91: Making A Purchase

Making A Purchase

Back when Flute was still an adventurer, one of the contributing factors behind her group's termination had actually been due to the first time that she met Augusta.0

It was in the midst of a large argument, one which was progressively increasing in volume as time went on, and Flute had been afraid that it was eventually going to reach a point where it became more than that.

Including herself, Flute's group contained four people. Two males and another female that occasionally had to protect her from the duo's advances. It wasn't anything bad really, but they were persistent and the redhead was quite the beauty. The other girl was more of a tomboy and pretty straightforward when it came to everything in life.

They were sitting at a corner booth in a tavern that was located near the border of the Shirone Kingdom as the redhead went through many futile attempts at getting the rest of the group to lower their voices, which was due to the fact that she noticed they were gaining quite a bit of attention from the other locals who were also occupying the poor establishment.

However, silence permeated the room within an instant as the entrance door opened to reveal a thirty year old Augusta, who had already obtained a level of distinction that caused his name to echo across most regions of the world.

The man's rugged appearance immediately caught the eyes of people sitting nearby, but the sword hanging at his waist gave them an inkling as to what might possibly occur if any poor soul tried to inflict harm upon him.

Naturally, a beautiful nineteen year old such as Flute, caught the swordsman's attention mid-step. As the two of them locked eyes, the redhead felt as if he were staring into her soul, but it was more like he had been raping the young girl with his vivid imagination.

There was no getting away from him now, especially when he had been living precariously for the past seven months with little to no human contact after returning from an arduous journey to the demon continent. The man was built up and figured that this would be a good opportunity to find someone that could take care of that for him.

Walking over to their lively table, Augusta instantly stopped whatever activity was happening between all of them, and made his presence known with an announcement that basically halted Flute's somewhat innocent perception of the world. "Good evening, lass. I'd advise you to pack your things because you'll be accompanying me from now on." He said, dropping a hefty bag of coins onto the wooden surface.

Unfortunately, while the rest of the group had varying degrees of greed and resignation attached to them after that point, Flute was still oblivious to what was truly going on. "W-Who are you?" The redhead inquired, somewhat anxious due to the man's rather steadfast introduction.

"Sword King Augusta."

Her purple eyes widened in shock, just further increasing the arousal that was stirring within the man's groin area.

The rank of a Sword King was equal to that or higher than a noble's status, which gave the man a few perks. If a person doesn't have any sort of ranking, they would essentially be considered a peasant. Sadly, for those that are considered to be peasants, someone who is of a higher ranking in life can use their power in a lot of abusive ways.

For example, what Augusta is doing right here.

To put it simply, he was buying her life and acquiring ownership of it, essentially taking control of her fate with the ability to manipulate it however it satisfied him. The man could do whatever he wanted to her after that, which was an action that was seen as totally acceptable within the world and couldn't be stopped under normal circumstances.

Her life was never the same again.

...That was eighteen years ago.

Flute woke up the next day early in the morning, a clear objective set in her mind.

Sitting up in her bed, which was devoid of Augusta's presence, the woman swung her feet over the edge and proceeded to get ready like it was another normal day.

Around thirty minutes later, Flute was stepping out of her room in a knee-length floral dress that subtly complimented her figure. It wasn't anything flashy either, but suited more to a feeling of comfortability. Not to mention, it was a perfect opportunity to wear the dress since it was a pretty warm day out as well, at least from what she felt through a window that had been cracked open.

Passing by a couple doors in the main upstairs hallway, the woman eventually reached the one that she desired, and peeked her head through without making too much noise. Flute's purple eyes immediately landed on the three children huddled together while sleeping.

Sara and her daughter had trapped Dante in the middle as they unconsciously gripped onto his arms on each side, which basically caused all three of them to cuddle without even realizing it. Flute had been aware that they went out to spend time together the day before, but she hadn't really spoken to any of them as much as usual, other things on her mind at the time.

Quietly shutting the door back into place, Flute descended the stairs and entered the kitchen, nearly taking a step backwards on instinct as her eyes found Augusta reading a letter at the dining table. Noticing how the man's eyes were narrowed, she felt an urge to stay far away from him, but he seemed to have detected her presence before she even knew it.

"Fix me a light breakfast." Augusta's voice cut through the air like a knife, his head not raising in order to glance up at her at all. "At the least, I'll be gone for about two weeks."

The redhead practically froze in shock, not expecting those words to come out of his mouth in the slightest. While her voice came out as a shaky whisper, Flute's current thoughts were in a chaotic state at the moment. "...May I ask why?"

In a shocking display of compliance, Augusta nodded his head, turning to look up at the woman this time around. "Indeed, you may. It appears that the king has asked for my presence. I shall head out tomorrow. For what purpose specifically, however, I'm just as unaware as I assume you to be. Correct?" The man vaguely explained, but Flute was incredibly caught off guard by what she could only assume to be a joke of some kind at the end.

It was so unlike the man that she nearly didn't reply to him at all, but quickly caught herself when she noticed one of his eyebrows raising at her seemingly delayed reaction.

"...Indeed, you are correct."

In an attempt to give her best looking smile, which was completely forced, Flute released a nervous laugh that seemed to satisfy the man enough to where he let it go, returning his attention to the letter in order to read it once more just in case there were any details that he might've not spotted previously. The subtle upturn of his lips, however, gave off a different feeling to the woman that still had her eyes locked onto him.

Turning towards the stove, Flute's artificial smile immediately dropped, and a deep frown quickly replaced it. Unfortunately for him, she had already spent enough time with the man to know his manipulative tactics by now. However, while he might have been an incredible swordsman during his time, it was mostly due to his fighting skills and straightforward reaction to everything in life.

The man was clearly delusional if he actually thought that taking a more low-key approach towards her would be effective. He wasn't even good at it. Not to mention, she had been creating plans to somehow escape her terrible fate for over a decade, and now she was finally going to do it. There was absolutely nothing that could stop her, so once the man's food had been made and served to him, she quickly found an excuse to exit the house under the guise that they needed a couple more things for dinner later that night.

--------------------------------------------------

Walking through the vast merchant space that resided within the capital, Flute already knew where she was going. There were a few men that occasionally set their sights on her, most specifically her endowed figure, but she didn't pay them any mind.

After the woman passed by many vendor shops that had been set up on both sides of the crowded street, she turned off to the side where the environment began to get darker. The buildings made for a small alleyway that rarely ever got any sunlight due to it being such a tight space.

However, Flute's purple eyes inevitably found an imposing steel door that practically blended in with the walls, and she knocked on it with a certain rhythm in mind to allow herself to be identified before it even opened.

This wasn't her first time being here.

When the door was pulled back in order to open, a regular human being isn't what appeared to greet her, but a dark green goblin that roughly stood at three feet in height.

While the majority of the goblin race has been faced with extreme prejudice and hate for hundreds of years, there were a few that existed around the world with unique features to distinguish them from the rest. This one, specifically, possessed a higher amount of intelligence compared to his larger relatives.

"Good evening, Flute. Make yourself at home." The black market dealer said, moving aside in order to let her through. The short goblin wore expensive garments, which gave a subtle inkling to anyone that saw him of just how wealthy he truly was.

"Thank you, Korbak. It's always nice to see you, especially in good health." The redhead replied, their friendship already quite close from the numerous other times that they've been around one other.

The both of them moved towards his desk before Flute got straight down to business, which is something that Korbak could always get behind. The goblin race as a whole, no matter how different any of their members were compared to each other, always preferred a rather straightforward and concise outlook on life.

It just made things a lot simpler, especially when it came down to conversations that involved as many transient interactions as Korbak usually dealt with on a daily basis.

"You spoke of a strange ring the last time we talked. If I'm not mistaken, you also said that it possessed the ability to manipulate one's memories, correct?" Flute stated quietly, leaning towards Korbak, who nodded in confirmation.

Hopping off the elevated chair that he had been sitting on, the goblin turned his back on her as he dug through a small compartment behind the desk. "Hmm, there it is..." He muttered, returning to his position before outstretching his hand in order to show the woman.

The shank of the ring, more commonly known as the band, was made out of what appeared to be quite an expensive kind of wood. Not only that, but there was also a dark blue orb where a center stone would've been located.

Occasionally moving the ring around in order to show it's entire design for his potential customer, Korbak went on to explain what it actually was. "It's called the Memory Puppet Ring, containing a powerful ability that would allow the wielder to manipulate a person's memories however they see fit." Clearing his throat, Korbak let out a sigh that clearly indicated that there was a twist.

"In the end, there is a reason why nobody has purchased the magical item as of yet. You were probably wondering why way beforehand, especially since we're both living in a world that's known for being incredibly corrupt. Unfortunately, the ring is only a one-time use scenario, and the people who were originally interested in it only would've bought the item if that wasn't the case." The black market dealer huffed. "Overhearing an earlier conversation from the group, it seems that they had been planning on using it in a smaller city in order to essentially conquer the land before gradually increasing their territory over time. However, it appears that their plans had been foiled due to it's limited use restriction."

Flute's purple eyes had widened more and more as the explanation continued, shocked that a group of people would even think of such a preposterous idea. She felt as if they would've gotten caught fairly quickly. However, with such a powerful magic item at their side, perhaps it actually could've been accomplished.

Fortunately for the redheaded woman, she only needed to use it once in order for her long-time plans to be fulfilled. Before Korbak could go on even further in his explanation, Flute's voice halted the goblin's thought to an immediate stop.

"I'll take it."

pqdm.com