Cries seeped through the gap in the warehouse door. The man who emerged from the warehouse yelled threateningly at the door.

“Will you shut up?!”

The crying subsided somewhat, but the soft sobs of a baby bird continued.

I felt an instant chill in my head.

“One more ruckus, and you’ll never go home again!”

A warehouse for storing goods, children weeping in terror, and staff threatening them.

It wasn’t hard to guess the situation at hand.

After all, the auction house that Eliezer had visited in the original story also operated an illegal slave auction.

‘But there wasn’t an auction today!’

Yet I thought this place would be different. I had just seen the auction house myself.

‘They weren’t auctioning people!’

Seeing the man who emerged from the warehouse slam the door shut nervously, I clenched my fists.

‘So, was the earlier auction house just a decoy?’

“What’s this?”

‘Ah!’

Someone suddenly yanked my hood back, causing me to tumble backwards.

‘My hood!’

The hood that had been covering my face was pulled back. I looked up to find myself facetoface with an unfamiliar man.

His eyes scanned me from head to toe.

“Wow—did we have a product like this?”

The corners of the man’s mouth twisted sinisterly. I glared back at him, gathering strength in my eyes.

Judging by his attire, he was an auction house employee. Yet his demeanor was entirely different from the other employees I had met before.

When I was with Clements, the staff had been almost servilely polite to me.

But the employee who appeared now displayed an entirely different, arrogant attitude.

Starting from the way he appraised me as if evaluating a product.

‘He mistook me for a product.’

Because it was rare for a child like me to visit a place like this as a customer.

The man waved his hand behind him and shouted.

“Hey, Hans! Are you not managing the goods properly?”

“What’s the fuss now?”

“Almost had one escape!”

“What are you talking about!”

“One kid came out, you idiot!”

The man who had been guarding the front of the warehouse noticed me belatedly. He looked at the warehouse and me alternately, surprised, and approached us.

“What’s this? I’ve never seen this kid before.”

“What do you mean you’ve never seen him? He was hiding here. Must have escaped from the warehouse.”

“How could a kid like this escape from there on his own?”
“Why would a kid like this be here as a guest?”

The man harshly grabbed my hood and dragged me along. I struggled for air, but it was futile.

“Ugh!”

The man who had soon pushed me into a dark storage room warned me.

“Don’t make any unnecessary moves this time. Stay quiet.”

Bang.

The door closed.

Light briefly streamed into the storage room, soon to be engulfed again by dark shadows.

I looked around cautiously.

Having come from a brightly lit place, all I saw was darkness. I stood still, waiting for my eyes to adjust.

Then something next to me poked me gently. Soon, as my eyes grew accustomed to the dark, I saw a girl about my age.

Her eyes were swollen, as if she had been crying a lot. She tightly gripped my clothing and asked,

“Uh, Mom, sniff, you, have you seen my mom?”

Her voice was choked with suppressed tears. I felt suffocated. I answered, holding back a lump in my throat.

“No, I’m sorry. I haven’t seen her.”

“Sniff, I, uh, want to see my mom. Some strangers told me, sniff, that my mom is here, was here…”

The girl couldn’t finish her sentence and burst into tears. Sobbing noises started to be heard from the other children as well.

“I, I came here too because they said my mom is here… They said they would let me meet my mom…”

“Some strange men said my mom is here… sniff.”

“It’s so dark here, I’m scared…”

I looked around again, saying nothing.

The storage room was completely empty, no items to be found. Instead, it was filled with huddled groups of children.

As one after another started crying, tears also filled the eyes of the other kids.

Then, a banging noise came from outside. It was the sound of the man outside kicking the door.

“Quiet! I told you I won’t let you out if you cry again!”

At that, all the kids stopped crying instantly. I asked the girl who had approached me earlier again.

“Why are you all here? Who brought you?”

“I, sniff, don’t know, sob, scary men said if we behave, they’ll send us to our moms, sniff, sob, but if we don’t listen, we’ll be sold. We’re being sold because we didn’t listen, sniff, sob.”

I felt my head go cold. My eyes widened, and my heart pounded uncontrollably.

I thought about the woman who had been searching for a child earlier.

‘She kicked me out, calling me strange.’

Yet behind the scenes, they had imprisoned these children and were committing these vile acts.

Without saying another word, I clenched my teeth. My rage had found its target.

‘I won’t let this slide, absolutely not.’