The Unfathomable Allen

“Food, ten gold coins per serving~”

The captain of the s*ave-catching squad said with a sneer, holding the reins as he walked ahead.

“Too expensive…”

Allen lowered her head and said softly.

“You’d better get this straight.

You’re a s*ave now, miss.”

One of his companions beside him chimed in.

“……”

Yes.

How could she resist in her current situation?

Right now, she was like a fish on the chopping board, at the mercy of others.

What bargaining chip did she even have?

At this point, the only thing left worth stripping from her was probably those ten mana crystals.

“W-well… okay…”

Allen took out a transparent mana crystal from inside her felt blanket.

She carefully placed it at the edge of the cage.

In an instant, the mana crystal coin was taken away.

She was truly starving.

Since being captured, she had not eaten for three days.

The captain clearly knew this, yet deliberately never mentioned it.

Only when Allen was so hungry she could no longer endure it and finally asked did she receive such an answer.

Still, she told herself to endure it.

No matter where she ended up, as long as there was room to move, she had to look for the Demon Castle.

What she needed now was to recover her strength.

Normally, when a person goes several days without food but still has water, they first experience intense hunger.

This feeling lasts for a while.

Once hunger reaches an extreme, it is gradually ignored, as the body begins burning excess fat, allowing survival for a long time.

But Allen was different.

The hunger came like waves, each stronger than the last, threatening to make her pass out at any moment.

“A smart choice~”

The captain then handed Allen a large chunk of black bread and a waterskin.

In the past, ten gold coins could buy several cartloads of meat, let alone black bread.

This was truly a world turned upside down.

Almost like a raging storm, Allen began devouring the food the moment she got it.

There was no elegance at all.

She ate like a wolf, ferociously.

The captain sat beside the prison wagon, silently watching the starving girl.

He laughed inwardly.

Seeing someone eat like this from hunger was truly a rare sight.

She tried to stuff the bread into her mouth in one go, as if afraid it would be taken back at any second.

But her mouth was too small.

She ended up choking herself to the point of gagging.

Large amounts of reflexive tears streamed down as she spat the bread out.

She caught it in her hands.

Feeling distressed, she carefully stuffed the lump of bread back into her mouth again, as if someone might snatch it from her.

“Drink some water.

Don’t choke.”

The captain reminded her.

But Allen showed no reaction at all.

She continued struggling with the bread.

She was simply too hungry.

Strangely enough, back in the Demon Castle, even cakes she baked herself, she would barely eat any.

But now, no matter how dry or unpalatable this black bread was, she would eat every last bit of it.

This, too, could be considered a kind of change.

The feeling of being a prisoner was naturally unpleasant.

The portion of bread was quite large.

Yet Allen gnawed at it like a starving ghost.

Because she truly might still have a long road ahead.

Perhaps even one hundred gold coins would not be enough to keep her fed.

Taking advantage of the captain not paying attention, she quietly tore off part of the bread and hid it in the felt lining.

This did not attract the captain’s notice.

After a frenzy of eating and stuffing, the entire chunk of bread was gone, either eaten or hidden by Allen.

She was afraid the man would take away any leftovers.

To be safe, she stuffed everything into her stomach.

Although she was full, the dry and hard black bread made her feel extremely uncomfortable.

She curled up in a corner of the cage, enduring the waves of discomfort.

In fact, people who have endured long periods of hunger should not eat large amounts all at once when food becomes available.

This is to prevent choking due to uncontrollable instinct, and also to allow a stomach that has long ceased digestion to slowly adapt.

Clearly, Allen had no such choice.

She could only store as much food as possible.

That was why she felt so unwell now.

After all this turmoil, under extreme exhaustion, Allen finally fell into a deep sleep.

Perhaps after waking up, she would feel better.

Fate really was a ridiculous thing…

Allen sank into deep sleep.

Everything that had happened seemed to have no impact on anyone except Allen herself.

In truth, only Allen knew this pain.

Why was she able to remain so calm?

It was because of her strong willpower.

Other than Lilith, nothing mattered to her at all.

She only wanted to find Lilith…

“If I die, I’ll never see her again…”

When the captain asked her why she never tried to escape, this was her answer.

Being willing to face death for one’s goal—

That was the most terrifying aspect of a self-destructive personality.

Perhaps Allen herself had not even realized this.

“Hmph…”

The captain sat beside the prison wagon and gave a disdainful laugh.

“If I were the buyer, I wouldn’t let a s*ave bought at such a high price escape just for the sake of meeting someone.”

“Peh.”

The captain spat out the blade of grass he had been chewing on and leaned back against the wagon.

Soon, he too drifted off to sleep, faint snoring sounding.

At this moment, Allen lay on her side on the ground.

She realized that there was only one cage separating her from this man.

If she reached out, she could almost grab his throat.

Allen glanced around.

All the other members seemed busy with their own matters, with no attention on her.

This was a perfect opportunity.

As long as she reached out and strangled him, she could end the life of the person who had brought her such misfortune.

Allen began weighing the pros and cons.

If she succeeded, she might be able to escape quietly.

Though she could still be captured again.

If she failed, she might lose a part of her body.

The captain had already warned her at the start.

If her body became incomplete, she would not sell.

Clearly, he might cut off her hand or foot.

This man was obviously desperate and ruthless.

“Gulp…”

Allen swallowed.

She crawled toward the captain on tiptoe.

This might be her only chance to escape.

In fact, Allen was not someone who simply accepted her fate.

But this very trait often influenced her judgment, driving her to take risks.

And every time, the outcome was unsatisfactory.

The first time, she became someone else.

The second time, she ended up with night blindness.

After thinking it through and weighing it again and again, Allen only stared longingly at the key.

Without making a sound, she lay back down.

There might be another chance.

If she acted recklessly again this time, she might never escape.

She could no longer endure fate’s cruel jokes.

Being controlled.

Gaining freedom.

Choosing to take her brother’s place.

Being killed.

Being enslaved.

Being maimed.

Being captured again.

She truly did not understand why her entire life had been lived like a cruel joke.

If she kept going, perhaps her arms or legs would really be broken one day.

Since it had come to this, she would endure it.

This was Allen’s conclusion after all her tragic experiences.

Allen quietly fell asleep.

At this moment, the captain, who had been pretending to sleep, sat up from the neighboring wagon.

He picked up the blade of grass he had spat out earlier and began chewing it again.

“Interesting.”

He had seen everything that happened just now.

He had intended to give Allen a warning.

But he had not expected her not to run away at all.

A s*ave-catching squad would never be without vigilance.

All the members had planned to cooperate with the captain in putting on this act.

Who would have thought Allen would not take the bait?

The elaborate scheme ended right at the beginning.

During his conversations with Allen, he had observed her expressions and subtle changes more than once.

To put it simply—

She was very childish.

Yes.

Very childish.

Like a child.

She did not hide her feelings at all.

He could clearly sense Allen’s disgust toward him.

She never hid it.

She even kept looking for chances to escape.

And the excuses she made to create those chances were extremely clumsy.

However, she herself did not realize this.

The truth was, when Allen was very young, she had been quite normal.

She played and talked with children her age.

But after being locked in the dark room, and after constantly worrying about her two brothers every day, she stopped talking to people altogether.

Only books and her own inner world remained.

This made Allen gloomy and withdrawn.

Even when she entered Gryffindor, she was poor at communication.

Driven by the desire for revenge, she buried herself in harsh training and rarely interacted with her peers.

Thus, Allen’s way of speaking and thinking remained stuck at a childlike stage.

Of course, having devoured books for many years, she was still very intelligent.

This contradictory feeling made her difficult to understand.

There was no need to guard oneself when talking to Allen.

Yet such a person did not escape even when presented with such a perfect opportunity.

She was truly unfathomable.