It seems he no longer felt the need to act.
The man didn’t take his despicable gaze off me.
My whole body was scanned by a terrifying look, as if measuring the worth of my soul.
As much as I wanted to gouge out those eyes right then and there, it’s impossible for me now.
There’s no point dwelling on what can’t be done immediately.
First things first, I needed to figure out where I was.
I quickly checked my surroundings without the man noticing.
And I couldn’t help but panic.
After all, this place was way too clean to perform a ritual here.
I could understand why there were no other dark mages around.
If several people conduct a ritual, the blessings you receive decrease accordingly.
I could also understand why there were no altars or magic circles for rituals around.
Judging from how my attack failed earlier, he seemed to be a fairly high-level dark mage.
At that level, such formalities might actually get in the way.
But still… “This place isn’t exactly clean… something’s definitely off.”
A place that denies the very essence of the god they worship – filth.
No matter how high-ranking, a dark mage cannot perform a ritual in such a spot.
Their god does not answer those who have forgotten what they worship.
That’s why the living quarters of dark mages are always covered in all sorts of filth.
The foul smell is strong enough to distinguish from afar, combining with the corrupt energy emanating from them.
But here?
Excluding the man in front of me, it’s a completely clean space free of any kind of pollution.
It’s excessively tidy for a place to conduct rituals.
Even the bed taking up a corner of the room…
It’s like…
‘A pen.’
Is there any better way to describe this place?
An environment so considerate and clean, as if accommodating someone who’s not a dark mage.
It feels more like a place to raise a sacrifice rather than conduct a ritual.
“But why?”
I couldn’t understand.
Why would he keep me here?
“Because the preparations for the ritual aren’t complete?”
Even to me, it sounded like a strange assumption.
If one has the skill to conduct a ritual anytime, anywhere, what preparation could they possibly need?
“Because there’s information he needs to extract from me?”
That had some merit.
Then what information could it be?
“The location of the beastperson village where I was born?”
Indeed, the people from the village where a cursed child was born would make excellent sacrifices both in quality and quantity.
Of all the assumptions I’ve made so far, this one seemed most plausible.
But still…
Something about it didn’t sit right.
My beastperson instincts, honed from living in the wild, told me it wasn’t just for that.
There’s something bigger at play here.
And that must be the reason I’m still alive.
“…”
During these thoughts, he never took his eyes off me.
I obviously had no intention of speaking first, and it seemed the same went for him.
“…”
“…”
In the seemingly endless silence, he moved first.
He left the room.
Whether he underestimated me being locked in the iron cage or thought I’d grown too weak from imprisonment, I don’t know.
What’s certain is that he gave me no orders at all before leaving.
The slave mark on the collar prevents slaves from acting against their master’s orders.
Conversely, it means there’s no restriction on actions not ordered.
“Of course, suicide is prohibited even without an order, but what I’m about to do isn’t suicide.”
Gripping the iron bars, I tensed my arms.
-Creak!
The iron bars that supposedly confined me bent ridiculously easily, making me question if they were ever meant to hold anything at all.
Soon, there was enough space for a beastperson to pass through.
“I may have weakened, but I can still do this much.”
The reason I stayed put in the cage wasn’t because I lacked strength, but because of the slave mark.
Though it’s strange that the guy who resisted even my full beastperson attacks didn’t have a scratch.
“Still, thanks to that, he let his guard down.”
Not giving any orders to someone who could escape anytime if not restricted?
It’s like a jailer opening the prison door for the prisoner.
“What the hell? There are so many spellbooks. What’s he planning to do keeping these valuable items in a storage room?”
While checking for possible traps, I noticed a bookshelf.
The magical power faintly radiating from the books filling the shelves indicated they were advanced spellbooks.
I considered taking a few as emergency funds, but abandoned the idea since they could be used to track my location.
It wouldn’t be worth risking pursuit for just some money.
There were other clearly valuable items, but for the same reason, I couldn’t take them.
“Enough useless thoughts. I need to get as far away as possible before he comes back.”
I won’t waste this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Fortunately, I realized the difference in our abilities at the shop.
Otherwise, I would have been waiting to ambush him when he returned.
After confirming there were no spells set in the room, I stepped outside the iron cage.
It’s been ages since stepping on something other than the cold iron cage floor.
But there’s no time for sentiment.
Quickly approaching the door, I grabbed the handle.
“Just get far away from here as fast as possible, then break the collar with the mark once I’m out of range!”
Simultaneously, the mark on the collar glowed.
This meant one thing:
The slave disobeyed an order.
Naturally, punishment awaited the disobedient slave.
“Guh…! Khack…!”
Breathing became nearly impossible under the extreme pain.
The only thought circling my mind was:
“He definitely didn’t give any orders…”
I was sure.
Until he left the room, he didn’t utter a single word.
“Then why… Ughh—”
-Pop crackle!
“Kgh… Kuurgh…!”
The relentless severe pain made coherent thinking impossible.
However, one thing stood out.
I figured out a way to escape this situation.
“Guess I have to go back into the cage obediently… Can’t help it…”
Somehow,
Since I received the order not to escape, there’s nothing I can do as a slave.
The pain finally subsided after I returned to the cage and restored the iron bars to their original state.
“Huff… Huff… Damn it!”
Rage boiled within me.
Toward the guy who’s completely playing with me.
Toward my own powerless self enduring such treatment.
“There’s no way… I’ll kill you…”
Strength gathered in the hand gripping the floor.
I consoled myself, believing there must be a weakness in his otherwise impenetrable body.
Based on his actions, it seemed unlikely he’d kill me immediately.
As long as I’m alive, there will be plenty of chances to strike.
How much time passed?
Just as the excitement began to settle along with the fading pain,
“!”
Footsteps approached.
Together with the smell of roasted meat.
My body reacted to the scent of food I hadn’t smelled in a while.
-Gurgle
“Damn it.”
Deciding my disposal today was final, opinions to dispose of me sooner had existed beforehand.
Soon after, not even the trash-like porridge I used to receive stopped three days ago.
Meaning,
Today marks the fourth day of fasting.
-Gurgle
Reaffirming my significantly weakened body, I calmed the growling stomach again.
Showing weakness to the enemy would do no good.
Shortly after, the professor entered holding something in one hand.
Its outline was obscured by magic, but the smell wafting from inside matched what I smelled earlier.
‘If he intended to hide its contents, he would’ve removed the smell too… Why?’
“Look here. Can you guess what I brought?”
The professor exaggeratedly drew out the suspense while lifting the object for emphasis.
Contrasting sharply with his behavior at the shop, it threw me off.
As he slowly bent down toward the floor,
The item was placed down, and simultaneously the magic dissolved revealing its identity.
“!”
A plate filled with meat.
Seeing this finally revealed his purpose.
Torture.
Physical and mental suffering inflicted on the sacrifice enhances the ritual’s effectiveness.
Since physical torture requires preparation,
He likely aimed to inflict mental torture without separate preparation.
Through stimulating basic desires like hunger.
“I’m not falling for that.”
Turning my head as if showing indifference to whether he eats it or not.
Though tempted by the strong aroma of meat reaching my nose, I restrained the rumbling stomach.
However,
“?!”
His reaction was a bit odd.
Despite my outright ignoring him, he simply stared silently before slowly picking up the plate and entering the cage.
As if confident I couldn’t possibly harm him, he silently chuckled.
Then,
‘Wait a minute. Why is he putting this in front of me?’
Placed the plate of meat directly in front of me.
-Gurgle
With the food so close, my starving-for-four-days body refused to obey its master’s control.
Having vowed not to play into his hands, I tried moving as far from the plate as possible within the narrow cage.
Finding my struggles amusing, he only laughed louder.
Finally, the professor spoke.
“I made this for you. Don’t hesitate, eat lots.”
“Don’t hesitate, eat ‘lots’.”
The moment the slave mark detected the master’s command, it forced my head into the plate and stuffed food into my mouth.
Though utterly humiliating,
My body eagerly responded to the taste of proper food after so long.
‘This… He said he made this for me?’
“A black mage wouldn’t feed sacrifices normal meat…”
“Ughh…!”
Realizing the truth behind the meats sent waves of nausea, but the slave mark forced me to chew and swallow everything regardless.
While experiencing the sensation of my stomach turning,
Recalling how I briefly felt happiness eating this made me feel sick with myself.
Black mages wouldn’t bring normal food.
For a brief moment, I felt happiness eating this…
Looking at the professor through the corner of my eye,
His smile deepened upon realizing I caught on to the meat’s true nature.
“!?”
Soon after, he began molesting my body.
Messing up my hair,
Running his hands down my back,
Biting my neck.
Among countless other unspeakably disgraceful acts, until
He wrapped his arm around my neck knocking me unconscious.
The last thing I saw before blacking out was
His chillingly smiling face.
Seems like I won’t die anytime soon.
‘Someday… I’ll make you regret this moment… Regret not killing you then…’
*
‘Huh?!’
Regaining consciousness after sharing satisfying rapport.
What met my eyes was a wolf wriggling around in my arms.
“…Weird.”
Clearly, this isn’t how I remember the wolf’s last appearance.
Like a film cut mid-scene,
I briefly recalled the events leading up to now.
Burrowing my face into the wolf’s mane and sniffing wildly…
“Oh dear.”
What should I do about this?
