"Mistress."

"Look, Sylvia, can you please not call me that? It makes me feel uncomfortable."

"Then what should I call you?"

"Ugh, anything works other than that."

"Aneue."

…

"You said anything works. And now you're my only family."

"I'll… allow that."

"By the way you 2, can you stop for a moment and give me a course already? I can't keep sailing randomly."

Nelia was right. To be honest I had no clue where to go next. I wanted to get my revenge, but for that I needed 3 more slaves. I can't reveal my identity to anyone. My greatest advantage right now is that everyone thinks I'm dead. If I lose the element of surprise, life will just get harder. So I need a plan. I can't believe I have to rely on someone but…

"Nelia… do you have any idea where I can get more slaves? I don't even know how the relationships between all countries stand right now."

"Fufu! I thought you would never ask."

Don't give me that smug grin. Before I can do anything I also need to know the layout of the world. So, sensei Nelia had to teach me. Except for Lyndwurm, humans and Mazoku don't tolerate each other. Even with the truce, if one would cross the border they will most likely get killed. Dwarves are still on friendly terms with humans. 

Which leaves the elves and demi-humans. Normally these two races never got involved in the great war. They don't resent either of us, but they are still suspicious of anyone. 

It's worth noting that races aren't the same as countries. The demon race has the 4 factions. The humans have the 7 kingdoms. The elves are devided into high elves and dark elves. And the demi-humans are devided into the 5 major tribes. Dwarves are the only ones that have a single country.

At first I asked Nelia if we should go back to one of the 4 factions, but she said that's a bad idea as things changed too much.

"I think our best bet is to go to Ushmugal island. If it's a slave you want, technically that's the place you want to go to."

Ushmugal island. A small island used by the dwarves as a slave trade node. Normally dwarves are excellent blacksmiths and like to get dirty working with metal and precious stones. But there are a part of them that only care about lila. Lila is the currency in this world. A universal gold coin type shared between all races. Of course each country prices stuff different, but having a single currency makes trading easier.

One of the top 'products' that you can sell are demi-humans. Since Ushmugal island is close to the elven mainland, it's a perfect hiding spot for the slave merchants. They developed a magic collar. It's not the same thing as a master-slave contract. The collar is more of a torture device. It will violently send electric shocks if the wearer disobeys an order. It can even kill the wearer. As a last resort it can shrink until the wearer chokes to death. So if the wearer values it's life, he or she has no choice but to obey.

Demi-humans are seen by dwarves as nothing more than labor force or sex slaves. Nelia is right. It is the easiest way to get a slave. But there's a catch.

"Nelia, there's a big problem in that plan. We don't have that much money. How are we supposed to buy a slave?"

Nelia turned her head around.

"We have this child."

She pointed towards Sylvia.

"Aneue, Nelia told me to get all my savings and bring them with us. I have around 500 lila in savings."

The monthly pay of a soldier is 100 lila. And usually a slave goes between 5-15 lila. So this might actually work. I'm still surprised, but Nelia really is smart. If she weren't my slave I wouldn't even think for a second to trust her. But since I know she can't betray me, I'm safe.

"Alright Nelia. Take us to Ushmugal island."

"Aye aye, captain!"

 Well, at least we have a course now. And who knows. We will get close to the elves. Elves are renowned for their beauty and busty chests. Maybe I can bag an elf slave too from there onwards. Fufufu.

"Aneue, I have a question. Won't it be trouble if you go looking like this? Everyone knows how the Warlord Yurishia Bahamut looks like."

Oh yeah. Sylvia has a point. I can't go like this. 

"Not a problem."

I snapped my fingers and a mask appeared in my hand from my infinite storage. It was a pure white mask that didn't even have eye holes. Once I put it on my face my body was enveloped by a purple swirling light. When the light show ended, my appearance changed completely. 

My skin colour stayed the same, but my hair turned pink, my eyes became pale blue, my clothes were more skimpy, my appearance became more youthful and I only have 1 horn visible. 

"Voila? Aren't I the prettiest girl?"

"Aneue, you were always pretty."

"Thanks! Do I also need to change my name?"

"Lady Yurishia, that won't be necessary. Many parents named their girls Yurishia in your honour, so the name became somewhat common. Just don't mention the Bahamut part."

Well then, I guess we have a plan. Everything should go smoothly. My identity will remain a secret. Now then, since it will be quite some time until we reach the island, there was something that kept bugging me. 

"Hey, Sylvia, can you tell me about the Hero?"

"Which one?"

Huh? I tilted my head and my mouth was open. Didn't I say it clear enough? What does this girl mean by which one? There's only one.

"Ahem, what do you mean which one? Isn't there only one? The Hero Guilford Pendragon."

"Ah. The one that faced you years ago. About that… he died."

What!? Humanities great Hero, the only one that managed to raise the sacred sword Einehal… the only one that could match my power… is dead? Just what the hell happened? He was only around 18 years old when we fought in the past. He should be in his 30's right now. How the hell did he die!? I guess I need to catch up with history.

"Sylvia, please tell me everything you know about how things progressed on the human side during my absence."

"Very well."