A roar. A shout. Laughter. They all mixed together in a mess, pounding against Saki's eardrums. She opened her eyes. Forced her heavy lids apart. A gray sky stretched above. Cloudy. The wind stank. Fish, sweat, and blood all blended together. The central market of Markenhafen. Saki couldn't lift her body from the wagon bed. The cart had stopped. The sound of Gallon climbing down from the driver's seat. His boots echoed on the cobblestones. "We're here. Get down." Gallon's hand gripped the edge of the wagon. He hauled Saki up by the arm. The slave brand on her neck throbbed with a dull ache. Her feet hit the ground. Her knees buckled. Gallon started walking. Saki followed, dragged along behind him. The crowd in the market stared at Saki. Their gazes stabbed into her. Some saw the brand on her neck and quickly looked away. Some smirked, appraising her. Some looked on with pity, then passed by without doing a thing. Saki hung her head. She had no choice but to cut off her emotions. That sensation she'd learned back then. The method to flip the switch. In her mind, she severed something with a snap. She pushed her heart far away. Her body was here. But she was not. They entered the slave trading block. Wooden platforms stood in rows. People stood on top of them. Men, women, young ones, old ones. All of them had brands on their necks. Voices flew back and forth. "Former mercenary! Skilled fighter! How about a bodyguard?" "This one's a young girl! You won't lack for company at night!" Voices shouting prices. Voices boasting about their wares. Gallon stopped in front of an empty platform. "This is it. Get up there. Listen, this is an important moment that decides the value of the merchandise. Don't try anything funny." He flashed the slate. Saki climbed onto the platform without a word. The wooden planks were cold, rough against the soles of her bare feet. A crowd began to gather. Ruffians, merchants, and—brokers looking for clients for the Under-Moon Pavilion. "Hey, a new one?" A man approached. His arms were covered in scars. A hand reached out. It grabbed Saki's chin. Her face was lifted. "Show me inside your mouth." The moment his fingers touched her lips, Saki's stomach clenched tight. She felt sick. But her emotions were far away. She opened her mouth. The man checked her teeth, examined the condition of her tongue, and snorted. "Not bad. But she's too skinny." "She's still being finished. She'll be top-grade, fit for the Under-Moon Pavilion. Her skin is clean, and the brand is properly placed. She's been trained." Gallon's sales pitch. His voice of promotion. Another hand grabbed Saki's arm. They groped her torso. Checked the swell of her chest. Prodded around her waist with their fingers. The sensation of her buttocks being squeezed through her skirt. Saki turned to stone. That feeling of being counted as an object, the one she'd felt in front of the bakery that day. Now the entire market was that. She was a thing. A thing with a price tag. Buyers appeared one after another. Each time, her body was touched, inspected through her clothes. "How much?" "This one's for a brothel. Costs more than a private sale. Only come with serious money." The voices were distant. Her vision blurred. (I'm being appraised right now.) She thought, vaguely. (How much will I be?) (Damaged goods, turned into a thing—) —The commotion shifted. Three men pushed through the crowd and approached. Matching leather armor, swords at their hips. Their eyes were different. They didn't listen to Gallon's pitch. They reached directly for Saki. Her arm was grabbed. Strong force. "Let us have a little taste." Gallon looked at them. For a moment, their eyes met. Saki stared at Gallon. (Tell them to stop.) She screamed it somewhere in her heart. But no voice came out. Gallon let out a small breath. And then, he stepped away from the platform. At the entrance to an alley, he turned his back and crossed his arms. "[scared]Why...?" A voice leaked from Saki's mouth. The three men dragged Saki down from the platform. Her legs tangled. She was pulled along the ground. An alley. The back side of the market. Dim, damp cobblestones. The smell of garbage and the presence of rats. "[angry]Stop! Let go!" Saki screamed. She tried to shake off their arms. —A sharp pain in her neck. "Agh...!" The brand issued a warning. She'd strayed too far from Gallon—still only a few dozen meters. But that was how it was programmed. The adventurers laughed. "Your master gave permission." The alley entrance. She could see Gallon's back. He didn't move. Saki sent her gaze toward Gallon. He didn't turn around. "He won't tell us to stop. This is normal here. As long as you don't damage the goods, the price won't drop." There was no malice in his voice. Just the tone of someone explaining how to handle merchandise. Saki remembered the night in the Verden Forest. That moment when Dagan's claws gleamed. The fact that no one came to help. —It was the same. This time too, no one would come. No one would stop it. "Gotcha." The first man shoved Saki down onto the cobblestones. Her back slammed hard. Her breath caught. Thick fingers rolled up the hem of her torn skirt. "[crying]Nooooo!" A scream. It echoed off the stone walls of the alley, then vanished immediately. The bustle of the market continued unchanged. No one noticed. Even if they did, they didn't stop. The Free Trade Zone—here, this was legal. The first one. The man straddled her. The smell of sweat and alcohol rained down on Saki's face. Her underwear was torn. The sound of fabric ripping. Her skin was laid bare. "Not bad skin. No wonder she's expensive." He exposed his penis. Already erect, it was thrust before Saki's eyes. Voiceless, Saki turned her face away. "Lick it." Her head was grabbed. The tip was forced into her mouth. "Ngh...!" A fishy taste. Sweat, urine, and some kind of filth. She remembered the bakery's storeroom that day. The same as back then. But worse. The man started to thrust his hips. Saki gagged as the back of her throat was jabbed. Tears spilled over. Even so, she couldn't bite down—the existence of the brand was seared into her mind. If she bit, she would die. "Not bad at all. She's been properly trained." Mockery. And then—a thick, hot liquid in her mouth. Semen was poured down her throat. A large amount. She swallowed with a gulping sound. Bitter. Fishy. She wanted to vomit, but she had no choice but to swallow. The first man left. Before she could even wipe the semen dripping from the corner of her mouth, the second man grabbed Saki's legs. She was forced onto her back. Her legs were spread open. "I'm putting it in." The man's penis was pressed against the entrance of Saki's vagina. She wasn't wet. It hurt. A sensation like being torn apart. "Aaaaaah—!" A voiceless shriek. A disgusting, squelching sound. The man pushed his hips in. The pain of being scraped inside. A pressure like her internal organs were being pried open. "So tight. Not used to it yet, huh?" Every time the man moved, Saki's back scraped against the cobblestones, skin peeling away. The pain spread. A knee was planted on her arm, pinning her down. Saki tried to cut off her emotions. The switch— But she couldn't block out the physical agony. Even if her heart fled, her body was here. Only the sensation of her bones creaking and her flesh being wounded vividly occupied Saki's consciousness. "I'm cumming." Short words. The sensation of something hot being released inside her vagina. The throbbing penis pounded against the entrance to her womb. The stored-up semen slowly filled her insides. The man pulled away. The moment he withdrew, cloudy white fluid trickled down her thighs. The third one. Saki could no longer stand up. Her hair was grabbed from behind. She was forced onto her stomach. Her hips were lifted, positioning her on all fours. "I'm gonna savor this thoroughly." A foreign object was inserted again into her still-heated vagina. "Hic... ah... ah..." She couldn't even scream anymore. Voiceless sounds leaked out on their own. The piston-like motion began. With each thrust, the deepest part of her womb was jabbed. The semen that had been pumped into her earlier frothed, making a cloudy white sound. Saki's vision went dark. The pain and humiliation crossed a certain threshold. Her senses began to go numb. (Ah, so this is) (what it means to break.) Vaguely, she stared at the ceiling. Scars carved into the alley's stone wall by someone. Meaningless lines, nothing more. She overlapped herself with them—and Saki's consciousness nearly cut out there. —It was over. The three men left, satisfied. Laughter. Saki lay collapsed on the cobblestones of the alley. Bruises all over her body. Her arms and legs were covered in welts. Mixed bodily fluids dripped from between her thighs, forming a small puddle. She couldn't move. She couldn't stand. She couldn't twitch a fingertip, or even an eyelid. Silence. At the alley entrance, Gallon, who had been waiting the whole time, approached. The sound of his boots reached Saki's ears. "Can you stand?" A voice. No anger, no pity, nothing. Just a voice checking the condition of the merchandise. Saki couldn't answer. Gallon crouched down and briefly examined Saki's body. "No broken bones. The bruises will be a reason for a discount, but it can't be helped." He lifted Saki up. Thick arms, hardened by heavy labor, raised Saki's body. "I'm taking you somewhere nice now. Look forward to it." —The Under-Moon Pavilion. The red lights of the pleasure district bled into the darkness of night. Streets illuminated by magic lamps. Stone buildings stood in rows. Among them, a three-story structure, particularly luxurious. Gallon knocked on the door. A heavy wooden gate. Seconds later, it opened silently. The person who appeared from within was a thin woman wearing a black dress. Madame Vespa. Forty-two years old. Cold, golden eyes. A small jeweled earring in her left ear. She glanced at Saki. "...Gallon. Is this the one?" "That's right. Good merchandise, isn't she? She's a bit dirty from being sampled, but it's no problem once she's cleaned up." Vespa crouched down in front of Saki without a word. Thin, cold fingers grabbed Saki's face. She tilted it left and right, checking the bone structure. Next, she traced the brand on Saki's neck with her finger, examining the condition of the magic silver ink. "The brand is... well, passable." The bruises on her arm. Pressed with a finger. Saki's body flinched. "A discount here. No problem with the bones. Teeth are... clean. Face isn't bad either." Words of appraisal rained down from above. Saki, left sitting on the floor, could only listen as she was appraised. She couldn't switch off her emotions anymore. The switch she thought she'd cut—had it broken? Everything sounded vivid. "The price." "Let's see. I'll discount it because of the injuries... but the quality of the training doesn't look bad. How about 120 gold?" "150. I put a lot of effort into her training. Crimson Dream Powder was used too." Silence. "...130. I can't go higher than that." "Done." The deal was struck. 130 gold. That was Saki's price. One hundred and thirty gold coins. About 390,000 yen. My life is worth 390,000 yen. That fact sank heavily into the pit of her stomach. Vespa handed a leather pouch filled with gold coins to Gallon. "Confirmed." Gallon took the money, then stood in front of Saki, who was still sitting on the floor. "Alright. Time for your last service." He pulled down his pants. Saki stared silently at the penis in front of her. "[scared]..." She had no energy left to resist. Gallon grabbed Saki's hair and brought the glans close to her mouth. "[whispers]Lick it. Just like I taught you." Saki opened