Chapter 10 - In the passing(2)
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The girl finally seemed to have stopped her sobbing, as she looked up and stared at the man above her. Although her eyes had turned bloodshot red from crying so much and tears kept streaming down her face from endless agony, she still mustered up her strength as she spoke to him,
"What money? My parents served you like animals for all these years!! When have you ever acted as a family member before?! They did everything you asked them to do and more... without asking back for anything. And now, you want 'your' money back?"
"As far as I remember, you always refused to give anything to us, even necessities. The only time you ever had to give us any money was due to my grandfather's insistence. That was the only time you ever gave us anything. Do you have any evidence of having given us anything else?!!"
The man's face was heavily distorted, making him appear like a vengeful spirit. He pointed his finger at the girl as he retorted,
"You shameless... Bitch!! How dare you talk like that to me?!! Then... since you don't know what's good for you, I am going to tell it straight up."
"Hah. So what if that's the only time I ever give you guys anything? Do you think I don't know what you people wanted? Tell me, did anyone else give you people any wealthy gifts? Or something else that could be considered precious? Huh?! Do you remember anyone giving anything else to you?"
"That's right. Nobody did. Nobody ever gave you people a single copper coin! I am the one who ever gave anything to you, and now... I want it back. Your parents are already dead. If you are really so poor as you say you are, then... why not try selling yourself?"
A huge uproar broke out amongst the crowd as some of the people couldn't put up with it all and turned to leave in disgust. For the others, though, the way they looked at the girl changed almost instantly as they all began to dream of buying and playing with the young and beautiful girl.
Looking at the favorable reaction of the crowd, the man smirked to himself as he slowly spoke further,
"I believe you would sell for a lot, right?"
The girl looked at the man above her with true hatred in her eyes. Her hands itched to slash her sword at the man to cleave him into pieces. Unfortunately, she had no sword as she was totally broke. The only training sword she had was sold away to gain money to make the journey back home. In the end, the girl simply looked at him as she lashed out at him,
"You monster!! How could you say that to me?!! You are not a human anymore. And... do you really think that I would sell myself...? Over my dead body!"
The man didn't seem much affected by the girl's anger as he laughed out loudly multiple times before he stared deeply at the girl and spoke,
"So you think I can't do it, huh? Well, I don't think that you can walk away so easily now that you are here. You say that you don't have any money on yourself, right?"
"Then, tell me something. How are you planning to bury your poor parents? Do you even know that there is a burial tax that comes along with the procedures? I don't think you would want to bury them somewhere in the outlands, to be dug up and be eaten by wild animals."
"If you really don't have any money on yourself, then just let the bodies of your old parents be as they rot right up to their bones. That would be okay with you, right?"
The girl appeared to be stunned for some seconds, after which she turned to look back at her recently deceased parents once again and began to cry out loudly.
Not sparing her another glance, the man turned around and left the room, leaving a few words behind for her,
"I am sure you would want your parents' bodies to be buried by tomorrow. Since you say you don't have any money to pay, I will prepare some people who would be willing to sell to you. That money should be more than enough to give them a good burial while also paying the leftover debt back to me. Of course, you don't have the option to reject at all."
"Enjoy your last day in this house with your... parents. Trust me, you won't be showing your face here ever again."
Since the show had ended, the leftover crowd slowly dispersed as they went to their house and friends to participate in tomorrow's bidding war, leaving the poor girl behind, as she continued to sob sorrowfully on top of her parents' bodies.
...
Early the next morning, two men were having their secret meeting inside a study hall. Both of them looked to be of respectable origins; the contents of the conversation, however, appeared to be anything but respectable.
The girl's relative handed over a cup of tea to the other man as he spoke to him,
"Oh, so you are finally here. We have been waiting for your arrival for quite a while now."
Receiving the cup of tea and taking a sip while damping his throat, the other man spoke to the girl's relative,
"Sorry, sorry. It took some time to come out here at such short notice. But, are you really sure that the girl is ready to be bought?"
The girl's relative swatted his hands in the air to relay his intentions and to diffuse his friend's worries as he spoke further,
"Oh, of course. There are no problems. Well... you can even take a look at her to confirm, or... even taste her if you'd like."
The other man panicked immediately as he looked at the girl's relative and spoke to him,
"Don't talk like that. If I really did something like that, then the price of the girl would fall very sharply. Her condition must be preserved to the utmost, and there must not be any scars on the body either. That way... she would sell for quite an amount."
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