” Lizza, there's a road in front of us. ” Fiona said while pointing her finger at it. 

” Hmm, where? Oh, finally! ” I said, barely resisting jumping around and laughing like someone who hadn't seen civilization in weeks. Which was true.

” What should we do now? ”

” There's no point in hiding anymore so... we should go for it? ” I half asked. She thought for a bit and just nodded her head.

Looking closely, it was a simple dirt road, a little muddy in some places due to the recent rain. Not as bad as it could have been but it didn't look like it saw regular use. My hopes dropped a little at the realization that the chances for it to lead towards a big city were small. 

’We have no choices but to rely on luck this time...’ I took a small twig and throw it in the air. Fiona was looking weirdly at me but she didn't say anything. 

I wouldn't care even if she had something to say about this brilliant method to choose our direction. I always wanted to do something like that even if it was just one time.

The twig pointed end was indicating towards our right so we started to move as fate decided. There wasn't any better method to choose a direction either way, so... why not? 

We also decided to not wear our hoods for the moment. If we met people on the road, I wanted to see how they would react to us. Better than testing that after arriving at... whatever this road was leading. 

We barely walked around two or three hours before meeting another party coming from the opposite direction. It was a carriage. 

It wasn't moving too fast since the road was muddy so we had plenty of time to discuss what we should do. And by that, I meant to say that I stared expectantly at Fiona to tell me what we should do. 

” Mm. We should see how they react to you, Lizza. Also to me, and the collar. ”

’Yup, that's my smart fluff.’ 

” Alright. Then, we just pretend that everything is normal and see what they do? ”

” Mm. ”

As we approached a little closer I could see a single person in the coachman position. I didn't know what was inside the carriage but he wasn't giving a bad impression. 

He was a middle-aged human man with common characteristics. He had brown hair and a short beard. He shouldn't have been much taller than me but it was possible to misjudge it due to the fact that he was in a sitting position. 

He was also looking at us. I assumed that he was cautious too... or just curious? 

Was he a merchant or just a simple traveler? If he was, then my image about merchants was ruined. He. Was. Slim. How could that be? Not even a bit of belly... Maybe he was a good merchant. Maybe just the evil ones had to be fat?

” What in the flying fuck! ”

” Huh? ” I let out a surprised voice at the words he spouted out of the blue. Even though his voice wasn't loud, my ears caught it. 

” Lizza. ” Fiona tapped me on the shoulder, confused by his weird behavior. Well, of course. Her ears were not for show either. She sure heard him as well.

Needless to say, she narrowed her eyes and put her hand on her sword. 

” Don't be rash, Fio. Let's ask what the problem is first. ” I said, trying to reason with her. Even though we got closer to each other, I hadn't forgotten that she didn't particularly like humans. It was good enough if she didn't hate them.

That, and the fact that she wasn't the most peaceful person you could find out there. Though, I could not blame her for that taking into account her past.

The man noticed that we heard him and made a quick signal with his hands to show us that he wasn't hostile.

’What a good way to start a conversation...’ At least he stopped the carriage. We could ask a question or two in this way so all was good.

I cleared my throat and approached the carriage with small steps. I peeked back and saw that Fiona was following me while glaring at the man.

*sigh*

” Sorry about that. I was just surprised seeing an elf with a beastkin. You can't see one to often, let alone in this combination. ” he said, trying to diffuse the situation. 

” Don't worry, I'm used to it. ” I replied and gave him a smile. The I need to look friendly since I need your help kind of smile. 

” Actually, could you tell me where is this road going? We were traveling and stumbled upon it accidentally. I'd like to find a city or a bigger town if there is any in proximity. ” 

” Oh, I thought you came from Arian City but seems to be wrong. In that case, you took the wrong way, Miss... ”

 ” Elizabeth. ” I said pointing at myself. ” Also, she is Fiona. ” I continued, pointing at her.

For some reason, she was looking strange at me. Again. Even though I didn't do anything wrong... yet. Actually, my twig method failed, didn't it? 

*cough* *cough* 

” Anyways, is pretty rare to meet an elf like you, Miss... Elizabeth. You can call me Albert. And your compan... ” he stopped mid-sentence. His eyes became round while staring at her. He was staring at her collar to be more accurate.

”Miss Elizabeth... Is that a slave collar? ” he asked, a bit hesitant. At least what Fiona said about this country seemed to be true.

” Yes, it is. But she is my companion, not my slave. We are looking for a way to take it down actually. Do you know if we can do it in Arian City? ”

I could have said a lot of things to evade the issue but that wouldn't have been of much help. I had to find a way to remove her collar after all.

” I see. That might be quite hard actually. You can't take off something like that at a random enchanter. You need a specialized one that works in the field... ” he paused for a moment to take a quick look at me.

” The problem is that here, in Brigandia, slavery isn't a thing unless we are talking about criminals. You either get help from a less legal one, or you have to have connections with one working for security. ”

” Ugh, is there no other way? ”

” Well, there might be. For example, for a fair price, it is possible to find a poor merchant with connections. He might know a legal one that is kind enough to help you for another fair price as well, if you get what I mean. ” he said with a creepy smile on his face. 

I had some doubts about these fair prices. Especially about the fair part, but there was nothing wrong with seeing where that was going on first. Fair price or not, it was still way better than trying to get to one by myself.

And strangely enough, I was quite relieved since he asked for money. At least, it was clear what he wanted. The only problem was that I was a poor little elf at the moment. I didn't have the funds to pay unless I sold the materials and... 

’That's it.’ I got a brilliant idea.

” Heh... You said a poor merchant, didn't you? Do you know if that poor merchant will accept his payment in monster parts? I don't have money at the moment but if we are speaking about a merchant, he will be glad to buy them at a lower price, doesn't he? ” I said and imitated his creepy smile as good as I could. 

On the other hand, poor Fiona looked like she was lost in our conversation. I couldn't help but feel a bit smug about that. 

’Be confused, fluf. Muhahaha... Beware, the great Elizabeth... No, the mafia boss Elizabeth since it fits well with the situation. You shall call me Don Elizabeth from now on!’

A pity that my daydreaming was interrupted by Albert.

 ” That depends on how cheap you are willing to sell them. I had to admit that my business isn't doing  so well these days. I assume that your rucksack is an enchanted one, am I right? In that case, let's see what you got. ” he said and stepped down from the carriage. I was so glad that we moved a part of our materials in the rucksack. 

” Fio, give me the rucksack... Actually, come here and help me to take them out.  ” 

” Mm. ” she said and prepared to take out some of the materials. 

I took one of the blankets and put it down on the grass at the edge of the road. I didn't want to get any of them muddy after all. We started to take out the materials and I sneaked some more from the ring when he was busy examining what was already out.

” Oho, this is Silverwolf Fur... You got some rare pieces right here, don't you? Even though the rest is good stuff too, this one... ” he pointed at the silvery fur. ” I don't think you can get something like this in Brigandia. ”

” So? ”

” Yes. I suppose that we have a deal, Miss Elizabeth. ” he said while checking the furs in all possible ways. He even sniffed one of them a little. 

.

.

.

In the end, he didn't have enough money to buy all of them but at least we got a total of 4 gold and  26 silver coins. One gold coin was the equivalent of 12 silver ones so we earned a total of 6 gold and 2 silver. And that at a lower price from what you'll normally get since that was what I said at the beginning. 

With what I had already, our funds grew up to a total of 6 gold, 27 silver, 2 lesser silver, and 17 copper coins. 

Inquiring further, we found that we needed at least 9-10 gold coins to even try to bribe his acquaintance. But that was fine.

We still had a lot of materials, and I had even more corpses that weren't even dismantled stored in my ring. Since I wasn't able to find out its upper limit, we continued to dump everything of value we found.