" Oh, So apparantly male mages still do exist in this world despite all the difficulties. " - a ray of hope flashed right through Gunner's mind. Although it was dim, it was something Gunner could hold onto.

" Cok'o Trice? What was that? Let's not bother with it for now... "

After the mages has gone, dozen of the shop's employees start carrying the unconscious kids back to their room. They are all under Noah's command, it seems that Noah at least hold a position in this shop not just a regular low-tier servant. Well there is 1 thing that Gunner hasn't noticed up until now is Linda is the only female in this entire "slave dungeon". Maybe Ma'dame doesn't hire female employee in fear of them not being able to control their pussies 🐱. Or maybe Ma'dame wants to build her own harem made of little boys and male servants. 

" I guess the later reason makes much more sense as Ma'dame is a crazy woman with a perverted mind. Despite having a dirty mind, she is still a formidable foe as being a powerful mage with the brain of a skilled businesswoman. The sharp mind of a business doer can't never be underestimated. " - Gunner keeps thinking while a servant brings him to the bathroom.

The bathroom in this shop is not too big but still big enough for 10 people to pack in and it is designated for the task of keeping the slaves nice and tidy. There are 10 small tubs lining up beside a big what seems to be a red gemstone. Gunner is placed inside a tub together with 9 other kids and each one of them is thoroughly cleaned by 9 servants. There is no water pipe, instead water is funneled through the big gemstone. Gunner doesn't know exactly how or where does the water come from.

" The water appeared right from the gemstone but that thing doesn't look like a water container, instead I can feel a slight magical wave around it so did the water got "created"? Does the law of conservation of mass and energy does not apply here? And how big is this slave shop exactly that hire 10 fucking servants? Not to mention there are even some faces I don't recognise at all..! " - After a week Gunner knowledge of this world and this place is still too shallow. Learning through oberving is not as efficient as Gunner thought.

" I will have to familiarise with this world's language soon if I want to stay alive and to return to earth intact. Knowledge is power I guess. "   

* Insert the sloth meme * 

After bath time, all of the kids sit inside a big dining room. The smaller kids are placed into chair with fastened belt for feeding ( like industrial livestock ). The older ones are free to eat on their own with the dishes on the table as long as they take a growth pill first.

The meal contains mostly of bread together with some milk as bread provide sufficient energy and milk is said to provide almost the other natural nutrients. The dining room has around 30 kids ranging from as young as Gunner to maybe 10-year-old. That should not be all of the slaves here as Gunner once spotted sight of kids in teenage years in the shop but he didn't recall them participating in the physical training. 

" If so, it's highly likely that the teens are under a different type of training. If not physical then maybe magic learning huh?. " - Gunner concludes.

With this thought, Gunner has to find a teenager first and follow him to find out where he is learning. Gunner of course can try to learn from the books in the magic evaluation room where Gunner was deemed magic incompatibility by Ma'dame. But sneaking in that room and try to learn all by himself without knowing even a single word is gonna be a real challenge, not to mention Gunner isn't entirely sure where that room exactly is.  But even so, this must worth a shot. His plan is gonna be straightforward: roaming around the shop until he spots a teenager and follows him. Easy as that may seem, 3 days has passed and Gunner still couldn't get close to even find out where the room designated for academic training is. 

The first evening when everyone went asleep, Gunner tried a small jump to get out of his cradle. * Crack * . A slight mistake, Gunner miscalculated the height of the cradle and ended up slamming his face into the floor after stuck his leg into the rim of the cradle. Gunner quickly used his hand to block the landing as reflex and his forearm had a crack in it. Painful as it may seem, Gunner did not utter a single word.

" Fuck! I was so hasty and end up breaking my arm. "

Gunner had a girlfriend working as a nurse in the past live so after a quick check he knew he broke the radius bone.

( Human's forearm contains 2 bones: radius and ulna. While the radius can twist while we stretch our arm, the ulna is the one that will remain still or  support the movement of the arm ( slightly rotate ) )

" Dammit, it hurts like hell but luckily not to the point of breaking or dislocating, maybe I had a crack. Great! I am incompatible with magic and now a broken arm " 

The sound of Gunner falling is indeed loud but after a harsh training day no one is awake. Now Gunner had to face with that challenge once again, a door knob. How could he open the door with the height of a toddler ? He could try to bring a chair there but it would wake everyone up and he couldn't move a single thing with this broken arm. Normally, he can easily jump and turn the door knob without breaking a sweat but this time with an injury. The door knob is constructed slightly above the height of a 7-year-old.

" Gambling time baby " - Gunner chuckled childlessly

He jumped and twisted the door knob with one hand, he wanted to minimize the use of the other hand to prevent further unwanted injury. The door opened and after having checked around. Well saying "check" is probably exaggerated as the alley is pitch black with a few light emitting from the lighting stone embed to the ceiling. Moving around the corridor without a single sense of direction and in the middle of the night sure is crazy. After all this world has magic so maybe other things like wandering ghosts, demons... do exist. After roaming around a few rooms, he spotted a room with the door left unclosed. Slipping right through like a little rat, it turned out this was the room of servants. Nothing was useful in here so Gunner quickly went back out. Right before Gunner turned around, a pair of hands grabbed him from his side.

" Ahhhhh.... Umm..ummm.ummm " - Gunner screamed but got his mouth shut.

" Little boy, how can you be here? You must be sleeping right now. Ahh.. maybe one of us forgot to close the door. " 

Gunner got carried back into his cradle, Gunner tried again but the door knob in his room wouldn't turn.

" Must be magic. Fuck! Why my timing always seems to be off, miscalculate the height of my cradle resulted in breaking my left arm. Taking a peek in the servant's room right when he went out to take a piss...  That's it for tonight. "

In the next morning and the following day, Gunner couldn't find a single chance to slip out of training as the servants show no sign of ignorance. 

" It must be because of the upcoming festival. "

The intensity of the training was raised and the amount of growth pills given to the slaves was twice as much as usual. As expected, the food provided for the sex slaves were of higher quality and they were force to eat all the food if not be forced to swallow up till the last piece. Gunner spotted more servants than the usual. As a result each kid was given much more care than before, from the quality of sleep to the steady physical growth. Because of this unexpected event, Gunner couldn't find a single opportunity to slip out whether it is during the day or night. Still not too bad if you look at the bright side. Gunner got more food, harder training... That means better muscle growth. Gunner temporarily let his initial plan aside and instead focus on his physical training. 

A week later, all the kids are used to the magic ritual as none of the kids pass out and instead calmly regenerate their stamina inside the magic circle. While partaking in the magic ritual, Gunner spots more and more kids in their teenage years around. Surprisingly, these older souls now also take part in physical training but with a much more intense schedule. The teenagers train in a different yard with weight and what seem to be magic weapons. And that was the very first time, Gunner got a glimpse of how magic was utilised for combat in this world. These kids condense their mana and shoot out magical fireballs as well as create wall made of dirt. They also cover their weapon with radiant magical light and duel with each other.

" Not surprise if the kids with higher magic compatibility are favoured more. Magic sure plays an irreplaceable role in this parallel world from daily basis to technology to combat. " 

This thought leaves Gunner a hard feeling as he was not familiar with magic as the other. Even though he had knowledge of his previous life but most of this world knowledge comes from the usage of magic. Why using an oven if you can just spit fire over a chicken.

But this is nothing, Gunner has his own advantages and he knows how to use it to the very utmost potential. 

After training for a while, the kids got a few minutes break, Gunner knows this is his once in a life time chance. He runs from his group to the older kids group. Due to his secret night training, Gunner got a bigger frame and grows as big as a kid in his 10 even though he has spent only a month in this slave shop. A few teens notice the appearance of Gunner and come to take a look but none of them say a thing except for a few greetings. They must be used to the sudden appearance and disappearance of new and old souls. Gunner finds it strange that no one doubts his appearance but who cares as long as they don't bother him. Gunner knows he must use this very precious time to somehow obtain more information from these kids and his primal goal - a book, or more like a book for small kids to get used to the alphabetical system in this world. Gunner was known for being a guy with a decent charm in his past life so getting around with the other kids is by no means a problem. Among the teenagers Gunner pays more attention to this very kid with timid look and dark curly hair together with his snow-white skin.

" Hello... " - Gunner greets

"... " - the timid boy replies with silence and a doubtful look.

" I just try to be friendly, is it too hard to reply or you are mute huh? " - Gunner tries to stir things up.

" Don't judge people through their look you little. I do not talk because I do not feel like it. " - the timid boy replies

" Hah, got you. See, at least you should say a thing but I do not expect you to be this unfriendly " 

" What are you trying to achieve by taking the initial to talk with me? " - the timid boy replies with an irritated face

" Chill man, like I said, I am just trying to be friendly but let's not jumping around the bush. I know what you want and... "

" You know nothing you brat now go back to your group or else I will report you to the servants " - the boy intimidates Gunner.

" Well if you said so, I know a way out of this place and it's not gonna like I need your help though, aristocrat boy. "

" What did you say? Hey... Wait... " - the boy talks as Gunner slowly go back to his group to prevent the servants from finding out.

Gunner knows very well of this boy. Just by observing him for a while and you will see what Gunner saw. He has this very rich aura and the way he acts in a certain manner. He must be someone of higher ground, got kidnapped and sold to this shop. This type of person always thinks he is still a noble will not interact with someone he deems to be inferior to unless you can spark his attention.

Judging by the current situation, Gunner hasn't achieved anything remarkably except for the vague understanding of magic. But that is way more than enough because he's still a child at this point. What he worries the most in this situation is his outstanding growth, his body size has grown with an astounding rate, it's only a matter of time before he catches the attention of Ma'dame. To avoid attention, Gunner always tries to hide from the servants as much as possible. He slips out into the older group much more often thanks to his bigger body than the average kids. Still with the enhanced security, Gunner can't wander around carelessly, uses his little time pretending to go to the WC to instead take a grasp of what the slave shop looks like. This time, Gunner has finally found the room used for teaching. It's locked but not with a locker but instead a purple circle which seems to be a kind of sealing magic appears around the door knob. 

* Step * step * step *...

A group of kids in their 12 are going in this direction. Gunner quickly hides inside the WC next to the classroom. He has wandered for too long and the teens are back to their class. Taken this moment, Gunner blends in with the group and takes part in the class.

The classroom is huge, in fact too big for a classroom. It has many bookshelves together with a giant black board. The room is designed with the function of a library and a classroom. The kids sit in their table and luckily, no one notices the sudden appearance of Gunner in this class. A well-dressed lady goes in and starts teaching about the importance of woman in this society and the hierarchy of this kingdom - Orderin

" Where is your book, the boy in the back? " - the lady says in a firm but gentle manner

Looking around, Gunner tries to be nervous:

" Tea-teacher,uhmm.... I dropped mine somewhere and... I'm sorry, please don't... "

" How many times have I spoken about this, now go to bookshelf number 5 row 2 column 2, grab one and come back here. " 

" Damn, is there still an angel in this shithole!? Well good for me thou, let see if there is a book for beginner in here. " - Gunner thinks

After searching for a while, Gunner doesn't see any potential in these books, they are all intermediate book that are hard for kids with zero knowledge to read. 

" What takes you so long, little boy? " - the teacher shows sign of worry

" Just a moment " - Gunner hurriedly searches for a suitable book.

* Slam * The door of the classroom is opened hastily. 2 worried servants step in and start asking the teacher about the missing slave. Before long, the teacher shows sign of doubt over Gunner.

Gunner knows his time has ended, he quickly grabs 2 books and put them under his shirt. In just a moment, the servants come and quickly drag him outside of the class.