42 Kidnapped

The Holmes in front of him looked like he half-assed his disguise. His back wasn't that hunchbacked, and his facial features were accurate except for the eyes. Zeke could clearly tell that this Holmes' eyes were different from a fully disguised Holmes.

Nevertheless, Zeke couldn't judge or accuse because he didn't know Holmes' circumstances. Maybe he had some problems or something.

"Sure! Let me just get something real quick, Gaia."

Zeke went inside and headed to the training room. He then stored up weapons in his inventory and went to Charles.

"Father! Gaia invited us to go to the square today! Can I go? Holmes will be joining us."

"Alright, son. Take care of yourself out there!"

Zeke nodded and went out. He then joined with the other three children and 'Holmes'.

As they went outside, 'Holmes' lead them to the square as promised. They ate food and played some games. The three girls were smiling from ear to ear while Zeke still couldn't ease off. He still felt like something's wrong but he can't pinpoint what exactly it is.

When the sun was setting down, 'Holmes' suddenly proposed something.

"Alright kiddos, let's go back now. Oh, I forgot something. Can you guys accompany me for a bit? I needed to get something from a friend." 'Holmes' proposed to the four kids.

Naturally, there were no complaints. Zeke just allowed it as he too wanted to know the whole situation.

"Sir Holmes, now that I think about it, your disguise wasn't well made today. What happened?" Gaia innocently asked after having a good look at Holmes.

"H-huh? Disguise?" 'Holmes' panicked inwardly as he struggled to think about what to reply.

"Ah, I was having some trouble doing it today. My apologies, but aren't I still hard to be figured out?"

"Ah, yes."

Zeke could hear Holmes sigh in relief.

While on the way back, Holmes led the four to a tavern. This tavern was a well-known one in that district as it was the most good-looking and decent one out of all.

Holmes went in front of a young man manning a room as he whispered something. After hearing Holmes' words, the young man's expression lit up as he gestured Holmes and the four to get in.

This tavern was a weird one. They had an ordinary tavern-like appearance in front, but it actually also served as an inn for people. The rooms were situated quite in the back, making it so it's a bit hard to see from the entrance.

A few minutes later, a waiter went inside the room where they stayed and served all kinds of good food. There were multiple dishes made of meat, beef, and even a shrimp-looking one. It all looked good that Aura suddenly started eating to the others' surprise. However, the other two girls soon followed along with Zeke. Seeing that all four of them ate the food, 'Holmes' grinned from ear to ear.

"How is it, Young Master and Young Mistresses? Is it good?"

"Yes, Sir Holmes! But can we go now? It's getting dark outside!" Gaia suggested.

"if that's what you want, Mistress. I'll go pay them first and talk to my friend real quick. Be right back." 'Holmes' smiled, but this time, his smile looked very malicious.

Soon after, Zeke heard System's words.

*Sleep effect nullified. Weaken effect nullified. Mind Weaken effect nullified.*

Zeke panicked at the words he heard.

'System, what the heck are those!?'

*Zeke, due to your Undying title, you are immune to any and all kinds of poisons and illusions that might cloud your mind. From what I saw, the food you ate contains a drug which causes the victim to slowly lose his consciousness as well as weakening both the body and mind. It's truly an evil drug to use on minors.*

'.... ah, I see.'

Zeke now understood the situation. Indeed, the 'Holmes' they were with earlier is fake, and this all served as a prelude to a bigger something. Right after he thought of that, he saw Gaia doze off and drool for a bit before collapsing on the floor, followed by the other two. Thru Zeke's enhanced hearing, multiple voices were heard behind the door.

"....sure...clean?"

"Yes...ate..."

"Good"

Zeke pretended to sleep too. He didn't know if he can fight the people outside so he just went with the flow.

As the door opened, only 'Holmes' went in first. After confirming that all of them were asleep, he signaled outside. Two other men came in and started carrying the unconscious Aura and Rosaline. The other one then carried Zeke and Gaia. He was surprised by how heavy Zeke weighted but to avoid losing face, he didn't complain and went on with it.

When Zeke slightly opened his eyes, he found out that the one carrying him and Gaia was actually the same waiter who Holmes whispered to. He tried hard not to let his emotions get through him as his aura might fluctuate.

While they were being carried, Zeke took note of where they were going. He slightly opens his eyes once after some time to see where they were going. Once in a while, he heard them talking about something.

"Hey, how's the kid you got? Did he get sold already?"

"*sigh* No. I haven't gotten paid yet, for fuck sake. The next auctions's going to be 2 days from now. Hopefully some rich guy buys that sod. Boss said I won't get my pay unless I sell him."

"Unlucky, man. The first one I had was a little beast girl. She was one of the bunny race, so she got sold pretty quickly. First week in this job and I already got my salary! Haha!"

The two men carrying the four children were chatting casually while the other two were behind them, also talking about something. One of the two were 'Holmes' while the other was a middle-aged man. From their tone of speaking, Zeke inferred that they must be colleagues in this job.

After 10 minutes or so, Zeke saw that the four of them slightly slowed down, as if confident that no one will notice them. Zeke tried to stealthily tilt his head to look around but he didn't recognize this street. It was a very dimly lit street with almost little to no bystanders. There were some though that only stood there looking at them but it wasn't a look of concern, but rather a look of... envy.

'So we're treated as products, huh? Is this slavery?'

Zeke was familiar with slavery from his old world. He hated these kinds of things, as he felt that people should not be contained or enslaved by others. Now, he personally experienced what it feels like to become the victim of such a vile practice. It also seems that this has become a business as he heard the two earlier that the kids are getting sold. This only served to further enrage Zeke. However, he couldn't act right now as there were 4 adults around him that also looked like they were adventurers of some sort due to the equipment hidden underneath their coat.

The four adult men stopped in front of a building. This was clearly the building Bram from 11 months ago went in. They were then brought to the basement where Zeke heard countless wails and shouts filled with anger and despair. His heart further burned with killing intent but he held it off as he might get discovered by them.

All four of them were then dumped inside a small cell at the edge of a room. There were also a lot of other children in there and when they saw Zeke and the three, their eyes were filled with pity and sadness. They felt saddened by the fact that there were still victims that these heartless people abducted and the fact that they don't have any kind of help to rely on.

Inside the room, Zeke quietly went near Gaia and tried to wake him up. This startled the other children as they were surprised that Zeke was awake. Normally, when the bad people came there, the kids were all asleep and when they woke up, they don't even have the strength to stand up, but this new boy could and even managed to go near one of the girls! Before they could even talk, Zeke motioned them to be quiet as he tried to wake up Gaia. The children knew the gesture and quietly looked at him, a sliver of hope unconsciously budded in their hearts.

Before Gaia could fully wake up, the door opened and an ugly young man went in. Some of the children inside their cells stared at the young man with pure hatred and dislike while the others, particularly the girls, shivered when seeing him.

"You piece of shit! Return Anna back to us!!!" A bellowing cry was heard from the cell beside Zeke.

'Anna?' Zeke overheard.

"Anna? Who's that?"

"She's my friend and you took her from here! Give her back!!"

"Oh, that girl. Ooh, you should've seen her face when I toyed with here. It was sooooo satisfying. Unfortunately, she killed herself while we were doing it... ah, unfortunate. I could've enjoyed her more. *sigh*" The young man looked like he remembered a pleasant experience as his mouth curved into a lewd and malicious smile.

Zeke was instantly disgusted. He realized what the young man and he couldn't help but utterly hate the man for deflowering a very young girl at his age.

"SHE DIED? WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER??! NOOOOOOOO" The enraged cry of the boy was heard by everyone inside the room, and it was full of grief and despair, causing even Zeke to slightly be saddened.

'This fucker...'

Right when Zeke thought of that, the young man's eyes darted to the cell Zeke and the three girls were in. He looked interested as he was going closer to Zeke's cell.

"Hoh? New kids?" The young man's eyes fixated on Rosaline's petite body. He seemed to have decided something as he pulled up a bunch of keys and tried every one of them to Zeke's cell.

After trying the 5th one, it opened and the Young Man licked his lips lewdly. He was closing in on the sleeping Rosaline as his eyes revealed his intense lust.

"N-no! Don't come closer to her!" Gaia feebly sat upright and tried to shout but her words came out soft and powerless.

"You're awake? Perfect. I'll let you see how I enjoy your friend over here." The young man licked his lips again and started to lower his lips to Rosaline's neck.

Gaia didn't know what to do as she tried to think of ways to stop him, but she couldn't. She just woke up and have a weak body, after all.

As the young man neared Rosaline's neck, he suddenly felt pain in his left leg. He looked down only to see a dagger lodged in it. Before he could even scream, a hand hit him at the back of his head, causing him to lose consciousness and fall over to Rosaline, partially waking her up due to the weight of the young man.

"Disgusting shit."

The night of slaughter began.