The Lanced Luskit was crowded with people who left the celebration, but were not quite ready to go home. Normally it was quiet and calm inside, only a few regulars and travelers, although V had yet to see any other than himself and L, frequented the inn. Tonight, however it was loud, rowdy and messy. The innkeep took a moment to give V a quick nod of welcome as he rushed to and fro, delivering food, drink, and dealing with the numerous problems the crowd was causing. V assumed that L would be laying down, considering the condition she was in the last time he had saw her. He navigated the chaos of the first floor and headed upstairs.

As predicted, L was resting on one of the beds inside the room. She looked over as V opened the door. "Ah, I half expected you to spend the night drinking away your good sense." L spoke in a neutral, albeit a bit pained voice. "I may be a-lot of things but I was never a drunk." V closed the door and locked it, he doubted anyone would walk into their room, but there were a lot of intensely drunk people in the inn tonight. He then sat on one of the remaining two beds. V was unsure how to start the discussion about L's new status, and what ramifications it had. "So uh, we somehow lived through O's onslaught." V unwrapped his previously broken arm as he spoke, it seemed to be mostly healed. L did not respond immediately, for a time there was a strained silence in the air. "Yes, I suppose we did." ...This was going nowhere fast. V took a deep breath, to be honest, maybe a drink would be nice right about now... "Look, I didn't know that surrendering would cause you to uh... To cause the Gods to label you a slave. I thought that, at-worst you would be taken out of the running of "winning" the game. I really was just trying to figure out a way to deal with O." L shifted to a half sitting position, leaning on the headboard. "In any other circumstances, I would not believe you, and would have simply killed both of us. However, the evidence of your ignorance is overwhelming. The Goddess who brought you here, beyond any doubt, told you nothing. Between not giving you skill, a specialized Divine Class, and mostly generic items, it’s clear that she did not appropriately prepare you." She paused for a time, considering her words. "However, I was not given the luxury of ignorance in the matter. Although I was unaware of the exact details, the death pact, the transfer, the label of "slave." It was known to me that surrender would bind oneself in service. The God of Honor informed me of all the rules he was allowed to reveal."

L ran her hand over something she was holding. A look of confusion spread over Vs face as he saw what it was. L was holding the hilt of her shattered sword; the one O had taken as a trophy. Seeing his look, L smiled to herself and explained "Ah, well, during the cleanup of our battle site, the town guard found this, it must have fallen off of O's neck during the battle, the Governor's aid returned it to me shortly before I returned to the inn." V nodded; it was clear that L cared deeply for the sword. The way she looked at it was how one would gaze upon a picture of an old friend. A gaze filled with memories of the past. After a moment of contemplation, L placed the sword hilt inside of the nightstand. "To be honest with you, after we had dealt with O, I had planned to kill you; and then, to pay for my betrayal, myself. I could not imagine serving one as honor-less as you. However, for now, I have decided against such an act. Your ignorance of the slavery matter, the fact that O still lives, and old memories have dissuaded me. However, do not take our new... arrangement... to mean that you can simply do as you please."

V shook his head "When I was young, I learned that as long as freedom existed, so would slavery. It's one of those "If light exists so will shadows" type of thing. Even though it was a fact of my old life, I attempted to avoid it to the best of my ability. In this world, it seems even more prevalent. I clearly cannot avoid it. If I cannot avoid it, I will use it to my advantage, as I'm certain others will. Nonetheless, there are limits. I have no intention of treating anyone like they are less than human, or humanoid, I suppose. Even if I somehow thought I could manage it, I would never choose to violently punish you, nor to violate your body." V unconsciously touched his lower back, the scraps of a memory tugged at his mind, a memory of pain and tears. L silently considered his words, the only changes on her face were those of the pain she felt from her wounds. V continued, "Although, if you are not going to follow orders or at-least nominally work for me, its best if we just part ways. There does not seem to be a rule stopping us from simply... not working together. I cannot have subordinates who do not follow orders. Disloyalty and betrayal are more dangerous than a hundred enemies." V remembered that his death was caused by some form of betrayal, although much like most of his memory, it was full of holes.

"If you die, I die. It would be foolish to let you wander around alone. It would put me on borrowed time, but perhaps more importantly, I cannot simply leave. With my surrender, I have to recognize you as my new Don, that is simply the way of things. I will follow you as I would have foll-" L paused as V held up his hand. "Your...what?" although V knew the word Don very well, that is the title used by his boss in his old world, there was no reason to L to use, or even know the word. L repeated the word, "Don? Do you find the word...offensive or something?" V shook his head "No, but that is a specific title, used for a very specific position on my world. I doubt that even if your old world had a similar word, someone like you would use it." L furrowed her brow, "That is a bit odd, I was under the impression that the word was specific to my world, as it is also a title that was used by certain specific individuals." A few minutes passed as V pondered. "It had been low on my priorities, but I was sort of curious how the language situation was dealt with. From my perspective I have been speaking "English" this whole time, but it seemed unlikely that English would be the primary language of a different world." L shrugged, "I never really considered it, but I have been speaking my native language as well. Perhaps the Gods are simply... auto-translating things for us?"

V nodded, "That would explain a great deal. Presumably, you did not say the word that I heard, but rather, the word that I heard was the closest to your meaning that I was familiar with." L nodded slowly, "That is both helpful, and limiting. It would be hard to be specific when trying to explain something cultural to our own world. If the words are simply translated into a culturally similar example to the listener." After thinking on the matter for a moment, V responded "True, but it also makes communication possible. How many "Turn of phrase" or "slang" or "sayings" do we use commonly? A lot. It would be virtually impossible to communicate if the Gods allowed everything to be translated literally, rather than with culturally similar translations." V and L sat in silence, considering the ramifications of this new revelation.

After a time, L shook her head. "The point I was trying to make, before getting very off topic, was that I am duty bound to serve as your retainer. I do not accept the idea of being a slave, but if you treat me like you would a loyal retainer, I will serve as a retainer should. To that end, there is something that is somewhat important to discuss. Although I appear human, that was not the race I was given upon my arrival to this world. The God of Honor requested I willingly be sent here as a certain race. He was unable to give me all the details. Apparently, the Gods agreed not to discuss any advantages or drawbacks our new races provide us. I assume your Goddess failed to tell you, but we are all half races. Half is based on our choice; the other half is decided by the Gods. The other half supposedly has qualities and special ramifications that the Gods are not supposed to reveal. To stop the more... dishonorable of the Gods from finding a loophole allowing them to inform their Champions of their other halves, they simply decided that all discussion involving racial abilities was against the rules. However, the God of Honor requested that I choose to come as a demon. He told me I did not have to, but it was a personal request of his. He said that there was a problem that could only be solved if I was a demon, and that he would be extremely appreciative should I be able to solve said problem. I felt duty bound to try and assist him. He was the being that was giving me a second chance to..." L trailed off for a few moments before continuing "He was the one who allowed me to participate in this game of theirs. All he was able to tell me was that demons are considered to be evil, and one of the accursed races, and that the residents of this world would not respond well to discovering the fact. Luckily, so far, I don’t seem to have any outward indicators that I am not a human. Yet, I believe the head priest knows that something might be wrong with me. The healing he tried to offer me repeatedly failed for no foreseeable reason. He asked me if I had been cursed, or if I had any run ins with the accursed races." L sighed "It seems as if the blessings of the church cannot affect me. Almost certainly because of the fact that I am a demon."

Well. That was certainly interesting, and would explain L's current condition, although, V wondered how L was able to recover quicker from the neck and shoulder wound she received when she saved Eika from O's assault. Perhaps she was healed in a different manner. "The first time I saw you, your neck and shoulder had been injured, if the church's blessings don’t work on you, how where you ready to fight again in so short a time?" L shrugged slightly, not enough to cause her pain. "As for my shoulder it was a glancing hit, she only bruised me. if a warrior cannot fight with a small wound, then what good are they? And my neck...." she rubbed the place that held bruises a few days before "It did not seem to impair me much, after I recovered from the initial throttling, the only thing that remained were bruises. The priests thought I might have breathing trouble or other after effects, but it seemed as if I was lucky in that matter. Although, I wish they had been able to remove the bruises before they paraded me in front of everyone when announcing the new age..." V smiled to himself, it was the first time he had seen L care about something like that. V figured that even the most rigid of woman cared about their appearance some of the time. Well O probably didn’t.