To Be Sold Like A Common Beast

"Long time no see," Lloyd snickered as soon as his eyes laid upon Kai's immense stature. It seems he had yet more work for him.

"Don't you ever sleep? How are you always up ever since I got back here?" Kai questioned. It was insane all these people always seemed available whenever he needed them. Did these people not sleep? Or did they always sleep when he was busy? That was odd.

The City Lord Lloyd took out a small nut with a slight glow to it, put it in his mouth, and started chewing.

"Ambrosia," Lloyd explained. "Using these, you only need about 30 minutes of sleep a day, if even that."

"That's convenient," Kai murmured and cut to the chase, "Is it time for me to play the assassin, then?"

Even though Kai acted tough as if he didn't want this, each second the countdown dropped, he felt more fear. He also wanted to get back to his memories, as well, but just seeing that much ended up costing him hours. What if he slept through all his remaining time?

A glint passed through Lloyd's eyes for a moment before speaking, and he stated with a laugh, "The demon will arrive in the city in a few hours."

"What?" Kai exclaimed. "What do you need me for, then? Just kill him yourself."

"Well, higher demons control their own small territories, but you could say that if we were to kill one in these circumstances, others would seek revenge instantaneously," Alexandra said. She was clearly informed on the subject, so she added, "Even though they kill each other and operate separately, they would still pursue an assassination."

Kai became confused. He didn't understand how himself killing the demon was any different. So he asked, "What difference does it make that I kill the demon?"

"Well, if you are killed by your own commodity, outside of our city, it would not result in such circumstances," Lloyd said as he caressed his chin, with a smirk on his face.

"Commodity?" Kai questioned, somewhat worriedly. "Are we selling him bombs or something?"

"Well," Gort explained with a large grin, "This demon is a collector of rare necromantic items. And you are very, very rare."

"You are selling me?! Like a pet?!" Kai interjected. "No way!"

Albeit Kai's insistence, Lloyd's smile didn't disappear. As Kai's only hope of survival, Lloyd held an absolute advantage against him. Not like he could actually refuse, and Lloyd knew that fact very well. As long as he worked as a nice little peon, Lloyd would find ways to keep him alive. Or, well, at least not let him turn into dust.

After fifteen minutes, Lloyd, Gort and Alexandra left the mansion for the heart of the city, with some soldiers dragging an immense cage used for beasts, with Kai sitting inside the cage. If he could, he would be sitting there with a frown.

Children on the streets started pointing at him, some with excitement in their eyes, but most with fear. There were some rumours about a skeleton roaming freely inside the City Lord's mansion, but not all knew of it.

"It's not a circus here, go back to your houses!" Kai yelled at them and managed to scare a few of the kids, but one who seemed to be 8-9 years old followed the cage with glints in his eyes.

"It seems he is taken by you," Alexandra said with a giggle, causing Kai to try to scare the kid multiple times, but failing. Lloyd and Gort glanced at the kid, but did nothing further until they reached the marketplace.

At that time, Gort told the kid to beat it and they all started waiting together. Even though Alexandra was advised by her father to stay in the mansion, she refused, at the very least wanting to keep Kai accompany through the sale process. After all, he would be alone later.

They cleared the centre of the marketplace and placed Kai in a showy manner, no one could miss the cage if they entered the marketplace. After a few more hours, Lloyd received a message from a guard and left towards the city's gates.

"They are here," Gort whispered to both Alexandra and Kai. He then displayed a solemn attitude, as if simply a guard.

After around ten more minutes, Kai saw a carriage approaching, with a retinue and soldiers numbering around fifty. Lloyd flew right beside the carriage, seemingly chatting with whatever was inside with a smile on his face. The carriage was drawn by lizard-like, exceptionally large creatures. As the creatures closed in, Kai almost felt dwarfed for the first time since being brought to this world.

"I wonder what kind of creature it will end up being," Kai asked quietly. Since it was not a creature that could just randomly be assassinated, he was almost fearful of it.

As the carriage got closer and closer, people started clearing the market square. Vendors stayed at their booths, but they were also nervous. Kai soon understood why, even the retinue were made up of barely human-looking monsters, seemingly boasting enough strength to crush a normal human's skull. Each was as tall as Kai and from their muscles alone, Kai thought it wouldn't be an easy fight, either.

"Fuck this, I'm out!" Kai protested. "If those are the foot soldiers, I don't even want to meet the big bad boss."

"Kai, I have talked with my father, we'll help you escape later," Alexandra tried to comfort him. She didn't like the plan, either, but they were not at a point where they could go back. Some higher demons visited cities to trade and sometimes for sightseeing. Not only did they bring wealth to the city, but there would also be no attacks as long as a higher demon stayed in the city.

"Escape?!" Kai said, bewildered. "Look at those guys! They look like they'd crush me into dust and then snort me for a good time! No way!"

"Kai-" Alexandra wanted to soothe him, but was cut-short by Gort, "Let him be, this is even better."

Kai wanted to hurl insults at Gort, but he chose to stay quiet instead. If he was just another random undead without a mind, he was just a slightly bigger skeleton. No one would care for him then.

Carriage finally stopped right before the cage and Kai braced himself. At least the carriage seemed human-sized. Kai at least knew the demon inside wasn't too big. The carriage's door opened and the demon stepped out.

"So, did you really think an undead like this was worth my time?"

"Holy shit!" Kai exclaimed.