Tick tock, tick tock.
In the dim stone room, flickering candles flickered.
On the wall, a slender black shadow looked slender under the illumination of a weak candle.
Following the source of the fire, a man was tied up with iron chains and standing on a wooden stake.
He wore a brown sack on his head and his body was covered with bloody wounds.
Suddenly, the sack was untied, picked off, and thrown aside.
As soon as the man opened his eyes, there was a little light mixed in the darkness, which made him feel a little uncomfortable for a moment.
When his eyes gradually adapted to the darkness, he widened his eyes.
As his body moved, the sound of steel colliding with each other reached his ears, and his limbs were completely locked.
When he looked up, he saw a dense crowd of mysterious people surrounding him.
He was covered in a black and linen cloak, and half of his face was covered, leaving only a pair of eyes staring at him.
"You! Do you know who I am!"
The people around him didn't speak, but voices sounded from the side.
"Then do you know who I am?"
Liya sat on a leather chair, one leg crossed over the other.
She was holding a sharp carving knife, polishing her nails carefully as if bored.
The man took a closer look and paused when he saw Liya's delicate face.
Leah Cravena.
The Cravenas family is now very famous in the entire royal capital, and its popularity is not inferior to that of the royal family.
What's more, in the city of Brayston, the Craveners can be said to be able to cover the sky with one hand.
Even a wild dog walking by the roadside would wag its tail and bark twice when it saw Victor.
What, you said wild dogs can’t talk?
Pull it down and stew it!
At this time, he had no idea.
I had just been in the most luxurious restaurant in Brighton, eating and singing.
As a result, everything went dark, and he was actually robbed by the Cravenner family?
The man's body was trembling uncontrollably, his lips were trembling, and his whole body was completely soaked in cold sweat.
"Miss Liya...what are you...?"
"What, you've never seen a kidnapping?"
Liya picked up the carving knife and turned it around in her hand, then stood up.
Following her movements, mysterious people wearing cloaks also followed behind Liya and surrounded her.
The man's body shook suddenly, and there was a trace of fear in his eyes.
Liya picked up the carving knife, put it against the man's throat, and raised his chin.
There was a hint of smile in her charming eyes, and there was a bit of curiosity in her tone.
"Didn't you just ask us if we knew who you were?"
"I'm quite interested now, let's talk about it."
The man's brain suddenly went blank and he forgot to tremble.
There was saliva stuck in my throat, and I didn't even dare to swallow.
Leon stood beside Liya and said softly:
"Miss, his name is Hannah."
"It is the carrier of the Reiser family that transports goods between the north and south of the empire."
Liya raised her eyebrows as she listened to the report.
"Hey, from the Reiser family?"
"Knowing what grudges your family has against us, you still dare to come to our place for a stroll?"
A few drops of cold sweat ran down Hanna's forehead, and he let the sweat flow down the tip of his nose without daring to move.
"Miss Liya, I...I'm just lost..."
"get lost?"
Liya suddenly threw out the carving knife in her hand, flew towards Hanna, and stabbed hard into the wooden board behind him.
He could even feel the collision sound of the carving knife hitting the wooden board and the sound of the wind blowing as it was carried.
Hanna's breathing became a little heavier, and the extremely fast carving knife was just a hair away from slicing his neck.
Liya looked at him with a smile and said softly:
"With such a big leader, Cravenna, how could you just get lost and get to my door?"
Hanna closed his eyes tremblingly, not daring to say another word.
Liya reached out to the side, and Leon next to her understood it and handed her an alarm clock.
She wound up the clock in her hand and put it to the man's ear.
clang!
A crisp sound suddenly erupted.
The ticking sound followed closely, like the death knell of death.
"Where is the goods hidden? Tell me."
"I can't speak until the alarm goes off, my head is moving."
The moment the alarm clock ticked, Hanna was so frightened that he howled.
His facial features were all twisted together, and his expression was painful, as if he would cry in the next second.
"cry?"
As the voice sounded, a man in a cloak stepped forward and slapped the man hard on the face.
Snapped!
Along with a crisp slap, the miserable howl that was about to turn into a cry stopped abruptly.
Liya touched the alarm clock and said with a smile:
"Crying counts as time."
Ring ring ring——!
The alarm clock suddenly vibrated, and a series of metallic sounds echoed throughout the small and dark basement.
All around, the sounds of several cold lights coming out of their sheaths resounded loudly.
Hanna's eyes widened, looking at the silver dagger flashing under the candlelight, and he nodded crazily:
"I know, I said! I said!"
"That batch of goods is... hidden in the port of Sano!"
Liya smiled, picked up the alarm clock, wound it up again, and twisted the hands again.
Hanna was stunned and looked at Liya with a puzzled look on his face:
"Miss Liya, what are you..."
"Give you one more lap."
Liya squinted her eyes and smiled:
"Just this one hiding spot? I don't believe it."
Hanna was embarrassed and forced a smile, tears welling up in his eyes.
"It's really...there's really only this one, there's really only this one!"
But Liya just smiled, took out a bottle of red potion from her pocket, and kept shaking it in front of the merchant's eyes.
"Do you know what this is?"
Hanna looked at the red potion in front of him in a daze.
The magic potion sold by the Cravenas family has become famous almost throughout the north and south of the empire.
A bottle of potion sells for one thousand Geo, but it has been sold for many times the price on the black market.
Money is hard to come by.
But the red potion in front of him, with the same packaging, made Hanna confused.
"My new product costs two thousand euros a bottle."
"Want to try?"
Seeing Liya's half-smiling expression, a bad premonition slowly arose in his heart.
Ring ring ring——!
The alarm clock rang again.
Liya's smile seemed to become more joyful.
"Leon."
The elf behind him instantly took a step forward and drew out his dagger.
"bloodletting."
In the dim room, a cold light passed through the man's neck.
Pain accompanied by mild heat.
Blood gushed out suddenly.
At this moment, Hanna's eyes widened.
He felt a sense of weakness envelope his body, accompanied by warmth, which suddenly twitched from his body.
He looked at the smile of the woman in front of him silently.
I just feel that charming smile.
Like a devil.
.......
The bright moonlight shines through the fine mist-like clouds and onto the cold blue sea.
At the port, dozens of cloaked men stood in the open space, waiting quietly.
This place is the stocking point forced from Hanna's mouth.
Many guards are patrolling here, guarding the goods.
Soon, the men in cloaks took action.
They moved very quickly, like cheetahs hunting for prey, quietly killing the patrolling guards.
The bodies of these people were dragged into the darkness and thrown into the turbulent sea.
Night is their best protective color.
It wasn't until the surrounding guards were almost cleared that they gathered together again.
The goods placed in the square, like huge boxes, were tightly covered by blue cloth.
The steel cage-like material underneath could only be seen through the unobstructed gap under the fabric.
Quietly sticking to the surroundings, you can still hear the breathing coming from inside.
They nodded to each other.
One of them put his hand on the conductive crystal next to his ear and conveyed the message.
The clouds were slowly blown by the wind, and the moonlight shone on the huge iron cage.
All the secret guards have completely controlled this place, and the surrounding guards have been completely wiped out.
Under the bright night sky, only dozens of mysterious people wearing cloaks and hoods remained in the port.
Liya slowly walked out of the shadows, followed by Leon who was dressed similarly to the others.
The moment everyone saw Liya, they lowered their heads with great respect.
"Miss Leah."
"This is the last hiding place."
Liya stood around these large cages and kept looking at them.
"Okay, let me see."
After hearing the order, they quickly jumped onto the high platform and suddenly opened the huge curtain, revealing the 'goods' inside.
Inside the iron cage are some living 'people'.
They have soft ears like cats and dogs, and have different characteristics.
They huddled in the iron cage to keep each other warm.
The furry tail stood up, and the long pointed animal ears swayed as if to distinguish danger around them.
As if feeling the glimmer of light again, they raised their heads.
Seeing the people watching them, there was obvious fear and panic in their eyes.
Liya looked at them and sighed:
"Poor 'kids'."
Asian people.
They resemble humans, but are not human.
They look almost the same as humans, but have very distinctive animal characteristics.
Demihumans are not common within the Empire.
The empire has extremely strict racial divisions, with humans first.
Therefore, demihumans are not allowed to enter the empire.
And if any demi-humans appear in the empire, they will either be expelled.
or, at the discretion of the captor.
That's right, demihumans are not treated as humans at all.
In the eyes of most people, they are just pets with thoughts and actions.
There is no slavery in the Kalenthian Empire.
As long as you are a human being, even a beggar cannot become the private property of others by selling yourself.
Of course, that's just the surface.
Noble gentlemen can naturally ignore this rule.
As long as you are not too arrogant, do it in front of the emperor.
There will always be someone who will 'open the door' for them.
So what if someone wants some free, disposable labor?
Just buy some 'demi-human slaves'.
Hiring a human costs money and even taxes.
As for demihumans, they have greater strength and endurance than humans.
As long as they are given food to eat and saliva to drink, they will continue to squeeze themselves in order to survive.
As long as you can't starve to death, then go to death.
Thinking of this, perhaps feeling a little pity for these demi-humans, Liya sighed.
"Now, you are free."
After her words fell, Leon, who was next to her, took out the wooden knife from his waist.
A faint fluorescent green color flashed on the wooden knife.
Intense magic continues to emerge on it.
With magical power, Leon held a wooden knife and slashed twice at the iron cage.
The huge iron cage fence was cut with a hole large enough for escape.
The cross section was still flashing with green light.
But the demihumans hiding in the iron cage did not move.
They were just more frightened and huddled deeper into the iron cage.
Seeing this, Liya glanced at the hooded guards.
They understood and lifted their hoods, revealing animal ears of different colors and completely different shapes.
Pointy, droopy, cat ears, dog ears, or even long pointed rabbit ears.
Show this.
They are the same kind.
As expected, after seeing this, the demihumans in the iron cage relaxed their vigilance slightly.
The ears that stood up due to the sense of danger slowly drooped.
Liya looked at these demi-humans who finally dared to stand up and smiled slightly.
"Now, are you willing to believe me?"
"Well, I do believe it."
Suddenly, a sudden sound sounded, and everyone raised their heads and looked towards the source of the sound.
At some point, a man sat on top of the huge iron cage.
Behind his back, he carried a very luxurious sword, which looked extremely extraordinary.
The man looked down at the people below, grinning and smiling slightly.
But that strong sense of oppression is always on everyone's head.
Leon felt that danger was coming and flashed in front of Liya.
The man stared at Liya with a smile:
"I just said, why is it that every time the goods are shipped to Bryston, they are robbed."
"It turns out that the famous Cravenna family has raised a group of demi-humans as secret guards."
A burst of laughter followed.
"It really made me gain knowledge."
