The Place Where I Was Sold as a Slave Was the Imperial Palace

＜ Auction House ＞

* * *

Feeling the touch of the soft pillow, I buried my face.

I heard my mother’s voice from somewhere.

“Wake up! late!”

No, just a little bit more…

After having a strange dream, I want to feel this warmth a little more and heal my heart.

It was a dream to go to a different world like the Middle Ages and become a slave.

Ah, really, how did I have such a bizarre dream?

Have you seen any novels like that?

or a movie?

It was a bad dream anyway.

“Can’t you wake up?”

I think my mother is angry. The voice started to grow hoarse.

oh, that’s a bit weird

Why is your mother at home?

How many years has it been since you started living?

I was thinking something was wrong, but someone kicked me in the stomach.

When I opened my eyes in great pain, I saw the man’s feet with a dim light behind them. I think I was kicked by the man’s foot.

‘ah!’

It wasn’t a dream.

Going to another world was not a dream, but a reality.

As soon as he realized that, Rudy jumped to his feet.

My stomach hurt as if my intestines were twisting, but I gritted my teeth.

This is the same as being hit by a senior in the army. Don’t make noise or cry.

While enduring the pain, Rudy stood at attention and waited for the man’s next move.

It seems that it worked.

Men no longer use violence.

“I’m going to the auction house.”

The man said curtly and tied a rope around Rudy’s wrist.

Tie a long rope to the girl in the same cage.

When we went out of the cage tied up like girbi, the slaves who were going to be auctioned today were dragged out in a row.

I think there are about ten people.

Unlike Rudy and the girls, they all had chains hanging around their necks and hands.

The chain on the hand is again connected to the person behind him and the person behind him.

The first chain was held by the man with the chain.

On either side of the long line of slaves stood one man on an iron collar to watch over the slaves. The men with iron chains held clubs in their hands.

“Now, move! Walk!”

The men on the chains snarl and pull the chains roughly.

Chained slaves staggered along.

Rudy and the girl follow after him. The rope for the two was held by a man with an iron chain standing next to the rope.

Every time the torches that lit up the tent shook, the shadows of the slaves moved as well.

A shadow a couple of times larger than the real thing walked over the tents and bars like a monster.

It was still dark outside the tent.

And it’s cold.

When I came into contact with the cold air, my body shrank involuntarily.

After walking for a bit, I saw other slaves.

Everyone is connected by chains.

Slaves came out of the tents here and there even as Rudy and the others clattered along.

The slaves tied in a line walk in the same direction with corpse-like eyes.

I thought it was like a procession of zombies.

After walking for a long time, turning around the aisle in the space where the tents were lined up, I came across a tent with more torches than anywhere else.

Perhaps the tent is an auction house.

There was a long passage in front of the tent, and iron cages were lined up on both sides.

All brought slaves were put into one of the cages.

The men on the iron collars who brought Rudy unchained the slaves from their wrists and shoved them all into an iron cage.

The iron chain men locked the iron cage and stood outside the door.

The day started to brighten little by little.

The number of slaves entering the iron cage increased, and people who seemed to be guests gradually came.

The quiet space became increasingly noisy.

By the time most of the cages were filled with slaves, the auction had begun.

The guests went into the tent and it became gloomy outside.

But not all the guests went inside.

Some did not go inside the auction house, but looked around the iron cage outside.

One of them was one of the merchants I saw yesterday.

The merchant went around with a few servants, but it seemed that he was mainly checking on the child.

Near Rudy’s cage was a child of about five or six, who stopped and watched.

“The child I didn’t see yesterday.”

When the merchant told the man guarding the cage that he wanted to take a closer look, the man called the child in the corner closer to the cage.

The merchant ordered the child to turn around, open his mouth, raise his hands up, and so on.

When the child hesitated and failed to follow orders properly, the man guarding the cage opened the door and took the child out.

The frightened child burst into tears and tried to escape, but the chains entangling him prevented him from moving properly.

The chain, large and heavy for the child’s body, slammed against the iron cage with a thump.

Unlike adults, children do not have logic.

Even if you know that if you don’t do what you say, you’re more right, but if you shrink, you can’t react properly.

Perhaps because there was an auction, the child was not hit with a stick, but the child was shaken violently several times while being held by the man’s large hand.

Rudy involuntarily took a step and clenched his fists.

He himself is imprisoned in an iron cage. Nothing could be done.

Ignoring the crying of the child, the merchant grabbed his face and began examining it closely.

When the merchant left the child behind and said it was over, the man locked the child inside the cage again.

The merchant walked slowly and came to Rudy’s cage and gestured towards him.

When Rudi stepped forward and bowed politely, the merchant grinned.

“After all, you are the best.”

As the merchant tells you to, turn around once and lift your face up.

The merchant checked Rudy’s face several times over the iron cage before leaving.

Among the slaves who came with him, the first to enter the auction house were the women.

After a long time passed, the men were taken to the auction house.

I don’t know what happened to them.

Whether it was sold or not, to whom it was sold and for how much, I had no idea of those things.

However, slaves who left once did not come back.

Only Rudy and a ten-year-old girl remained in the cage.

The sun rises high in the sky and then goes down again.

The sunlight still lingers, but by the time you feel the temperature getting lower little by little, it’s Rudy and the girl’s turn.

Rudy followed the Iron Chain Man into the back of the auction house tent.

There were about twenty other children standing there.

There is also a child who was crying in a nearby iron cage.

They were mostly girls, about six to twelve years old.

The men on the chains handed Rudy and the ten-year-old girl over to the people inside the auction house, then went out of the tent.

From now on, it seems that the people at the auction house are in charge of the slaves.

Rudy looked inside the auction house.

The inside of the auction house was divided into a high platform and seats for customers to sit on.

The seats are full of people to the extent that there are no empty chairs.

On the podium, the moderator spoke in a high-pitched voice.

“Now, everyone, it is the last step. Today, we will select only the best children and present them to you! Only customers who come today have the opportunity to purchase.”

The children climbed onto the podium as the people at the auction house told them to do.

“All the children who came out here today are top-notch materials with beautiful features. Come on everyone! Untie the strap of the money bag and take a good look. If you miss this opportunity today, you will never see these kids in one place again!”

While the emcee spat loudly and spoke, the host made the children stand sideways and stand at attention.

When the moderator pointed his finger at the girl standing on the far right, the host brought her to the front.

“Look at this lovely countenance. This child will surely grow up to be an outstanding figure. In just three years this kid should be worth an Imperial coin or two. Now, now, get it at a bargain price that can only be purchased now! It starts with 10 liri!”

After the moderator finished speaking, someone from the audience raised their hand.

“Ten liri came out. 20 liri, ah, the person over there is calling for 20 liri. Isn’t there 40 liri! Oh, 40 liri came out. Don’t you have fifty liri?”

The host shouts to the audience.

“I regret it if I miss this opportunity. Is there anyone who can sing 50 liri, 50 liri!”

The child was eventually sold for 40 riyi.

I don’t think the price was that high.

The next child was 60 liri, then 50 liri.

The child who had been crying outside earlier was sold at the lowest price, probably because he was a boy, at 30 liri.

The buyer was a merchant who took a close look at the child.

And finally, it was Rudy’s turn.

The presenter exclaimed in an excited voice.

“Okay, now comes the final order. I’m sure some of you have already seen this kid, but I’m introducing a very unusual product. I’ve been socializing for a long time, but it’s the first time I’ve seen a child like this.”

The host spread his arms exaggeratedly towards Rudy.

“Look at this child. Gorgeous sparkling golden hair, green eyes reminiscent of the deep sea! Skin color as white as snow! He is a well-maintained child that even aristocrats can trust.”

The hostess spun Rudy around.

“But can you believe this child’s true worth is not his looks! Although this child is only four years old, he is said to have received an advanced education. There is no better way to talk or act.”

The moderator went on to emphasize the fact that there is no need for expensive advanced education, and how great it was.

“This beautiful child will be a play partner for the noble boy and princess when he is young, and a lover of a noble man and his wife when he grows up. I have already built up enough culture to accompany you to any place. I say this with confidence. Even when this child is thirteen or four, he can be worth three or four gold coins.”

The emcee, who had been speaking passionately, looked around the audience.

“At the request of the seller, this child starts the auction with 100 liri and 1 silver coin! 100 Riri, is there anyone who can afford 100 Riri!”

One person in the audience raised his hand.

This is the merchant I saw outside earlier. He was smirking with his legs crossed with a relaxed face.

“100 liri came out. 110 liri, ah, that person raised her hand… 180 liri came out… 190… 200 liri, oh! This person called for 200 liri.”

The audience is buzzing.

It is a person’s psychology that if someone next to them wants something, they want it too.

At first, even people who were not interested in participating in the auction began to overheat the competition.

However, this place is, so to speak, a place that is no different from a place where things are produced.

The people gathered here came to buy war slaves at a cheap price, not to buy them at a reasonable price.

As the price gradually increased, there were people who gave up.

One by one, people left, and in the end, only the merchant who participated in the auction for the first time and the chubby imperial merchant we saw yesterday remained.

The two competitively raised the price, and eventually an imperial merchant won the bid for 750 Riri.

＜Auction House＞ End