Chapter 27

 Slave Market (2)

“Absolutely not.”

Cedric rejected the idea outright.

I knew he would.

He’s the kind of man who draws his sword even at the Crown Prince’s command to serve him. It would’ve been strange if he had agreed immediately to a plan as dangerous as getting captured as a slave.

“We really need someone to infiltrate as a slave. It’ll only be for a day or two at most, so it shouldn’t be too dangerous—”

“Then I’ll do it.”

Hearing my words, Cedric volunteered to become a slave himself.

I expected this, too.

“…I don’t want to put you in danger, Cedric. Besides, this was my plan from the beginning.”

“It’s a matter of efficiency. Wouldn’t I be more suited to this infiltration mission than you, Saintess?”

“Well…”

I bit my lip.

Deliberately.

“Whatever the reason, please leave it all to me. I promise to succeed.”

“…You’re right.”

A bitter smile tugged at my lips.

I gently brushed my eye with one hand. Cedric looked into my unfocused blue eyes with a guilt-ridden expression.

“Someone like me… compared to you, Cedric…”

“Saintess.”

His lips parted slightly.

But in the end, he said nothing. Unless he admitted he was the Cedric from the past, he couldn’t apologize or offer any comfort.

This was all part of the plan.

Even if I had asked him directly from the start, “Please get captured as a slave for this mission,” Cedric would have agreed without hesitation.

But that wouldn’t have worked.

‘It’s important that he believes he volunteered for it himself.’

To Cedric now, “Eustinas” is someone he must protect—a dear friend from the past to whom he owes a debt.

There’s no doubt he holds affection for me. I’ve seen his heartbeat quicken when I touch his face. It’s possible, though not certain, that he may be feeling the beginnings of love.

But that’s not enough.

‘Love and trust are different things.’

What I want from him is beyond love—something deeper, more blind: absolute loyalty.

The ultimate goal is to make Cedric unable to harbor even a single doubt about anything I say.

Not easy.

But hmm. Well.

It’s not impossible.

After all, I’m the kind of woman who survived four years of grad school while fitting elephants into refrigerators.

Even if I only ended up with a bachelor’s degree…

Bachelor of Solutions…

Combined master’s and PhD program dropout…

Damn it.

Swallowing the pain of my academic trauma, I turned to Diorld, who was still bickering with Liliana.

“Your Highness, Prince Diorld.”

“…Hm?”

“Do you know how the slave trading firm you sponsor actually procures their slaves?”

“The slave trading firm… you say.”

He let out a faint groan.

As if old guilt was stirring. Rubbing his face heavily, he finally answered.

“To be honest, I don’t know. I do know where it’s located and where the auctions take place, but I never really cared how they get the slaves.”

Liliana’s eyes lit up as if she realized something.

“Don’t tell me you’re planning to sneak that rootless guy into the slave firm?”

“Oh, you and your obsession with roots. Do the royal family in this country have anything going for them besides bloodlines?”

“Are you done talking?”

“Yeah, I’m done. What, gonna punch me with your noble fist or something?”

“You impudent little…”

Liliana’s clenched fist trembled in frustration, clearly still sore from losing her argument with Cedric.

My head throbbed.

‘These brats…’

Cedric charging ahead without restraint, Liliana degrading him at every turn—they’re both a headache.

If not for Izumi, I’d be the only sane one in this group.

“Princess Liliana is right. I was originally planning to go myself, but… as someone who can’t see, I doubt I’d be of much use inside.”

The room went quiet at my self-deprecating remark. Cedric, who had been the most vehemently opposed, now had a conflicted look in his eyes.

“I hate to ask this of you, but…”

“There’s no need to apologize.”

He responded solemnly.

“Thank you for saying that.”

I drew the corners of my lips into a hesitant smile, as if weighed down by guilt for asking him to do it and by self-pity for being useless.

All an act, of course.

“I’m sure you’ll do great, Cedric. You’re strong enough to escape even after being captured.”

“…That’s true.”

Cedric answered with a complicated expression, a blush creeping up to his ears.

Seeing that, Liliana twisted her face in disgust and turned away sharply. Her startled reaction reminded me of a golden cat.

‘…Kinda cute?’

I briefly imagined a tiny golden furball Liliana meowing around, but quickly dismissed the thought.

“Also, there’s something I’d like to ask of both Your Highness and Princess Liliana.”

“What is it?”

“What’s that?”

The two siblings perked up at once. Smiling gently at the blond duo, I said:

“Well, it’s like this…”

After hearing what I had to say, the two looked at each other blankly for a moment, then slowly nodded with curious expressions.

I subtly rubbed my hands together.

‘Preparations complete.’

Next: the decisive blow.

✦✦✦

“Get in!”

Clang.

Cedric, his hands bound, was thrown into a filthy cell reeking of rot.

According to Eustinas’ instructions, he had allowed himself to be captured under the guise of a slave.

Raising his head, he examined his surroundings carefully.

“Save me. Save me. Save me. Save me. Save me…”

“Scaredscaredscaredscaredscaredscaredscared…”

“Hrk, h-hic…”

“My life is over…”

The others around him had already lost their minds or their will to live under the guise of “loyalty training”—really just torture.

To the average person, this scene would have been too horrifying to even remain standing.

But Cedric was unfazed. He had seen far worse back in Kieto.

Eustinas’ instructions rang in his mind:

“They probably won’t send you straight to auction, so you’ll be locked in the last room on the 4th basement floor. Look for a chance to escape through the vent in the ceiling.”

And indeed, he was now in the final solitary cell of the 4th underground floor.

He looked up.

A ventilation duct.

It was just big enough for one man to barely crawl through.

The ceiling was high. No ordinary man could hope to reach it—especially not with both arms bound.

If Cedric were “ordinary,” that is.

“Yaaawn. Sleepy today.”

After a while, the guard outside began to doze off.

All the cells were locked with iron bars, and any major noise would alert the whole place—so the guard had let his guard down.

Cedric wriggled his hands, quickly freeing them from their bonds. Once his hands were free, he grabbed the iron bars.

Creak, crack…

The thick iron bent like soft wire. Slipping out easily, Cedric stepped onto the bent bars and leaped upward.

Reaching the vent was effortless. Holding the fan blades still with sheer strength, he pulled himself inside.

“Through the vent, you’ll be able to go even deeper underground.”

She was right.

Inside the duct was a ladder leading downward.

“Go down until you reach a fork. Take the path to the right, and you’ll arrive at the heart of the 5th basement floor. There’s a vault there. Steal the purple glass vial inside.”

As instructed, a very secure-looking room appeared before him.

Cedric landed silently in front of the vault, which had a combination dial lock.

“The code is SL0912.”

Click, click…

After a few turns of the dial, there was a clunk as the safe unlocked. Cedric shivered from head to toe.

‘How…?’

Eustinas had spent half her life inside the temple. How could she know the layout of this place—let alone the vault code?

This… this was godlike.

With trembling hands, he grabbed the glass vial and returned to the vent. Even escaping was no trouble.

“Follow the vent upward, and the fourth segment will have a guard standing nearby. Knock him out and steal his clothes. Pretend to be one of the staff. Make sure you hide your hair under a cap.”

“Won’t I be caught anyway?”

“Don’t worry,”

Eustinas had smiled.

“That guard’s a rookie.”