The show was only beginning.

My eyes locked on him, a long sigh escaped my mouth.

"So you feel absolutely no guilt at all, huh?" I said.

"Guilt?" the leader repeated, turning in my direction. "What is there to feel guilty about? I am only a businessman. There is a demand, so I'm offering a supply," he explained. "Those people didn't end up here without a reason. They're here because they deserve to be here. Most of them, like the idiot over there, couldn't pay back their debts. But if you can't pay back a loan, then don't get one in the first place! And the others? Just a bunch of thugs who thought it was a good idea to challenge the system, or to offend nobility. What did they expect?" An arrogant smile spread on his face. "I am only a good Samaritan offering them a chance to make amends for their mistakes."

Hearing his nonsense, I couldn't help but frown.

"Alright, let's suppose that this is true," I proposed. "Let's admit for a second that it is their own fault they ended up here. What about raids?"

The slavers' leader eyelid twitches at my words.

"When's the last time you've checked the law?" I continued. "Slavery may be legal, but raids aren't. It is absolutely forbidden to enslave someone without a proper reason. I was merely walking around in the woods when your men attacked me. You're not a businessman, you're just a criminal."

The slavers' leader glared at me for a few seconds, keeping a straight face. Then, his lips curled into a grin.

"So what?" he said. "What are you going to do about it? Report me to the authorities? The moment that collar is locked around your neck, you are nothing but a lowly slave. Your words are worthless. Besides…" His grin widened. "The ones in power are the same ones who come for me to buy slaves. They know about it. They're just turning a blind eye on it. Do you know why?"

He marked a pause, turning to face the crowd.

"Because you people are cattle! Nobody cares about your lives!"

The slavers' leader snorted, returning his attention to me.

"You see? This is how the world works. People aren't equal. There are those who get stomped on and those who do the stomping. It's called hierarchy. You can only pray that you won't come across someone stronger than you, that's it. It can't be helped. No one is to be blamed."

Ah… I'm tired.

"What? Angry?" he scoffed.

Angry? No, I'm not angry. To be honest, I feel… Nothing. Absolutely nothing at all. No anger, no frustration, no irritation, nothing at all. I feel empty. Because no matter how harsh his words were, I knew he was right. The world has never been fair to begin with. It's life. That's the only way it can work. But as human beings, we are capable of compassion. This man is a piece of trash without a doubt. He has no scruples destroying the lives of the others for his own benefit. Yet, I can't feel angry at him. I don't even find him hateful. Just… Pitiful.

Ah… I knew this would happen. I knew this would happen one day, from the moment I was reborn. And that is exactly why I tried not to meddle in others' business. Because I always feared for this moment to come. For the moment I stopped being capable of empathy. Because it would be the moment I completely stopped being human.

My body is already no longer human. I noticed that a long time ago.

I have never once fallen ill in this life. Not a single cold, nothing. People thought it was because I was blessed. It wasn't until I was three that I noticed something really wasn't right. At that time, someone tried to poison me. However, it took us a long time to notice that as it had no effect on me. It wasn't until one of the maids was caught poisoning my meals that I understood that I actually had consumed a large amount of toxins and that I was immune to it. Naturally, the maid was executed, and we never found out who ordered my assassination, although I have a pretty good idea. But that's not it.

Over the years, my biological needs also continuously decreased. When I was a baby, I was almost constantly hungry. However, as time passed, my appetite declined. As the daughter of a noble house, my meals were all generous and flavourful. Yet, I didn't feel hungry at all. I kept eating less and less, to the point where the maids started to worry about my health. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be eating three times a day. In fact, I probably wouldn't even eat once. I have already skipped meals during my short time in the Academy, and even after going days without eating, I still didn't feel hungry at all. It was the same thing with sleep. I gradually lost the need to sleep, to the point where I spent most of my childhood nights sneaking out in the library. At this point, I only ate and slept out of habit, but my biological needs disappeared a long time ago. Soon, I will probably stop aging too.

Everything that made me mortal was disappearing, as my body changed to become the body of an immortal. And with my mortality now completely gone, there was only one thing left making me human. One thing which I've been desperately holding on to ever since I discovered that I was reborn here. But now, it was disappearing, too.

Empathy.

The ability to share someone else's feelings, experiences. The ability to relate. And that is exactly the problem. I can't relate. Not anymore. How am I supposed to? People live their lives to the fullest because it's ephemeral. Because one day, they die. But I won't. If I miss an opportunity, I know there will necessarily be another one, so why bother? My time isn't being counted. I have eternity in front of me. So I can't do it. I can't identify myself with the others anymore. I can, to some extent, attempt to rationalize my feelings, but I can't feel emotionally connected to them. Worse, the value of life itself has dropped in my eyes. Life is precious, I know. Or at least, I used to. But I just watched Leven murder a man in cold blood and I didn't even bat an eye. He may have been a slaver, but he was also human. Chances are he had a loving family. Yet, I watched him get his throat sliced. I watched him bleed out as blood poured out his neck, splashing everywhere. I watched the life in his eyes vanishing. And I didn't feel a damn thing. Nothing. Not even the slightest flinch. I just feel completely disconnected from reality. This entire world, after all, is my creation. The result of my childish fantasies. And all those people here are dispensable.

I have felt like this before. I remember. It was before I got sick, when I used to play in the yard behind the house. One day, I witnessed something particular. I witnessed two colonies of ants fighting each other. And I didn't do anything, I just watched. I was old enough to understand what death was, yet, I felt absolutely nothing at all watching those poor ants die. They were, after all, only ants. Their deaths didn't matter. They were dispensable. If a colony died out, another would replace them, and the cycle of life would continue. This is exactly how I'm feeling right now. I see all those people and I feel nothing. I know they're innocent. I know they don't deserve to be here. But I still feel disconnected from them. I know what's right and what's wrong, I know it. But I just can't feel it.

This was not how a normal person was supposed to feel. A normal person would not ignore the others' suffering. A normal person would not consider the others' life dispensable. This was not the mindset of a human being. I was perfectly aware of it. This was the mindset of someone considering themself as superior. This was the mindset on someone placed above.

This goddamn divinity is messing with my mind, and despite being aware of it, I can't stop it.

This is exactly what I feared would happen ever since I learned about my abnormal status when I got reincarnated here. Ever since I tortured my aunt in cold blood. My humanity was dying. But despite this, I still had one thing left. One thing that couldn't be corrupted. Morals.

"I have only one thing left to ask," I told the man in front of me, having made my decision. "I've heard that you've been operating in the capital for over twenty years. Have you ever smuggled any elves?"

The slavers' leader squinted his eyes.

"Elves?" he repeated, before a proud smile broke onto his face. "Oh, elves! Of course I have. Who do you think I am? They are the finest captures a slaver like me can stumble upon. You don't come across them every year, but sometimes, if you're lucky, you can find an entire village of them."

"And then?"

"And then? And then we capture them all! The men aren't needed and too dangerous, so they are all slaughtered, but the women on the other hand… Every single one of them is worth thousands of normal slaves. If they don't kill themselves first, that is. They're prideful creatures, after all. Out of ten elves, maybe one or two survive," he proudly recounted. "Not that I blame them. Considering the treatment that awaits them, I would probably also killed myself if I was in their place."

So he's aware about it after all.

"Do you remember someone called Azariah?" I finally asked.

"Azariah? What's up with you and all those names? First Olivia and now Azariah?"

Yeah, figures. I expected this. Of course he wouldn't remember. It was years ago, and he has probably smuggled thousands of people these past few years only. Why would he remember her? She was for him, after all, only one among many "cattle." Too bad for him, though. This one cattle is precious to me and now, he's going to pay the price for messing with her.

I raised my arms up to my neck to grab the slave collar around it. It unlocked at the contact with my hand.

"How-?!"

The leader gasped as I tossed the collar at his feet, and he wasn't the only one. The slaves and the slavers all exchanged confused glances as no one could understand how I took the slave collar off on my own.

"You know what?" I said, "I agree with you. The world is unfair, it's all about luck. Like you said, you can only pray that you won't come across someone stronger than you." I marked a pause, giving him a meaningful look. "Unfortunately for you, your luck has run out."

I turned to the fox girl at my side.

"Cottontail," I called.

She got up and imitated me, taking off the collar around her neck, much to everyone's surprise.

"Murder them all."

With the single nod of the head, Cottontail disappeared in a swift jump. Next, screams could be heard as blood spurt out like fountains all over the place, slavers dropping down one by one like flies. The fox girl was so fast they couldn't keep track of her. Using nothing else besides her nails and teeth, she tore off the skin on their neck, exposing their bare muscles as blood flowed out of the ruptured vessels in rhythmical sprays.

"F-Fuck!"

"Where is she?! Catch her!"

As panic broke out, Leven took advantage of the confusion to shake off the slaver holding him and attacked him. And he wasn't the only one. Among the crowd, a few dozen of the slaves seized the opportunity to join the battle, pouncing on the slavers around them, while the others desperately tried to get away. It was total chaos.

"Shit!" The slavers' leader cursed as he could see his men getting overwhelmed. Understanding he needed to take action quickly, he turned in the direction of the crowd.

"『Enough』!!" he shouted, his voice resonating through the valley.

In one instant, every one of the slaves froze, under the influence of their collar. The [Slavery Contract] allowed the master to use Mind Control on the slaves, bending their will to his convenience. Unable to disobey the leader's word, the slaves all winced in pain as the Mind magic took over their body.

The slavers immediately reacted. They took advantage of the magic to overthrow the situation. The rebels were immediately subdued while others directed their blade against innocent slaves. Sensing my hesitation, Cottontail stopped the bloodshed and returned to my side. The situation now under control, the slavers' leader turned his attention back to me, shooting me a deadly glare.

"You! What did you do?!" he bellowed. "How the fuck did you do that?!"

He ground his teeth, receiving a simple apathetic look from me as an answer.

"Who are you?" he groaned. This time he was completely on his guard.

"My name is Aileen," I said with the same straight face. "Remember it well, as it will be the last name you will hear."

"Aileen?"

Commotion started to rise among the slaves as I introduced myself.

"You heard that?"

"Is it the same Aileen Troy has been talking about?"

"She must be! Didn't he recognize her earlier?"

Too focused on me, the leader didn't pay attention to the growing agitation around him. I took a step forward as he flinched in apprehension.

"Stay away!" he ordered before directing his attention elsewhere. "Ed!"

Following his eyes, I noticed the secretary dude grabbing Troy, placing a knife to his throat. Cold sweats forming on his face, he was panting heavily and his hands were shaking. Clearly, it was his first time witnessing such a slaughter.

Well, technically, it was my first time too...

"Take another step forward and his head flies!" the leader threatened.

But that was without counting the bold statement of Troy

"I don't care, kill him!" he shouted, finally freed of his gag. "Let him feel the wrath of all those who died!"

"So he says," I told the leader.

The slavers' leader flinched, understanding he was losing control of the situation. Then, he immediately turned to his men.

"Guys!"

This time, it was the other slavers' turn to take random hostages in the crowd.

"No!"

"Please…!"

"Have mercy!"

"Try anything, and those little shits die one by one," the leader said, returning his attention to me.

I see. So he's taking the entire crowd hostage to prevent me from doing anything. That's quite bothersome. I can kill one slaver or two, that's easy. But I can't kill every one of them at once. Scattered among the slaves, I would need a massive spell to do that. And massive spells kill without discrimination. The slaves would die as well. I need to kill the slavers one by one. But by the time I spot them all, some of them would have had the time to kill their hostage. Really. Such a pain in the ass.

"Kill him!" someone suddenly shouted.

Turning my head in the direction of the voice, I noticed a hostage giving me a meaningful look.

"Kill him!" he repeated.

"Silence!" the slaver holding him hostage ordered. "Do you want to die?"

His face was familiar. I quickly recognized him from yesterday. He was the slave who tried to lecture me about taking responsibility. I think his name was Gale.

"Aileen!" he yelled, completely ignoring his captor. "You're the one who said it, right? Not to expect someone to save us! It doesn't matter if we die, so kill him!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" hollered another slave. "I don't want to die!"

"Me neither!"

"I have a family!"

"So what?!" Gale shouted. "I have a family too, and I don't want to die either! But if my death can allow the others to be freed, then I'll die!"

"I…"

"But…"

"Come on, people!" he continued "This is the miracle you've all been waiting for! Is life so great? Do you want to live so bad that you are all willing to crawl at the feet of a piece of shit like him? If I'm going to live miserably, then I'd rather die!"

His powerful words caused the other slaves to fall silent.

"Aileen!" he called once more. "With this shitty collar around my neck, there is nothing else I can do but give you my life! So kill that piece of shit! Make him tremble like he made our children tremble!"

Gale's unwavering determination eventually managed to reach the others.

"Kill him…"

"Kill him!"

"Make him suffer!"

"Don't let him go!"

As each one of the slaves soon started shouting all kind of murder threats, the remaining hostages also joined Gale's cause.

"If… If it can allow my family to be freed…"

"T-That's right…! What's the point of living such a miserable life?! I don't care about dying, kill him!"

"I-I'm also willing to die if I can watch that jerk suffer!"

"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"

Most of them were trembling, unable to overcome the fear of death, but they kept shouting anyway, ordering the slavers' leader's execution.

A smirk forming on my lips, I shifted my gaze back to him.

"Hear that?" I said, "looks like you've lost your shields."

The slavers' leader flinched at my words.

"T-They're all going to die!" he threatened. "Are you really going to sacrifice them all just to kill me?!"

"You know, back in my old world, there was something called democracy. It's a bit complicated, and I'm too lazy to explain it to you anyway, but it was based on one thing: the majority decides," I told him, giving him a meaningful grin. "And this is what they want, so…"

Understanding there was no way out, the slavers' leader drew out his sword. Not even his men would be able to save him this time.

As Cottontail stepped forward, I called her back.

"Cotton, step aside," I ordered. "He's mine."

The fox girl nodded.

Seeing her walking away, a new wave of confidence lifted him up. The slavers' leader readjusted his grasp on his sword as an arrogant grin spread across his face. He had seen Cottontail in action and had been warned about her, but he had no reason to fear me. To him, I didn't seem to be a threat. The tables had turned. Confident in his win, the slavers' leader rushed forward, throwing himself onto me.

"Leven," I called, "this one is for you."

As the young man raised an eyebrow in confusion, I spread my mana in front of me. I took over the leader's body, letting my magic flow into his stomach, and then I made it burst from the inside. His guts spilling out of his belly, the slavers' leader died instantly, choking on his own vomit of blood, before falling on his own sword.

"Oh, shit!" Leven exclaimed. "That's fucking nasty!"

Witnessing their leader's death, the remaining slavers quickly understood they were next. As panic took over their mind, they started executing the slaves in a desperate attempt to create confusion. Hysteria broke out once again in the camp, as slaves started to run for their life. Unfortunately for the slavers, there was nowhere for them to go.

"Cotton," I called.

Understanding my silent order, Cottontail rushed forward into the crowd to stop the slavers' killing frenzy. She hunted them down one by one, as I helped her from here, without moving from my spot. As a dedication to Leven, I burst out the insides on any slavers entering my sight.

The show was only beginning.