Hestia's clothes have been modified to be more revealing and while it's impossible to hide her wings, I covered them with a huge mockup backpack - materials I swiped along the way through town - to make it seem like I'm using her as a pack mule on the side. I took her robes for myself, since a slave trader who wears less than a slave might seem really strange in this country, where everyone who can afford it is wearing heavy robes. More so for someone who is so obviously naked as I am - although I did remove the important bits, making it look like a flesh-colored bodysuit instead. Still, it would attract too much unwanted attention when trying to find an underground slave trading ring.
I've transformed into my usual size for this occasion and am holding the chains to the makeshift collar around Hestia's neck. I made sure not to tighten it too much, but I feel like she would have enjoyed that, too. Her expression keeps turning into a lewd grin from indecent thoughts, and I have to repeatedly tell her to look more lifeless along the way. We're wandering around a shady part of the town, as the sun is beginning to set.
Incidentally, I made it so that the kids also appear to be my merchandise, although I'm not keeping them in chains. They're walking in front while I'm holding onto a bone cane - which I created from my own body - to act like I'm driving them along. That will certainly attract the type of customers I have no qualms about devouring. Not that I have any qualms about devouring those who would enslave people in the first place, regardless of their preferences.
And sure enough, someone bites into the bait whole-heartedly. Either it's completely acceptable in this society to talk about keeping slaves in the middle of the street, or he's really just that dumb to come out and chat me up directly. It's a skinny looking man who kinda reminds me of that brainiac slaver I pulled inside me the time when I first met Senka. I guess no matter the culture, those who do shady business all follow a certain template in appearance. He's even flanked by two bulky men that look like they siphoned off the skinny one's muscle mass to add to their own, most likely in exchange for brain matter.
"Sov zi ekat khyoh tetilavk hruhks ri tag se!" He says and stares at Hestia, his grin filled with desire. Maybe he's not a slave trader but an owner.
"Do you speak my language?" I don't understand what he said, but there's no point in trying to establish any sort of deal if he can't understand me. His brows shoot up at this and he exchanges a look with his bodyguards.
"A foreigner... here?" His pronunciation is really awkward, but at least I can understand him. I guess this guy will do.
"That is not important. You speak my language, so we can make a deal."
"Ah, deal, yes, yes." He's actually rubbing his hands together and licking his lips, staring at my fallen angel slave in a lustful manner. If I didn't need information, I'd eat him right on the spot. "She has... strong eyes. You no break her yet?" His expression changes when he sees her defiant face.
"I am in no habit of breaking my merchandise, that is left for the buyers." I'll play his game for now and get him to believe that I'm a serious seller. Well, as serious as someone walking through the shady alleyways in a city can be. I can always say that I was only passing through on my way to some official auction or something. "I have learned that some buyers prefer to do the breaking themselves." I give him a lascivious smile and I can see his excitement building.
"How much?" He asks eagerly. This guy must be oblivious of the principles of haggling. While I never did it myself, common sense would have you making a low offer first. Now I can arbitrarily set whatever amount I want. The problem is, I have no idea about the name of the currency in this country and an appropriate price for a slave. Well, we're playing a game here, so it doesn't have to be perfect.
"Before that, shall we go where we can sit down?" I hope he's dumb enough to lead me to some underground bar where other slave traders gather. Then I'd be able to choose whom to get information from and also eat my fill. "I have been on the road all day long and I would love to have a drink."
"Drink? Ah-ah, I understand. Come with me." He beckons me to follow him and I demonstratively pull on the chain while urging the kids forward with my bone cane. I did somewhat explain their role to them, so they're understanding of my actions and play along. "My name, Jalil el-Hakim." He introduces himself as he gestures down the road so I can walk beside him.
"I am Chaos." I respond with a smile.
The place he leads us to is indeed a shady-looking underground bar. It's not hidden by any means, just literally located underground, where it's cooler than on the surface. The inside is dark and a small band is playing music that sounds very much like Middle-Eastern pieces anyone may have heard on the Internet - so much I have to wonder if I actually came back to my old world. Then again, there's no slavery in any Middle-Eastern country, as far as I know...
The one thing that distinguishes this place is the fact that the whole room is arranged around a catwalk, and at the end of it, in the center of the room, is a pole. Yep, this is basically a strip club. And there's a woman dressed in a bikini made of small golden beads dancing around it, flirting with the pole as if it was a living being. The men around her are looking like they enjoy the sight.
I can see that several wealthy-looking individuals are sitting in the booths let into the walls of the bar, where they have hostesses servicing them with food and drink, and things I won't put into words. But that's the clientele I was looking for. Perfect.
"Nsirgab, sobelab el-Hakim." A sleazy waiter comes to greet Jalil. The two guards following the man of the hour split up, with one staying at the door and the other going ahead to secure seats right in front of the pole. For that he taps onto the shoulders of two already occupying those and signals for them to either make way or be made to make way. Of course, the former option is the proposal any sane person would take when faced with someone who has arms as wide as their torsos.
"Please, Lady Chaos." Jalil gestures towards the freed seats and I take one, looking up at the dancer before me. She's clearly someone from this nation, as her skin is naturally tanned and her facial structure is different from those in the kingdom. Not bad, but I prefer Hestia's type - not to speak of Kamii's transcendental beauty, being an elf. Jalil sits down next to me and his bodyguard takes up position behind him. "What do you drink?"
"What do you recommend?" I have no idea about alcohol in this world, and while I did drink beer with Gram, to the point where I could get a hangover the next day despite having such a body, I never learned about anything else. And while I know that whiskey is Scottish and vodka is Russian, I have no idea what the Middle-Eastern equivalent is.
"Ah, only the best. Negnerb zdnua yevst nlirb nuf ekhsma." Jalil says to the waiter and he complies with a large smile and a nod. Now, let's see if he's the type to try and poison me to get what he wants. He looks up at the dancer in front of us, then turns to Hestia, who's standing behind me. The children are next to her, and Hanif is trying to shield his sister's eyes from the reality that is this place. Stop trying, it's better if she learns early on that the world isn't such a beautiful place. "Let us talk... deal."
"Business." I correct him involuntarily, but he takes it with a smile.
"Yes, yes, business!" He's quite eager to seal the deal and get Hestia into his fingers. I'm sure skin so white is rare in these parts. I'm actually pretty surprised to see that she didn't get a sunburn from being exposed to it all day long. "How much for girl?"
"How about you make the offer?" Then I'll get an idea how much he thinks he can get away with. I have a pretty good idea for how I go about things afterwards.
"I give you hundred Eyebtam." He holds up two fingers, meaning that he's offering two hundred of whatever the currency in this country is.
"So, the starting bid is two hundred Eyebtam." I mutter and pause for the waiter to bring our drinks. It's a cup of a milky white liquid that has a very sweet but also strong alcoholic smell. We'll drink after establishing the contract, and Jalil seems to understand, as he does not touch the glass.
"Get up there." I stand up and pull on Hestia's chain. It's an act, but for some reason she's actually quite happy about my treatment of her. Just as she climbs onto the catwalk, another waiter comes along and seems to wonder what this is about. The stripper at the pole looks at the newcomer in indignation.
"Nzol id redmerf not se!" Jalil commands and the waiter waves the other woman away. "What you do, Lady Chaos?"
"You will see that this girl is worth much more than you are offering." Although I have no idea whether what he offered is a lot or not. "Take off that backpack and do a little dance for us."
"Um, Onee-sama?" Of course, Hestia has no idea how to pole-dance, and I can't blame her. Obviously, neither do I.
"Just wing it." And right after saying the idiom, I realize that in this world's language, it's a really atrocious pun. Damn, I want to bury myself in the desert for this one! But apparently the concept of bad puns isn't so prevalent in this world, so the butt end of it doesn't seem to realize its meaning.
Hestia takes off the dummy backpack and stands with her legs spread at shoulder-width. The miniskirt I turned her school uniform into and the lack of underwear is a sight to behold from my angle, but of course nobody else's eyes are fixed at that area. Her black wings, packed together tightly only moments earlier open up, and the pose she strikes makes her look like she belongs on a heavy metal album cover.
"Hkrud id gyoa nuf thkil!" Jalil exclaims and looks at Hestia in all her glory. She rounds the pole and holds onto it suggestively. Wow, she may be a natural talent at keeping up appearances, since even I can't tell whether she's actually embarrassed or not, at this point. Her wings flap once and a gust of wind blows through the bar.
"Would you please announce that this is an open auction? The starting bid is two hundred Eyebtam." I turn to my first interested buyer with a triumphant smile. He looks between me and Hestia dumbfounded, before standing up and absentmindedly doing what I just told him. That was pretty dumb, since he could have tried to haggle with me alone; I can't speak his language at all, so I'm reliant on his help for this, which he could have easily refused.
Upon hearing his announcement, the bar grows loud with the voices of men outbidding each other at. I don't understand a word but I look over the people who are standing up from their seats and gesturing loudly while trying to make themselves heard. Jalil realizes his mistake, but it's already too late, so he turns around and holds up his fingers while shouting numbers in the thousands.
I obviously don't have the intention to sell Hestia, and she knows it, which is why she can act like that around the pole - with her eyes fixed on me. I give her an affectionate smile and wink at her, causing her face to flush red from excitement. She can be really cute normally, but now she's just sexy.
"Can any of you speak my language?" I gesture for everyone to calm down and then ask into the room.
"Yes, I give thousand Eyebtam!" One answers confidently in a broken accent and holds up nine fingers. Immediately, another sneers and responds in a much better pronunciation. "I offer ten thousand!"
"Twelve thousand!" It's getting out of hand again, but at this point I'm only memorizing faces. After all, this was to round up those I don't have to feel bad about eating at all, and to find someone besides Jalil who can give me information.
"Lady Chaos, you wanted sell to me, no?" He implores me with an almost desperate expression. The heat in the room is growing and several men are walking towards our position, potentially with not so legitimate intentions in mind. I think it's time to wrap this up.
"No, I just needed to get into this place. Thank you, Jalil." Confusion fills his face when I say this and smile. I take off the robe I'm wearing and throw it up to Hestia behind me. "Protect the kids... and make it so they don't see anything of what's going to happen next." She stops her performance and jumps off the catwalk, wrapping her wings around Hanif and Fayza, accompanied by the protests from many voices.
In the next instant I change into my true form, including my face. Well, not that I have one in my real appearance. For an instant, time seems to stop as people freeze in place with their mouths wide open. Then I can hear the first screaming at the top of his lungs and breaking down on the spot. I extend my tentacles and pull in those who I marked as useless before, some letting themselves taken without even a struggle. I guess their minds shut down from the horror. Yes yes, at this point I don't even care about that anymore.
Within the blink of an eye, only six people are left in the room. Aside from me, Hestia and the two kids, there are only Jalil and the one who shouted an offer of ten thousand earlier. The others are either inside me or were allowed to flee the premises. I change my appearance back into my form from earlier, and act as if nothing out of the ordinary happened, as I turn to the man beside me.
"I see that you understand, now." Then I walk the few steps to the other man sitting in his seat with a blank look. I hope his mind didn't break completely from seeing my real form. "What is your name?" When I stand before him, I can see that he's still consciously staring at me rather than into nothingness. That means he isn't fully gone yet.
"Basim... Amjad..." The man responds without ever blinking. Maybe he fears that I could turn his world into a nightmare again when he does. "What... are you?" His pronunciation is much better than Jalil's and he doesn't look like a sleazebag at all.
"What country is this?" I begin to ask without further ado, ignoring his question. It's directed at both men I left alive, and acts as a sort of screening test. After all, having a better grasp of my language doesn't necessarily mean that he possesses more knowledge that could be useful to me. "And what is the fastest way to the Kingdom of Lares?"
"This is the Khurut Sultanate." Jalil is the first to respond.
"You can travel on the Hkyat River and go upstream, all the way to the Mineva Republic. The republic has ships you can travel across the ocean with." But it's Basim who gives me the answer to the more important question. That's a plus for him, since he was smart enough to understand where my priorities lay.
"Do you know what language they speak in the Mineva Republic?" This is directed at both again.
"They speak your tongue." This time Basim is the first to answer, but that wasn't too smart of him. Following a river is easy, and having no need for an interpreter means that his existence just lost all worth in my eyes. I think he may have realized that and fear enters his expression. But I have some work for him to do, now that he's so afraid of me. As for the other one whose worth already ran out moments ago...
"Basim, I have something I would like you to do for me." I say and look deep into his eyes. A smile creeps onto my lips as a I swing my arm around at Jalil and pull him into my back without even paying attention to it. His scream is cut short when he disappears inside my body. "You see, I like children. And these two..." I gesture at Hestia, who opens up her wings to show the ones in question. "... are in need of a home."
"I can provide that! They will never want for anything, I give you my word!" He responds quickly, a hint of relief playing over his face. Ah, so he thinks he's getting out of this so easily.
I lift a finger in front of his face and grow it to twice its length. Then I pull on it with my other hand and the extra part comes off, wiggling like a worm in my palm. Basim looks at it in confusion, but I can understand him. I just came up with this idea, and I'm sure nobody has ever seen something like this before around these parts, if not in the entire world.
"Open wide~" I grab hold of his jaw and force it to open, throwing the worm-like growth into his mouth. Then I close his jaw and hold his nose shut, until he swallows, before I finally let go. "What you just swallowed is my guarantee that you will be taking care of them for the rest of your life. It was a part of me that will stay inside you. Through it I will know whether you are keeping your word or not." I waggle my finger in front of his face. "And if you do not..." I transform my hand into a spiked ball the size of a human head. "... you understand."
Basim nods frantically as his eyes are fixed on my hand while it transforms back into its normal shape. I think that should have left enough of an impression on him to never consider breaking his word to me. After all, what I put inside him is most likely going to get digested soon, and I can't really remote control it either. The thought counts, and after having witnessed my true form, I'm sure he doesn't doubt that I'm capable of what I just promised.
"Let us drink to that." I take the two untouched cups of alcohol from the table I shared with Jalil earlier, and hand him one, before downing mine in one go. Basim follows my example reluctantly and takes a little longer to finish his.
"You will tell the kids that you're going to take care of them from now on." I turn around and walk back to Hestia's side, before squatting down in front of the two. "Goodbye." That's all I say, and I think my tone made clear what I mean, since they look up to me with slightly sad expressions. They didn't witness anything from before and could only see my back when I inserted the worm-like growth into Basim, so their innocence is preserved. "Let's go, Hestia."
She follows after me wordlessly and we walk out of the bar, to continue on our journey unburdened. Well, I did swallow around two dozen people, but that's a welcome burden in my figurative stomach.
Hestia's clothes have been modified to be more revealing and while it's impossible to hide her wings, I covered them with a huge mockup backpack - materials I swiped along the way through town - to make it seem like I'm using her as a pack mule on the side. I took her robes for myself, since a slave trader who wears less than a slave might seem really strange in this country, where everyone who can afford it is wearing heavy robes. More so for someone who is so obviously naked as I am - although I did remove the important bits, making it look like a flesh-colored bodysuit instead. Still, it would attract too much unwanted attention when trying to find an underground slave trading ring.
I've transformed into my usual size for this occasion and am holding the chains to the makeshift collar around Hestia's neck. I made sure not to tighten it too much, but I feel like she would have enjoyed that, too. Her expression keeps turning into a lewd grin from indecent thoughts, and I have to repeatedly tell her to look more lifeless along the way. We're wandering around a shady part of the town, as the sun is beginning to set.
Incidentally, I made it so that the kids also appear to be my merchandise, although I'm not keeping them in chains. They're walking in front while I'm holding onto a bone cane - which I created from my own body - to act like I'm driving them along. That will certainly attract the type of customers I have no qualms about devouring. Not that I have any qualms about devouring those who would enslave people in the first place, regardless of their preferences.
And sure enough, someone bites into the bait whole-heartedly. Either it's completely acceptable in this society to talk about keeping slaves in the middle of the street, or he's really just that dumb to come out and chat me up directly. It's a skinny looking man who kinda reminds me of that brainiac slaver I pulled inside me the time when I first met Senka. I guess no matter the culture, those who do shady business all follow a certain template in appearance. He's even flanked by two bulky men that look like they siphoned off the skinny one's muscle mass to add to their own, most likely in exchange for brain matter.
"Sov zi ekat khyoh tetilavk hruhks ri tag se!" He says and stares at Hestia, his grin filled with desire. Maybe he's not a slave trader but an owner.
"Do you speak my language?" I don't understand what he said, but there's no point in trying to establish any sort of deal if he can't understand me. His brows shoot up at this and he exchanges a look with his bodyguards.
"A foreigner... here?" His pronunciation is really awkward, but at least I can understand him. I guess this guy will do.
"That is not important. You speak my language, so we can make a deal."
"Ah, deal, yes, yes." He's actually rubbing his hands together and licking his lips, staring at my fallen angel slave in a lustful manner. If I didn't need information, I'd eat him right on the spot. "She has... strong eyes. You no break her yet?" His expression changes when he sees her defiant face.
"I am in no habit of breaking my merchandise, that is left for the buyers." I'll play his game for now and get him to believe that I'm a serious seller. Well, as serious as someone walking through the shady alleyways in a city can be. I can always say that I was only passing through on my way to some official auction or something. "I have learned that some buyers prefer to do the breaking themselves." I give him a lascivious smile and I can see his excitement building.
"How much?" He asks eagerly. This guy must be oblivious of the principles of haggling. While I never did it myself, common sense would have you making a low offer first. Now I can arbitrarily set whatever amount I want. The problem is, I have no idea about the name of the currency in this country and an appropriate price for a slave. Well, we're playing a game here, so it doesn't have to be perfect.
"Before that, shall we go where we can sit down?" I hope he's dumb enough to lead me to some underground bar where other slave traders gather. Then I'd be able to choose whom to get information from and also eat my fill. "I have been on the road all day long and I would love to have a drink."
"Drink? Ah-ah, I understand. Come with me." He beckons me to follow him and I demonstratively pull on the chain while urging the kids forward with my bone cane. I did somewhat explain their role to them, so they're understanding of my actions and play along. "My name, Jalil el-Hakim." He introduces himself as he gestures down the road so I can walk beside him.
"I am Chaos." I respond with a smile.
The place he leads us to is indeed a shady-looking underground bar. It's not hidden by any means, just literally located underground, where it's cooler than on the surface. The inside is dark and a small band is playing music that sounds very much like Middle-Eastern pieces anyone may have heard on the Internet - so much I have to wonder if I actually came back to my old world. Then again, there's no slavery in any Middle-Eastern country, as far as I know...
The one thing that distinguishes this place is the fact that the whole room is arranged around a catwalk, and at the end of it, in the center of the room, is a pole. Yep, this is basically a strip club. And there's a woman dressed in a bikini made of small golden beads dancing around it, flirting with the pole as if it was a living being. The men around her are looking like they enjoy the sight.
I can see that several wealthy-looking individuals are sitting in the booths let into the walls of the bar, where they have hostesses servicing them with food and drink, and things I won't put into words. But that's the clientele I was looking for. Perfect.
"Nsirgab, sobelab el-Hakim." A sleazy waiter comes to greet Jalil. The two guards following the man of the hour split up, with one staying at the door and the other going ahead to secure seats right in front of the pole. For that he taps onto the shoulders of two already occupying those and signals for them to either make way or be made to make way. Of course, the former option is the proposal any sane person would take when faced with someone who has arms as wide as their torsos.
"Please, Lady Chaos." Jalil gestures towards the freed seats and I take one, looking up at the dancer before me. She's clearly someone from this nation, as her skin is naturally tanned and her facial structure is different from those in the kingdom. Not bad, but I prefer Hestia's type - not to speak of Kamii's transcendental beauty, being an elf. Jalil sits down next to me and his bodyguard takes up position behind him. "What do you drink?"
"What do you recommend?" I have no idea about alcohol in this world, and while I did drink beer with Gram, to the point where I could get a hangover the next day despite having such a body, I never learned about anything else. And while I know that whiskey is Scottish and vodka is Russian, I have no idea what the Middle-Eastern equivalent is.
"Ah, only the best. Negnerb zdnua yevst nlirb nuf ekhsma." Jalil says to the waiter and he complies with a large smile and a nod. Now, let's see if he's the type to try and poison me to get what he wants. He looks up at the dancer in front of us, then turns to Hestia, who's standing behind me. The children are next to her, and Hanif is trying to shield his sister's eyes from the reality that is this place. Stop trying, it's better if she learns early on that the world isn't such a beautiful place. "Let us talk... deal."
"Business." I correct him involuntarily, but he takes it with a smile.
"Yes, yes, business!" He's quite eager to seal the deal and get Hestia into his fingers. I'm sure skin so white is rare in these parts. I'm actually pretty surprised to see that she didn't get a sunburn from being exposed to it all day long. "How much for girl?"
"How about you make the offer?" Then I'll get an idea how much he thinks he can get away with. I have a pretty good idea for how I go about things afterwards.
"I give you hundred Eyebtam." He holds up two fingers, meaning that he's offering two hundred of whatever the currency in this country is.
"So, the starting bid is two hundred Eyebtam." I mutter and pause for the waiter to bring our drinks. It's a cup of a milky white liquid that has a very sweet but also strong alcoholic smell. We'll drink after establishing the contract, and Jalil seems to understand, as he does not touch the glass.
"Get up there." I stand up and pull on Hestia's chain. It's an act, but for some reason she's actually quite happy about my treatment of her. Just as she climbs onto the catwalk, another waiter comes along and seems to wonder what this is about. The stripper at the pole looks at the newcomer in indignation.
"Nzol id redmerf not se!" Jalil commands and the waiter waves the other woman away. "What you do, Lady Chaos?"
"You will see that this girl is worth much more than you are offering." Although I have no idea whether what he offered is a lot or not. "Take off that backpack and do a little dance for us."
"Um, Onee-sama?" Of course, Hestia has no idea how to pole-dance, and I can't blame her. Obviously, neither do I.
"Just wing it." And right after saying the idiom, I realize that in this world's language, it's a really atrocious pun. Damn, I want to bury myself in the desert for this one! But apparently the concept of bad puns isn't so prevalent in this world, so the butt end of it doesn't seem to realize its meaning.
Hestia takes off the dummy backpack and stands with her legs spread at shoulder-width. The miniskirt I turned her school uniform into and the lack of underwear is a sight to behold from my angle, but of course nobody else's eyes are fixed at that area. Her black wings, packed together tightly only moments earlier open up, and the pose she strikes makes her look like she belongs on a heavy metal album cover.
"Hkrud id gyoa nuf thkil!" Jalil exclaims and looks at Hestia in all her glory. She rounds the pole and holds onto it suggestively. Wow, she may be a natural talent at keeping up appearances, since even I can't tell whether she's actually embarrassed or not, at this point. Her wings flap once and a gust of wind blows through the bar.
"Would you please announce that this is an open auction? The starting bid is two hundred Eyebtam." I turn to my first interested buyer with a triumphant smile. He looks between me and Hestia dumbfounded, before standing up and absentmindedly doing what I just told him. That was pretty dumb, since he could have tried to haggle with me alone; I can't speak his language at all, so I'm reliant on his help for this, which he could have easily refused.
Upon hearing his announcement, the bar grows loud with the voices of men outbidding each other at. I don't understand a word but I look over the people who are standing up from their seats and gesturing loudly while trying to make themselves heard. Jalil realizes his mistake, but it's already too late, so he turns around and holds up his fingers while shouting numbers in the thousands.
I obviously don't have the intention to sell Hestia, and she knows it, which is why she can act like that around the pole - with her eyes fixed on me. I give her an affectionate smile and wink at her, causing her face to flush red from excitement. She can be really cute normally, but now she's just sexy.
"Can any of you speak my language?" I gesture for everyone to calm down and then ask into the room.
"Yes, I give thousand Eyebtam!" One answers confidently in a broken accent and holds up nine fingers. Immediately, another sneers and responds in a much better pronunciation. "I offer ten thousand!"
"Twelve thousand!" It's getting out of hand again, but at this point I'm only memorizing faces. After all, this was to round up those I don't have to feel bad about eating at all, and to find someone besides Jalil who can give me information.
"Lady Chaos, you wanted sell to me, no?" He implores me with an almost desperate expression. The heat in the room is growing and several men are walking towards our position, potentially with not so legitimate intentions in mind. I think it's time to wrap this up.
"No, I just needed to get into this place. Thank you, Jalil." Confusion fills his face when I say this and smile. I take off the robe I'm wearing and throw it up to Hestia behind me. "Protect the kids... and make it so they don't see anything of what's going to happen next." She stops her performance and jumps off the catwalk, wrapping her wings around Hanif and Fayza, accompanied by the protests from many voices.
In the next instant I change into my true form, including my face. Well, not that I have one in my real appearance. For an instant, time seems to stop as people freeze in place with their mouths wide open. Then I can hear the first screaming at the top of his lungs and breaking down on the spot. I extend my tentacles and pull in those who I marked as useless before, some letting themselves taken without even a struggle. I guess their minds shut down from the horror. Yes yes, at this point I don't even care about that anymore.
Within the blink of an eye, only six people are left in the room. Aside from me, Hestia and the two kids, there are only Jalil and the one who shouted an offer of ten thousand earlier. The others are either inside me or were allowed to flee the premises. I change my appearance back into my form from earlier, and act as if nothing out of the ordinary happened, as I turn to the man beside me.
"I see that you understand, now." Then I walk the few steps to the other man sitting in his seat with a blank look. I hope his mind didn't break completely from seeing my real form. "What is your name?" When I stand before him, I can see that he's still consciously staring at me rather than into nothingness. That means he isn't fully gone yet.
"Basim... Amjad..." The man responds without ever blinking. Maybe he fears that I could turn his world into a nightmare again when he does. "What... are you?" His pronunciation is much better than Jalil's and he doesn't look like a sleazebag at all.
"What country is this?" I begin to ask without further ado, ignoring his question. It's directed at both men I left alive, and acts as a sort of screening test. After all, having a better grasp of my language doesn't necessarily mean that he possesses more knowledge that could be useful to me. "And what is the fastest way to the Kingdom of Lares?"
"This is the Khurut Sultanate." Jalil is the first to respond.
"You can travel on the Hkyat River and go upstream, all the way to the Mineva Republic. The republic has ships you can travel across the ocean with." But it's Basim who gives me the answer to the more important question. That's a plus for him, since he was smart enough to understand where my priorities lay.
"Do you know what language they speak in the Mineva Republic?" This is directed at both again.
"They speak your tongue." This time Basim is the first to answer, but that wasn't too smart of him. Following a river is easy, and having no need for an interpreter means that his existence just lost all worth in my eyes. I think he may have realized that and fear enters his expression. But I have some work for him to do, now that he's so afraid of me. As for the other one whose worth already ran out moments ago...
"Basim, I have something I would like you to do for me." I say and look deep into his eyes. A smile creeps onto my lips as a I swing my arm around at Jalil and pull him into my back without even paying attention to it. His scream is cut short when he disappears inside my body. "You see, I like children. And these two..." I gesture at Hestia, who opens up her wings to show the ones in question. "... are in need of a home."
"I can provide that! They will never want for anything, I give you my word!" He responds quickly, a hint of relief playing over his face. Ah, so he thinks he's getting out of this so easily.
I lift a finger in front of his face and grow it to twice its length. Then I pull on it with my other hand and the extra part comes off, wiggling like a worm in my palm. Basim looks at it in confusion, but I can understand him. I just came up with this idea, and I'm sure nobody has ever seen something like this before around these parts, if not in the entire world.
"Open wide~" I grab hold of his jaw and force it to open, throwing the worm-like growth into his mouth. Then I close his jaw and hold his nose shut, until he swallows, before I finally let go. "What you just swallowed is my guarantee that you will be taking care of them for the rest of your life. It was a part of me that will stay inside you. Through it I will know whether you are keeping your word or not." I waggle my finger in front of his face. "And if you do not..." I transform my hand into a spiked ball the size of a human head. "... you understand."
Basim nods frantically as his eyes are fixed on my hand while it transforms back into its normal shape. I think that should have left enough of an impression on him to never consider breaking his word to me. After all, what I put inside him is most likely going to get digested soon, and I can't really remote control it either. The thought counts, and after having witnessed my true form, I'm sure he doesn't doubt that I'm capable of what I just promised.
"Let us drink to that." I take the two untouched cups of alcohol from the table I shared with Jalil earlier, and hand him one, before downing mine in one go. Basim follows my example reluctantly and takes a little longer to finish his.
"You will tell the kids that you're going to take care of them from now on." I turn around and walk back to Hestia's side, before squatting down in front of the two. "Goodbye." That's all I say, and I think my tone made clear what I mean, since they look up to me with slightly sad expressions. They didn't witness anything from before and could only see my back when I inserted the worm-like growth into Basim, so their innocence is preserved. "Let's go, Hestia."
She follows after me wordlessly and we walk out of the bar, to continue on our journey unburdened. Well, I did swallow around two dozen people, but that's a welcome burden in my figurative stomach.
