Chapter 683: Auction

The ride was extremely quiet—in a way. The gallops of the horses pulling the cart still thumped in the air; the creaking of the steel axle, and the brushing of the wheel on the paved road still created enough noise that could deafen someone in the long run.

The ride was extremely quiet; that is if one would consider the whimpering and the terrified breaths of the slaves as quiet.

The boy that was previously talking to Riley was now asleep as they reached the night of their long journey. As for the older ones, well—they were still scared of Riley. Some of them, whispering to themselves; or perhaps praying as they glanced at Riley from time to time.

None of them struggled, however. The cart made another stop at a small village a few hours ago to get another slave, but the woman already seemed resigned to her fate as she even bid farewell to her parents... who seemed to be the ones that sold her. Or perhaps, she sold herself.

And like everyone inside the cage, a collar was attached around her neck.

"..." Riley had actually been playing with the collar since earlier; treating it gently and carefully so as to not accidentally break it—but found that he didn't need to be that careful at all.

Riley knew he could pull and break it if he wanted to, but it would actually require a little effort on his part. For a collar like this to be used on slaves that seemed like they would die if Riley touches them seemed excessive.

"...Or perhaps this is the only collar this place has." And soon, like the other slaves, Riley started whispering to himself. But unlike them, Riley's whispers could be heard clearly by everyone as he even stood up and started walking around the tight cage,

"Is this magical in nature, or perhaps some sort of tech? It does somewhat remind me of the collars used by the themarians to restrict their criminals."

Riley stopped walking; his eyes, batting several times as he let out a humming breath, "Oh, since this is another universe, is it possible that there are also themarians out there? If so..."

A small smile then crawled on Riley's face as he looked at the night sky that was covered by the bars of the cage, "...Is there another Aerith in this place?"

Numerous thoughts started rising in Riley's brain, but the only thing he was really sure of right now was that he was not in an alternate version of Earth—and even that might not be the case too.

"Maybe if I try to find Earth once I escape this planet, I will also see another version of Hannah?" The smile on Riley's face grew even wider, "But then again, he won't be the same as sister—she should be a single child since I only exist in one universe. Hmm, so many possibilities in this place. Am I even on the same timeline? Maybe sister has not yet been born, or humans are already extinct...

...but that shouldn't be the case."

And as Riley continued to talk to himself, the other slaves that were praying shut their mouths. They were now just covering their heads in fear—as they should. Since the people they call Travelers here are his universe's most uncontrollable criminals, Riley could imagine what sort of things they have done here.

"Hm, Nothing said that 'time' in all universes travels linearly. Everything happens at the same time, just different versions of it. Hm... I suppose I shouldn't think about something I do not know of. This is weird, really weird."

Back when he was living in the world in his mind, Arlusia, he hadn't once thought of these kinds of things—perhaps because deep inside, he actually knew that the place he was in wasn't real at all.

"There should be a handbook for this," Riley then let out a small sigh as he sat down. As he did so, however, the people near him once again all moved away.

"There is plenty of space, everyone," Riley tilted his head to the side as he looked at the people avoiding his gaze, "You really should not be afraid of me, I am not a bad person."

"..." The other slaves started looking at each other as Riley looked at them; the smile on his face, as gentle as it could be. The slaves were about to relax as the Traveler in front of them seemed to truly mean them no harm, but before they could do so, the gentle smile on Riley's face continued to grow.

"I am not a bad person," Riley chuckled,

"I am an evil one."

***

"There is really no need to be scared of me, I was only explaining what I am."

"..."

The ride was extremely quiet—for real, this time. The last breath that whispered from the slaves was probably half a day ago. All of them were just crowding on one side of the cage, with Riley taking the other half like a sick fish inside an aquarium.

Fortunately for the slaves, they didn't have to endure longer as they seemed to arrive at their destination.

It was a large city, with large walls and a large gate. The houses were made of what seemed to be cobblestones and wood, but Riley wasn't really sure—after all, this was a different universe.

There were lamps, however—not torches, but lamps that seemed to be powered by electricity.

"...Is this what Earth seemed like from the other civilizations?"

Earth's technology was influenced by themarians—or perhaps it was better to say that it was influenced by Diana alone. And it was obvious that this planet too, was influenced by a greater civilization.

...Perhaps the other Travelers? It is possible that some of them were able to acclimate themselves to this place—but since this world seemed to have a bad impression of them, it was no doubt that most of them continued their evil ways.

"...But where are they now?"

Lin and her village chief did mention that the Deity saved them from the earlier Travelers, could it be that it killed most of them? That is the only reason Riley could think of as to why this planet hasn't been destroyed yet.

And while Riley was whispering to himself, he just continued with the flow and followed the rest of the slaves as they lined up—and soon, they were all brought into some sort of dark room where they were all violently sprayed and cleaned with water that mysteriously gushed out from the ceiling.

And while the others howled and cried in pain as the stream of water was enough to destroy and tear their clothes into pieces, Riley took off all of his clothes and just stretched his arms to the side—making sure the water hit every inch of his body.

A bath.

How long has it really been for him?

As soon as he was able to master his telekinetic abilities, Riley no longer really needed to take a bath as he could always keep himself clean. But now, with his telekinesis completely suppressed and dampened by this... Deity, some things needed to be adjusted.

The violent shower lasted for an entire hour. And suffice it to say, all the dirt that the slaves brought with them was completely gone.

"Move, move it!" The slaves were then one by one kicked out of the weird shower room as the traders handed them clean clothes to wear. But as soon as they saw Riley, however, they all could not help but just bat their eyes.

"How... is the Traveler completely dry?"

He blasted himself with warm air—but Riley did not really answer as he just wore the clothes provided for him and followed the other slaves.

He needed to learn a lot of things from this place, and the only proper way to do that is to go with the flow... is what Riley was thinking as the slave traders started chaining his wrists along with his ankles.

All of them were lined up as they continued to walk; all of them, now wearing immaculate white clothes that made them look like a group of ancient Greek scholars.

"Is this the part where we are getting sold? How much do you think people are willing to buy me?" Riley smiled as he looked at the slave beside him. The slave, however, just trembled where he stood.

"Great Deity, please let me serve a master that will treat me well."

"..." And it wasn't only him—all the slaves were praying to the Deity—none of them regretting their fate. Some of them, even excited as they were brought outside the dark room; their numbers dwindled one by one, and soon...

...only Riley was left.

He could hear the noise coming from outside the room getting louder and louder—and as he stepped outside of the dark room, the noise became frenzied.

"Hm, I have never been bought before."

"Stop talking!"

Riley was pushed by one of the traders, causing him to take several steps onto the stage for everyone to see. And as soon as the light was pointed at him, the noise just disappeared.

"...Hm," Riley tilted his head as he looked at all the people in front of the stage; all of them, wearing masks that completely covered their faces. Riley was then once again pushed by one of the traders, urging him to stand on the podium at the center of the stage.

Riley did not really heed the traders any mind, however, as he just continued to scan all of his potential buyers as he stepped on the podium.

"This... is sort of exciting."