Chapter 29 Search

"Boss we searched their hideout, we couldn't find her though." An outlaw reported as he rushed towards Kai. "Tch, there are only so many groups left, we'll find her soon." Kai said as he rubbed his forehead. "Onto the next group." Kai said before rushing off with the outlaws.

"Shit!" Jin said as he threw a man onto the ground. 'They don't have her either.' He thought before launching into the sky again. 'We've been searching for hours now, and we've trampled on every group we could find yet we still haven't found her.' Jin thought as he flew through the sky.

"Damn, they just left me behind." Izuku mumbled as he rushed through the groves. 'According to this book, I should be looking at Groves 1-29.' Izuku thought as he rushed through the various groves.

In an old and decrepit house

"Man, we're gonna make a lot of money." A brown-haired man said as he stroked his long beard. "Ya good thing you have a good eye! Hahaha, we're going to be able to drink well for a week!" An immensely hairy man said.

On the ground next to them lay the knocked out Eri. Soon after she began to wake up. "W-Where am I!" She asked in bewilderment. 'Why am I tied up?' She thought as she tried to move her hands.

"Put a sock in it, little girl!" The hairy man said. "You're going to be our ticket to a week of good times!" He continued as he began to daydream. 'What an imbecile.' The brown-haired man thought as he rubbed his forehead.

"Anyway, we better get a move on its only 10 minutes till the auction." The brown-haired man said. "Wait where are you taking me!?" Eri asked visibly afraid. "Hmph! You'll see you annoying brat!" The hair man said as he began to carry her.

"By the way what should we do with those gloves and her other accessories?" The brown-haired man asked. Hearing this Eri's face immediately paled. 'If they take the gloves off, then things will go bad.' She thought before saying "P-Please, don't take my gloves off."

'Hmm? They must be valuable if she's asking us not to steal them.' The brown-haired man thought before saying "Jeff, I am going to take the gloves, they must be worth something." The brown-haired man said before moving towards Eri who was now slung over Jeff's shoulder.

"Got it Jerad, but be quick, and don't you dare deceive me." Jeff said before rubbing his eyes a bit with his free hand. Hearing this Jerad nodded and moved his hands towards Eri's hands and took of her gloves.

Seeing this Eri didn't know what to do so she just did nothing as the duo began to take her somewhere. 'What to do, what to do. Last time I touched something it started, getting destroyed. But why? Was it cause I touched it with my fingers? What had Jin said?' Eri thought as she tried to recall the activation requirements for decay.

"By the way, we should gag her." Jerad said as he took out a cloth and stuff it in Eri's mouth. "Ya, good job. We better not attract any attention considering she may be worth a lot." Jeff said as they traversed the gigantic mangrove trees.

While this was going on the trio was still searching for Eri. 'Why, what did I do wrong this time? Was I not careful enough? Was I too arrogant? What am I going to do if a Celestial Dragon gets involved?' Jin thought in despair as he shot through the air.

Kai who was scouring the ground was also getting a bit worried. 'I don't care much for the girl, but if that dumb ass starts a war over her, we're fucked.' Kai thought as he rushed through the streets.

"Any luck?" Kai asked. "No, not yet Boss." Hermes said as he saluted Kai. "Tch, gather up the rest of them, we're leaving for the next grove." Kai said as Hermes immediately hurried along. (Oh ya if you forgot Hermes is the Civillian from chapter 27 near the end of it)

Currently, Hermes had become akin to Kai's right-hand man, due to his usefulness and his subservience. He was surprisingly fast and had a knack for leadership, he also seemed quite loyal to Kai not like that mattered much, at least not for now.

'Seriously though, everything is fucked up. First, we were supposed to expand the power of the main force, and equip ourselves properly, then we were going to take over more shit, but now cause we have to search every fucking gang, we're going to make so many enemies I'll never have a chance to rest.' Kai thought as his veins began to bulge.

'Every day this man makes me more and more insane.' Kai thought as his head began to ache. "Onto the next Grove men." Kai said before they set off yet again.

"I think I've finally made it." Izuku said as he looked around the town. On the street he was an old lady to the side. "Excuse me, Mam have you seen a man with a mask or another man with a horn pass through here?" Izuku asked as he stood in front of the old lady.

Hearing this the old lady tilted her head upwards. "If you're talking about those hooligans, then yes. Their group passed through here about 40 minutes ago, by now they're probably long gone." The old lady said as she looked Izuku in the eye.

Izuku immediately nodded when hearing this before turning around. "Thank you!" He said before running off. 'That boy doesn't seem too bad, but I wonder why he wants to meet those 2.' She thought briefly before she went back to knitting what seemed to be a scarf.

'Man they're already so far ahead, I hope this doesn't become a recurring theme.' Izuku thought as he rushed through the town while activating Full Cowling.

Soon a few minutes passed and the duo reached the Human Auctioning House in Grove 1. The building looked to be old and abandoned and 3 identical spires surrounded it. In the front of the building, a gate was found where one could enter the auction house, above it lay a sign with the word "Human" written on it.

"So what do you 2 have today?" An employee asked as he gazed at Jeff and Jared. "This weird girl, she looks like a demon child." Jeff said as he placed her on the table. The employee gazed at her. "Indeed, she sure looks abnormal, but I am sure she'll sell at a high price." The employee said after looking at her for a bit.

"Anyway, you know the procedure, you'll get your commission after the auction." The employee said before calling another employee to take Eri away. "MHMM!" Eri tried to scream but only a low mumble was heard due to the cloth.

"PAA!"

A slap resounded as an employee slapped Eri across the face. "Be quiet kid!" He said as he carried her to the slaveholding area. Eri stopped making noise after this happened, and her face turned blank. 'I hope Jin will come and save me.' She thought as a tear streamed down her face.

"So what's this?" Another employee asked as he looked at Eri. "No clue, some new merchandise. Do you think we should get the manager to check her price?" The employee who was carrying Eri asked. "Ya that'd be best I'll go get him." The other employee said before going to fetch Disco the manager.

The slaves who were behind the bars of the holding area looked at the employees in hatred and disgust. 'So even capturing kids isn't above them.' A slave thought as he shook his head. 'Not like I can change anything.' He thought before distracting himself from the fate that lay ahead of him.

Soon after Disco entered the area and looked at Eri. "So this is the girl?" He said as he took the cloth out of her mouth and moved her face from side to side. "Hmm, this horn sure is abnormal but apart from that she looks like a regular girl. But she'll probably sell at a higher price due to this special feature. Either way, throw her in." Disco said after inspecting Eri.

After that, they removed the pitiful restraints that Jeff and Jared had placed on her and chained her up. 'I guess we're back to this.' Eri thought as her expression darkened. "You okay kid?" A man within the holding area asked.

".....I am, waiting for someone." Eri said with the last bit of hope in her heart. Hearing this the man grew quiet. 'I see she has false hope that someone will appear and save her. Too bad that's not gonna happen but it's not my place to say anyway.' He thought as he debated what to do.

"I asked if you're okay though, are you?" The man asked again. Hearing this Eri simply said "Not really, things were just going well, and I finally made a friend, now this happened."

"Oh, I see." The man replied. "Would you like me to hold your hand?" He asked as he gestured his hand towards her. "NO!" Eri said as she immediately moved back. "Okay, sorry." The man said as he backed off.

"Jeez, what an idiot."

"Scum."

"Trash."

Comment after comment resounded within the area. 'All I did was ask to hold her hand to comfort her a bit.' The man thought as he cried internally.

Seeing the reaction of the other people and the man's own reaction Eri shook her head. "It's not that I think you're a bad guy but something bad will happen if I touch you." Eri explained.

"Oh, like what?" The man asked curiously. "I don't know what happens exactly but things get destroyed." Eri explained with her limited knowledge of the quirk. 'If I see Jin again I should ask him.' Eri thought as her hope began to dwindle ever so slightly.