At first, the girls face turned red when she understood the mistake she made, but going as far to grab the cloth from the ground would only make the situation more embarra.s.sing for her. Torn between her two current choices, she decided to just answer my question without even attempting to hide her charms."Before I answer that, will you promise to save me and my sister from this place?"
While I could see the anxious looks she sent to the other females set just like an exhibition in the tent, I could only guess that she didn"t want to cross my bottom line, pleading for her own family instead of trying to push her luck and securing all of her friends of folk.
"Well, honestly speaking, that will depend on your answer. But as long as you satisfy me, I will make sure no harm will come to you or your family."
Demanding the freedom of the entire tribe might take some negotiations and deal with the Overlord, but forcing him to give up on two people? That was something I knew he couldn"t refuse in his situation!
"I don"t care what you want to do with me, as long as you prove that you can save us, I will answer your question. But I know your lords.h.i.+p won"t just take my words for granted… So let me tell you, our princess that caught your sight back in the camp and nearly half of our tribe managed to escape to the forest. As for how you could find them…"
Disregarding her nudity, the girl spread her arms in an easily understandable gesture. To be honest, the more I talked with her, the more points she managed to score on my internal scale.
Fighting off the embarra.s.sment to secure her most vital interest? Calculating the risks? Cautious approach? Just those three aspects of her character made her someone worth nurturing!
"Okay then, while I don"t know where your sister is, I will bring you with me. Since I don"t want Overlord to think too deeply into this matter, I guess you know how you will have to act to avoid his suspicion…"
Even if I was more and more curious about her, there was no way I would just use her because of the girl"s situation. But that didn"t change the harsh reality that we were in. Unless I was willing to risk the overlord learning of my small ploy, she had to act as if I simply took fancy to her, granting her the way for a better life than a slave wh.o.r.e in the slave brothel!
As soon as my words escaped my mouth, her face changed.
From the scared and powerless young woman, she turned into a confident tigress, instantly jumping forward and latching onto my arm. Without even a shred of hesitation, she pushed her modest bust against my shoulder, while reaching with her hands towards my crotch.
"Not so fast. I need you to act only when we will be in the open. Don"t take me for sc.u.m like this b.a.s.t.a.r.d."
Pointing my finger at the already cold body of the thug that dared to touch my back, I swiftly managed to force her hands back. Not willing to parade through the entire village with a naked chick to my side, I separated from her for a moment and approached the side of the tent.
After tearing a sizeable portion of the cloth from it, I threw it at the girl.
"Cover yourself with it. As for you, girls…"
Just the fact that she was lucky enough to be recognised by me was enough to change her fate. But exactly like she didn"t dare to overstep her bounds while bargaining for her and her sister freedom, I had to know the limits of what I could enforce on the Overlord, without sparking the conflict faster than I intended.
"For now, I can only ask you to put up with the situation. I can"t risk bringing anyone else with me, but I will do my best to deter anyone from coming here for as long as it will take me to free everyone from the Nakal tribe. Just please… if you try to revolt right now, I won"t be able to save you."
Instead of ordering them to put up with the violent offence of the b.a.s.t.a.r.dly locals, I could only ask them to toughen it thought. After all, there was only so much I could do without revealing the upper limit of my capabilities!
With those words, I didn"t dare to hesitate any longer, worried that the scared and longing looks in the eyes of the remaining women would shatter what little of resolve I had. Grabbing the lucky girl by her waist while making sure that her makes.h.i.+ft clothes covered her most vital parts, I finally went outside through the hole I made, only to realise the mistake I made.
The tent I was just in, was only a transfer stage for the whole enterprise, with countless small tents decorating the half of this entire h.e.l.l, with the remaining place stacked with rundown shacks!
It didn"t take a genius to understand what or who was kept in those buildings, that looked as if they would collapse at any given moment. But there was nothing I could do for them for now!
With my heart bleeding, I wore the most wrathful face I could portray while ignoring a slight giggle of the girl to my side.
"By the way, what"s your name?"
Since I was going to spend some time with her, I would prefer to know how she was called.
"I"m Helia, my lord."
As if thunder struck me alive just where I was standing!
Wasn"t that the name of the supposedly unmarried sister of one of Gabriel"s helpers? While I know that names had some chance to be repeated in the entire tribe, could I just hit the jackpot?
"Wait, you said that you want me to save your sister as well… Would you be so kind as to tell me if you have a married brother? A bit shorter than me, short, white hair, dumb look on his face as if…"
Before I even managed to finish my description of Barkal, I could already confirm my guess form how hard she suddenly sank her fingers into my arm.
"My lord… Do you happen to know…"
"Barkal?"
Once again, as if thunder struck both of us in the middle of this relatively open area!
With a realisation that her lie most likely came out, the girl instantly let go of my arm and kowtowed, hitting the soles of my rundown shoes with her forehead.
"I can"t express how sorry I am! I know I wasn"t completely honest with your lords.h.i.+p, but since she is my brother"s wife, I dared to claim her to be my sister!"
Spouting all those words as if just a second of pause would lead to her and her entire family demise, the girl even went as far as planting the kisses all over my stinking shoes!
Before she had the chance to do it twice, I already moved my foot away, while grabbing her under her armpits and forcing her to raise up.
"Calm the heck down!"
There was no way I would enjoy something as obscene as the naked girl - yes, the cloth I so painstakingly tried to keep wrapped around her body dropped to the ground just like she started kowtowing - kissing my shoes!
"Tell me, do you know where she is? Finding both of you was my prime aim ever since I freed your brother, his master and the other helper of his!"
I could only guess how that news sounded to this poor girl. From being enslaved, through being exhibited as a lifeless ware for the others to rape to their will, all the way through the moment of my wrath and then revelations. .h.i.tting her hard one after the another… It would be a wonder if she could even answer my question!
"Jessie… Jessie was taken to the tent a short moment before me, but I didn"t saw her there!"