The guardswoman looked at me with fury in her eyes.

“Vik, move aside,” she barked at the bruiser.

He took two steps back, giving her space. I gulped, remembering the square, and her attempt to hit met me in the back of the head with her staff. My dodge back there was probably the main reason for her anger now.

I wasn’t sorry I avoided it. But I was afraid she, as an assault mage, had no gentle solution in her magical repertoire to stun me but a blow to the head with a staff.

As she stood above me, she froze and looked at the door. Like her, the bruiser took up a fighting stance. For a second, I thought it was because of me, that I might have unknowingly let go of my bestial presence in self-defense. It would not be the first time. 

When I heard the footsteps of another person, my heart jumped with the hope that it was Captain Rayden and the real guards coming to my rescue. To my great disappointment, it was not her who showed up at the door but a man unknown to me.

At first glance, not a guard, just an ordinary guy with no distinctive features. Dark stubble on his cheek, short hair, dressed in dark grey pants, gray shirt, and black ankle-length coat that he had slung over his shoulders.

As he entered, he grabbed the edge of the fedora hat and bowed his head slightly.

“Gentlemen,” he greeted, then looked at the guardswoman and me. “Ladies.”

[Master Mage: lvl ??]

Not waiting for an invitation, he entered deeper into the room while avoiding me and the mess I left on the floor. Then he sat down in front of the slave trader’s table in a comfortable-looking leather chair that appeared behind him out of nowhere. His presence confused me so much that all I could think about was that his magical storage must have been considerably larger than mine.

Nevertheless, he was powerful, no weaker than the bruiser or guardswoman, and certainly did not lack confidence.

No wonder, two more of the same caliber entered the room shortly after and stood behind him.

[Shadow Thief: lvl ??]

A short man with smoke dripping from his coat.

[Swordstress: lvl ??]

A robust woman with her hand on the hilt of her sword. Both of them kept their eyes on the people in the room.

“Shadowbreaker Company. Mister Ward, what brings you here?” Rutledge asked, trying to sound polite. But his nervousness was evident in his trembling voice.

“Do you have to ask?” wondered the master mage. “I’m here because of your marvelous performance in the square.”

The slave trader frowned and wiped his sweaty forehead. Unlike the guardswoman and bruiser, who were still ready to fight, he seemed on the verge of fainting.

“I haven’t had so much fun in a long time,” mage laughed and clapped.

His words made me wonder if he was the reason for the strange feeling on the back of my neck that I felt back there or on the street in front of this store.

“Honestly, I’m shocked by the size of your balls, Arlo. You thought I wouldn’t notice? Especially if you tried to kidnap her in broad daylight in the middle of Labyrinth Square? I’m even more shocked that you’re still here.” Ward said, gesturing to the room. “You should have been outside the city gates a long time ago.”

“I...” said the slave trader in an attempt to defend himself, but Ward stopped him with a gesture of his hand.

“You tried to act faster than the others, to get the job before they did. I applaud you for that. But you screwed up badly, and now I’m here, forced to fix your mess. You must be aware, too, that by this time, they will know about this lady at every gate, and Rayden is no doubt on your trail,” he said, pointing at me. His calm voice worried me a lot, given the situation they were in.

It wasn’t just his tone of voice but his confident behavior that made little sense to me if they were worried that the Captain was after them. Even Rutledge and his crew were nervous because they all glanced at the door as if expecting city guards to barge in at any moment. So, why wasn’t he?

Ward smirked, enjoying their distress. “It will take a while for our dear Captain to find you. My people are working on it, but even they can’t lead her on for long.”

What?! I shouted in my head. The slave trader was hiding in his fucking shop. If someone recognized him or one of his buddies in the square, it couldn’t be hard to find them here, or was I wrong? 

The only things that came to my mind and could hold the guards back, mislead them, were skills and magic. I doubted these people would engage in direct combat with the city guards, as Denholm did.

Rutledge nodded and took a breath to speak.

Yet Ward didn’t give him a chance. “So, back to why I’m here. It’s pretty straightforward. It’s because of her, or more precisely because of the royal pay off for her and because you fucked up my plans.”

At his words, the slave trader froze, dripping with sweat, which amused Ward.

“Arlo, you don’t have to be so tense. If I wanted to take your life, you’d be dead by now.”

The slave trader was white as a sheet, apparently expecting such a fate. “Thank you, Mister Ward.”

“To be honest, I wanted to kill you,” he said, and paused. “After seeing blood in the front and two more bodies in the hallway, I changed my mind. Have you started getting rid of the crew already, Arlo? Or is it her job?” he asked, nodding his head at me.

“We had minor complications,” he admitted reluctantly.

“It was her, she killed Stone ... she killed them all, sir,” Tate blurted out and pointed at me with a trembling finger.

“Thank you,” the master mage nodded at the man. “I see only the smartest survived.”

The irony in his words was obvious, but the young man was pleased by the praise, anyway. I would laugh if I didn’t fight a headache, and every move made it even worse.

Ward looked at Rutledge and smiled. “Then you should thank her, Arlo. She’s the reason you’re still alive. Nevertheless, your action forced me to act sooner than I planned. So it would be good for you and your crew to finish it. You’re her master, after all.”

He didn’t say that aloud, but I got the impression that he wanted to make them scapegoats and thus avoid exposing his own people to direct danger more than he did so far.

“Based on that wagon with slaves in the back, you planned to load her to the others and go through the gate. Not a very good plan, but it could have worked if you didn’t screw it up,” said Ward, evaluating their not-so-well-thought-out plan. “Nevertheless, I say do it but go through the southeast gate to Granhill. I have my people there. They will let you through.” he said, as a matter of fact, not intending to discuss it.

I could only sigh helplessly as he mentioned more bribed guards at the gate. Was it so easy to bribe them? Was their salary so poor? For a moment, my anger shifted to the City Lord, who did not fund the Castiana City Guards enough. If he did, this wouldn’t happen.

My only consolation was that they did not want to take me west to Mitta and the borders of Arda. Yet, that didn’t rule out the possibility of them changing direction later.

“Of course, my Shadowbreakers will make sure the guards don’t bother you on your way to the city gate.” added the master mage as if something like that wasn’t a problem for him.

“And then what?” the guardswoman spoke for the first time Ward appeared. 

Ward crossed his legs. “You will meet my people. They will accompany you to the meeting, after which I will give you proper compensation for your efforts, and we will each go our own way. I understand that since making someone a slave under false accusations is punished by slavery itself, you do not plan to stay in the Sahal. Are you?”

Oh, I had no idea. So this group of amateurs took a lot of risks trying to make me a slave like that. Wouldn’t it be easier for them to just kidnap me? Not that I want to advise them or that I know the punishment for kidnapping. It could have been even worse.

“Why would I leave Sahal?” Rutledge wondered, wiping his sweaty forehead.

The master mage nodded. “Arlo, I see you think this is just one of your scams. Yes ... I know about your swindling people into slavery. I strongly recommend you leave Sahal, this time.”

“Why should I leave Castiana, let alone the Empire?” the guardswoman asked, quite bewildered by it.

“Oh, my ...” the master mage sighed and switched his crossed legs. “Okay, we still have a little bit of time. So tell me. Why do you think there’s such a reward for her? Why was the deadline for tomorrow?”

“I’ve never seen a terran like her, and I’ve sold hundreds of them. It’s no wonder a client wants to get her before everyone else,” said Rutledge, trying to defend his reasons.

The master mage grinned. “In essence, you’re right. It’s just that the one who your client is trying to get ahead of this time is the Empire itself. According to my source, Lord Delamere will come here to Castiana the day after tomorrow, hence the deadline.”

Rutledge swallowed hard, and the guardswoman failed to keep her nerves in check. “Imperial Chief Healer is coming here for her? A [Slave]?”

“According to my source, yes.” Ward nodded. “In the capital, they made no secret of his departure. He has a unit of imperial soldiers with him. That he’s coming here for her is my deduction.”

This surprised me. I mean, I knew about Lord’s arrival, but I thought they would be more secretive about it. After all, the imperial agent was supposed to arrive with him. Ward didn’t mention him, though.

“Deduction, based on?” the guardswoman asked the question I had on my lips.

“I guess you know of an attack on the barracks by the Beast of the South. If you were in the city and not stuck in the labyrinth, it couldn’t be missed. Guess where she was at the time?” he said, looking back at me.

Fuck! I cursed inwardly, asking myself how he could know, just to realize it was no secret. All he had to do was ask anyone who knew about me, or go to Broken Heart. I was sure the girls would tell him without hesitation.

The guardswoman frowned. “Are you saying Beast was here for her?”

“It’s not hard to figure out. What other reason should he have to attack the barracks in Castiana. She was there that night. Shortly afterward, this lucrative job appeared. A coincidence, hardly. Unfortunately for him, the Beast severely underestimated our dear Captain.”

Guardswoman looked at me, and I saw a mixture of confusion, fear, and panic in her eyes, they were not so different from mine. Then she turned back to her boss. “This is some really serious shit! You said you’ve done this a dozen times, that it will be easy money. Not a death sentence!”

Oh, I guess she heard how Denholm turned out.

“Now you’re exaggerating, and I never said that.” Rutledge objected.

“But Boss, you said that several times,” Tate butted in helpfully.

Rutledge literally facepalms himself. “I swear, If it weren’t for his mother, I’d kill him myself,” he muttered to himself but loud enough for everyone in the room to hear him.

“Leave Tate alone. You said she was just a [Slave], that no one would look for her. Nothing about the Empire coming after us,” the woman barked at him.

Rutledge, despite being stressed by the presence of the Shadowbreakers, was not taken aback by her outburst. “How could I know. Look at her. A simple [Slave], dozens of them like her went through my hands, and it didn’t matter if they were from Arda, Nefruebar, or escaped the orcs. I sold them all. And if you don’t shut up, I’ll sell your debt to me to someone who will make you a slave. Isn’t that why you took this job in the first place? Pay off that debt?”

The woman gritted her teeth in anger, but before she could react, the master mage stopped her with a cough.

“I hate to interrupt you, it’s pretty fun to watch, but we’re running out of time. I’ll give you thirty percent if you take her out of the city and take a geas. It would be best if you didn’t tell anyone about my involvement. I think this is quite a generous offer given the circumstances. Don’t you think?” Ward asked. His tone of voice made it clear that if they refused, death awaited them. It was not much of a choice he gave them. 

I’d say Rutledge’s crew might have a chance against them if it was just those three. But Shadowbreakers didn’t sound like a small company to me, and Ward’s confidence spoke for itself. 

Being in their shoes, I would risk it anyway. They didn’t.

“Excellent!” rejoiced the master mage when everyone agreed and pulled out parchments with a runes on them. He spread the five copies out on the table and shrugged when he saw the sour faces of the slavers and the false guards. “I know, I know ... crude, but I failed to find the geas mage on such brief notice. I guess you know how they work.”

Everyone nodded, only Tate raised his hand. “I don’t, sir.”

It was not the master mage who answered him but the slave trader irritated by his constant remarks. “Put your hand on the parchment and let mana flow through it.”

After they all took the geas, though quite reluctantly, Ward looked at me.

“You too, miss Grey. Arlo, please.”

Rutledge frowned at me. “You, get up!”

I knew there was no point in fighting this command, so I stood up even though I would rather stay on the comfy ground full of my body fluids. He sighed as I remained standing still. “Put your hand on the parchment, let your mana flow through it and take the geas.”

“Boss, boss ...” Tate butt in, wanting to say something.

“What now?” the trader growled, frustrated by his henchman.

“... I may be wrong, but I thought miss Grey couldn’t use mana.” said the workhand. Everyone in the room glanced at the young man, then at me.

They didn’t see my smirk because of the gag in my mouth, but I almost chuckled. 

Due to the magical shackles, I received on the square, I could not use mana outside my body or any skills. That meant I couldn’t send mana to the parchment with the geas on it.

Despite what it represented, the piece of paper was quite interesting. This was the first time I saw them on parchment, and it looked magical, as I imagined such runes would. They were arranged in circles with space reserved for specifying the geas. That itself was written in Standard, though. Nothing deceptive, just never mention the involvement of Ward or the Shadowbreaker Company in this all.

Unfortunately, I did not see runes in action from my previous position on the floor. On the other hand, I didn’t have to see everything. Not at the cost of wearing a geas.

The master mage sighed for the first time. “You let her use too much mana in the square? Pretty stupid of you, Arlo.”

“Miss Grey,” Ward said, looking directly at me. “I assume you know when to keep your mouth shut!”

I nodded, knowing I had the advantage right now. He couldn’t kill me if he wanted the money. His time was running out, and he didn’t have time to figure out how else to stop me from talking. Ward had no choice but to hope that I would end up in the hands of the client and nowhere else. Of course, he asked Rutledge to forbid me to talk about him and his company.

I didn’t fight the command, but he also knew nothing would stop me from telling the world what a bastard he is once I got free. That’s why he made the threat!

“Good!” he nodded back and looked at Rutledge’s crew. “Load her up and head for the south gate.”

No one moved, except for Tate, who was more concerned by the deaths of his associates than by Ward’s presence, geas, or the threat of the Empire. He grabbed the chains of the shackles and left the office, pulling me behind him.

Despite the pain his action has caused me, I finally saw why he chose his class, and I had to say workhand worked perfectly for him. He wasn’t smart, but he did what he was told, no question asked. That was also reflected in his level.

When I thought about it, he might have been free, but his class wasn’t much different from mine. 

We passed two corpses in the hallway, rooms with empty cages, and went out into the backyard, where a horse-drawn wagon stood. The cages on it, unlike those in the building, were full of slaves.

Three cages, thirteen slaves, eight women, five men, blank expressions and surrendered to their fate. This was very familiar to me, something I hoped I would never return to.

“Open the gate, Tate. I’ll lock her in,” said the guardswoman who left the building shortly after us. She was no longer wearing the uniform, but ordinary clothes and a long coat. How she managed that was a question I was unable to ask but was quite interested in.

The young man nodded and handed her the chains. She opened the last cage where the two women and a man were sitting and looked at me, thinking. Then she nodded toward the cage. “Get inside. I’ll give you a hand.”

She surprised me a lot with those words. I almost expected it to be some dirty trick. But, I needed the help. It would be pretty difficult to climb into the wagon cage with my broken arms, or at least extremely painful.

Not that it was much less painful with her help. As she grabbed my arm and shoved me into the cage, I screamed in the gag, almost missing the object the guardswoman had pressed into my hand. Rather than a conscious act, it was a reaction to the pain that I squeezed my hand and hid the object in my palm, thus not revealing what had undoubtedly been done without the knowledge of others.

It was a ring, its purpose unknown to me. Although I doubted it, it could have been her magical repository, maybe a bomb or an ordinary ring, but it wasn’t just an object for me.

It was hope.