Despite feeling that simply throwing her down just now might have been somewhat inappropriate.
After all, she was still a child. But he also understood that this child needed to be properly educated first, and only afterward would it be time to be gentle with her. So for now, he simply scoffed, "Don't get ahead of yourself. I've never considered you a problem. I'm only helping you a little because of Ghislaine."
"R-right! Ghislaine! Where's Ghislaine? Where is she?", Eris immediately asked anxiously when she heard this.
But Ash crossed his arms and said leisurely, "She definitely can't find you right now. When you get down to it, you probably don't even know where you are, do you?"
"W-what are you trying to do? These people couldn't possibly," Eris backed away while staring closely at him, asking cautiously, "Did you arrange this?"
"No, no. It was arranged by the nobles in the city next to yours. Apparently, they wanted to have their way with a competitive, arrogant, and vicious beast like you. The servants in your household also couldn't take being beaten by you every day anymore, and since the noble offered a high price, they simply chose to sell you out. So this is your own fault~"
He casually waved his hands as he told her the truth he had read from the butler's memories.
But hearing this inevitably made Eris suspicious. Putting on a tough front, she said, "Why do you know all this so clearly? You just got here!"
"Because they invited me to join them too, and of course I accepted. By the way, I was the one who lured Ghislaine away. I figure you probably won't be able to escape from here, and afterward you'll definitely be tortured to death by some perverted noble, right?"
"Huh?"
Although she had asked reflexively, Eris really had not expected him to so calmly admit that he had figured it out. She backed away again until her back touched the wall, her face turning pale with fright.
"I-I know! You're... you're lying to me, right?"
"Why would I lie to you? What I did wasn't exactly honorable, but Ghislaine can't protect you forever. So really, I just moved things forward a little and let you suffer the consequences of your own actions~"
"Th-this...", Fear and despair appeared on Eris's face. She stammered for a while without being able to say anything, but then suddenly had an idea.
"Y-you take me home, and I won't tell anyone anything. I can even give you money! Lots and lots of money! No matter how much they're paying you, I'll pay you double... No! Triple!"
"What are you talking about? Do I look like some street thug who can be bought with money?"
"Wuw... Th-then what do you want to do?", Eris was practically breaking down as she shouted.
"I already told you. From now on, do whatever I say, and I'll guarantee your safety. I'll even give you a special discount right now. As for that noble who wants to take you as a toy, I can easily deal with him for you?"
"I-I'm not..."
"Fine, then I'll leave first. Good luck~"
The moment he was refused, Ash left her with that one sentence and disappeared instantly.
This left Eris alone with the two corpses hanging from the ceiling, terrified as she looked around the empty room.
———
Ash indeed had no intention of interfering too much. He only planned to use reality to teach the child what sort of consequences her past behavior could bring.
This process did not require any schemes or tricks. He would demonstrate his strength, state his intentions plainly, use this crisis to establish a relationship of trust, and afterward pat her on the head and give her something to eat. That should be enough to lay the initial foundation so that normal education could begin.
"But why does this feel a little like taming an animal? Hmm... Probably just my imagination, right? No! That must be it. How could I possibly do something like that?"
Ash silently shook his head and observed Eris's condition from the building next door through magic that allowed him to see through things.
———
And Eris...
"That guy really is a bad person! And who said I couldn't escape? How could I possibly not escape? Once I get outside, how could I fail to escape?"
After a bout of panic, she muttered to herself while cautiously walking out of the abandoned building.
But the smile that had just appeared on her face froze the moment she stepped outside.
What appeared before her was a completely unfamiliar town. There were buildings like those found in a town, but there were no city walls like Roa's, so it obviously was not Roa.
In other words, if she did not escape quickly, she might really get caught. But the signs nearby... Having beaten away all her tutors, she could not understand a single word on them.
"So what if I can't read them? A-anyway, those people are already dead. Surely I can just find someone and get home... Definitely!"
Eris tried hard to encourage herself. She walked along the road, looking around, and before long, she saw several people who looked like guards carrying torches through the deserted streets.
"Where the hell is that brat?"
"That's Lord Alvin's chosen toy!"
"Those bandits who only know some low-level martial arts really are useless!"
"Whatever you do, don't let Lord Alvin find out! Otherwise, this will be a huge problem! We have to catch her!"
"Eek!", Hearing the voices in the street, Eris quickly dropped to the ground and covered her mouth, not daring to breathe loudly.
After a long while, when the footsteps had disappeared, she cautiously climbed back up and peeked out to look around.
Eris watched the direction the guards had gone, still shaken as she patted her chest. But before she could recover, another problem appeared before her.
By now, night had completely covered this unfamiliar town. The curfew bell had already rung while she was unconscious, so people were not allowed to wander the streets freely. Only a small number of people were permitted to go outside after dark.
The streets were pitch-black, and she could only barely see with the help of moonlight. Even if she wanted to find someone to ask for directions back to Roa or seek help to escape her current dangerous situation, it was simply not realistic.
The empty streets contained only the sound of her own footsteps echoing through the silence, making them seem especially conspicuous.
There was a shop by the roadside. Its door was tightly shut, and the sign hanging above it swayed slightly in the night wind, making a faint creaking sound. An idea suddenly occurred to her. She hurried over, raised her hand, and knocked on the door, but after waiting for a long time, there was no movement inside.
Unwilling to give up, she knocked several more times with greater force, but... there was still no response.
"What's going on? Hurry up and come out! Somebody! Help me!"
Eris complained loudly in frustration. She went to several more places one after another, but without exception, all the doors were tightly shut, and nobody paid any attention to her.
There was nothing she could do. The people in this territory basically all knew their lord's preferences. Seeing a little girl asking for help in the streets was nothing unusual, and even fewer people dared to get involved.
Although... they had not actually heard the guards. Those were entirely illusions created by Ash's Evil Eye of Foresight, giving her an unbelievably realistic experience and making her feel more threatened.
And before long, when she once again sat down in exhaustion and drowsiness, Ash directly used another illusion on her, making her believe that she was still in the territory of that perverted noble. She immediately took off running through the streets.
After running several times, as time slowly passed and she became exhausted both physically and mentally, the fear in Eris's heart naturally surged like a tide.
She was afraid that those guards would come looking for her again and worried that she really would be captured by that perverted noble. Helplessly, she crouched down in a corner by the roadside and curled herself into a ball, as though that would make her feel a little safer. Tears welled up in her eyes as she kept muttering, "What do I do about Ghislaine... Why isn't Ghislaine here?"
Just as she fell into despair once again, although she had been cursing Ash in her heart earlier, she could no longer afford to care about that. She stood up and shouted toward the empty street, "Ash! Ash? Where are you? I know I was wrong! I'll listen to you! I'll change my personality from now on! I'll do whatever you say, okay?"
The child's tearful voice echoed through the silent streets, sounding especially miserable, but Ash still did not appear anywhere around her.
Unwilling to give up, Eris called out again and again, her voice gradually becoming hoarse from all the shouting.
Although she was extremely afraid of attracting the noble's guards, she could only throw caution to the wind and shout as loudly as she could. And before very long...
Ash still had not appeared, but the noble's guards who had originally come to take over and bring her back really did appear, blocking both ends of the street.
"What the hell? Did this brat actually escape? I told you we couldn't trust those thieves!"
"Still, this little thing is pretty cute..."
"Hey! Lord Alvin has his eyes on her. Even if you want to play with her, you have to wait until Lord Alvin is done with her."
"But by the time Lord Alvin is done, they're already broken! It's like playing with dead people!"
"You should be happy you have something to play with. What more do you want? At least they're pretty good toys!"