Click.
I opened the door without the slightest hesitation, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was something disgusting or uncomfortable inside.
I had already thought about many possibilities, hopefully what's inside matches my expectations—
—
"Next! Item number 3, newly arrived from the edge of Chyvera, bidding starts at fifty silver!"
Rustle, rustle.
"Fifty-five—"
"Seventy!"
.....
"One hundred silver."
"Wooaahh!"
"Anyone else want to bid?! The countdown has started, this item will be sold for one hundred silver if no more bids come in!"
"Five, four, three, two—"
"Wait a moment."
"Oi, oi, that woman—"
"No mistake..."
"Considering the quality of that item, and especially the golden hair with ears the same as mine, I won't accept it if she gets such a cheap price."
"What are you talking about?!"
"Keh, item number three, I'll buy it for five hundred silver."
"SOLD!! Item number three fully belongs to the woman in the black dress over there!"
—
... This place is a bit different from what I expected, but the contents are almost the same despite some differences.
At first, I thought this place would be like a storage filled with cages or enclosures for many slaves, but it seems I was slightly wrong about that.
This place is like seating in a circus. Long benches forming a semicircle, and in the center there is a small stage as the main focus of this place.
That stage has a small wooden pathway, with the same height as the stage itself, and the path is connected to a room behind it which is covered by a red curtain.
I can't guess it for sure, but in my opinion, that might be where the cages are, like I had assumed before.
There are so many people in here, all of them wearing suits and other luxurious clothing for the men.
Their body sizes also mostly look quite large, not suitable to be called ordinary citizens.
As for the women, they wear dresses, while carrying fans or wearing wide-brimmed hats with accessories on top.
Of course, they all wear masks like the two of us, I even briefly saw someone with a mask similar to mine.
At the center of the stage right now, a man wearing a black suit with a white inner shirt stands there as the host.
And he has just introduced the third "item," which is clearly a slave that they have prepared to be sold illegally.
Why can I say it's illegal? I observed the expression on the face of that slave, who is a young beast-man girl. She has small ears on top of her head, but I don't know what animal they belong to.
Her clothes are brown, with tears visible in many places, and both of her hands have many bruises, like whip marks from her master.
Her legs stand very close together, her eyes directed at everyone watching her directly, but her gaze feels very flat.
At a glance, I also feel that the little girl is sad, but maybe only a few people realize it.
... Should I still say this place is legal, if the people working in it have expressions like that?
Step, step.
"Oi Yukito, look at that woman in the black dress. The one walking toward the stage." Luke suddenly whispered to me, he must have some intention behind it.
I immediately looked at the woman without thinking of anything else. I was also curious after hearing her want to buy the girl for five hundred silver.
In my opinion, that is clearly a huge amount. Especially if that amount is converted into gold coins, it would be around one hundred coins.
That number is even five times higher than the previous bidder who stopped at one hundred silver... There's something I need to see here—
"Before that, how about we sit over there first? If we just stand here, people might start noticing us."
"... True... Umm... Ah, there's an empty seat in front. Want to go there?"
—
The two of us sat on the seats I pointed at earlier. There's one reason why I chose this spot...
The seats beside this place are already full, and I feel like we might get something if we sit here.
After sitting down, I immediately asked Luke again about why he told me to pay attention to the woman in the black dress.
"Who exactly is she? Do you know her?" I asked while covering one side of my mouth so my voice wouldn't be heard by the person next to me.
Luke only nodded while glancing at me before he was about to answer—
Tap, tap.
The man sitting beside me suddenly tapped my shoulder, making me shift my attention away from Luke and look at him.
"... Is there something I can help you with?" I asked in a very polite tone.
As much as possible, I don't want to ruin my image here, I have to pretend to be someone like them—
"Do you not know anything about that woman? Try looking at the skin on her hand, can you?" he asked me to do as he said, I had no choice but to follow.
... What's with this guy? Asking me to look at her skin, does he want me to look at that woman as if I'm interested in her—
... Wait a second... Somehow her skin feels like it reflects light a few times, like the surface of transparent water, but it disappears shortly after appearing.
Once again, I'm seeing something strange. I'm sure there must be a reason why that woman's skin can be like that, and the man beside me must know it.
"That woman, she has been here since Barbara ascended the throne. I've been watching her since she first came here, until I caught her when I tried to follow her."
"That woman, she changes her skin color. Look at her ears, you should know that she's from the elf race, right?"
That's true, I didn't look at her ears, but their shape is similar to Iris, but... he just said changing skin color?
"What do you mean? Is she using some kind of magic for disguise?" I said.
"That's my guess. But there's no denying it, that woman is the wife of Barbara."
His words shocked me, truly, I was completely shocked hearing it.
Even if what this man said is true, why would the Queen come to a place like this? Is she directly involved in slave trading?
... Looking back, the background that Barbara has does make it feel natural if she and the people close to her are involved in something this horrifying.
I couldn't immediately believe it, especially since it sounds like just a rumor going around, and its truth still hasn't been confirmed.
"... Maybe you saw it wrong?"
"This is your first time coming here, right? Honestly... everyone you see here already knows that woman is Matera, the current queen."
Okay, okay, I can't say anything anymore. If that's really the truth, then all I can do is accept it and remember it clearly in my mind.
That means Luke had already suspected that woman— Or maybe Luke already knew?
... If someone that important is here, doesn't that mean our party might get a bit of an advantage?
I'm going to dig out some information from this man, I can't let him go before he satisfies this curiosity of mine.