The mana signature from Minor Premonition was so subtle and well-disguised that even most trained combat mages couldn’t sense it being used unless they were specifically looking for it.

The only people who could casually detect such a faint magical signature would be..... Wait.

’Oh no.’

If this person sitting across from him could sense something that delicate and subtle, then he absolutely was not just a regular commoner traveling with his slave.

This was someone with serious magical training and sensitivity... Probably someone with significant combat experience too, based on that completely calm demeanor.

Ronald’s throat went dry as he realized he might have just gambled with someone way, way above his level without even realizing it until it was too late.

He’d been so focused on the beautiful slave-girl being offered as a prize that he hadn’t stopped to question why a commoner would be so confident betting something so valuable... because he probably wasn’t actually a commoner at all.

Ronald swallowed hard and cleared his throat, forcing his voice to sound calm and accepting rather than terrified.

"Alright, fine," Ronald said quietly, all his earlier bravado completely gone. "I lost fair and square... There are no complaints."

He took a deep breath and asked. "Where do you want to go first... the Black Market, or the Slavehouse?"

"I’d like to go to the Slavehouse first," Ren said, standing up from his chair. "Sheila, pack up the cards. We’re done here."

"Yes, my Lord," Mandy said in his feminine voice, quickly gathering the deck... Ren could finally get what he’d come to this town for before heading to the main one where the Hero’s Aunt was; A very specific slave and someone important to his plans.

...

Knock knock knock!

Ronald rapped his knuckles against a nondescript wooden door in the seediest part of Loreheim which was a back-alley entrance that looked like it led to an abandoned storage building.

A small metal panel slid open at eye level, revealing a pair of suspicious eyes staring out at them.

"Password..." a gruff voice demanded.

"Seven flames dance beneath the waning moon," Ronald recited. "Forty-two stones mark the serpent’s path."

The password was deliberately nonsensical which was a random collection of words and numbers that changed weekly to prevent outsiders from gaining access.

Several heavy locks clicked open in sequence. The door swung inward, revealing a steep staircase leading down into underground darkness.

The person who’d opened the door... a scarred man with the build of a retired mercenary gestured for them to enter.

"Welcome to the Slavehouse," the doorman said in a bored tone, clearly having given this greeting thousands of times.

Ren, Mandy, and Ronald descended the stairs and the smell hit them immediately as they reached the bottom... It was a mixture of unwashed bodies, human waste, fear, and despair all blended into one nauseating scent.

Mandy’s feminine face twisted in disgust, and he had to cover his nose with one delicate hand. The underground chamber was much larger than it had appeared from outside... a sprawling network of rooms and corridors that had clearly been excavated and expanded over many years.

Dozens of people were present, though it was hard to get an exact count in the dim lighting. Every single person down here... both the slavers and the customers wore masks to hide their identities.

Ren and Mandy had put on simple face coverings before descending, blending in with the crowd.

The doorman who’d let them in gestured toward a well-dressed man standing near the center of the main chamber.

"That’s the owner..." the doorman explained. "He’ll help you find what you’re looking for."

The owner of the Slavehouse, a portly man wearing an expensive mask decorated with gold filigree noticed the newcomers and walked over to greet them.

"Welcome, welcome!" the owner said with practiced enthusiasm. "First time visiting our establishment?"

"Yes," Ren replied simply.

"Wonderful! We pride ourselves on having the finest selection of slaves in the entire western territories," the owner said, launching into what was clearly a well-rehearsed sales pitch. "What kind of slave are you looking for specifically? We have many categories to choose from."

He began counting on his fingers.

"Combat slaves trained in various fighting styles... swordsmen, archers, brawlers, mages. Domestic slaves for household work... cleaning, cooking, general service. Pleasure slaves for... entertainment purposes. Manual labor slaves for construction or farming even specialized slaves like accountants, scribes, or translators if you need educated workers."

The owner paused, then added with a knowing tone. "We also have a rather extensive selection of sex slaves, if that’s what interests you."

"I’m looking for a combat slave," Ren said, ignoring the last suggestion entirely. "Specifically, a Snakekin."

"Ah, Snakekin!" The owner’s eyes lit up behind his mask. "Excellent choice! Very versatile fighters, and their transformation abilities make them quite valuable. We have several Snakekin available for purchase. Do you have any other specific requirements? Age, gender, skill level?"

"She has some kind of skull-like black tattoo on her back," Ren said. "That’s the one I want."

The owner’s entire demeanor changed instantly. His enthusiasm vanished, replaced by wariness and something that looked almost like fear.

"Ah," the owner said slowly. "That one."

He was quiet for a long moment, clearly weighing his words carefully.

"I would strongly advise you not to purchase that particular slave..." the owner finally said. "She’s... problematic and extremely dangerous. We’ve had multiple incidents with her, and—"

"I’m the customer," Ren interrupted firmly. "I’m specifically here to buy that slave. Will you sell her to me or not?"

The owner sighed heavily.

"Follow me," he said with resignation in his voice. "But I’m warning you now... we have a strict no-return policy once this slave is purchased. If she kills you, injures you, or escapes, that’s your problem. We won’t refund your money or take her back. Understand?" 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"Understood," Ren agreed immediately. The owner didn’t even bother questioning how Ren had known about this specific slave’s identifying mark... Rumors spread in the underground economy, after all.

Honestly, the owner didn’t particularly care about the backstory as long as he could get that troublesome creature out of his establishment and make a profit in the process.

Ren turned back to Ronald and said, "Thank you for bringing us here. I’m no longer interested in seeing the Black Market, so you’re free to go."

Ronald nodded gratefully... clearly relieved to be dismissed and quickly headed back toward the stairs to leave.

Ren walked alongside Mandy, following the owner deeper into the underground complex. They passed through several large chambers filled with cells.

Behind the iron bars of each cell were different types of slaves... Beastkin with animal features, humans of various ages and builds, Elves with their distinctive pointed ears and even a few Dwarves.

Slavery was still completely legal in this world, though the specifics varied by region.

You could be sold as a slave by your family if they needed money or wanted to get rid of you. Some people even sold themselves into slavery voluntarily, either to pay off debts or because they had specific fetishes and genuinely wanted to be owned.

It was a dark reality that Ren had come to accept as part of this world.

One of the slaves in a cell they passed... a human woman who was supposed to be in the "Combat Slave" section immediately called out to Ren as he walked by.

"Hey there, handsome~!" she purred, pressing herself against the bars. "Looking for a good time? I can do all the positions! Missionary, reverse cowgirl, doggystyle, standing congress, the lotus, the—"

"Keep moving," the owner said tiredly, clearly used to this kind of behavior.

Mandy noticed another slave... a different human woman staring directly at him with completely empty, lifeless eyes.

The woman’s expression was so devoid of emotion or hope that it made Mandy flinch and look away quickly.

This place was genuinely horrible... They left the general holding area and entered a much more isolated section of the complex.

Finally, they reached a separate chamber that contained only a single, large cell and inside that cell was exactly who Ren had come here to find.

A mature woman with long purple hair that fell past her shoulders and striking purple eyes that seemed to glow faintly in the dim lighting.

Her upper body was completely human and quite beautiful, with an hourglass figure and flawless pale skin but her lower body was that of a massive snake, covered in purple and black scales that gleamed like polished gemstones.

On her back, clearly visible even from this distance, was a distinctive mark that looked like a black skull tattooed directly onto her skin.

She was currently in her full Snakekin form with her serpentine lower body coiled beneath her and the woman looked up as they approached with her purple eyes focusing on the newcomers.

She hissed... an actual snake-like hiss with her tongue flickering out between her lips for a moment.

"Another human," she said with obvious disgust. "Didn’t you warn him about what happens to men who enter my cell?"

The owner just shrugged and Ren stepped closer to the bars, studying her carefully.

"May I enter?" Ren asked politely, addressing the owner. The owner let out a long, tired sigh and he reached into his pocket and pulled out a large iron key.

"If you die in there," the owner said bluntly, "you won’t be paying anything. Your corpse and your slave-girl companion will just become my property instead."

He unlocked the cell door and pulled it open and the Snakekin woman didn’t immediately try to escape. Even if she wanted to, she couldn’t.

The thick metal collar around her neck wasn’t just for show... it was enchanted with powerful curse magic. If she tried to kill the slavers or break out of the compound, the collar would activate and cause her excruciating pain.

So instead of wasting energy on a futile escape attempt, she’d rather kill this stupid human who was dumb enough to willingly enter her cell.

Ren stepped inside and the owner immediately locked the cell door behind him, trapping Ren inside with the dangerous slave.

"I would like to purchase you," Ren said calmly, looking directly into the Snakekin woman’s purple eyes. "I’m going to save you from the miserable life you’re living in this place."

The woman’s expression twisted with rage.

"Save me?" she hissed. "You humans are all the same! You think you can just—"

She didn’t finish her sentence.

Instead, the Snakekin woman’s entire body coiled like a spring being compressed with her powerful serpentine lower body gathering explosive force then she launched herself forward with frightening, inhuman speed.

Her serpentine form propelled her across the cell like a striking cobra, closing the distance to Ren in a fraction of a second.

Her massive tail whipped around in a devastating arc aimed to crush Ren’s skull with a strike that would have pulverized stone if it connected.

The air itself screamed from the speed and force of the attack.

WHOOSH!

Ren’s hand shot out faster than the Snakekin woman could even process, his fingers wrapping around her scaled tail mid-strike with an iron grip that stopped all her momentum instantly and her purple eyes went wide with shock.

’What...?!’

Before she could even complete the thought, Ren spun his entire body in a smooth motion. He used her own considerable momentum against her, redirecting the force of her attack while adding his own rotational power to it.

WHOOSH!

The Snakekin woman found herself suddenly airborne with her serpentine body being swung in a complete circle as Ren used her tail like a whip then he threw her.

CRASH!

The woman shot upward like a missile launched from a cannon, her body slamming into the reinforced stone ceiling of the cell with absolutely bone-crushing force.

The impact created visible cracks in the supposedly indestructible ceiling that the slavers had specifically reinforced to contain dangerous slaves.

Blood exploded from her mouth as several of her ribs cracked from the collision and her internal organs got compressed from the sudden deceleration.

Her vision went white with pain for a moment and she couldn’t even scream as all the air had been driven from her lungs.

As gravity took hold and she began falling back down toward the ground, the Snakekin woman’s hazy vision managed to focus just enough to see Ren already moving below her.

He’d positioned himself perfectly with his fist already cocked back and ready.

’No...!’

WHAM!

Ren’s fist connected with her exposed stomach mid-fall... a perfectly timed punch that hit with devastating precision right in her solar plexus.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Multiple ribs broke simultaneously from the impact, creating a sickening sound that echoed through the cell.

The force of the punch completely changed her trajectory, sending her flying sideways instead of down.

She couldn’t breathe... She couldn’t think... There was only pain and the sensation of her body moving through the air against her will.

CRASH!

The Snakekin woman slammed violently into the thick iron bars that formed the side wall of her cell with the metal bars actually bending slightly from the impact despite being designed to hold beings much stronger than humans.

She bounced off the bars and collapsed to the cold stone ground in a crumpled heap with blood dripping steadily from her mouth and nose.

Her serpentine lower body... which she normally maintained with perfect conscious control even while sleeping involuntarily transformed back into human legs as she completely lost the concentration needed to hold her combat form.

The transformation was a clear sign of how badly injured she was.

Two pale, trembling human legs replaced her powerful snake tail, leaving her completely vulnerable and unable to fight back.

Ren walked over slowly to where she lay gasping and struggling to breathe through her broken ribs and punctured lung.

Each step of his boots against the stone floor sounded impossibly loud in the sudden silence of the cell and the Snakekin woman tried to push herself up as her arms shook with the effort but she couldn’t manage it.

Ren placed his boot on her face, pressing down just hard enough to force her cheek against the cold ground while still allowing her to breathe.

"I’m not asking you..." Ren said. "And I’m certainly not begging you either."

He pressed down slightly harder with his boot, making his point crystal clear.

"Rather, I demand that you obey me completely and without hesitation. And if you refuse, or if you disobey, or if you even think about rebelling..."

Ren’s eyes... visible through his mask showed no mercy whatsoever.

"You will be punished... severely... repeatedly... and creatively until you finally learn your place."

His expression was completely calm, as if he were discussing the weather rather than threatening brutal consequences.

"It doesn’t matter to me whether you’re a man or a woman. You’ll receive equal treatment regardless. Equal rights, equal lefts, and equal consequences for equal actions."

Ren smiled.

"Do you understand what I’m telling you?"

The Snakekin woman tried to respond, tried to spit out some defiant curse or threat, but the combination of pain from her broken ribs and the internal bleeding from her punctured lung made it impossible to form words.

All that came out was a wet, gurgling sound as blood bubbled up in her throat.

Her purple eyes, which had been burning with rage and hatred just moments ago, now showed only confusion and the beginning of genuine fear.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go... She was supposed to be the dangerous one... She was supposed to be the monster that stupid humans were terrified of... But this human...

This human had treated her like she was nothing... Like she was a minor inconvenience at best...

The Snakekin woman’s vision began to blur and darken at the edges as shock and blood loss started to take their toll.

Her purple eyes rolled back slightly as consciousness began slipping away from her entirely with her body finally giving in to the catastrophic damage it had sustained.

Just before she passed out completely, through her fading awareness, Ren could clearly see the distinctive black skull tattoo on her back.

’Perfect,’ Ren thought with satisfaction. ’I now have a genuine Villainess in my possession.’

This was exactly what he’d been looking for.

According to the original story’s plot, this particular Snakekin woman would eventually escape from slavery, join the Demon Lord’s forces, and become one of the most dangerous antagonists in the entire narrative.

But now? Now she belonged to Ren and he had very specific plans for how to use her.

’Today is looking pretty good!’ Ren thought cheerfully as he looked down at his new unconscious acquisition.

Outside the cell, Mandy stood frozen in shock with his feminine disguise doing nothing to hide his genuine terror at what he’d just witnessed.

The owner of the Slavehouse just nodded slowly, looking a bit surprised.

"Well," the owner said, "I suppose that settles the purchase. Shall we discuss payment?"