Once Human, Now a Parasite 8 Chapter 9 : Questions

"Esteemed customer, please follow me to the building so we can confirm your payment and hand you the 'goods' "

The tone he used was very polite, it's like he was addressing his master and not a customer.

Arthur nodded toward the auctioneer and followed him to the building, the muscular guy had already dragged the girl to the building some time ago.

When Arthur and Edward went on their way, Feylord who was sitting in his chair was shaking with anger , he couldn't believe he was humiliated this way, after all, he was used to oppressing and humiliating others instead of being the one humiliated, he, a dignified noble lost to an unknown man without being able to fight back in a show-down of money.

The one thing he always boasted about and now he had to go back empty handed with his tail between his legs, he soon stood up but you could notice he was furious by the look in his eyes, he went to an armored men standing 2 meters or so behind him , this man seemed to be his bodyguard or servant , Feylord went to the men and said with a low voice so no one could hear him

"find out who this black-robed man is, you have until tonight to tell me his identity". He snorted and headed back to his mansion fuming in anger.

Arthur followed the auctioneer to a luxurious building, the exterior seemed to be made from high-grade wood and stone, and the interior was even more fascinating, there were gold pillars in the entrance, and a big red carpet which seemed to cover all the floor. He followed Edward until they arrived at the neat and luxurious room, it seemed to be the office of Edward.

Edward went to the chair near his desk and sat on it then smiled back at Arthur and said

"Please sit."

However, Arthur wasn't in the mood to chitchat, he was a man of a few words so he shook his head not willing to sit, even after standing through all the auction he didn't feel any numbness in his legs or wasn't remotely tired.

The auctioneer wanted to befriend the man in front of him since he was able to pay up such a humongous sum but when he saw his unwillingness to sit and talk he felt depressed as he wanted to be acquainted with such a mysterious man,

"He either must have powerful backers or is from the royalty."

thought Edward as he was assessing the man in front of him.

After some time passed, with an awkward silence in the room, the muscular men came in with the girl in front of him, she glanced at Edward then toward Arthur but her face was emotionless as though she didn't care who would buy her.

Edward so his men coming and was happy, as he couldn't wait anymore and wanted to receive the money.

"I sincerely apologize for the long wait dear customer, here is your prize, if you would please pass us the gold"

Even though Arthur heard the auctioneer to talk to him, he seemed in a daze as he was staring at the girl while of something..but after some seconds he regained his senses and waived his hand and a magical bag appeared.

When he was in the tomb and searching through his storage, near the mountains of gold coins he found magical bags and when he got them out to try to find out what they were, he understood they were some kind of a storage ring but limited, he found a lot of bags in his storage and some of them had more gold coins in them, but the good thing is that somehow when he held the bag and sensed what was in it, something like a message popped in his head telling him exactly what was in there, even the exact amount of gold in the bag .

He guessed that since everyone uses this magical bag instead means they too will get the message, and will not need to check every single cold coin, after all, if they started counting from 1 to 2 million gold coins it would take forever.

He threw the magical back to Edward and the latter caught it excitedly, and held it tightly with his hands as if it would disappear at any moment. After 20 or so seconds, Edward opened his eyes after having sensed what was in the bag, he mumbled something to himself in a low voice then smiled brightly at Arthur and said

"Hahaha, thank you for your payment dear customer, I have checked the bag and it was indeed 2 million gold coins, you may take the girl, she is your property now "

The muscular received the signal and pushed the girl toward Arthur and said

"He is your master now, obey him or be gone forever."

Even though the muscular man said that his eyes were cheating him, it seemed he too wanted to have the girl but he couldn't when he pushed her away it seemed as if he was throwing his own child away.

Arthur no more looked at the auctioneer and saw that the girl was still bounded with chains so he used a tiny bit of dark magic to break those chains, and 'poof' all the chains just fell down from the girl.

Edward saw what the black-robed man just did and he knew for sure that it was magic, and a power type of magic at that, because those were special chains that bounded the physical abilities of the demon girl because even with sealed powers she could still be dangerous so he hurriedly said to Arthur

"Emm, Dear customer, I see that you are a powerful mage but I must advise to bind her as even though she has her powers sealed, she is still a demon and would be considered a threat."

Just after he finished speaking, he saw Arthur glare at him and felt something cold that could suffocate him from within the black hood. Immense fear surged him and made his body shiver uncontrollably for a split second, knowing that it was not a good idea to continue to press on this matter, he could only smile back awkwardly.

Arthur did not stare much, he soon walked out of the room followed by the girl. When they walked out of the building, the crowd seemed to be gone, maybe the guards dispersed them to not cause any trouble but there was still some people scattered who stared at Arthur with jealousy. As they were walking, Arthur noticed that many people were gazing at the girl behind him and then at him, and he didn't want to attract more attention than he already has so he retrieved a grey cloth which seemed similar to a robe.

Actually, it was a good item from his storage but he just retrieved it for the girl so she can wear it and hide her appearance, so he stopped walking and passed her the cloth.

She stared at the cloth and the stretched hand of Arthur, then she quickly understood that he wanted her to wear the cloth to avoid unnecessary trouble, so she lifted her little white hands and took the cloth from the man then she quickly wore it.

If you look at her now you could only see her petite white hands and her bare feet, you couldn't see her face or even her silver hair. It was such a waste to hide a beauty like her in a robe but Arthur had to do this as he underestimated her charm which attracted nearly everyone they passed by, even the females were either jealous or admiring the girl.

Arthur noticed that it was getting late and the sun was setting so he decided to go back to the inn, he also wanted to read the books he bought to get a better view of the world and maybe learn where he currently was.

He knew for certain that he is on the human continent, but where exactly, that, he didn't know.

After walking for a couple of minutes they arrived at the inn.

As usual, the Inn at the evening was bustling with people, especially adventures who were tired from a long day of hunting, they would go to the inn's restaurant which was surprisingly famous in this town and drink beer while talking with their comrades.

The entrance of the Arthur which was wearing a black-robe and a smaller person behind him wearing a grey cloth which covered him entirely, have caught the eyes of a few people but they recognized Arthur as he came in last night too but they were curious as to who was the person behind him , but of course no one came to cause him trouble and after a couple of glances they continued to chat with their companions.

The landlady also was there, serving people and taking their orders, she seemed very busy working alone in a bustling place but with her big frame, she must have a big endurance. Surprisingly, Arthur waited for her to finish with her customers then he walked towards her to say something.

The women noticed Arthur walking towards her and seemed kind of surprised as she knew he didn't talk, he didn't even greet her in the morning but she didn't blame him as she was used by some customers being this way.

Arthur arrived in front of the landlady and said

"Bring food to my room"

his voice had a cold feeling about it as it seemed it could pierce any person's heart, even the girl behind him lifted her head and gazed at him when she heard his voice, as it was almost the voice of a ghost and no a living person. The landlady was taken aback when she heard the voice but she soon regained her senses and said

"I'm sorry mister, but we only serve food in here and don't deliver them to the rooms."

Arthur heard her reply but he wasn't surprised as he expected her to say something similar so he just retrieved 2 gold coins and passed them to her.

The woman saw him taking 2 gold coins to give it to her but she just interrupted him and said

"Sir, I'm sorry but those are rules, even if you would give me more gold coins I would not break rules that I personally made"

She had firm and decisive eyes and a strong personality, she was not greedy about mere gold coins and was strongly against breaking the rules she made for her inn and restaurant.

Arthur admired people like that , it was true that the world was corrupted by greedy and evil people but there still existed good people in this world but it was really rare to meet them as they are the first to die by the hands of the wicked, but that nevertheless those good people are a source of admiration for Arthur as he saw the evil the world had, when he saw kind and strong-hearted people who were not swayed by their desires.

Arthur nodded toward the landlady who was smiling at him and he headed upstairs toward his room, actually he didn't any food as he was a skeleton but he the girl behind him is a living being with needs so he wanted to buy food for her to eat, as he was temporarily her master even though he loathed that idea.

He will take care of her in the meantime until he could break her sealed power so she can live freely because if he let her go now, she will only get caught again and it would also be a waste of 2 million gold.

He also wished to ask her some questions about the world as he saw she was LVL44 maybe she knew quite a bit about the world, so maybe she could explain to him something.

As they entered the room he was currently staying at. Arthur retrieved some food from his storage, even though the storage ring was very old, it seemed that every food kept in it was fresh , but surprisingly he didn't find a lot only some fruits here and there so he wanted to buy a proper meal for the girl but unfortunately he couldn't and he truly didn't want to eat at the restaurant downstairs as there were many gazes and he didn't want the appearance of the girl to be discovered when she was eating so he decided against the idea of letting her eat at the restaurant.

After following Arthur to the room, the girl just stayed standing there silent, she for some reason kept cloth he gave her and was standing still like a statue in the middle of the room.

Arthur approached her and stretched his hand to pass the fruits he retrieved from the storage ring to her, but there was no response as she didn't take the food or do anything at all ,so Arthur just put the fruits on the bed then he went to sit in the chair , took a the newly bought pile of books from his storage and put them on the desk he then started reading without a care about the girl ,as he did his job and gave her food , it was up to her to eat it or not.

Not even 5 minutes later, Arthur remembered something and turned to look at the girl who was still staying at the same place, he thought that he should ask her about the things he was curious about before reading the historical books ,but he was doubtful if she would answer him or not as he had not heard her speak even once .

He turned around and looked at her for a second then said

"Do you mind answering some questions?"

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Lucy POV (Point of view)

Apparently, the black-robed man was the one who bought her and became her new master, but that didn't matter much for her and she knew that the seal would not last much longer and when that time comes, not only he but everyone who took advantage of her will be dead , she wanted revenge and death for everyone especially men as they were beasts , she didn't think that there existed even a single kind person in this world, if there was any they are just pretending to be so to achieve something.

She followed the mysterious black-robed man out of the building, she was surprised as to how much she was sold for, and even more irritated and disgusted when saw that someone paid 2 million gold coins to use her body to satisfy his desires.

After having walked for a little while, the men passed her a grey cloth and she quickly understood that she had to for she was very beautiful and it would cause trouble for both of them so she took the grey cloth from him then wore it. They continued to walk until they reached some kind of inn, she guessed that the man who bought her must be reserving a room at this inn.

When they entered the inn, the black-robed seemed to be unaffected by all the gazes the people at the restaurant threw at him, lucy didn't mind either as she was pretty much used this kind of looks as she lived her life hiding.

The man walked toward the big woman which lucy guessed was the landlady and spoke to her, but what shocked Lucy was his voice, it was incredibly cold and emotionless.

She gazed at him curiously, lost in thought. The man demanded some food delivered to his room and tried giving the landlady some gold coins but she rejected him so he just went upstairs. Of course, she followed him, and very soon, they arrived at the room he was stayed in. Lucy was feeling a bit anxious, after all, why would this man buy her if not to use her body, so she expected him to jump at her once they were alone. Surprisingly, however, that never happened, all he did was retrieve some fruits from who knows her and tried passing it to her but she did not dare let her guard down as she was suspicious of everything and thought that maybe this was but a trick and this only ended up with her standing away from him, motionless and silent.

The men just left the fruits on the bed and sat on a chair near a small wooden desk, he waved his hands and a big pile of books appeared, she was sure now that he had the very expensive item storage ring , it is rumored that it can hold several things and is many times better than a magical bag, in fact, they couldn't even compare, but how could he have one? Usually, only very high ranked royalty or a very rich merchant or an important official would have a ring like that.

Lucy began to be more anxious as the idea of him being from the holy church crossed her mind, and the mere thought of being captured by them left her restless after she would rather die than be captured again.

The man didn't bother with her and started reading the book very rapidly he was blazing through the pages , Lucy thought that earlier he broke the reinforced chains that bound her and now he she noticed him reading the book very fastly and could one come to one conclusion and that's he is a powerful magician just by seeing how casually he broke her chains you could know he is indeed very adept at using magic and is no mere beginner.

If he is from the holy church, there was no way for her to escape unless she got her powers back she could fight back and escape with her life, but she would never forget her grudges and she vowed to kill everyone involved in what happened so supposedly if he was indeed from the holy church if she successfully escaped, one day will come when she will come back and kill him and that was a big 'if'.

Not even 5 minutes passed and the men turned around to look at Lucy then said

"Do you mind answering some questions?"

Lucy was taken aback slightly by what he said, normally he was her master so he didn't have to be polite, he would just order her around like any other person but he didn't, instead asked her politely but his voice still as cold as ever, containing no hint of feelings , it was as if not someone was speaking but a ghost mumbling in your ears.

Lucy was standing there thinking whether she would answer or not, after all even though she didn't trust him the slightest bit, he didn't do anything particularly bad so she decided to answer him as long as the questions weren't about her or related to her past or origins.

After some time of thinking, the man was still waiting for her answer with his body turned toward her, she couldn't even see his eyes or features as he was hiding everything from head to toe, she nodded towards him approving to answer his questions.

Without wasting any second the black-robed man began talking again with a calm but cold voice

"Are we currently on the human continent?"

Lucy was slightly stunned when she heard his question as she didn't expect him to say this, nevertheless, everyone had their reasons and maybe he was living under a rock for quite some time and forgot where he was, Lucy didn't dwell on it that much and just nodded her head towards him. Having confirmed her answer, the man asked another question

"Which Kingdom or Empire are we in"

The man seemed to speak very few words and didn't talk long phrases but Lucy didn't mind that, she just answered him and spoke for the first time in a long time

"We are in the Nida Empire, in the province of Lenuka"

She tried to answer him precisely as he seemed very focused on her replies.

After some other questions which were common and everybody who lived her knew them, the men stopped his questioning and thanked Lucy for her help and then resumed reading his books. Lucy was quite surprised about his questions, she began to even consider the fact that he was living under a rock for a long time but nonetheless, she answered him truthfully, she felt kind of strange toward this man even though she knew him for half a day.

He seemed extremely mysterious, a powerful magician clueless about his surroundings and disguised in a black-robe that covered him from head to toe.

Lucy walked toward the bed, grabbed the fruits and began munching them, she took little bites at first, but when she was sure there was nothing in the fruits she ate them all.

He decided to eat the fruits because a powerful mage like this man, if he wanted to do her, he could do it anytime using magic and would not use petty tricks like poisoning, also she god the feeling that the way he looked at her was not lustful way but not in a kind way either as his gazes were cold and piercing as they would rip you apart at any second.

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POV Back to Arthur

After having questionned the girl about what he wanted to know, he concluded that somethings were different from the books he read last night but it was only minor, he was on the human continent, which was ruled by the nida empire, apparently this empire is very very old and powerful, you can see this by how it is still standing to this day and nothing could crumble it , but that by knowing this he also knew that the holy church must be still here as it was mentionned it is the master mind and the true ruler of the human continent.

When he heard the voice of the girl, he was utterly shocked , her voice was melodious and mature , if anyone would hear it, they would not think it is a petite girl but a women in her twenties, he guessed that demons aged differently from humans and she must have a special physic and her age was older compared to her size.

Arthur noticed her going to the bed and inspecting the fruits thoroughly then she started eating them cautiously, savoring each bite as if checking if they are poisoned or not. He unconsciously smiled in his heart and thought it was kind of funny but he did not bother with her much and resumed reading the books....

In the luxurious road at Willsden town, there was a considerably big mansion which seemed almost like a castle, it was Feylord's mansion.

Currently, he was in his room being fed some grapes by his maids and in front of him was the same armored soldier he spoke to this morning at the auction house, the soldier was kneeling on one knee and speaking respectfully to Feylord

"My lord, as you have commanded, we have investigated the black-robed men but unfortunately, no one has seen his face or knows about his identity, it is said he came to this town yesterday, and he is currently renting a room at the inn "

The soldier spoke the information in a slow and polite manner so to not anger Feylord

the young noble frowned for a second then said to his servant (AN : I mean by a servant=the soldier)

"No one knows about him? Then how could this 'no-one' pay 2 million gold coins for just a girl? He must be someone with strong backing! but who cares about that, he dared to provoke me! FEYLORD ! I'll show him what it means to oppose me and the Royalty ! Brian, immediately send highly trained assassins, I want him dead as fast as possible and also bring me that girl I must get her no matter what..."

the soldier listened to the command of his master and said

"Yes my Lord."

he then respectfully excused himself out of the room.

Feylord was lost in thought, he was thinking about the beauty he saw today and how much he would like to enjoy having his way with her, he then started mumbling

"Ahhh.. it is such a pity, you a nobody would be able to enjoy her before me but your luck has run out, soon she will become mine and you will die!"

Feylord then grabbed one of the maids by his side and started groping her and abandoned himself to his desires....

Chapter end