5: A Fair Trade.

He was instantly drained of every will he had left in him as soon as he laid eyes on who it was sitting on the chair in the middle of the room. Her head was held down while her hands and legs were bound to the chair. She looked up at him as soon as he walked in and he could see the huge amounts of tears that had flowed down her cheeks and the ones that still filled her eyes.

He slowly dropped the sword on the ground and said, " I want to make a bargain, but it will be my life instead of hers."

His heart instantly began to pound heavily. For the first time ever since meeting the strange noble, the pressure of what could happen next was actually taking a toll on him. Was he just as heartless as all the others or was he actually going to give him a chance?

" Fine then... have it your way."

Those words left him with relief which he couldn't explain. A few seconds after that, the door to the room slowly opened and the man slowly walked in with a stern expression on his face.

" You do realise that you basically freed her at the cost of your own life. If your bargain isn't up to her life's worth, then I will kill you." He said as the sword on the ground slowly floated into his right hand, "Now then, speak up."

" What's the estimated number of other-worlders that are still alive?" He asked, slowly turning towards the noble.

" Ten thousand." He replied, slowly placing his right hand on his chin, " though that's only based on the number currently held in custody in the human realm as of recently."

He paused for a moment and heaved a sigh before saying, "Give me time, I'll find all the remaining other-worlders and only then will my life and... hers..."

" Time huh? Ten years for say and I'm glad you know that there's really no way out of this for the both of you." He said, walking towards the door once again, "Now then, you two should follow me to your next destination."

The cuffs that had been binding her hands and legs were instantly cut off but she kept on sitting on the chair without moving an inch. Tears began streaming down her cheeks as she slowly looked up at the man who had saved her life for the second time.

He slowly turned his gaze to the floor because of how awkward her stare at him made him feel. After a few minutes, he began to hear the sound of feet tapping from the other side of the door and that was when he realised that the noble was still waiting for them.

" Erm... aren't you leaving?" He asked, slowly looking up at her nervously.

Her face was now turned to the floor and as soon as he said that, she slowly got up with her face still to the floor. She approached the wall of the room and slowly began approaching the exit from there.

He gazed at her from the corner of his eyes as he slowly approached the exit as well. At that moment he felt relieved that he had saved another life but her current actions and mood weren't giving him a sense of accomplishment.

When they came outside, they found a lady dressed in a plain bright, golden dress standing outside with her hands placed on top of each other.

She had a clear look of disgust on her face as she looked up at the both of them and she wasn't trying to hide it.

The lady next to him slowly began wiping her face with her hands and after a moment of doing so, slowly looked up and asked, "So where are we going to?"

The other one standing in front of them didn't care to reply as she slowly turned around and walked away, signalling for the both of them to follow her.

As they walked around the large building, they kept on running into guards and maids and he knew quite well that they were in a castle of sorts. They were all directing gazes with disgust and he was quick to realize that most of them were towards her.

" That's right, I still have my prison uniform on." He thought as he slowly stared down at his clothes which were a plain black shirt and trousers and the shirt had white stripes going around it.

It wasn't long before they began arriving at their destination and a few meters away, they could see the young noble standing in front of the room with a lady who had the same hair colour as him but her back was turned on them.

" Oh, so you're already here." He said as soon as he noticed the four of them walking towards them, " Ariana, what did you say was the number of your lady's personal servants again?"

" It was simply two personal maids your hon." The lady leading them replied, bowing her head slightly.

" I already told you, Leo, I don't need any more of whatever it is you call personal servants, I'm fine on my own okay and could you at least try to listen to me as your sister for once."

He didn't hear anything she had just said simply because his mind was boggled by the answer he had just received from the maid and he asked, "So you mean that you actually sleep without guards by your door each night?"

" Yes... and why does that concern you in any way? Why would anyone in particular try to come into my room with any form of malicious intent, I'm not your little sister anymore so you can stop worrying about me." She said, turning her head away to the side.

Her brother stared at her for a while as he tried to hide the frown that was about to appear on his face before saying, "Seriously? How can you be so careless..."

He stopped at his words and slowly turned his gaze away before slowly walking towards the two whom he had ordered for their presence. He quickly grabbed the young man by the hand and pulled him along.

It wasn't long before they arrived in front of another door which had two guards standing in front of the door but they both ignored him as he opened the door and sent the person he was holding flying into the room.

" Pick any clothes you want from there and meet me outside the castle." He said, closing the door.

After the quick change of clothes, he was left walking through the street with the lady whom he had saved by the name of Ciara.

What she was known as; other-worlders, possessed an aura that was different from the actual world humans, and being able to sense the aura emitted by beings was a very easy feat for even those not adept in the use of mana and which was the reason for the stares they were getting from all around.

He continued to go forward, not minding their gazes or gossips which he could clearly hear even from his distance.

" Where are we headed?" She asked.

"Nowhere in particular and I never asked you to follow me remember." He replied with his gaze fixed on the ground, "You can see the number of people preparing for tomorrow's auction from here right?"

" Of course."

They both didn't say anything else after that and simply continued forward together until they were out of the main city and right in front of the forest.

" We're almost out of the main city, some beasts could be lurking around." She warned as she quickly looked around the place, terrified by the eerie noises coming from the forest.

" It's a daily routine of mine and I usually return late, so maybe it's best you turn back now." He suggested as he stared keenly at the road which lay ahead of him.

She turned her gaze towards him for a moment and just as she was about to turn around they heard the loud cry of a horse come from deep down the road.

It didn't take a moment of hesitation from him to run forward towards the direction where the cry had come from and she quickly chased after him as well.

It wasn't long before he arrived at the scene and saw the horse lying on the ground while its blue slowly flowed to the ground, creating a small puddle right beneath it.

He quickly began to examine the animal to see what had caused its injury while Ciara who arrived a few minutes later, huffing and panting went to see if there were people stuck in the carriage.

She could sense a faint aura similar to hers and two other ones which belonged which belonged to dwellers of the world in which she lived but one of them had a sinister feeling to it which sent chills down her spine.