“……”
I unintentionally held my breath.
Whoever were to come, they would all be overwhelmed by this girl’s beauty.
However, the reason why I had my breath taken away from me for an instant was not because of this girl’s beauty. Something completely different had moved me emotionally.
—The slave girl was reading a book.
In the middle of this boundlessly dreary cage.
Using the moon as her only source of light.
With a thick book spread open on the floor before her, she silently turned the pages with her blistered hands.
There was something breathtaking about this extraordinary sight.
If one were to ask why, then it was because there was absolutely nothing that could get in her way.
This may have been my first time seeing her, but I immediately understood everything.
The disgrace and shame from having fallen from nobility and into slavery, the countless number of times people had beaten and hurled abuses at this girl, the despair and sorrow for being thrown away by her own parents. Miscellaneous emotions had absolutely no effect on her now.
She was already a completed human.
Closed off.
In darkness.
“……”
I approached the cage with loud steps.
Despite having purposely made my footsteps resound, the girl did not raise her head.
She simply stared down with no expression on her face.
Was she so focused on the book that she couldn’t hear any outside noise?
I stepped between the moon and girl.
A dark shadow loomed over her. Now, for the first time, the girl slowly raised her head to match my gaze, with eyes that lacked even the smallest amount of light.
Laura De Farnese.
The human to go against the hero and turn the continent into a sea of blood.
To the girl who was abandoned by her family and the world, I spoke.
“—My name is Dantalian, the rank 71st Demon Lord.”
Without any pretense.
Petty tricks didn’t work against people with these kinds of eyes.
Always straight and honest, that was the best persuasion method in this sort of situation.
“De Farnese. I came here in order to obtain you.”
“……”
“I am wealthy. Thus I can easily buy you at the slave auction whenever I please. My witches and military troops are lying in wait around this marketplace, thus taking you away by force is also fully a possibility.”
It was not a lie.
Around this time, Lapis Lazuli was most likely preparing to start an assault at the outskirts of the market. The Berbere Sisters were with her. My forces were waiting at a moment’s notice.
11 witches of the highest class, and 9 soldiers of the highest class.
The defenses of this slave market was comparatively sturdy, but it was still nothing more than 70 guards. Utilizing the witch’s firepower, we could easily turn them all into grilled meat. Snatching Laura De Farnese away and disappearing leisurely was not difficult.
If I were to give the order then it was simple.
Despite that.
“But I desire to be acknowledged by you.”
I wanted to leave those as a last resort.