Renji, leading his newly acquired cat-girl slave, didn’t leave the slave market directly. Instead, he took a detour to a less crowded area and stopped.
“Eileen put this on her.”
‘Put what on?’
Hearing the young noble’s command, a foreboding feeling rose in Ashe’s heart. Many human nobles adopted various “measures” to satisfy their peculiar fetishes with demi-humans. Ashe had thought her ordeal would begin once inside the mansion, but she hadn’t expected the young man to be so impatient, wanting to start right here…
Ashe bowed her head, fighting back tears of fear, and closed her eyes tightly. But the next moment, she heard a whoosh, and something covered her…
‘A garment? No, a cloak!?’
The nobleman’s servant draped a large cloak over her, a garment that seemed to have been prepared in advance. The hood was then pulled over her head, hiding her conspicuous black cat ears, while her tail was hidden under the voluminous cloak.
After these actions, Ashe was still confused when she heard the young noble and his servant appraising her and discussing among themselves.
Renji: “How about it, Eileen? If you were just a passerby, could you tell she’s a cat-girl?”
Eileen: “Not at all! With this cloak on, let alone her, I think even another demi-human could pass as a regular person.”
Renji: “Heh, now you see why so many powerful people like to wear cloaks. Cloaks are like a magical artifact!”
The young noble’s proud explanation only added to Ashe’s confusion and bewilderment.
‘What does he mean?’
‘Is he trying to hide my identity? But that didn’t make sense’
In Ashe’s experience, human nobles typically loved to flaunt their possessions and show off, especially when they had rare demi-human slaves. They would parade them in the streets, basking in the envious glances of others. Many nobles even competed at parties to show off their high-quality demi-human slaves as a status symbol.
‘But now, this man wanted to my identity?’
Ashe didn’t have much time to ponder, as Renji approached her. This was probably the first time Renji was actually speaking to her.
“So, what’s your name?”
“My… my name?”
“Yes, your name,” Renji repeated.
Ashe understood.
She was about to kneel down, as many demi-human slaves did, to request her master to give her a name, but she was abruptly stopped by an annoyed Renji.
“What are you doing?”
“I… I…” Faced with the questioning noble, Ashe was both scared and confused.
‘Wasn’t this a normal procedure for slaves? Had I done something wrong?’
“I asked for your name. Can’t you even answer a simple question? Why did I buy you then?”
“A-Ashe! My name is Ashe! Ashe is my… name.”
Seeing Renji’s seemingly impending intention to ‘return’ her, Ashe quickly responded, her voice even more urgent. She couldn’t afford to be returned. This noble youth was crucial for the future of their revolutionary army. She had promised everyone; she had to complete her mission as an inside agent, to… seize the future!
“Ashe, huh? I thought so. You do look familiar. No wonder.”
After muttering to himself, Renji extended his hand to the petite black haired Cat girl in front of him.
“Renji, that’s my name.”
When Ashe, completely bewildered and in a daze, also extended her hand to shake his lightly, Eileen, watching from behind, rolled her eyes.
‘Typical…’
It was the same tactic he had used in the relic cave. But, as proven time and again, clichés become clichés because they consistently work.
After exchanging names, Renji didn’t say much else and turned to leave, this time actually taking Ashe directly out of the slave market.
Ashe was still cautious and full of fear for the unknown. Yet, it was noticeable that, whether it was because of the cloak reducing the attention from passersby or some other reason, her body was no longer trembling.
Hidden under her cloak, her brown eyes stole a glance at the young man leading the way in front.
A ridiculous thought suddenly sprouted in her mind.
‘Could it be that this young man isn’t as bad as he seemed on the surface?’
‘Maybe…’
‘He is actually different from other nobles of the Dragon Nation?
…
….
Ashe dismissed her fleeting absurd thought from earlier on the road.
‘It turned out all nobles were indeed the same’
Because as soon as they returned to the mansion…
[Welcome home, Master. Eighty-Six, seemingly spotting a new rival, *grumbled under her breath*] said a maid at the door in a peculiar manner.
Before Ashe could even react to this odd-speaking maid, the noble young man with an exasperated tone ordered, “86, take her clothes off and throw her in the bathtub. Clean her thoroughly.”
[Understood, Master. Eighty-Six, *filled with jealousy towards the newcomer*, downloading a ‘Beast-Girl’ dress-up module]
Following the command, the maid, Eighty-Six, led a now pale-faced Ashe to the second-floor bathroom. Ashe didn’t even have the right to undress herself; she was stripped by Eighty-Six, strictly adhering to Renji’s instructions.
Naked, Ashe instinctively covered her private parts with her hands, like many inexperienced young girls. She clenched her skin tightly with her fingers, repeatedly telling herself in her mind that this was for their revolution, for the demi-human race, for their future…
Once Eighty-Six had filled the bathtub with water at the right temperature, she turned to Ashe, who was still hesitant and looking down silently, and asked, [86 is Confused* Miss Ashe, what are you waiting for? Do I really need to throw you into the bathtub?]
“Ah? W-won’t the master… come?” Ashe asked the maid timidly. .𝒎
[86 us Even more confused* Why would master come?]
“To… to bathe… with me.” Ashe mumbled lowering her eyes. .
Typically, when demi-human slaves were bought by nobles, they were cleaned using an external hose, similar to washing a carriage. After all, in the eyes of many nobles, slaves and carriages were both tools.
So, in Ashe’s eyes, a clean and spacious noble’s bathroom like the one she was in, with its soft, warm lighting, was not a place for slaves. The only reason a slave would be ‘honored’ to be in such a place was to serve the nobility. Hence, with her new master not present, how could she dare to act on her own?
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