Chapter 7- Obligatory Slave Character
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The leopard girl began to look at me apprehensively. 

“If it’s alright with you, can I ride on your horse?” she asked awkwardly. “I’m kinda tired.”

“Sure, but can you sit in the front?” I requested. 

Better to have her where I can see. It’s just too risky for her to sit behind, for all I know she could stab me from behind. 

As we began riding to the camp I decided to ask her a few questions.

“I’m Iblis. What’s your name?"

“I’m Sekh, nice to meet you Iblis.”

“You’re a leopard-folk right? Are you from Fars?”

“Yup. You sure know a lot. Are you from Fars too?”

“Actually I’m from the Marches,” I said somewhat nervously. 

“Oh, I’ve heard about the Marches but I’ve never been there. My clan lives in central Fars along the Enki river.”

I sighed with relief. If she was from a clan in eastern Fars, I might have killed someone she knew during a raid.

We arrived back at the camp within a few minutes. Both Theo and John looked at me with mild curiosity. 

“This girl here is Sekh,” I announced. “She said she wanted our help with something.”

Upon hearing that, Theo smiled in amusement while John looked genuinely concerned. 

“I’m not sure how to put this,” Sekh started nervously. “I’m on the run from the town of Amorium. More importantly, I have evidence that a prominent merchant there is involved with a drug trade that’s affecting Jericho’s lower districts.”

My mouth almost dropped when I had processed what was going on. I had expected something bad, but nothing near this degree. 

“If it’s alright with you can you share the evidence with us?” I asked. 

Sekh nodded and brought out a pile of crumpled papers from her pocket. 

My companions and I split the papers among ourselves to speed up the process. 

“Um, these are divorce papers,” I said in abject disbelief. 

Within seconds, John added to the confusion. “Yeah, these transactions seem completely legal.”

Sekh’s eyes went wide. “I could have sworn that he was recording his drug deals in some of those. I even memorized the code on the safe to steal these papers.” 

Guess the guards are gonna get one hell of a story when we get back.

“Hey, I see something about the Myalo trade here,” Theo announced far too late.

I felt the urge to hit Theo for reading at a snail’s pace. 

“Sorry, but you guys know that I can’t  read very well,” Theo told us awkwardly. 

Most likely Sekh can’t read the Aeolian alphabet. But I should have expected this from someone living in Fars.

“Theo, let me and John look at those documents, "I requested.

Upon inspection, the documents definitely look genuine. However, it appears that both parties are working through a middleman. The only name I recognize is the delivery location, which is somewhere in the lower districts of Jericho. 

“These seem legit,” I remarked. “But we should get them verified with authorities in Jericho.”

Both Theo and John nodded in agreement. 

“Well that settles it,” I announced. “You should stay the night with us, Sekh.”

Sekh began to nod happily.

Everyone began to settle down, the tension in the air dissipating like a gentle breeze. We sat down for a bit, trading some idle talk.

“Looks like the stew is ready,” I announced a short while later.

Sekh grinned in amazement as she ate bread that she had softened with stew in her bowl.

“Wow, this is great,” she said cheerily “It reminds me of my mom’s cooking back home.”

Being compared to someone’s mother is often the pinnacle of success that a cook could achieve. I was so happy that I couldn’t help but form a wide cocky grin. 

“You know, you’d make a great wife, Iblis,” Theo said with a smirk.

“Don't talk about wives when you can't find one,” I playfully retorted. 

“Say Sekh,” I started, “How come you knew that the merchant was selling drugs anyways?”

“Well I was working for him as a maid,” Sekh answered. 

My brain immediately fired up when I heard the word maid. In less than a second, my mind conjured up an image of Sekh wearing a black and white maid outfit. Taking her lean athletic proportions and cute face into consideration, I have concluded that the merchant has criminally good taste. 

From the looks of it, Theo’s mind was probably going down the same road as mine. 

“Was work alright?” John asked with concern.

“More or less,” Sekh replied. “My master, Zetis, treated me fine. If you didn’t know about his illegal dealings, he probably seemed like a decent person.”

“Seems strange that someone like you would be working as a maid,” I remarked. “You look like you have a martial background.”

John nodded in agreement. Theo, on the other hand, looked surprised at how I drew such a conclusion. 

“Well a lot happened,” Sekh replied almost sadly. 

“If you don’t want to tell us it’s fine,” John said, a reassuring smile propped up on his face. 

After eating, we decided to play a few games of cards before going to sleep. I don’t want to talk about what transpired, I’m just glad we weren’t betting money. 

“Iblis, can you stand watch?” Theo asked. “All of us are rather tired as you can see.”

“Fair enough,” I sighed. “Who's going to take the second shift?”

“I-,” John started.

“I can do it,” Sekh cut in. “It’s the least I can do to repay your kindness.”

What a wonderful person. Even though we just met, she’s already far ahead of Theo in my eyes.

“In that case you can use my tent,” I told her. 

Apart from an owl trying to steal some of our food, my watch was uneventful. 

When I looked up at the moon for the fifth time, I gauged that half the night had passed and I could switch shifts. But Sekh definitely seemed tired today. Another hour or two won’t be a big deal for me. 

When I went to wake her up, Sekh was still fast asleep. I decided to gently shake her shoulders. Well I actually wanted to touch her ears, but I don’t intend to be branded a pervert. 

“Nyaah,” Sekh yawned. 

Fuck me that was adorable, my heart nearly popped out my chest. 

Of all the mortal races, the beastfolk manage to surprise me the most. Each subspecies is pretty much a baseline human with a dash of some animal. Then again, I was told that the beastfolk were created primarily to fulfill the weird fetishes of Oreas, the god of the hunt. But I heard this from one of Sol’s secretaries so this might just be heavenly slander. But whatever happened for their creation is irrelevant. I’m just happy to be able bear witness to instances like this. 

In a few minutes, Sekh finally got up. She still looked a little groggy but told me confidently. “Don’t worry, you can go to sleep now.”

However, something was bothering me. I felt like Sekh might be omitting some important information. Right now should be an ideal time to ask since the others are asleep. 

I asked Sekh in a gentle tone. “If there’s something important that you haven’t told us, can you please let me know?”

Sekh frowned, her previously confident face now looking conflicted. I continued to gaze reassuringly at her, waiting for a response.

“Well there is one thing,” Sekh mumbled nervously. “I wasn’t exactly an employee for Zetis.”

“What do you mean?” I wondered curiously.

For a moment, Sekh awkwardly stared at me while thinking of her response. “I was an indentured servant. But before you ask, I was wrongfully sentenced. After the war against Ahriman, I started working as a permanent guard for a merchant in Amorium. My boss was a business rival of Zetis, a legal rival. One day, Zetis planted Myalo products in my boss’ warehouse. He accused not just my boss, but all the warehouse workers of participating in the drug trade. After we got sentenced, Zetis seized my boss’ assets and even had the sentenced workers contract with himself.”

“How did you know that Zetis planted false information though?” I asked, frowning a little as I spoke. 

“I later found out that one of our guards was actually an agent for Zetis,” Sekh said angrily. “Although he was also forced into indentured servitude, he always got preferential treatment despite his shit work ethic. I even overheard him talking with Zetis about his payment for the job.”

Definitely an interesting story and it seems legitimate as well. However, I can’t say for sure that she’s not lying. Best to wait and see if any discrepancies pop up. Even in the worst case, I can still toss her to the guards later on.

“Thanks for telling me,” I responded gently. 

“Sorry for not speaking up earlier,” Sekh apologized while looking at the ground. “It’s just that I’m not sure whether I can trust your companions very much. But I think you’re a reliable person.”

I’m not sure about that last part, but it’s definitely advantageous that she trusts me. 

“No problem Sekh,” I assured her. “Unless you tell me to, I won’t tell the others about your situation.” 

“Thank you. Thank you so much,” Sekh replied as she looked at me with warm eyes. 

I kinda feel bad about harboring doubts against her now. Wait, this might be a trick.

“I’m going to stand watch now,” she said while crawling out of my tent. “If you need anything then let me know.”

“No, I’m good,” I replied. “I really appreciate it.”

Most people wouldn’t be able to sleep after hearing this news. However, I happen to be an expert at avoiding my problems and dozed off within a minute. 

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