Chapter 682: Value
"So... how much am I worth, Lin?"
The chief's office was mostly made of wood; the walls, the ceiling, and even the floor. But now, it was also mostly made of the chief himself as different parts of his body scattered everywhere.
The floorboards were obviously untreated and unvarnished, as it already started to absorb the chief's blood.
"How... how are you even awake!?" Nutno tried his best to calm his breaths as he looked at Riley from head to toe, "You... you drank the entire bottle! We were told any Traveler would—"
"Wait."
Riley raised a finger at Nutno, interrupting him as he needed to adjust the translator chip sticking behind his ear. As soon as he was done, however, he promptly answered Nutno's question,
"My body has grown immune to any and all kind of poison, Nutno—
even if it is alien or from a completely different universe altogether, it would seem all poison works the same."
"...What?"
"Since I answered your question, I hope you can answer mine," Riley stepped closer to Nutno; his steps, creating a squelching whisper due to the sticky floor, "This Deity that the chief mentioned earlier, what is it?"
"..."
Nutno did not really answer. He just looked at the other only person in the room, almost as if he was asking her what he should do right now—but alas, his sight was covered by the smiling face of Riley Ross.
"I don't think I will get an answer from you," Riley then said as he tilted his head further to cover Nutno's view, "That means I do not need you, Nutno."
"W—Ugkh!"
Nutno's feet started to leave the floor as he felt his entire body contract, almost as if every fiber of his muscles were being pulled away one by one—the pain, not even allowing him to scream as it shut his brain down in an instant.
"I apologize, Nutno," Riley sighed and shook his head, "But I need to be somewhat wary of—Hm?"
And before Riley could finish his words, a small thud whispered in the room as Nutno dropped to the floor... still alive.
"What is this?" Riley once again tilted his head to the side as he stared at the groveling Nutno. He tried lifting him with his mind, but he just continued to squirm in pain; with not even his hair affected by Riley's telekinesis,
"...Weird."
Riley tried to lift Nutno again, this time even doing a gesture with his hand... but nothing. It was almost as if his telekinesis was completely gone—no. It was as if something, or someone was suppressing it.
"Deity?" Riley then started looking around; using his enhanced hearing to try and sense anything that seemed amiss from his surroundings, but he could sense nothing. But he was sure of it, the one suppressing his telekinesis was this so-called Deity.
And whoever and whatever it is, it was using its power from very far away from a distance that even Riley was not capable of reaching. This Deity's telekinesis...
...it was much stronger than Riley's, much stronger.
Strong enough to completely suppress him to the point it was like he lost his psychic abilities.
"Hm..." And upon thinking this, a hint of amusement crawled on his face as he closed his eyes—and soon, the veins on his white neck started to show themselves. And with the opening of his eyes, the very earth itself started to tremble.
"..." Nutno, who just recovered from almost having his flesh turned inside out, could not help but just hug the floor as everything in the room started to move and slide. Unbeknownst to him and Lin, however, the entire hamlet itself and the surrounding area were shifting.
"...Oh?"
Fortunately for everyone, it did not last long and even instantly stopped at the same time as Riley once again let out an amused puff of breath.
"Interesting," Riley blinked a couple of times as he looked at his hands; closing and opening them several times as he tilted his head,
"And weird, really weird. I could feel myself using telekinesis, but I can't do anything with it. Can you hear me, Deity? I am learning a lot from this—are you matching my frequency to completely mute my telekinetic ability? Or, I suppose you truly are just stronger than me and—"
"Die!"
And of course, as is the case with all of Riley's opponents; they take the chance to attack while he is doing his routine monologue—
Nutno was no different. As soon as he saw a sign of weakness from Riley, he instantly rushed toward him with his arms already ready to grab him.
"Well, I have a lot more tricks to offer."
Unfortunately for Nutno, Riley instantly squashed his head with just the clap of his hands. But of course, that wasn't enough for Riley as he even burrowed his arms through Nutno's torso before cleaving and ripping his body completely in half just for dramatic effect.
"...Hm," Riley then grabbed one half of Nutno's body, and lightly throwing it toward Lin.
"Eep!" Lin couldn't really help but just yelp as she fell to the floor as Nutno's dismembered corpse landed on her.
"I apologize, Lin," Riley let out a small sigh as he shook his head, "I was planning to catch that with my mind, but my telekinetic abilities don't work anymore."
"W... what?"
"Anyway," Riley then started walking toward Lin; the disgusting squelch in his steps, now even more prominent, "Tell me...
...how much were you going to sell me again?"
***
"Where's your chief?"
"He...he... he's inspecting the area where the Traveler was found."
"He... He—what are you, some sort of singer with undiagnosed brain issues?"
"N...no?"
Hours later, Lin was welcoming a group of people inside the chief's office. And surprisingly enough, the room was immaculate—not even a sight of blood anywhere.
"You women are so weird. So, is... this it? Is this the Traveler?"
"Y...Y...Yes."
As for Riley, he was now once again lying on the table and pretending to be unconscious.
"Y...Y...Yes," the man that seemed to be the head of the group repeated Lin's stutter in a mocking way, "What is wrong with you?"
"N...nothing."
"Tch."
It wouldn't be an understatement to say that Lin's body was causing the entire room to shake, but the man no longer heed her any mind as he looked at Riley from head to toe, scanning every inch of his body.
"This one looks just like us—it should fetch a good price," the man nodded to himself, "Did you know that we sold one that had tentacles several seasons ago? And why is the floor so sticky?"
"They... just wiped the floor," Lin started to calm herself down.
"...With what? You know what, I don't want to know... Anyway, what does this one do?" The man said as he lifted Riley's arm.
"It's... strong."
"Huh, is it waking up soon?"
"No, it drank the entire bottle."
"...Really? And it's not dead?" The man quickly let go of Riley as he took in a small gulp, before attaching a steel collar around his neck, "Tell your chief to get ready to feed his entire village because this one will sell at a very high price."
"...Just take him away, please," Lin urged.
"We'll do just that," the man gestured to one of his men to carry Riley outside, "We'll be back with the money."
"Just go, please."
"Really excited, huh?" The man was completely oblivious to Lin's hurried tone as he just waved his hand and left the room.
And as soon as the man and his men all left the room, Lin quickly clasped her head as the room started to change—once again painted with the blood and guts of her friends.
As for Riley, he was thrown in a cage on a cart; the sound of the metal bars, clanging as they secured and locked the gate. But even though the sound of metal was sharp and loud, Riley barely heard it due to the gasps of shock from his new... cage mates.
"Hm," Riley stopped pretending to be asleep as he sat up, causing the other slaves he was with to back away as they all stared at him with fear reflected in their eyes.
"Please relax, everyone. I am not a bad person."
"..." Everyone seemed completely emaciated, to the point that their bones stick through their gray skin of different shades. But even though they clearly couldn't be any weaker, they seemed adamant about using the last of their strength to try and get away from Riley as much as possible—sadly for them, the metal bars prevented them from doing so.
"I thought I was being sold because I'm from a different species, but it would seem I was wrong," Riley whispered as he looked each of the scared people in the eyes,
"If they are even selling you, their own people, then I suppose slavery is normal in this place."
"..."
"I truly see now that the world I was previously in was truly a fantasy," Riley let out a small sigh as he remembered the Leville party and his time as a hunter, "Because if it wasn't, then the people there would have also tried to sell me."
"..." The other slaves could not help but just look at each other as Riley continued to talk to himself.
"Oh, don't mind me, fellow slaves," Riley let out a small chuckle as looked at Riley.
he shook his head, "I am just hitching a ride to wherever you are going. But I would appreciate it if you would tell me our destination."
"..."
"..."
"Uhm..." And surprisingly, one of the slaves started inching closer to Riley—a child, "I... I was sold by my parents."
"Congratulations, young slave," Riley nodded, "That means they value you."
"R... Really?" Tears started to fall from the young slave's eyes as he looked at Riley.
"Hm. You are worth something to them," Riley once again nodded, "So, do you know where we are going, young slave?"
"We...
...are going to be auctioned."
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢