The Side Character Got Promoted To The Villainness!

Chapter 22: Bargain

What caught my attention first was the glaring light that was illuminating half the room.The room seemed like a study, with books and files all around. There was a table before me and on the opposite of me was a person with a mask on. The other side of the room was too dark for me to see anything.

"So, this is the high-quality product you speak of? Hmm, she doesn't seem that much different other than that strange hair and eyes." The person had a velvety voice but spoke in a mocking tone.

"Do you still not trust me? I always bring in the finest products." This familiar cold voice sent chills down my spine. Even though his voice was muffled as he was wearing a mask as well, I could still recognize Dr. Quinn's voice. "Would you say otherwise after reading this?"

Dr. Quinn slapped a file onto the table. The person lazily picked up the document and after turning a few pages, they sat straight up and their attitude shifted.

"This......Are you sure about it?" Their voice were trembling, so were their hands. "If this is true, we won't have to earn a single penny for decades!"

"I did the tests myself. Here's a sample I took from her." Dr. Quinn pulled out a tube of red liquid. That was different from the healing potion Mr. Karsius gave me. It was a deeper red. I'm certain that's blood.

The person tried to snatch it from Dr. Quinn but he was faster and had kept it back into his pocket. "Let's settle with my cut first."

The person went silent for a moment and grumbled, "Tsk, I'll give you 55."

"Are you kidding me? I take 80, no more no less." Dr. Quinn bargained.

"65. That's the best deal we have." The person crossed their arms. Dr. Quinn did not answer but only rested hhis hand beside my shoulder and tapped slowly.

"......70. That's the most we can offer." The person finally gave in.

"Nice working with you." Dr. Quinn shrugged and held out his hand which the person did not accept.

The masked person walked towards me and when they reached their hand out to me, I closed my eyes. What followed was a sharp but brief pain on my right earlobe. When I opened my eyes once again, I realized they had pierced my ear and put on a label on me like I was some sort of product. I was too afraid to move so I just let the blood dripped down to my shoulders.

They gestured to two people who has been in the shadows. "Take her to the cell. Be careful, she's expensive."

I was once again forcefully escorted even though they told them to be careful with me. Right before the door closed behind me, I could still hear them bickering. We walked down a dark hallway made off stone and only illuminated by candles.

My eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness and I could make out what seems like cells and there were some people caged in there. Most of them are children or women. Sometimes, I could almost see something like animal ears or horns on them......

We stopped at a fairly wide cell compared to the ones at the front. I saw there as already another person in there. It was a child too.

One of them took out a set of keys and tried to find the right one. After they unlocked the gate, one of them quickly untied me and took the cloth from my mouth and then pushed me into the cell.

"No fighting!" They said that too me and locked the cell and left.

I'm finally free to move. I stretched my arms and legs and moved my wrist. They were red from the ropes and left visible bruises.

I tried to heal my ear but I couldn't accumulate mana. My heart sank as I thought I lost my powers then realize my choker was glowing. Is the choker stopping me from using magic?

I turned to examine the cell. There were no windows and the only light source was the dim candles from the hallway. I looked out the cell and there was nothing outside that could be used to pick the lock or cut. I was completely trapped here.

I turned to look at the other child who was curled up in the corner. They had dark hair long enough to cover half their face so I don't know how they look like.They were wearing the same choker on their neck and also a tag. They were also slightly trembling, maybe because of the cold or maybe out of fear. Either way, it was bad.

We were given nothing to warm ourselves in the cell except for some hay stack set inside. I checked on my body to see if I have anything on me and noticed I was still wearing a brooch. I took it off and realize it wasn't shining as much compared to when I first got it.

Is this some kind of magic tool? It did protected me just now.

Suddenly, I thought of an idea and started collecting some hay that was dry enough. There were a few shattered tiles on the floor and I picked one that doesn't have much edges and started knocking the brooch against the tile. Luckily, my guess was right. The quartz on the brooch was perfect for lighting up a fire.

In just a few moments, there was a spark in the hay and slowly started to burn. I blew it gently, trying not to put out the spark. The fire slowly burned more and I put more hay on top of it.

I looked towards the child who was shivering and patted to the empty space beside me. The child was reluctant at first but when they saw that the fire, they started to approach me.

***

Soon, both of us were sitting by the fire and trying to warm ourselves up. We sat closely to each other also trying to gain warmth from each other.

"I am Astria. You can call me Ria. What is your name?" I tried to make small talk. I thought it would be a good idea to distract them even a little from this miserable situation we're in.

"I'm......Noel." The child finally replied. His voice was still shaking a little but at least he was willing to talk. We sat in silence again, only the sound of the burning hay crackles echoed throughout the cell.

"How old are you, Noel?" I asked again.

"I'm 7." Jesus christ, you're still so young. These people are heartless for kidnapping such a young child.

"How old are you?" He asked back. Ah great, we're finally meeting the basic requirements for a conversation.

"I am 5 years old." I held out my palm wide open, gesturing the number 5. Noel seemed shocked for a moment. Then, he held out his hand and patted my head.

"It's going to be okay." He comforted me as he gently patted my head.

Wow, I'm really being comforted by a 7-year-old here. This is hurting my pride as an adult.

As I was about to thank him, I felt my face wet. I thought water was leaking from above and looked up but I saw no leaks. I turned to look at Noel who now looked like he was panicking.

"Are you in pain?" He asked nervously while trying to check me for any wounds.

Oh, those weren't leaks. Those were my tears.

It seems all the stress and tension finally broke through and Astria couldn't handle it anymore. I just let the tears fall without doing anything as Noel tried his best to wipe away my tears.

He hugged me and patted me gently while he kept saying 'pain, pain, go away' to me. I hugged him back as I buried my face into his shoulder.

I didn't realize being comforted felt so good.