tonight should be fun." The men laugh again. Saki will soon understand exactly what that laughter means. "[crying]Please, stop... I want to go home... to my world..." She begs. But Dagan just tilts his head. "Your world? No idea where that is. This place is Ignisveil. Doesn't matter where you came from anymore." Ignisveil. A word she's never heard. Multiple hands grab Saki's arms. She's pinned to the ground. "[sad]Stop it! Let go!" She screams. She prays for someone to come. But no police. No ambulance. None of that exists here. Dagan straddles her. The sensation of her clothes being torn. Cold air touches her skin. Her chest is exposed. Her breasts bared to the night air. "Nice body." One man says it. He pulls out his erect penis. The others follow. One by one. Firelight glints off their obscenely gleaming cocks. Saki screams and cries. She kicks her legs. Flails her arms. But two men hold her down. She can't move at all. Dagan's hook traces her cheek. The cold metal terrifies her. "Behave. Unless you want to get hurt." A low voice vibrates in her eardrums. Then the first man spreads her legs. Her pure, untouched place is forcibly exposed. Never shown to anyone before. A man's finger roughly enters her dry vagina. "[crying]No! It hurts!" The finger moves. Forcing its way in. Squelching. It hurts. Nothing but pain. The man doesn't care. He pulls his finger out. Presses his penis against her entrance. "I'm putting it in." Just those words. He thrusts his hips in all at once. "Ahh—!" A voiceless scream. She thought her body was being torn apart. The sickening sensation of her hymen breaking. Searing, burning pain. The man starts his piston-like thrusts without mercy. Every time his thick cock scrapes inside her dry vagina, unbearable pain shoots through her. "So tight. Fucking amazing." Her body shakes with every thrust. Tears blur her vision. It hurts. Help me. Someone. But no one comes. One man finishes. The next. He finishes. The next. Saki's pussy is filthy with semen. White fluid drips down her thighs. They thrust deep into her again and again. They came inside her as much as they wanted. They used her mouth too. Made her suck their cocks. Poured cum directly down her throat. The fishy taste. The urge to vomit. She coughs. It only makes them laugh harder. Dagan was the third. He wraps his left hand around her side. Careful not to cut her with his hook. He inserts himself slowly. More gentle than the others. But it still hurts. "This one's feeling it even while she cries." Dagan laughs. No. She's not feeling anything. It just hurts. But she can't voice it. Only gasps and sobs fade into the forest. How much time passed? Saki lost even the will to resist. All the men pull away from her. Satisfied. Her body is covered in bruises, wounds, and copious amounts of semen. She looks up at the sky. The stars are beautiful. The constellations seem slightly different from Japan's night sky. (This is where it ends.) Just before closing her eyes, the last thing she saw was Dagan's hook. Gleaming. Reflecting the firelight. That image burned into her retinas. Saki's consciousness sank into darkness. — A rattling sensation. Shaking. Saki wakes up. She sees a rough wooden ceiling. She's on a wagon bed. The sound of horse hooves. Wheels turning. Her body is heavy. No. It hurts too much to move. "Oh, you're awake." A man's voice. Saki slowly turns her head. A fat middle-aged man sits on the driver's seat beside the wagon. Wearing shabby clothes. His belly sticks out. He has a kind-looking face. But his eyes are narrowed. Appraising. "[whispers]You... are..." "I'm Gallon. Slave trader." Slave. Slave trader. Saki couldn't immediately process the words. "[scared]S-slave...? No, I'm from Japan. Just a student..." "Japan? Never heard of it. Doesn't matter. I picked you up. You were collapsed by the roadside. Pretty face. Heal those wounds properly and you'll sell for a good price." Gallon says it with a smile. No malice at all. Just eyes checking size and quality. Like looking at merchandise. That's somehow more terrifying. Deeper than violence. "Damaged goods lose value. Gotta treat you right or I'll take a loss." Gallon starts applying a poultice to Saki's bruises. His hands are gentle. But his words are "product quality control." He's not worried about Saki. He's only talking about money. Confusion. Her mind can't keep up. "Um... the police? Please call for help..." "Police? You mean the guards? Hah. They won't lift a finger for a slave like you. We're near Markenhafen. Free Trade Zone. Slaves are movable property here." Markenhafen. Free Trade Zone. Every word is meaningless to Saki. The wagon eventually stops. Gallon climbs down from the driver's seat. He calls someone. "Hey. Brander. Hurry it up. I'm in a rush." An old man in a black robe climbs onto the wagon. Gaunt. His fingers are eerily long. He holds a small silver bottle and a thin brush. "Don't move. This will be over soon." The old man opens the bottle. Bluish-silver ink appears inside. She can tell just by looking. It's imbued with magic. The air feels like it's crackling. "[scared]W-what are you doing! Stop!" Saki desperately flails her limbs. But Gallon silently pins her arms. "It'll hurt if you move. This is a slave brand. Linked to my slate with magic. If you try to get more than 100 meters away from me—searing pain in your neck. Same if you try to hurt me. Try to force it off, and the blood vessels in your neck will rupture. You'll die." Gallon says it matter-of-factly. Like a product description. The old man's brush touches Saki's neck. Cold ink slides across her skin. A complex pattern is drawn. Little by little. Terrifying. Terrifying enough to die. But it ends in minutes. The old man begins chanting. A language she's never heard. A low resonance. The next moment, searing heat shoots through Saki's neck. "Aaaaah—!" She screams. The brand glows faintly red on the skin of her neck. Intense pain like being burned from the inside. It lasts several seconds. Then vanishes abruptly. "Good. It's working. Let's test it." Gallon takes out the slate. He climbs down from the wagon. He walks further and further away. 10 meters. 20 meters... Around 50 meters away, a sharp pain stabs her neck. "It hurts...! S-stop..." "Ah, it's working properly. Good, good." Gallon returns. Satisfied. Saki sits slumped on the wagon bed. She touches her neck. Her fingertips feel the faintly raised brand. She can't escape anymore. A cold something spreads slowly from the core of her body. — The wagon starts moving again. Gallon hums from the driver's seat. He speaks to Saki. "We're heading to Markenhafen. The largest commercial city on the western continent. Designated a Free Trade Zone. Slavery is completely legal there." "[cold]Legal...?" "That's right. A law passed about 180 years ago. Slaves aren't human. They're movable property—goods. If someone assaults you, they just pay me compensation. No crime." Saki is speechless. "As for where we're going. I plan to sell you to a high-class brothel. The Moonlight Manor. It's a good place. A young one like you might become popular on the secret menu." Brothel. High-class. Secret menu. Words she never wanted to know flood her head. "[sad]The police... contact the embassy..." "Like I said. What's that? I don't get it. It's impossible. Your old world's common sense doesn't work here." Gallon tilts his head. Saki understands. There's not a single ally here anymore. Screaming and crying means nothing. No one is coming to save her. (I can't go back to Japan.) (I'll never see my parents or friends again.) There's a stain on the wagon floor. She doesn't want to think about what it is. She just can't look away. At that moment, it flashes in her mind. The campfire light. Dagan's hook. The faces of the men who laughed as they violated her. From the pit of her stomach, something thick and hot rises. Hatred. An emotion she's never felt before. Pitch black. Hot. And cold. (Someday, I'll kill them.) (I'll kill every single one of them.) That was the only heat left inside Saki. In this hell. Inescapable despair. Only hatred barely kept her alive.