ILLYML 11.1 (Patreon)

"Rotor-nim, do you need anything?" 

The man called me by Mikhail's pseudonym, 'Rotor.' 

It looked like 'Rotor' had considerable influence here. 

Otherwise, there's no way an executive of the illegal slave trade would be escorting me.

Because of the grade of Gold, they followed behind me as if they were my attendants. 

They seem to mistake me for Mikhail. 

I don't know the details, but Mikhail doesn't seem to be well-known here. Only his alias, "Rotor," was known. 

I can't believe you didn't recognize me even though we have completely different physiques.

My voice seemed to belong to a man, complete with modulation magic. 

Maybe I'll look like a small man to them. 

In fact, Mikhail was tall. 

I looked at the flowing short gray hair from the corner of my eye. 

Just in case, I prepared a hair wig like Mikhail. 

I had tried to dress up as a man, but it was such a sloppy disguise that anyone with a good eye would notice that I was a woman at once. 

Fortunately, a deep voice hid the fact.

"Anything you need, ·····." 

Yeah, I do need something.

Only then did I look at the manager.  

When I make eye contact, the manager is stunned.  

I haven't done anything yet.  

Is it because of the grade of 'Gold' on the invitation?  

I tried to recall the original novel.  

Gold grade is Rotor, so only Mikhail has a gold rating here. 

And below Gold, there is a rating of Silver, and below which I can't remember in detail, there are other grades. 

It was complicated for me, who didn't know the laws of the underworld. 

It's the world's miscellaneous knowledge, which is not explained deeply in the story.

Mikhail, you didn't tell me anything, you just gave me an invitation.

Something tells me my task is going to get more complicated.

"Hey, I heard you're selling Elf this time, am I right?" 

"Yes, you're right! Are you interested in the Elf?"

The man's eyes flashed a 'yes I'll do anything you want' look. 

The man, who quickly glimpsed at my real intention of what I wanted, began to recite selling points about the Elf.

I listened to it for a moment to see if there were any useful information points, but it was all very useless.

"Are you here to buy the star of this auction?" 

"Yes, so when will the elf appear?" 

"Since he's the main event, of course, he'll appear at the very end." 

No. Then it's too late. 

The novel did not say precisely when the protagonist will attack. It just says that he accidentally found an elf while raiding a slave auction.

If I had bad luck, the auction could be raided before the Elf appeared.

I didn't want to be involved in a commotion. 

'I can't help it. If you can't buy the Elf, you'll have to go to Plan B.' 

Buying an Elf is Plan A. 

Even before the plan was implemented, Plan B was also set up in case of the male lead's appearance. 

It's a plan I don't want to use. 

"So, where did you keep the elf?"

"Yes, yes? That's,····." 

The man next to the steward was flustered. 

Nevertheless, I was a Gold guest, so the man could not give me a firm rejection and stammered. 

I said emphatically with an unpleasant tone. "I want to see that elf."

"That's not...."  

"What kind of person is Rotor-nim, that you can't grant a simple request?"

When the man next to him tried to say no, the manager frowned and stopped what he was trying to say.  

The steward smiled kindly to me and said he would lead me to the Elf.  

I rethought my initial assessment that being Rotor would make my task more challenging and silently thanked Mikhail for making my work easier while he was sick in bed.

* * *

A cry heavy with despair was ringing in the dark basement.  

The enslaved aged overnight and plea to be let free. 

Overseers beat and whipped those that were too loudly begging or too pridefully silent. 

Those who were beaten couldn't even resist. 

Some extended their arms between iron bars, dryly weeping for an escape. 

The jailer, who saw it, assaulted them again, skillfully avoiding their faces so the 'products' wouldn't lose value ahead of the big sale.

Violent of the verbal and physical sort was rampant. 

I played my part and passed them by in an indifferent manner, reminding myself that the male lead would soon destroy this place, and he would save them. 

"Tsk. Trivial things are dirtying Rotor's ears."

The custodian looked at me with a servile look and worried that they might have offended me. 

I only glanced at him once and didn't respond.

There seemed to be no end to this basement. 

When I started to wonder about whether I would see the Elf today, the man's footsteps stopped.  

We were in front of an iron cage. A man was lying within it. 

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