FDLBF 24

Chapter 24

I changed into clothes like a prisoner and followed the scary-looking human traffickers down into the basement.
It was dark and musty, like any other prison, with countless iron bars lined up along both sides.
I was dragged into the cell at the very end.

On the way, I saw kids around my age packed in like chickens in a coop.
Some looked utterly lifeless, some screamed in rage, and some cried out names of people who would never answer.
It seemed they were orphans taken from battlefields somewhere — victims of the wars and skirmishes raging outside.
That meant this was the worst-case scenario.
This place was one of those human warehouses built for the illegal slave market.

Clank.
“Get in.”
“Uh, um! S–Sir! When will I be moved?”
“Heh, smart one, huh? You’re the first to actually ask that question.”
“H–Hehe, c–could you please tell me…?”
“Fine, I’ll tell you. You’ll be moved last. You just got here, after all. Now get in. Don’t resist.”
“…Yes, sir.”

Clang.
Once the iron door shut and they went back upstairs, the children swarmed toward me as if waiting for this moment.
“Sniff sniff. Wow, you smell nice.”
“Yeah. Are your parents nobles?”
“Do you have food? Any food?”
“…”

They peppered me with questions, but I was too busy thinking to answer.
Even if Lord Juno had already told the Duke what happened, decoding the scroll’s coordinates would take three days.

‘There are about seventy kids locked up here. If they’re taken away one group at a time, that’s enough time… maybe.’

Truth be told, I knew this prison well.
It was one of the slave trading facilities once operated by the Marquis who killed me in my past life.
So, at least, I understood exactly how it worked.
The children meant to be sold as slaves were kept here until the next auction day, when they’d be displayed and sold — a simple, brutal system.

Three days should be enough for me to act, but the problem was the special guests.
If one of those rich collectors happened to like me, I’d be sold instantly and never see the Duke again.

‘Should I act stupid? Or smear dirt all over my face…?’

While I was deciding how best to lower my “market value,” I finally greeted the crowding children with a weak smile.
But when I glanced around the cell, I nearly collapsed in shock.

“H–Hii! W–what’s that?!”

In the corner sat a black-haired child, wrapped in chains like someone carrying the sins of the entire world.
The kids rushed to hush me.
“Shh! Be quiet! He looks like that, but he’s seriously scary!”

No, he was scary — even just looking at him.
At first I thought he was pitch black, but it was just his hair hiding his face.
What skin I could see beneath was pale, almost translucent.

“See him? He burned down an entire village. That’s why they say he’s a special-grade product.”
“W–What? Special-grade?”

That little kid is special-grade?

I knew exactly what that meant.
No-grade, high-grade, and special-grade.
Ordinary children were no-grade, good-looking ones were high-grade, and those with dangerous talents — the kind that could cause trouble — were special-grade.

Just looking at these kids’ faces told me this was a high-grade cell.
So why was a special-grade child stuck here?

That question was soon answered by a chatterbox.
“He’s supposed to be in the special prison next door, but it’s full. We’re scared to death having him here.”
“…Ah.”

A simple reason — overcrowding during wartime. Too many “products,” not enough space.

I kept watching the child.
Even though he could clearly hear the gossip about him, he didn’t react at all.
Something about that chilled me, and I decided then and there never to get involved.

But then I saw something — a flicker reflected in the puddle at his feet.

“…!”

Blood-red eyes.
At that sight, my whole body bristled as if a survival alarm had gone off.

My natural enemy — Sir Aster, the Emperor’s Mad Hound — flashed through my mind.

No, no way.
It can’t be.

‘Sir Aster was of noble blood from the Northern Principality. There’s no way he’d end up here… impossible.’

I took a deep breath to steady myself and sat as far away from him as possible.
I didn’t yet realize how much I’d regret brushing off that warning.

* * *

The young lady and her divine beast had vanished.
The once-bustling tea house instantly became a prison without bars.
The Duke’s orders sealed every exit, and chaos erupted as guests realized they were trapped.

Yet, amid all that uproar, not a single person dared blame the Duke.
The look on his pale face was so grim that even strangers could tell how dire things were.

Then—
Bang!
The head guard who had gone to search for the young lady returned.

“Your Grace! We searched the entire area! The Lady is… missing. I’m sorry!”

The Duke clenched his teeth hard.
Again — missing.
The one word he never wanted to hear again.

“I’m so sorry, Duke! It’s all my fault! I only stepped away for a moment! Hic… I never thought she’d just wander off like that…!”

Lady Diana staggered like she might faint and sank to the floor.
Sympathetic women rushed to comfort her, but the Duke didn’t even glance her way.
He couldn’t afford to — not when someone close to him had vanished again.

He suspected Lady Diana, of course, but she was of royal blood, so he couldn’t touch her yet.
And what unsettled him more was how eerily this matched her own disappearance case.

A public place.
Guards unaccounted for.
And a teleportation scroll.

The Lady hadn’t been missing for long, yet there was no sign of her — which meant, almost certainly, a teleport spell had been used.
Just like that day when the Duchess disappeared.

“Captain, when will the mage arrive?”
“Soon, Your Grace! But— they said finding one capable of trace magic is taking time.”

‘Damn it…’

His fury was on the verge of exploding — enough to torture his own knights if he lost control.
Then suddenly—

Thud!

A burlap sack flew in through the window.
It looked like someone had thrown in a rice bag — but inside was the divine beast, caught by the neck and hanging like a cloak.

Lady Diana jumped up theatrically and grabbed the creature by the armpits.
“Divine Beast! Where’s the young lady? Where is she?!”

She shook him so wildly that his limp body swung like a pendulum.
He hadn’t spoken since transforming at the council, and everyone knew he couldn’t — but she was still making a scene like some tragic heroine.

The Duke ignored her and examined the sack.
A new dish on the table, the beast delivered in a bag…

That could only mean the girl hadn’t left of her own will — someone disguised as a worker must have kidnapped her.

“Commander. Arrest every staff member in this tea house. Anyone who entered the kitchen too. And contact the local lord — we’ll need his help.”

Then—

“There’s no need. I’m here, Twenty-One.”

“Eek! Kyaaah!”

Lady Diana screamed and dropped the beast like something filthy.
He curled midair and landed gracefully, snorting sharply before baring his fangs.

“What the hell, woman? You grab me without permission and throw me?”

The Duke immediately grabbed the beast by the scruff of his neck.
He didn’t care that the creature was talking or squirming — only one thing mattered.

“Speak. Why are you alone? Where was the young lady taken?”
“I don’t know! They used a scroll and vanished into thin air! But Twenty-Two called them ‘Mom and Dad.’ Hurry and bring a high-grade mage to track them, Twenty-One!”

A scroll, just as he feared.
Without a word, the Duke dropped the creature and strode toward the newly arrived mage.

The beast yawned widely, blinking tiredly after speaking too much, but his eyes stayed fixed on Lady Diana.
Something about her sudden pallor was suspicious.

Slowly, he padded over, hopped onto a nearby table, and stared straight at her.
Then he whispered—

“Royal blood. You’re the culprit… aren’t you?”

“……!”

Her lush lashes trembled wildly over those pure green eyes.