"Get used to this place. This will be your new home for who knows how long? If you are unlucky, you might as well be ready to stay here for your entire life."

The man laughed, and Layla only paid half attention to him as she used this time to look around the slave ring.

It was a huge space with a lot of people. But most of the people gathered here were exhausted slaves who could no longer move. They all looked malnourished in a way Layla had not seen since her childhood…. well, the previous one.

Looking at these people reminded Layla of her past life, which put her in a bad mood. She did not know if she felt disgust or pity for these people.

Before Layla could even decide, her back was pushed into a cell, and she almost fell from the force.

She quickly caught herself to make way for Liam and his mother. They were all placed into the same cell, and Lala tried subtly using her magic but with no success.

Whatever tricks had been used on this cell prevented any usage of magic from Layla's side.

"Tsk looks like we are stuck here for good! So, do you know what is going to happen to us? Is there any way we can escape from here? Fuck! My magic! I cannot use it."

Liam cursed as he finally came around and began to accept his new reality. This time, he had been giving Layla a stinky eye, but she did not notice it.

After all, she would likely not meet this kid again once they were out of there.

She quickly sat down to avoid unwanted attention, but it looked like inactivity in Liam's eyes.

His anger surged, and he walked toward Layla to grab her collar.

"What are you doing? Are you thinking of giving up just like that and surrendering? Do you want to die? Well, you might want to die, but I don't. I will fight and get out of here. Just wait and watch."

Liam was a little older than Layla. If she had to guess his age, she would guess that he was about to turn ten.

He was still a child, which showed in how his temper flared. But Layla still decided to dose him with the hint of reality.

"First, we are kids, and this cage has a magic jammer installed in it. Unless we take care of it, neither you nor I can break the cage. And second, even if we do break the cage, do you think we have enough power to take on the whole slave ring?

Be realistic! If we will escape from here, we must do it when these people have their guard down. But if you keep making noise like this, we won't be able to."

Layla warned, and Liam finally looked convinced. His eyes moved over the clearing before looking down with a disappointed face.

He looked like a kid who would do something stupid just because he had been stopped from doing something stupid once, and now he wanted to do it against orders.

Thankfully, Sally was there to stop her son from making huge mistakes.

"Liam, it's fine! We will find a way to get out of here soon. This was where your father worked for a while, and he had connections. One of his friends will get us out for sure…"

Sally spoke these words with an almost guilty look on her face. She even flinched when her eyes met Layla's.

Even if she could help herself, she would likely be unable to help Layla out of there.

It made her feel sorry for the girl, but she was not about to destroy her and her son's future for the sake of someone she did not even know.

Layla knew all that, so she did not expect Sally to be her ally.

The older female would put herself and her son first, and Layla would do the same to her. That was what they wanted, after all.

...

Daidus Lukewater walked back to his room with a complicated expression. His instincts kept warning him something was wrong, but he could not place what was wrong with this situation.

As far as he knew, he had taken care of everything disturbing him and made the declaration he wanted to make.

Layla had also assured him that he would be there during the next round, so he did not need to feel this awkward about the next round.

Despite knowing all this, he could not calm down. It was as if his worries were taking another shape, and his heart was warning him that he had been lied to.

Just when he was about to return to his room, he finally saw the maid Layla had mentioned from the corner of his eyes.

He did not know what the maid was doing in the noble section, but he felt awkward to call out to her.

Daidus's first instinct was to ignore the maid and pretend he never saw her. But just as he was about to turn away, he remembered the favor he had been asked for, which made him turn back to the maid with an awkward expression.

"Hey, you there! I have a message for you from Layla. You are her companion, right?"

Daidus asked, and the maid paused to give him time to speak.

He could not place it, but something was disturbing about this maid. No matter what he said, her smile did not falter, and she did not show any other expression except a smile.

"I see! So, my dear master decided to get herself into trouble after all, huh? Looks like I need to go and take care of this matter. Thank you for informing me of this, young master. I will surely repay you this favor in the future."

The maid promised, and goosebumps appeared all over Daidus's body.

Somehow, he felt it was better not to have this maid's favor.