Swamp Girl! Chapter 14

“Ooohh, I thought the number was low this time, but aren’t they just marvelous!”

In front of me, a fat man quivered with his hands spread.
Even though it was my first time seeing him, he had to be the current city lord of Telaberan, Guibenague.
Honestly, I was deeply amazed by how much he looked the way I pictured him.
The word ‘greasy’ fit him like a glove, with his fat figure and receding hairline.
Clad in excessively gaudy clothes, his neck, his arms, his every finger dripped with extravagant accessories that exceeded the bounds of good taste. He was the very picture of nouveau riche, completely succ.u.mbing to the draw of finery.
Though I was sure the man himself had no idea at all.

“Hoohoohoohoo.”

Hooting like an owl, Guibenague breathed wildly through his nose as he came closer to us. He caught my chin in those pudgy fingers and forced me to face him.
I wanted to resist, but by the time those two hands came for me, I was already cuffed and chained.

His glittering eyes drew close.
Involuntarily, the urge to kick him in the groin ran through me, but I quashed it with some effort. It wouldn’t be hard to do it. But then we wouldn’t be able to complete our objective.
Instead, I swore by every power I knew that I would absolutely beat him to death.

(Big Sister, you have to endure~~~!)

As a result of my fervent wishing, it seemed that those thoughts leaked out. Beside me, Aira cautioned me with a pale face.

(I know, d.a.m.n it.)

While I struggled to keep my emotions from my face, I let myself be manhandled. 1 Guibenague turned my face left and right, appraising me with a satisfied look.
His face was close. His breathing was rough. His breath stunk.

“Mmm~! The prettiest woman I’ve seen in a long time, no, that I’ve ever seen. Why, I could even say she’s a miracle! The body is still immature, but it’s more than enough.”

“Much obliged.”

I could hear slaver boss Vyde’s voice from behind him.
Not that it counted for squat right now, but knowing there was an ally nearby — sort of — calmed me down a little.
Meanwhile, Guibenague’s hands were touching my shoulders, chest, waist, b.u.t.t, and legs, in that order.

“~~~–!”

Every touch fanned the flames of my rage to new heights.
It was the first time my body had been touched like this. And by a man, to boot. All I could feel was disgust.
The impulse to twist his arms off immediately ran through me, but nevertheless, I managed to force it back.

(I’ll kill him! Kill him! Kill him!)

(Big Sister, you can’t!)

(Patience.)

“Good. The other two are high enough quality, so shall we say one-fifty this time?”

Perhaps satisfied after forcing me to endure his inspection until my guts were twisted in knots, Guibenague moved his gaze to Aira and Palmira, before he turned his back to us as he spoke.
One-fifty. This is just too rich. It was exactly the amount we’d be compensated for this.
In other words, the sum that left me stunned at first was surprisingly appropriate. That clearly showed me just how different a n.o.ble’s sense of money was from a commoner’s.

“Much obliged.”

Vyde’s voice came from behind him again.
‘His limited vocabulary is the actual reason he got this role, right?’ I thought, for some reason.

–

–

Once we were on board, the carriage didn’t waste a moment before easily rolling through the gate, cutting through the city to the Lord’s mansion.
Well, to the extent that a windowless wagon could be considered a carriage. Shaking from side to side, I had to content myself with speculating about the noises leaking in from outside.
But the door opened and we were taken outside. It didn’t take me long to realize that, as I expected, we were in the Lord’s mansion.
We emerged into a dimly-lit place, but in the room we were then shuffled off to, I could hear Irene’s voice loud and clear.
It seemed like she was using a tracer to accurately determine our position. That’s a relief.
The route used to bring in the slaves appeared to be in the mansion. Vyde and two men, probably from the Lord’s private army, led us through a pa.s.sageway invisible to the outside.
Then, at last, we arrived at the other end. In the room we entered, a man that seemed to be Guibenague was already waiting there as if impatient to get started.
Well, he was.

“Nevertheless, eheeheehee, what fine goods, no? This time fortune truly smiled upon me.”

Once Vyde was made to leave, it was just us, Guibenague, and his two private soldiers left in the room as we went through another round of evaluation.
Or rather, it was pretty much just me, with heartfelt unwillingness.
Considering Aira and Palmira would be spared, it was alright like this, but my feelings were all jumbled up.

(…Still, I’m a bit displeased.)

(Me too.)

Feeling dissatisfied by something, the two of them looked at me, along with the excited Guibenague.
It wasn’t like their feelings were a complete mystery to me, but since this wasn’t especially my idea of a good time, I’d like it if they pardoned me.
Frankly, I was starting to feel fine with the idea of switching out.

“This time, the client should be pleased as well. Now then, please take them to the usual room… you mustn’t injure them, understand?”

“Yes sir!”

Client?
After giving his instructions, Guibenague separated from me with a slightly regretful expression.
His two lackeys came to stand in front of us. After saying [Come along] without any emotion, they started walking.
After hesitating slightly, we followed after them.
We’d probably be able to meet up with the other slaves, right? Once we did that, our job should be over.

(Irene, Irene, can you hear me?)

As we exited the room and walk down the dim corridor again, I called out to Irene.

(…Chrissy. Did you make it through okay?)

At which point I got an instant reply from her. She must’ve been on standby.
Thank G.o.d things are going properly, more or less.

(No problem. Stop calling me Chrissy. For now, we’ve started moving. Can you pinpoint our location?)

(Uh-huh, uh-huh, okay. I can confirm that you are still in the mansion!)

I didn’t really understand how she could confirm that, but it seemed like she could keep track of us just fine.
But how accurately? Could she figure out even what part of the mansion we were in?
…Well, worrying about it now wouldn’t solve anything. I’d just have to put my faith in her.

(For now, if we can meet up with the other slaves, we’ll get in touch again.)

(Okay, got it.)

I terminated the conversation on my end. At the moment, we were doing fine.

At exactly which point, we ran into a downward flight of stairs. The soldier leading us began to descend.
So it was underground after all? When I hesitated, the soldier at the rear moved forward and said [Get going. Hurry up.]

Feeling that I didn’t have any other options, I took the stone stairs down step by step.
Unlike the orderly pa.s.sageway we’d been in until now, these stairs were roughly hewn, and increasingly so as we went on.
Though the candles here and there offered some light, it wasn’t enough. Our footing was rather unreliable.
How should I put it, there was something in the air.

(Scary…)

Aira’s thoughts flowed over. She was right. Even I found it eerie.

About three stories down, we hit a door.
It wasn’t iron, but completely utilitarian wood. It was stained in places, giving off an extremely unnerving atmosphere.
The guide soldier took out a key, unlocking it with a loud gachunk.
Then, he pushed it open with a heavy sound.

“Go in.”

The guide stood there, prodding us inside. This is the last stop, huh? If we go inside, we can’t escape, huh?
After the expected moment of serious doubt, I steeled myself and went through the door.

(……–!)

It was — a torture chamber.

A fairly large s.p.a.ce, it was packed with all sorts of tools and machinery for torture.
The delicate light of the candles unveiled the ghastliness of those brutal devices.
An X-shaped stand for crucifixion.
Spike-covered chairs fitted with restraints.
A bed with a roller attached for G.o.d-knows-what.
Several sets of handcuffs, chains dangling from the ceiling. A water tank. A wood horse shaped like a triangle.
There were similar traces of some dark substances on all the machines. It was easy to imagine just what had happened there.
The various ropes and other obscure objects hanging on the wall were also worn with use.
As could only be expected, the chamber’s overwhelming abnormality stopped me dead in my tracks.

“Hiii–!”

(…–!)

Coming in after me, Aira unsurprisingly screamed. Palmira’s leaked thoughts echoed in my head.

“Hurry up and get inside!”

Along with the voice, something pushed heavily against my back. Turning on reflex, I saw the soldier watching us with an irrepressible grin.
There was no question that these guys had brought many, many slaves like us down here and watched them shudder or freeze in fear.
I bet it fed their sense of superiority.

(…Sc.u.mbags.)

For a moment, I glared at the private soldiers. I thought I wouldn’t be seen in the dim light, but one of them met my eyes at that moment.

“What’s this, making such a cute face. You’ve really got guts.”

He drew closer to me with that detestable smile plastered on his face.
d.a.m.n it…
This has gotten out of hand.
But I still took this opportunity to glare at him with all the venom I could muster.

“Just seeing this place, most women brought here break down crying or wailing.”

The soldier casually approaching me grabbed my cuffed arm and twisted it upward.

“p.i.s.s — …off — !”

I put up a fight, but my strength really didn’t compare.
Frustrating as it was, that was a fact. Even so, I grit my teeth and glared at him hard enough to punch a hole through his head. In my current state, that was the best I could do.

(Big Sister–!)

“Oi, don’t get so rough with her. You heard it from the master himself, right!?”

Along with Aira’s scream, the other private soldier came in to restrain him. Even so, the one in front of me didn’t move as we glared at each other.

“Oi!”

“Tch–!”

Told off a second time, the soldier finally released me and thrust me away from him.
It was humiliating.
That this garbage could do anything he wanted to me, even if it was for just a moment.
That was unbearably mortifying.

(Chris, I’m begging you, please endure it.)

With a rare entreaty from Palmira, my blood finally cooled down.
That’s right. What will I do if they get into a pinch because of me?
I have to take it, for their sake…!

“Well, wait there for now. Things should get fun soon!”

Leaving that parting line, the soldiers shut the door again, locked it, and went upstairs.
For all that, I was still furious.
I carved that guy’s face onto my kill list, right after Guibenague.

“Big Sister, are you okay?”

After the soldiers’ footsteps faded far enough away, Aira edged up to me. Her eyes were on the verge of tears. I got the feeling that I did wrong.

“…Sorry, I’m okay. Sorry for worrying you too, Palmira.”

“It’s fine if you’re okay.”

With that, Palmira abruptly turned her face away… I’m really sorry.
I used my cuffed hands to stroke her head. Her expression was still sullen. But since she didn’t seem to be in a bad mood, I kept stroking her head for a while.
I took another look around the room.

“…What’s that?”

I didn’t notice earlier, but there were two things in the room that now caught my eye.
One was the iron bars further inside. It was dark, so I couldn’t say for sure, but the inner part of the chamber seemed to be a prison.
‘In that case,’ I thought, straining my eyes. But there was no one inside. Instead, a few skulls had been left inside.

— Could it be?
My mind jumped to the worst-case scenario.

Say Guibenague, out of some inescapable kind of perversion, buys slaves — not to sell them, but to fuel his torture fetish.
That would explain why no slave had ever come out of the mansion. The imperial ship was actually a red herring.

— I considered the hypothesis.

It stood to reason, more or less.
At any rate, though all that was left was white bone, those were corpses in there.
Since this was the last stop, no wonder no slaves were ever found leaving the mansion.

…No, that’s not right.

After reaching that point, I cleared the scenario from my head.
Looking at one machine after another, the torture devices here didn’t have signs of much use.
At least, they didn’t seem to have been used recently. On the whole, they were covered in dust.

The skulls further in, too. Thinking with a level head, quite some time would have pa.s.sed for them to reach such a state. If my hypothesis were true, it normally wouldn’t be skulls, but bodies.

Besides, Guibenague said it too.
[The client should be pleased.]

…In other words, there was still more to come.

As I reached that conclusion, I spotted the second thing.

It was a door.

The door wasn’t fixed to a wall, but rather a room sectioned off by a part.i.tion. It made for an odd sight. Lined up with all the torture tools, it looks horribly out of place.
First off, I didn’t know why it was in a place like this.
Second, I didn’t really understand what purpose it might serve.

(B–Big Sister!)

While I scrutinized the mystery door, I got a panicked transmission from Aira.
I turned to find her staring at the door we came through with a look of terror.
Before I could ask myself ‘What’s she looking at?’, I heard the footsteps of someone laboriously descending the stairs.
Instantly alert, I partially shielded the unwilling other two as I pulled a distance away from the door.

Domp… Domp…

The footsteps grew steadily louder, then stopped before the door.
The sound of the key turning that came immediately after was all too loud, followed by the door creaking open.

Light from outside streamed in through the open door.
It came from the lantern in the invader’s hand.

Then, the lantern light revealing the invader’s face,

“Guhoho–, it looks like I surprised you, hmm?”

It was none other than Guibenague himself.

Footnotes
1. されるがままにされる ↵