Stigma Effect

All the way up the stairs, she couldn’t hear any other sounds because of the chain’s dragging sound. Every time she climbed a stairway, the chains that were stretched rattled loudly.

After wrapping the tail around her body, Yuriel watched the gentle monster from behind, who did not threaten her and carefully lifted the chain that hung down.

As the heavy chains were lifted, the monster growled low. The monster turned around, revealing its teeth inside its muzzle. The monster was keeping its distance. The monster turned around on the stairs several spaces higher than Yuriel. Their eyes met and the monster’s eyes that scanned the surroundings then turned to Yuriel’s hand.

When the vigilant monster saw Yuriel holding the chain, it calmed down when it had been vigilant before.

A strange sense of security came from the monster’s actions that seemed to protect her. When she heard the footsteps of people passing by in front of the door, she trembled with anxiety, but now standing behind the monster, she was not afraid at all.

In line with Yuriel’s slow gait, which was not in good condition, the monster occasionally looked back and slowed its movements.

Why didn’t it attack her? Could it be that each monster has different habits? It could be a monster that follows people… ?

She couldn’t even think of it herself, so a sharp sigh escaped. It couldn’t be.

She pondered for a long time about the incomprehensible behavior, but she couldn’t come to a conclusion. It was not a situation where she could continue to worry. It was time to find out how to get out of this place while exploring the benevolent monster.

She has to get out of here quickly.

As time passed, she felt a chill and her body trembled. No matter how many times she rubbed her eyes, her vision was blurred. When she opened her eyes and came out of the basement, when she heard that they were going to kill her, and when she met a monster, her nerves were awake and pain that she couldn’t feel came rushing in.

The hand holding the gun was trembling.

She was confident she could aim the gun without inflicting fatal wounds, but if she shoots in this state, the result may be different from what she thought.

To make matters worse, there was also a shortage of bullets.

Yuriel, who was holding the gun in the other hand holding the chain and stretching it repeatedly, suddenly felt the chain loosen and lifted her head.

The monster that was going up the stairs turned around and came down to where Yuriel was. Yuriel hurriedly threw the chain and aimed the gun at the monster.

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The monster she thought would attack at any moment pushed Yuriel’s body into its own. Yuriel was pushed by the body of the monster and sat down without realizing it. Covering Yuriel’s body, the monster bowed towards the bottom of the stairs.

The monster’s ears were sticking out. Yuriel blinked at the monster that was within her reach now. A ring to loosen the monster’s muzzle appeared right in front of her.

Yuriel, who was sitting and looking at it, began to hear a small sound in her ear. It was a voice she had heard before.

“Where did the monster disappear to?”

“Where is the woman? F*ck, what’s wrong with today? Nothing is going well!”

“The other rooms are all locked and she needs a key to get out, so she probably wouldn’t have gotten out of here.”

“She will be here.”

“The monster must have killed her. When we find the woman’s corpse, it must be disposed of immediately, and the monster must be captured without injuries as much as possible. It’s wearing a muzzle so it won’t try to overpower you, do you all understand?”

“If you have also pulled out its claws.”

There were at least six people listening to the conversation now. There were only seven bullets in Yuriel’s gun. There was no extra ammunition.

Yuriel lowered the gun that was aimed at the monster and put her hand on the neck of the monster. The monster, who was very nervous, growled as if for her to let go of her hand.

Fear rose from the sharp threat, but the monster still didn’t seem to have any intention of attacking her. Yuriel thought so as she saw that the monster didn’t attack her even though she reached out her hand from behind.

Yuriel, who placed her finger on the muzzle that covered the monster’s mouth, calmly loosened it. She took off the muzzle, trying not to see the monster’s hideous teeth.

It looks like a dog, but the teeth are much more ugly. The monster had sharp teeth like that of a predator.

When the muzzle was removed, the monster growled and licked the back of Yuriel’s hand. The monster that licked the back of her blood-dried hands raised its neck as if begging to release the chains on its neck.

“Uh, you want me to release this too… ?”

Yuriel caressed the monster’s neck. Softer and more luscious fur than she expected brushed her fingers. As she fumbled through the fluffy fur, she realized that the chain around the neck could only be unlocked with a key.

Unable to loosen the chain and let go of it, the monster scratched its neck with its foot as if uncomfortable, and looked at the side where the sound was heard.

People who were going up the narrow stairs that two people could barely pass through, found the monster and shouted.

“Here it is! The monster!”

“The woman is still alive!”

The two men in front shouted to their back. They were holding something like a long pole for a capture.

“Alright, wait a minute. No muzzle… !”

The monster ran forward before the man who saw the appearance of the monster told the men behind him what he had seen. The swift-moving monster bit the neck of the man in front.

“Ack!”

The man screamed and waved his hand. Blood dripped from the faces of those who leaned against the wall to avoid the falling man.

The monster that landed on the man’s chest lightly bit the man’s neck once more. The painful moans echoing on the silent stairs ceased.

“Go up! Hurry and get some help… !”

“Move!”

“You have to stop the monster from coming!”

“F*ck, you do it!”

The men screamed and ran up the stairs. They thought the monster was wearing a muzzle and didn’t bring any weapons. There were only two weak poles as weapons against the monsters.

Even that was thrown away from running in a hurry.

Yuriel watched the men who were sitting on the stairs kicking themselves and running away. One of them stepped on the back of Yuriel’s hand that was on the stairs and passed.

The back of her hand, which had been cleansed by the monster licking the blood, swelled up. Yuriel, who felt great pain, grabbed her hand and moaned.

“It hurts….”

They ran away in a horrified confusion, leaving each other with the dangerous task. No one thought of holding the pole.

As Yuriel wrapped her hand and looked at the backs of those selfish men, the monster came closer.

Seeing the swollen back of her hand, the monster made a whimper, licked the back of her hand for a moment and ran upstairs following the men.

The screams continued again.

＊＊＊

The building where Yuriel was located was in the middle of the Temple street. It was a shop that covered the inside with a black cloth among the colorful shops.

It was embarrassing to be blatantly seated in the middle of the street when it was doing something illegal.

When Baraha was captured by the slave trader, they weren’t as brazen as this. The ground floor, visible to the public, was decorated and disguised as an ordinary business.

The fact that there was nothing to stop them as they delivered supplies to the Temple, the Imperial Palace, and the Alchemy Tower, made him gloomy.

“Sir Baraha, this is a place where items that are about to be sold are stored. Miss Yuriel must have been moved to another place.”

The knight who had been following Baraha said as if to warn him. He also seemed to know that this place was a slave trading. The other knights nodded as if they were of the same opinion.

Baraha ignored their words and pushed the door. When the door didn’t open, the doorknob broke with a clattering sound when he applied force from the hand that had the monster core shards in it.

As he forced himself inside, he could see decadent decorations and objects. Baraha made eye contact with the shopkeeper who was examining the ledger. He frowned as he flipped through the papers and checked the books.

“Who…. Are you from the Temple? What are you here for today? Ah, this is not the time… I’ll bring you some tea, so feel free to tell me….”

After checking Baraha’s face, he immediately released his expression. He got up and called the servant. Seeing him tell the servant to bring the tea, Baraha said to the knights.

“Look for the key, Yuriel will be in the basement.”

“What? If you come all of a sudden…. Oh my, Sir Knight. Why are you here?”

As the knights searched the body and held the shopkeeper’s arm, he said perplexedly.

“If there is something you are looking for, I will go down and check it. If you come from the Temple, I will deliver the items right away, so what are you looking for, why are you in such a hurry?”

The man who looked like a slave trader didn’t seem to know that Yuriel was still here.

“I am looking for the woman your men brought today.”

“Today? We only collect items just before delivery…. Oh, come to think of it, they did come with something…. Did, did they touch someone important?”

“I found it. Sir Baraha.”

“Oh, I don’t know….”

As the man was making excuses by shaking his head, he heard the door open. The eyes of the gathered people turned to the place at the same time.

Baraha discovered that Yuriel was dragged out with a bite on the nape of the neck by a monster covered in blood.

“Yuriel!”