The trip was long and tiring. Many days have passed. Some men survived; the rest died. When I asked Alevanine whether she’ll be interested in trying human meat, she scoffed at the idea. Amazingly, the bandit whom I shot the fireball at was alive. He’s constantly having breathing problems and coughs all the time. Due to the noise pollution he’s making, I have briefly considered giving him some medicine to shut him up. But when thinking of the cost of treatment, the thoughts just vanished on their own.

One evening as we set up camp, Gladio began pitching a tent. I took a glance at the newly acquired captives. The hands were tied, but their feet were not bound. They were all injured in some shape and form from the previous battle. “Ordering them about would be impossible…” I was thinking when my eyes finally fell onto the shark girl Alevanine.

I went up to the fish tank, squatted to meet her eye level. “We need to have a chat.” I then put my hands around the fishbowl and lifted it. It was cumbersome. Gladio was truly strong when he carried it effortlessly. As I set it down on the ground after only a couple of metres, I was panting heavily.  “You’re really heavy, you know… pant… maybe I should lower your rations.”

“Maybe if you weren’t such a weakling, then maybe you’ll be able to carry your weight instead of relying on that other slave.”

“Gladio? Oh, he’s a freeman. We freed him years ago. He still decided to serve us out of loyalty. I can assure you that he’s paid handsomely for his work.”

“So, what do you want to talk about?”

I wrapped my hands around the fishbowl and lifted it once more, trying not to spill any saline water. As my muscles got used to the load, I carried it for about 30 seconds, moving a couple of metres away before setting it on the ground once more. I lifted my hand in a stop gesture while leaning against the rocky wall of the canyon. Alevanine peeked her head above the water level of the tank, waiting to hear what I had to say.

“Would you like to go back home… back to the Tigris Sea?” As those words came out of my mouth, a smile began to appear on Alevanine’s face. Being the first time I saw her smile, I was a little taken aback by how cute her smile was. Her face immediately changed back to normal, a slight frown that had constantly infested her face.

“What’s the price?”

“Simple. I need more combat potential in my entourage. I’m too overreliant on Gladio as a melee fighter. If he gets down, I will be killed. I’ll have Gladio train you to become a warrior. Preferably in the bow and arrow, your melee abilities should be not bad due to your racial traits.”

Alevanine eyes sparkled, “I want to learn magi!”

“Heh. I’m not an expert on it, but I guess I can go through some of the basics. If you agree on this, I can release your shackles.”

“You trust me so easily?”

“It’s more like my harm benefits you in no shape and form. Even if you become a great fighter and kill us all, do you think you will still make it back home? You’ll be a fish out of the water.”

“Why will you pass by the Tigris Sea? Do you plan on harming my people?”

I shrugged and took some time to think about answering her. “I’m just scouting the region.  And for us land dwellers, aquatic species are pretty much useless except only other than for consumption. There are no known records of consumption of the Sea People; that is, I could not find such dishes sold in the capital Lubeck. And Lubeck sells many kinds of dishes all over the world.”

Alevanine was silent as she was considering her options. I looked up towards the sky, and the sun was setting in the west. Sunlight was receding as each second passed. Indeed, spending the time admiring the small details in life is luxury. I reached into a pocket of mine and grabbed a key. As the key was exposed to the sun’s rays, the reflected light caught Alevanine’s attention.

“I don’t have much choice, do I? I’ll do it, but throw that key into the tank. I still don’t trust you… put your hands where I can see them!”

I sighed and tossed the key into the fish tank, and lifted both of my hands in surrender. Alevanine quickly snatched the key, and she immediately tried it against the lock chaining her to the tank. She tried to push the key into the keyhole many times and has even begun to jam it furiously into the hole.

“Umm… I may have given the wrong key.” I remarked as I searched my pockets for the key.

“Bastard! Give me back my hopes and dreams.” Alevanine screamed and lobbed the key back at me.

“I’m sorry, alright. It might have been left with Gladio. I do occasionally lose my things. That’s why I have Gladio to handle the important things….”

 

 

Heading back to camp, it seemed Gladio has managed to put up a fire. As I set down the fish tank near the fireplace, he looked towards me with a cheeky smile.

“That was way too fast. Jay… I don’t think it was supposed to be that short.”

Just as I was about to refute his words, a volley of water splashed onto Gladio. As I turned in the direction where the water came from, Alevanine stuck her tongue out at both of us.

“Anyway, Gladio. Throw Alevanine’s key into her tank. And from today onwards, give her the warrior’s training.”

 

 

Fields of green greeted my eyes on the horizon as the carriage pulled closer and closer. The never-ending canyons finally seemed to end. The fields were short, shrub-like, and look like hedges. However, the hedges were too artificial as the plants were almost all at the same height, indicating human civilisation. Beside me was Alevanine, who was out of her fish tank. She leaned against the window with her tail supporting upright.  Without the strange reflection or refraction of light making her appearance weird to my eyes in the fish tank, I could finally get a good look at her. She was dressed in some leather armour looted from the bandits. An arrow quiver pouch was behind her back with a wooden recurve bow strapped on it.  A scabbard containing a short sword was slung on her waist. She seemed to be more cheerful since she was now able to move about freely. I was not worried about equipping her with arms; her combat skill is still meagre. I would have better odds gambling than relying on her to hit a target. I was more afraid of friendly fire due to the probability of it happening.

The captives who did not move too much seemed to stir a little. They felt that the atmosphere in the air has changed and had begun to be more optimistic.

The carriage passed by the fields of greenery, and I took a careful look at the fields. The fields were as tall as half the carriage’s height. I could not recognise the plants growing there.

“Jay! What are those plants?” Alevanine asked. I looked towards Gladio, but it seems that he did not hear her question.

“Gladio, what are those plants?” I asked Gladio, taking a glance at Alevanine. She gave a mocking smile to me before looking over in Gladio’s direction.

“Looks like potato. I could be wrong, though.” Gladio replied, and the captives seemed to make even more commotion.

Passing by the fields were houses by the sides of the road. To be more specific, they looked more like wooden shacks. Clothes were being dried out outside, and children were running about in the streets. Our group seemed to have caught the peoples’ eye here, and it seemed as if everyone is looking in our direction. I began thinking about all the things that could have attracted people’s attention, but with a turn of my head to the side. I noticed how Alevanine’s non-human features were sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the many humans inside and outside the carriage. It seemed Alevanine has gotten shy and began ducking below the opening in the carriage. I grabbed a hood and tossed it beside her. As she looked towards me, I used my hands, motioning her to use the hood. She nodded her head and put it on, obscuring the fins on her head.

The carriage met a stop somewhere near the town’s marketplace. The carriage had to go deep in the market, a place where foot traffic was low, to find a spot finally. We began unloading our cargo. Gladio grabbed the slaves and placed them outside the carriage. With their hands and feet bound, they will be unable to do much.

Laying a relatively lovely blanket on the ground, I began crying out. “Slaves for sale! I have some muscular men that are also combat-ready. They can lift heavy items till your fields and work in the mines!” In my mind, I was cringing at the words I’ve just said. Anyway, foot traffic increased immensely as soon as we began setting up shop.

“Isn’t that the coachman?” Audible whispers can be heard amongst the crowd. They were pointing their fingers at some slaves. It seemed some of our captives had somewhat of a presence in this town.

“Looks like those who enslave others finally got enslaved themselves….”

“Bit off more than they can chew….”

While many were talking, few were ponying up their cash. Some curious onlookers even inspected our wares.

“5 silver coins for each!” I declared. I have lowballed the price extremely low. Honestly, these captives are deadweight. I would love to get rid of them quickly. Many of the cargo was sold, but many customers tried to drive the price down to as low as one silver coin. I tried my best to feign anger at such ridiculous offers, but it seems my acting skills were abysmal, and I ended up selling them at a silver coin so. Few were, however, interested in the man whom I used the fireball on. He looked like a corpse. I probably could sell him if I used some medicine on him, but I would lose money. He’s better off dead.

“My son!” A hysterical voice cried out amongst the crowd. As people made way for someone, a hunchbacked old woman came forward and began running up to that slave. If I remember correctly, his name was Carp something. I’ll be calling him Carp. Carp seemed to be in a daze as the old lady knelt before him and began sobbing in public.

“Oi old lady! You’re making me look bad!” is what I would like to scream at her, but I would at least like to have some reputation left in this town. I put on a patronising smile and walked up to the madam. Gladio closely followed by my side, wary of the old lady.

“My son… why are you like this!”

Carp seemed speechless, and his eyes were opened widely. He seemed bewildered, but no words were coming out of his mouth.

“Dear madam, it seems you have a good eye. Indeed, he is one of the best slaves. However, I still have some uses for him. Unfortunately, he’s not for sale.” I explained while nefarious intentions ran through my mind. In my mind, I thought I was going to hit the jackpot.

The elderly woman lunged at me, and I began taking a beating.

“Ow! You vicious hag! Oi! Stop it!” I cried out continuously as the old lady began punching and kicking at me. She wielded a cane, and she was going to town on me like how Andrew Jackson went against his assassin. Luckily, Gladio stepped in and took the beating for me instead. I sighed with relief and rubbed over the parts of my body that the cane had hit. “It’s going to leave some bruising…” I murmured as I inspected my injuries. I glanced at the useless Alevanine who stood there and watched me suffer. She was covering her mouth and was giggling softly.

“Give me back my son!” The woman cried out as she began duelling with Gladio. Gladio just reached out with one hand and grabbed her cane, stopping her from dishing out any more blows.

“Alright. I can give you back your son… For the right price.” I chimed in.

The elder seemed to calm down after my words, but fury was still vividly expressed on her face. “I don’t have the money, unfortunately. We… have a family heirloom. If you return my son to me… I’m willing to give it to you.”  The women took out a fancy looking wooden box, where beautiful engravings were made on it. When she opened it, a beautiful necklace can be seen inside. It was cushioned above some hay. However, compared with the necklaces worn by the richest of nobles and merchants, it was rather plain. The red sapphire jewel seemed like any other ordinary jewel.

I was… cautious. “Put it on yourself first,” I demanded, thinking of the possible dangers that random items had on individuals.

The elderly woman put the necklace on herself, and nothing happened. “It’s just a normal necklace. We have it in the family for hundreds of years. Just give me my son, and you can have it!”. She placed the necklace back into the wooden box and closed it.

“Further inspection would be needed,” Gladio remarked. I nodded and accepted the box. As long as I don’t touch it, it should be safe… hopefully. Gladio untied the restraints on Carp, and the woman quickly hugged him. Carp seemed shocked but was too weak to mumble anything. A couple of kind strangers volunteered to help the old woman carry her son home, and she agreed. As the entourage left, most of our cargo was gone.

Before we left to peruse the market and resupply, a man with a couple of armoured guards quickly came to greet us.

“It seems you all have forgotten to pay the tax on goods as well the cost of renting a market stall.” The man curtly declared. “Since you all have forgotten to pay up, the taxes and rent will even be doubled.”

While my mind was simulating a possible combat scenario between both of our parties, I gave an appeasing smile and said, “Very well, sir. Please guide us. We are newcomers here. Sorry for skirting the rules.”