Chapter 84: Ahhh! Bad guy! I hate my sister the most!!

And yet, none of the others noticed the brief interaction between the two sisters, and Ileya had no intention of letting anyone else find out.

“I’m the kind of person who never accepts requests from strangers~”

She said this as she pointed to a cage beside her.

“And the only one here who hasn’t begged me is him.”

Everyone followed Ileya’s finger and saw an old man, all skin and bones, with white hair and a beard tangled together, obscuring his face.

Is he too weak to beg? By the way, is this old guy even still alive…

“Um…Young lady, this old man…was picked up from a certain forest. His mind seems a bit off—he doesn’t know anything when asked…He’s even a [No-Nation]…”

The Fat Captain explained to Ileya.

A No-Nation is exactly as the name implies: a wanderer outside the Kingdom’s borders, someone who doesn’t belong to the Kingdom.

Such a sickly old man with a damaged mind is usually not chosen by anyone, just handed over as a freebie…

No wonder the Fat Captain found it inappropriate, and he spoke with some reluctance.

“What do you think…?”

“Are you telling me how to do my job?”

Ileya raised an eyebrow, her crimson eyes narrowing as she glanced sideways at him.

“Ah? No, no, no! How dare I teach the young lady what to do…”

“Is that so? Then you misspoke…”

Ileya raised her eyebrows slightly.

“Ah…Ah! Yes, yes, yes…I said the wrong thing! I’m sorry…”

“Hmm, then you better slap yourself~ I won’t tell you to stop. No stopping.”

As she withdrew her gaze, the young lady gave her order.

“Ah? Uh…Oh! Yes!”

Though the Fat Captain froze for a second, he reacted quickly, immediately raising his hand.

Smack!

Smack!

Smack!

The sharp sound of slaps echoed throughout the tent.

Everyone else fell silent like cicadas in winter, afraid to intervene.

Only when the Fat Captain’s face swelled up like a balloon did Ileya slowly wave her hand, signaling him to stop.

“This was the first time. If there’s a second, I’ll drag you outside and feed you to the dogs.”

Her slender palm lightly patted the Fat Captain’s shoulder.

The gentle force and kind smile nearly made the nearly 1.8-meter, nearly 250-pound man collapse to the ground.

Confused.

“Shu…shu…Shu! Da Xu Ao jie!” he stammered, his voice slurred.

After that, Ileya no longer paid attention to whether he had wet himself but calmly stepped closer to the cage.

She stood before the old man whose beard and hair were all white.

“Hey! Are you still alive?”

“…”

The old man slowly raised his eyes in response.

“Have I seen you somewhere before?”

Before Ileya could ask again, he interrupted, speaking first.

Oh?

Although this sounded like a cheesy old-fashioned pick-up line, Ileya was certain the man meant it literally.

“What do you think? If we had met before…where might that have been?”

“I… I…”

The old man’s voice was hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing against bark, dry and rough…

“I don’t know. I don’t remember…”

As expected, his memory was faulty.

Now, to prove her point, only one more step was needed…

Huff!

Ileya reached out and pulled Reliel Wood, who had been thoughtfully standing nearby, to her side!

“?!”

The girl was slightly surprised but didn’t resist.

She also wanted to get closer to examine the old man in the cage.

Because…she felt the same as Ileya.

She, too, was drawn here by some kind of feeling…and she came here seeking answers.

At first, she thought the one who attracted her was this young lady, but now… ooking at the old man in front of her, deep suspicion appeared in Reliel’s eyes as well.

“She…I think I’ve seen her there too…”

The old man’s cloudy eyes brightened slightly but soon returned to their vacant state.

“But I…I don’t remember. I don’t remember anything…”

Though he said this, his tone was calm, as if nothing could stir any emotion in his heart.

“It’s really not as easy as I imagined…Hey! Move a little closer.”

Ileya called out and slowly slipped her arm through the cage bars.

“…”

The old man seemed to understand Ileya’s intention—or perhaps it was an unconscious response—and slowly reached out his hand…

Huff.

The moment their fingertips touched, Ileya saw no images or visions.

Instead…she suddenly felt her blood surge and boil within her!

But it only lasted…two seconds, before gradually settling down again.

This…was a never-before-seen phenomenon.

What could it mean?

“You try,” Ileya frowned, withdrawing her hand and looking at Reliel.

The mute girl didn’t respond verbally but extended her hand and touched the old man’s finger just as Ileya had.

Huff!

The next second, her body trembled sharply, and she quickly pulled back her fingertip.

As expected…the same reaction as hers.

The young lady rubbed her chin and called over Yumina and Amisa, the two maids, who touched the old man’s fingers in the same way.

But there was nothing unusual, no abnormal reaction at all.

Is it only her and Reliel who are special?

Then what do she and Reliel have in common?

Bloodline?

Though she didn’t know who the father was, both their mothers were Lady Shudrian—in other words, the Seredon Family, who were explicitly banned by the Kingdom from having female Transcendents.

Ileya’s preliminary guess now was that this old man was connected to the Seredon Family.

He might even be directly related to the Kingdom’s ban.

But these weren’t matters to discuss here, so Ileya forced herself to hold back her curiosity and decided to address it later…

“Good, it’s him…”

Ileya turned to the Fat Captain again.

“Arrange a carriage to send him directly to the Marquis City…No! Dress him in fresh clothes and let him come with me.”

Clatter!

The moment she finished speaking, a heavy bag of Kingdom Coins was instinctively caught by the Fat Captain.

He froze briefly, then a somewhat strange, pleased expression spread across his swollen face.

“Understood, Young Lady! I’ll arrange it right away! Immediately!”

Amid the slave merchants’ repeated assurances, everyone was sent off from the Slave Market.

However…

On the way out, Reliel kept pursing her lips, as if she wanted to say something.

Ileya certainly noticed, but true to her nature, this elder sister pretended not to see it.

She looked at the mute girl’s flushed face…

This girl probably cursed her silently after what she said earlier.

Now she wanted to confirm something about that old man but couldn’t bring herself to speak up because of pride, right?

Pfft It’s better to just act like it never happened~

How can someone be so pure yet awkward?

“Well then…if there’s nothing else, I’ll be going first~”

Thinking that in her heart, Ileya spoke as if completely oblivious to the mute girl’s mood. “………(puffed cheeks in displeasure)”

Reliel’s face turned red as if she wanted to reach out and stop Ileya…

“Wait.”

Huff…

The young lady turned back, her brows slightly raised, crimson eyes carrying a faint smile.

“Can you tell me what’s really going on?”

She came here for this, yet she was still in the dark.

“Sure~ Come a little closer~”

Ileya surprisingly sounded friendly and beckoned Reliel over with her hand.

The girl’s heart relaxed a little.

Though the young lady had a mean streak, she was still quite…

“This is actually…a secret, you know (@><)☆~”

Still…super annoying!!

(”)