I sighed again. Valeriana had her arms crossed and her face suspended in a state of indifference. She had been brooding ever since we met the Wyvern. And speaking of which, nothing had been able to top off that interaction, not even the pleasure slaves at the end of the hall.

It’s also interesting that I couldn’t use the same slave for different purposes unless they agree to do so. If I bought a slave with an intended seal for labor, they would have to listen to my orders as long as it was not forcing them to do anything unrelated to that job. It’s a vague concept, but it’s working somehow. Though, he wouldn’t elaborate on the seal they used on me, nor the one I currently wore.

The door clicked as Alfred held it open, the Foxy mistress elegantly stepping inside, draped a black dress accentuating her already prominent curves. Each step was carefully taken, every move precise; the twist of her hips; her eyes darting around the room, noting the both of us; the measured smile she shot me.

I did not notice these subtleties before – my mind was too muddled at the time. I was dealing with a slave trader, a very successful one at that. People were merely merchandise to her to be bought and sold at her own leisure.

“Lady Valeriana,” She spoke, “I’m most pleased to seeing you again.”

“Likewise, Madam,” Valeriana replied in a deadpan voice.

“Ah, please, call me Selene.” She turned towards me. “You as well, Edward. I’m happy to see you doing well.”

I gave her a nod, and she continued, “I sincerely hope there is no bad blood between us, Edward. It was purely business. I hope you understand.” She leaned forward, staring at me with genuine guilt. “If anything, I’m truly sorry for what you’ve been through.”

For a moment, I almost believed her. “Of course not, nothing of the sort,” I replied with my own sincere expression. “To be honest, my stay here wasn't that bad. If there were anything I could change, it would definitely be the food; eating soup exclusively for a month straight is simply miserable.”

Her brows crossed in confusion. “I was not aware of that,” she replied, Alfred shifting ever so slightly. “I apologize; the fault lies with me. I have been too busy as of late and was not able to supervise everything.” The butler shifted yet again.

“Oh, I understand completely.” I waved dismissively. “I’m sure the next time I'm held captive and brainwashed will be a much more enjoyable experience.”

I couldn’t suppress a wry smile as her eye twitched. She shot Valeriana a quick glance, gauging her reaction, and met with a blank look; she cleared her throat and steered the conversation.

“So, Medraut told me you’re interested in buying slaves – cooks, in particular – are you perhaps opening a restaurant?”

“Yes,” I gave a curt reply, uninterested in small talk.

“Ah, please let me know you do; I’ll make sure to pay it a visit.” She folded her hands. “Now for the last item you requested… the Wyvern. It is unfortunate, but it is already promised for another, a rather important figure, in fact.” She paused. “However, I’m willing to forgo that for you. As a token of apology and the start of a new chapter between us.”

“I would like that as well.”

“Wonderful!” She cheered. “I’ll let Medraut take care of the formalities” The butler bowed. “Both Dwarves are fifteen coins each, the Bearkin three, the Elf five, and finally the Wyvern a hundred. But considering this is your first purchase and you have been so willing, let's call it an even one platinum.”

She’s really laying it thick. “Thank you, I could not ask for more.”

“Please, it’s nothing.” Her eyes sharpened. “Though I was a little curious when Medraut told me you could communicate with the beast.”

“I’m sorry, but I cannot share that information right now.”

“Ah, a shame,” She dejected as she stood up. “Well, when you do, my door is always open. And as you can see, I can be very, very generous.”

With a wave, the Fox was out of the door, whispering something to her servant as she left, the butler straightening his back and speaking.

"I will be taking care of all of the paperwork, sir. As soon you have the required payment, I can start the procedure. In the meantime, is there anything you would like to know?”

I picked the small pouch tied to my belt, hidden behind the cloak. It did not actually carry that much money, only a few silver and bronze coins. I did, however, plunge my hand inside, and accessing the storage, removed a single platinum coin – the whole process hidden behind the dark leather.

With the money in hand, he left and quickly returned with the four slaves; the two dwarves, a scowling elf, and a small Beastkin looking very much like a stuffed toy – the bear ears and small ears only served to reinforce the resemblance.

The old servant brought out a small black box and asked me to place my hand on top. Following his instruction, I felt a slight tingle as it probed for my mana.

“Just, relax,” He assured.

A minuscule amount was taken. Alfred opened the box, furnishing a small object resembling an old ink stamp. He stepped up to each slave and pressed the circular ending onto their neck, branding them with my mana signature. 

Seeing him nod approvingly, I threw a command, “Raise your hands.” Four different arms were lifted.

Alfred led us to the main gate together with the four slaves. A few minutes later, the winged prisoner was brought. Despite the iron chains trailing behind her, she effortlessly walked towards us, unbothered by the two guards in black trailing behind her.

She stood away from the other slaves, opposite to me, unmoving. Two carriages were brought, and the four bought cooks rode one; the Wyvern stood in place with a look of utter boredom.

“Remove the chains,” I commanded even I had the feeling she could tear them off anyway.

Alfred shot me a questioning look, but I stood unrelenting. The butler grudgingly stepped closer with a key in hand and started unbinding her. The chains slowly loosened, not yet off but granting some a small range of motion. She flexed her arm and smirked as the man flinched back.

With the same smirk fixed in place, she folded her wings and transformed. It was the most surreal experience I have had yet. In one unbelievable feat, the woman shrunk in size, turning into a majestic beast. It resembled more of a snake than a dragon with the same two great wings, a slim body, and two clawed back feet. She, or it, stood the same length as I was, yet much more slender. With a strong beat of her wings, she took the sky.

Some of the guards pulled out longbows. I watched as she circled above us, taking one, two, three laps. It was a gamble whether she would keep her word or not. Nothing compelled her to stay, save for the verbal agreement.

The guards nocked their arrows, yet they did not fire. The Wyvern slowly descended and curled on top of our carriage. The spectacle was over, and soon we were seated and on our way, Valeriana opposite to me, giving me the cold shoulder.

The last thing I wanted right now was to get into an argument, so I spoke, “I’m sorry.” She continued ignoring me. “I know you’ll do an amazing job making sure the village is safe. This,” I pointed upwards, “was a gamble.”

 “You’re talkative all of a sudden,” She replied. “I thought you lost your tongue. Maybe the Fox had taken it while you were busy staring.”

Relaxing my shoulders, I slumped into the couch. “I would rather we never return. I had to carefully measure every word I said.”

Valeriana squinted at me but faced with the undeniable truth, she eventually yielded; Selene is very dangerous and shrewd, though her dress was a bit too tight.

“We have a ton of work to do. How about we get some rest?” I asked, patting the spot beside me.

She scoffed, turning away from me, though the blush invading her cheeks and the smile she was failing to suppress contradicted her scowl.

It wasn’t long until exhaustion overtook me, and I dozed off. It was unfortunate that I awoke with a headache to the sounds of angry dwarves. The pair were arguing in a heavy accent that I didn’t interpret. We stood at the southern gate; I had specifically told the drivers to drop us there – the fewer people knowing where we were, the better.

It was late afternoon when we reached the village’s border, the winged serpent flying above.

“What is this shite?” Asked the angry dwarf.

A smack from his wife made him wince. “Shut yer hole. Would ye look at ‘at?” She pointed at the sun setting on the horizon.

The man rubbed the assaulted spot and grumbled. Massaging my forehead, I continued my steps, walking past the broken houses – the headache was getting worse.

The children were nowhere to be seen. It took a minute for some heads to pop up and notice our arrival, and slowly but surely, they emerged from behind the rubble.

With both new and old residents curiously check each other, I spoke. “It’s been a long day, so I’ll keep this short.” I addressed the foreigners first. “You’ll be staying here for the foreseeable future. Tonight though, you’ll have to spend the night in one of the houses here. I know you have a lot of questions, and I’ll be answering them tomorrow. For now, talk to the children and get to know each other.”

“And I don’t want any trouble,” I added as I turned to the gathered crowd. “The same applies to you. Play nice, or I’ll personally give troublemakers a house of their own, and it won’t be above ground.”

The cooks shared confused glances; however, the crowd understood my threat and immediately nodded. The Wyvern was nowhere to be found, but she had been soaring directly above us earlier and undoubtedly noticed the other slaves taking residence. I ultimately decided on delaying the matter for now. Valeriana waved the petrified children goodbye, and we were on our way back to the inn, and I could not wait to collapse on the bed.

The following day, I was ditched yet again, most likely for making more bribes for the children. I started the day with taking buying some supplies.

“That would be all,” I spoke.

The Ox hummed. “This is a large request. I’ll need some time to get everything together.”

“That’s fine,” I replied. “but the faster you are, the better. A lot of people are waiting for these.” I placed twenty gold pieces on the counter.

“Yes, this is quite the list.” He collected the money.

Food, cooking utensils, simple furniture, mattresses, and covers; I ordered almost all of the essentials. It would cost a little more since he will have to buy some from other stores, but some change was not an issue.

“I bought a small piece of land somewhere, and I’m going to build a house. But some of my neighbors aren’t doing their best, so some of this stuff is going their way.” It was not a complete lie, but it still left a sour taste in my mouth.

Brock nodded approvingly. “I respect that. You’re a good man, Edward. Leave your address. When I have everything ready, I’ll deliver it – free of charge.”

I kept that thought on hold. The man didn’t seem the blabbering type, but there was no need to be hasty. My second stop was the guild, heading straight to the quest board. Today would be a bit special. Valeriana had clearly stated her interest in hunting demons, and I shared some of her curiously, at least for seeing one in person. And luckily, A perfect opportunity presented itself.

Goblins – the lowest rank of demons – were spotted in the forest near the western side. So hitting three birds with one stone, I took the notice and hit the library.

Demons were not like monsters; they did not have a fixed hunting ground, nor a spot most likely to be found in. The little green creatures were vermin. Whatever location they appeared in would have its area ransacked of its resources, plants destroyed, and all small critters hunted. They spread discord and destruction. Since their numbers were still dwindling, barely a dozen, the quest was C-ranked. Any higher than that would require multiple parties of possibly higher ranking to ensure complete and thorough extermination.

I returned to pick up my party companion and unsurprisingly had to store two full bags. The last spot they were seen at was vacant, small bones scattered around. We followed the traces of the most recent animal remains spread.

It was not long until we stood facing an entrance of a cave. The first word that crossed my mind was a dungeon. This was the source of the constant presence. The pressure that had been constantly exerted.

“Valeriana,” I called out gravely, “this is a dungeon.” The concept was unusual. Dungeons weren’t supposed to appear until the heroes were summoned; at least that’s what I read.

“Are you sure?” She questioned.

“No.” I paused. “But it’s very likely. Something feels very off about this.”

“Can you scout inside?”

Forming my link, I did as she asked and was met with some resistance, the earth underneath it refusing my command. However, it did not matter. It only made the process slightly more difficult as I forcibly created the connection.  

Fourteen weights matched goblin’s descriptions; however, there was something else inside I couldn’t recognize, heavier than the rest.

I relayed my findings, and Valeriana spoke, “I think we should do it. It’s too close to the village. We can kill the goblins first and notify the guild.”

I mulled over our options. “Fine. But if the unknown is something too much for us to handle, we’re running away.”

She nodded, and we stepped inside, my spear in hand and the mana lamp in another. Goblins weren’t the brightest of creatures, but they weren’t dumb either. There were some broken traps in the area where they hunted. Rudimentary as it were, but traps nonetheless.

The cave’s opening branched into different caverns; however, all of them were empty. The green bastards had scrubbed the cave clean and were all huddled around the unknown variable in a single area. I turned the lamp off as we got close enough to hear them.

“Me Next.” The words were broken, spoken in a high-pitch.

“No. Me. You After.” Spoke a different voice in the same manner.

I held my spear tighter, Valeriana already creeping around them. I had no doubt she could massacre them all by herself, but just in case, I popped a piece of candy into my mouth.

A muffled gurgle announced the first kill, quickly followed by surprised shrieks. I jumped forward, thrusting my spear and plunging it into their tiny frames. I hurled my spear, removing whatever was impaled on it and thrust again. And again.

Three goblins had giant holes in their stomachs, and another in its neck. It was over. I didn’t even have to use any magic. Valeriana had killed nine herself and was finishing off the ones dying. She stared at the suffering creatures with malice, twisting and turning the sword in their bodies.

And it hit me. I turned my head to the spot they were gathered around, where the last mysterious figure was. Lying on her side, a young girl was shivering as she clutched her knees to dear life. Her body was covered in bruises, and her eyes were dull, staring into nothing. Deducing the situation was not difficult.

I took off my cloak and approached the girl, Valeriana mutilating the dead bodies behind. The broken girl was unresponsive, not registering my voice nor the grey leather tightly tied around her. There was simply nothing I could do. It was the healers’ job now to mend her if there was anything left in there. I was about to pick her up when the squelches stopped, followed by the distinct sound of metal hitting stone.

Valeriana was standing, arms raised in surrender, with a black figure on top of her hung from the ceiling as it held something to her neck. The creature’s body was shrouded in unnatural shadows, obscuring its shape. Long black hair hung down from its head, covering its face as only red piercing eyes were visible, staring right at me.

“Hello, Eddy.” The amusement in its voice sent a shiver down my spine. It took me a second to register hearing my name. I racked my brain, but I could not remember any monster like this.

“Ah, you don’t recognize me,” It pouted. “Maybe this will freshen your memory?”

The shadows crept down her neck as it reached her face. They danced, prodding in fluid harrowing motions. It kept staring at me as they worked, eyes smiling. The horrid murk finally retracted as two tall white ears hung down and the unkempt hair tidied, revealing a familiar face.

“Sanne?” I asked as a knot formed at the pit of my stomach.