Angel Little Sister 336

 

Chapter 336 : Hidden Basement

 

Before the gatekeeper took us to the basement, he turned around and looked at Morrison.

「Oi, why are you still here? You will get your money after Darkan-sama sees these ladies. You can go home now.」(gatekeeper)

「Yeah, but this is my first time here, so I’m wondering if you can show me the basement. I’m just curious.」(Morrison)

「Huh? There’s no way I can show you! Your job is to bring us good women. Nothing less, nothing more. Now hurry up and get the hell out of here!」(gatekeeper)

Saying that, the gatekeeper waved his hand with annoyance as if he was chasing a stray cat away.

「Alright, alright. Geez, I just want to see the other captives and see if there are some good mature women.」(Morrison)

「I know your feelings, but I can’t show you! Now take your friends and go home!」(gatekeeper)

Morrison shrugged his shoulders, showing his disappointment and turned around.

While the gatekeeper wasn’t looking at him, he glanced at Maya and nodded.

It seems that Morrison’s job ends here. He can’t persistently ask the gatekeeper to let him go to the basement and arouse suspicion.

I heard that Morrison used to be a spy, so it would be great if he could come with us, but we’re on our own from here.

In the first place, Morrison is a commander of the guards. He should be on the other team, leading the guards, but… Why did he choose to do the task of taking us here instead?

Was it because he liked Maya and was worried about her…?

No… It can’t be…

「Now, ladies, go down the stairs. Don’t even think to escape if you don’t wanna get hurt.」(gatekeeper)

After seeing Morrison and his two subordinates off, the gatekeeper unsheathed his sword, pointed it at us, and told us to enter the basement.

We could knock him out easily here, but we might alert his friends, so we chose a safer way and just listened to him.

We have to prioritize the safety of the people imprisoned here first, so we can’t afford to make a fuss now.

Following the gatekeeper’s order, we slowly made our way down the stairs.

The staircase was very long. We were going quite deep, but we finally made it to the bottom.

The basement was much bigger than I thought. The ceiling was very high, and the passageway was as wide as a normal street in the city which was wide enough for two large carriages to pass through.

The floor and walls were seamless and perfectly leveled. I could already tell that this basement was built using earth magic.

There are magicians who work as builders in this world, so Darkan probably hired them to build this magnificent basementー No. It looked like a small district underground rather than a basement.

It makes me want to build something similar in the future.

By the way, I was standing next to Ester, and I noticed that her eyes were sparkling while she was looking around. She looked excited.

Well, I can understand her feelings. Fortunately, the gatekeeper doesn’t seem to notice Ester’s excited face.

「Walk straight to that door!」(gatekeeper)

The gatekeeper pointed his sword at a sturdy-looking door with an iron bar up ahead and told us to walk down the passageway lit by magic lamps installed on the walls on each side, heading for that room.

As soon as we reached the door, the gatekeeper unlocked it, put away the iron bar, and opened it.

「Oi, you get new friends here! Be kind to them!」(gatekeeper)

As he shouted, he waved his sword, telling us to get inside.

「Ladies, you’re gonna live here for a while from today. I hope you enjoy your stay here. Hahaha!」(gatekeeper)

After that, he locked the door and continued walking down the passageway.

He’s going to let Darkan know about us, so he must be heading to the mansion. The fact that he continued walking down the passageway means that it leads to the main building.

As the gatekeeper left, I turned around and… I was surprised.

I was expecting a rusty steel cell with haggard-looking captives wearing worn-out clothes, but what I found here was a huge room with decent beds and furniture.

「Wh, What’s going on here…?」(Liane)

「It doesn’t look like a cell at all…」(Ester)

「Hmm…」(Maya)

We were flabbergasted… It was completely different from normal underground cells.

「Hey, newcomers, why are you just standing there? Come over here and take a seat.」(girl)

As we were frozen, standing still by the door, a girl who seemed to be a captive, called out to us.

She looked healthy and was wearing a clean dress. She was sitting at the table while eating pancakes.

Judging from her look, I think she is the same age as Ester.

As we approached her, she tapped the chair next to her, telling us to sit down, while her other hand was picking up another piece of pancake on the table.

「Are you a captive…? You were kidnaped by bandits and locked up here, right?」(Maya)

Maya seemed to have doubts. After all, the girl didn’t seem like a captive at all, so she asked to confirm.

After licking the pancake syrup off her hand, the girl answered.

「Yup. I’ve been here for a few months now. I lived in a village near the capital. When I went to a nearby woods to pick wild vegetables, a man kidnapped me and brought me here. I’ve been living here since then.」(girl)

「I see… But, from the way you look, they seem to treat you well.」(Maya)

「Yeah. Perhaps because those people want to sell ‘high-quality slaves’. That’s why they treat us well and give us plenty of food, nice clothing, and clean shelter to keep us healthy. Thanks to that, I can eat delicious food every day. Though, I think I’ve gained weight a bit because of that… Anyway, I heard that there will be a black market auction in a few days, and I will be sold there along with you guys. I suggest you enjoy delicious food here before they sell you. They will bring you as much food as you want if you ask them.」(girl)

Uwahh… I bet Nicola would be very happy to hear that. She would ask those people for food right away if she were with us.

By the way, Nicola didn’t join us because Liane didn’t want her to get hurt. Besides, the person herself wanted to stay with Celine.

「Oh, right. I haven’t introduced myself. My name’s Kati.」(Kati)

「I’m Maya. You can say that I’m these girls’ guardian.」(Maya)

「My name is Lia.」(Liane)

「I’m Ester. Nice to meet you.」(Ester)

「I’m… Mary…」(Mary)

Ugh… It’s embarrassing to introduce myself as a girl…

「Say, Kati, you seem to enjoy your life here, but don’t you want to go home?」(Maya)

「Of course, I wanna go home! I don’t want to be a slave!」(Kati)

「Good. Don’t worry. Actually, we came here to save you. We’ll definitely get you out of here.」(Maya)

「Eh? Wait… What do you mean…?」(Kati)

Maya turned her face to us. She planned to reveal our identity to the puzzled Kati.

「I’ll watch the door.」(Ester)

Ester, who noticed Maya’s plan, was voluntarily standing by the door. She would tell us if someone was coming.

「Alright. Kati, I want you to listen to me carefully.」(Maya)

「O, Okay…」(Kati)

After Kati nodded, Maya explained to her that we were sent by Lord Walltrail to save the captives.

Kati, who was silently listening, trembled and muttered in a weak voice while sniffling.

「I see… So I can go home… I can see my family again… Thank god…」(Kati)

Maya stroked Kati’s head and smiled at her to make her feel at ease.

「We will definitely take you home, but we need your cooperation.」(Maya)

「Alright. What can I do for you?」(Kati)

「First, can I see the collar on your neck closely?」(Maya)

「Of course.」(Kati)

Maya started examining the black iron collar on Kati’s neck. It was without a doubt a magic tool for enslaving people.

「Hmm… I can’t find a keyhole…」(Maya)

「The ugly man whose face looked like a toad bragged about these collars. He said that these collars were custom-made and cost a lot of money to make. He said these collars would cause unbearable pain if we disobeyed him.」(Kati)

Kati looked down while explaining as if she was remembering the time when she just got here a few months ago.

The black magic stone embedded in the center of the iron collar was glowing faintly, indicating that the collar was still active.

I heard from Tori in Schultria that normally, magic tools won’t activate unless you put mana on them, but there are also some magic tools that continuously suck mana from the users to stay activated without the users realizing it, and I think this collar is that kind of magic tool.

「Hmm… This is unexpected. Maya is good at lockpicking, but she can’t open it if there’s no keyhole. I think Darkan has the magic tool to open these collars, but… I wonder if we can steal it…」(Liane)

Liane put her fingers on her chin and started thinking.

Stealing the key from Darkan would be very hard to do. He must have hidden it somewhere safe.

By the way, I learned something useful about this kind of magic tool from Tori. I don’t know if it will work, but I want to try it.

「Guys, there’s something I want to try.」(Mary)

「Mary onee-sama~ your serious face looks beautiー A, Ahem! I mean… Do you have any idea, Mary onee-sama?」(Liane)

「Y, Yeah. Kati-san, let me see the collar.」(Mary)

「Sure.」(Kati)

It still feels weird when Liane calls me “onee-sama”, but I tried to ignore it and started examining the collar.

 

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