As much as I hated buttering up to people that would soon be dead, I had to spend the next two days with Oswell and his group, which literally included a Pandafolk named Banda that was hibernating for the time being. From sharing a glass of mead to playing my songleaf, the false laughter from my mouth sent sharp pins through my heart. Even if it was fun taunting Henri and his siblings, I disliked that I couldn’t spend more time with Sekh.  

Even if I think that, she milked the hell out of me last night... I was on my hands and knees... Hell, it was so erotic... Crap, I’m getting an erection just thinking about it. Come on, Mila, keep it down!  You don't want to walk around with a pitched tent!

 

Ruru also didn’t probably like it. He had this gentle look in his eyes, but when he saw me with the slavers, that softness gave way to hardened repulsiveness. Still, he was an expert at retaining his emotions. Even when he handed me the elixir and written notes on how to reproduce it, he used Arguna as an excuse to return to Aello’s house. When he left, I checked in on her with my map’s satellite mode and confirmed she didn’t have a cough at all. If anything, she was happily running around Aello’s backyard with the Dryad.  

I kept that tidbit to myself and started to close the door when I saw a speeding Enap running in from the horizon, all eight spider legs skittering in a mad sprint. In his hands was the package I’d been waiting for! I ran outside to meet him halfway, then listened very closely to his precise instructions on attaching the socket to Niva’s leg and foot. He also had an extra gift in the form of a stump cap for Niva’s missing arm. Enap had a little bit of mythril left over that couldn’t be used for anything special, so he did this for me as a favor.  

He graciously accepted the rest of the payment and asked me to thank Kokan since he recommended him. I, of course, nodded and rushed back to the house with a giant smile. 

“Niva!!! Niva!!!!” I shouted her name as I entered our room. She looked up at me with a confused expression, then gave me a big smile when I said the elixir AND her prosthetics were finished.  

“That’s great news!” Sekh said, turning to Niva and putting a hand on her shoulder. Tilde repeated that, and Niva had a cute blush on her cheeks as she hugged my slime clone.  

“We gotta give you the detox first, okay? Kokan said it won’t be pretty. It might hurt, but there’s no other choice. Can you handle it?” She looked to my voice, and I hardly recognized her as the young, frightened, abused girl that lived through hell. Hell, even her HP was back to 24%. 

Sekh helped Niva lay down since this was probably going to be violent, and as she held my slime clone, I slowly lifted the black detox solution to her lips. As thick as tar with the viscosity of oil, she had trouble swallowing it, but the vial was empty when we were done.   

Her face started to show strain. Sweat passed down her cheeks to cover her lips in salty water, then came the coughing fit. Before long, violent seizures took a massive toll on her body to the point where Sekh and I had to hold down Niva. And that didn’t include blood profusely gushing out of her ears and nose.  

“AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! NNNNNGGGGHHHHH!!!!!” Niva cried like I hadn’t ever heard before. All the while, she continued to hug that slime clone of myself as tightly as she could.  

Her gut-wrenching screaming lasted for hours, and Sekh had to stop me from forcing the elixir down Niva’s throat. Doing it now when the detox wasn’t finished would ruin some of the progress she’d made on that potion tolerance front. But her cries were truly endless—possibly a reflection of how she sounded when she was forced to deal with the shitty hand life had thrown at her.  

Her HP slowly but constantly drained.  

But she was strong—stronger than she possibly knew from enduring such hell. Anyone else probably would’ve slit their own throat. If I were in her shoes, I wouldn’t have lasted as long as she had.  

In that regard, I looked up to that mute, blind cyclops.   

Dusk fell to nightfall, and like the sands through an hourglass, time passed us by without regard to any specific person, place, or thing. 

And that was when I realized she hadn’t made a single noise in minutes. The AI assured me she was alive and that the detox had worked, though to a lesser degree. By her accounts, Niva would need 3 more to become cured, but her body would not survive if she drank them back-to-back. She needed time—maybe even half a year to a full year before she could swallow another vial.   

Sekh breathed a sigh of relief and slowly stroked Niva’s pained head. She and I took a few wipes to clean up the detoxified girl, then waited until she naturally awoke by herself, which took another hour. In that time, the AI alerted me that she’d finished Susize’s journals—which I was keeping— and Murag’s books, so we quickly went to his room to drop off his tomes and filled our storage with fresh ones.   

You will be notified on successful completion of the task at hand, my lord. 

Good. Don’t overburden yourself with this. 

That worry is not needed at this point, my lord. 

At this point? I thought, but there was no response. 

The AI became quiet as I returned to Susize’s room, and she was...sitting up with an utterly strained look. But it was one of happiness and positiveness. Her mouth shivered like she was cold, yet she was still sweating bullets while trying to look on the bright side.  

And yes, deep within her grip was that slime. She’d never let go, not even for a second.  

“Niva,” I whispered, approaching her with the elixir held in my hand. Its liquid was as if a rainbow had been granted the form of water. Even in the shadow of night, its luster was almost blinding. It took careful, precise brewing over a few days to make this one vial. “You should do the honors.” I reached out for her clammy hands, wrapped her fingers around the vial, and watched with bated breaths as she brought it to her lips.  

Her courage surged through her body as she knocked it back. Gripping the vial, she focused on her inner being even as a rainbow-colored glow danced and surged around her body.  

In seconds, her HP, for the first time in a long time, was finally restored to 100%. 

The faint, scarce burns, cuts, blisters, and rashes vanished while the harmless scars remained behind. The damage to Niva's scalp had healed, so her hair could grow back. With that said, the miraculous power of the elixir focused on her deadspots, and pristine, crystal-like purple scales began to reconstruct themselves around her neck, upper arms, and thighs. [Analysis] told me her STDs and bacterial infections were squashed like the germs they were, and it was safe to say her crotch was no longer mangled like crushed fruits.  

She was blind, her limbs hadn’t grown back, and she still lacked a tail, but future elixirs would work on her.  

Once the colorful glow abandoned her body, Niva cautiously touched her regrown scales. Her fingers seemed scared or frightened. They softly glanced at her blue skin, then brushed across her purple scales, almost like she couldn’t believe it. She stared up at me with a red eye so full of tears and moved her mouth, eventually gaining enough strength to speak for the first time in months.  

“Mistress... Thank you...” she said in a voice softer than lavender and silk.  

“Mistress, huh? And that’s what your voice sounds like,” I told Niva as I sat on the bed beside her.  

“Thank you...for saving me... For not leaving me to die...” Again, I was utterly surprised by how ‘fluffy’ her voice was. “Mistress...”  

“How do you feel? Does anything hurt?”  

She shook her head. “No. I don't feel any pain.”  

“That’s a good thing,” Sekh noted, sitting down as well. Tilde landed in Niva’s lap, and we talked for a few moments. I did a second exam while seeing if she lacked feeling anywhere, but I was happy to conclude that she was in good health. Barring the obvious, that was.   

“But why Mistress? You can call me Mila.”  

“Supreme Omega Overlord Tilde said I had to call you that.” I rolled my eyes.  

“What about me?” Sekh asked.   

“Lady Big Tits,” Niva innocently answered.   

“I got it,” I said with a deadpan tone, turning to the flying pest. Tilde was trying to crawl along the ground to escape through the open doors. I webbed the menace over. 

“WAAHHHH! Oh, hey, Master. Fancy seeing you here,” she slyly muttered, an uncomfortable sweat dribbling down her face.   

"Why did it have to be big tits? What’s your obsession with them?”  

“It’s obvious, you cow! You got those big ass front bumpers on your chest!” Tilde slapped her little hands on my fist before pointing to her flat chest, which elicited a haughty chuckle from Sekh.  

“You can call me Mistress if you want. I won’t force you to. If you must refer to Sekh with a title, only use Lady Sekh. And Tilde is just Tilde. In fact, you can call her Annoying Pest.”  

“Yes, Mistress. Lady Sekh, I apologize.” Niva bowed her head slightly.  

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.” Sekh eyed Tilde, who stuck out her tongue.  

I asked Niva if she wanted to try on the prosthetics now or tomorrow morning, and she chose the latter. That was completely understandable since the detox certainly took a lot out of her. I noticed it took a good bit of strength to talk, so she wouldn’t have the energy needed for physical therapy. We spoke about that, and she knew there was a challenge and a half awaiting. During this, I gave her another slime cup full of breast milk since she needed the nutrients more than ever. Her eye looked to the hopeful future. She talked about summoning a spirit that could be her eyes so she wouldn’t have to solely rely on us, and that topic brought up something I’d almost forgotten about.  

“I promise to serve you with all my being. Even if it should cost me my life, I will summon a draconic spirit for you,” she said, handing back the green, slimy cup. 

“I don’t want a servant. Remember when we were traveling here? You and Sekh are my companions—equal companions, at that. First and foremost. If you understand that, you can ‘serve’ me in name only. But I won’t see you as servants. I never will. Understood?” The cup dissolved and rejoined my body. I took a small cloth from [Storage] and wiped her mouth. 

“Yes, Mistress.” She gave me a soft smile, and Sekh and I helped her get under the covers. Then we turned to our bed and decided to sleep without any lewd business. It just wouldn’t feel right.  

Before that, Niva, in a soft whisper, asked why we hadn't questioned her about her past. I said I wasn't going to force her to divulge anything. When she was ready, I would listen. 

 

---

“Don’t let go of my hand,” I told Niva as she looked at me with a whimsical eye. The prosthetics Enap made were phenomenal. The leg itself was a perfect replica of the one Niva had, down to even the smallest detail, yet it still retained that ‘otherworldly’ look because it was made from mythril. And the feet, at least according to the AI after it’d studied Murag’s tomes, were so anatomically accurate that even it would have trouble recreating them even after it watched Enap construct them. Then Tilde piped up and said that was because the AI hadn’t evolved yet. It was still in a larvae state, so to speak. It hadn’t even hatched out of its ‘shell.’  

Niva nodded, then used her own strength to stand up. Her meek grunts were the only noise as Sekh and Tilde watched anxiously. Once she was upright, Niva nearly immediately lost her balance because she wasn’t used to artificial feet. Sure, they were foot-shaped, yet they were hard metal. Meaning it couldn’t contort or slightly bend the way my feet could. Until she had practice, even standing upright on flat ground was almost enough to knock her over. “It... It hurts...” Niva squeaked. Sweat and tears flowed down her cheeks as her soft voice elicited a single cry. She fell back to the bed, but Sekh was there to prevent her from falling over.  

Bending down, I looked over the socket and how it connected to her flesh. Sure, it wasn’t something like the nerve mesh Ruru had—I desperately wanted to get my hands on some—but I didn’t see anything that should have actively caused any pain. There was just the socket wrapped around.  

And that was it. The shape of a foot naturally suited walking. It and the legs had to support a person’s weight, but in Niva’s case, it was the flesh below her knee. All the weight was being pressed onto that spot, which wasn’t exactly meant for that. I verbalized my thoughts, then got stern with Niva. “It’s going to hurt. Most people need months before they can use a prosthetic without assistance. At least, it was in the past in my world. Nowadays, there are small computer chips inside them that can do minute corrections at a level we can’t perceive.”  

“It’s going to hurt?” Niva asked. I nodded. Tilde explained something she’d seen from my memory. It was about using a series of parallel bars to grab on for assistance. That wouldn’t work because of the one hand, but then I remembered the walker. Even a cane would work wonders and act as a natural progression.  

“This can’t be something we rush. Oh, and about your mouth? When I get a chance, I’ll grab some tusks from a boar and chisel you a pair of dentures.” Niva nodded and thanked me again.  

For the next few hours, we primarily remained in the room and helped Niva, giving her plenty of time to rest between attempts. The one silver lining in all this was that her amputation happened weeks ago. That and the elixir meant her legs’ internals were in the best shape they could be.  

Aello came over with the Dryad, and those two helped Niva. I took that time to make my daily trip to Oswell and his gang. After my daily taunting of Henri and his siblings, I played a few songs and shot the shit while trying to remain sensible. They were drinking liquor, so I took a few shots. 

Shit, it burns like hell going down. 

“You’ve been staring at that Catfolk mightily hard. Are you interested?” Oswell said. He was the kind of guy to allow his bounties time to roam around so as to not suffocate them inside the barred wagon. But that was where they slept and ate.  

“I am. I’m partly wondering if Erin's purrs are as cute as she looks.” 

Ugh... Even if it’s a lie, it’s making me feel so disgusted. 

“Then why don’t we find out?” Erin Barclay!” Oswell called her name. She was sitting in the flower fields nearby and looked up with a depressing look. I couldn’t blame her, but she nonetheless stood up and walked over. Her tail was perhaps dead—it refused to move even a single inch while her ears laid flat atop her head. She came to a stop in front of me.  

I grabbed her hand, walked away so I remained within visual range, and we looked at the forest line.  

Using the same method of how I communicated with Irisa and her family, I had a hasty conversation with the petrified Catfolk. 

If you want your freedom, just nod or shake your head. I had my hand on Erin’s shoulder to prevent her from flinching in fright, yet she jittered anyway. 

Do you want to be free? 

She nodded, but I could tell she was afraid. Who wouldn’t if sparkly words of rainbow appeared in front of you?  

Then do as I say and follow my orders exactly. However, I will not free you from the kindness from my heart. I require something from you. Is that understood? 

Erin nodded a second time. 

Do not attempt to go back on your word. 

When I turned around, Erin followed me back to Oswell, who was curious about what we were talking about. I smiled, touched both hands to Erin’s teary cheeks, and said it was a secret. “But I do wish to pay her debts and buy her. The one problem is that the rest of my money is in Ria. You see where I’m going with this?”  

“I do,” replied Oswell. He pulled a notepad from his vest pocket. “My normal policy is that you must have the money on hand, yet I would be a fool to think a High Elf wouldn’t keep her word. I have a working relationship with Lady Aello, and she trusts you implicatively. Between you and I,” he whispered, leaning in close. “She gushes about you constantly. That’s the only reason why I’m doing this.” We talked a bit more about the specifics, and I sweetened the deal even more by offering to pay the standard fare for myself, Sekh, Tilde, and ‘Lola, as well as guaranteeing to pay them more if they transport an enchanting table. I also said I didn’t want Erin wearing those tattered scraps. Oswell didn't have any problem with that. He said he’d head over with some of his men to pick up the enchanting table while getting the clothes for Erin. Since I was going to buy her, my word was law as it pertained to her, and he would make sure she wore what I wanted her to wear.   

By the end of our negotiation, Tivid, accountant and overall money manager for Oswell’s group, had his own reservations. His sharp eyes seemingly saw a hint of deception, yet he couldn’t deny such easy work would resort in a fat payday. He begrudgingly gave his opinion, not knowing his last-second approval marked the end of his life. 

---

When I returned from checking in with Oswell and his group, I found Niva sitting at the kitchen table with Sekh, Tilde, Ruru, Arguna, Aello, and the Dryad.  

Lady Springfield, is Lady Lola able to move? Arguna asked me via sign language. 

No, not yet. She will need some time. I replied back. She turned to Niva and tried to offer her support the best she could. Ruru said he had experience teaching someone with prosthetics, so he did his best, telling Niva how to shift her weight until she was used to her new attachments. While she was practicing with Aello, he handed me a list of pointers he’d written down before coming. Just like I had thought, he mentioned a pair of parallel bars for her to use, yet since she had one hand, that was stricken down. The next best thing was a lake. Mythril was practically rustproof, but water could accelerate her recovery.  

I hadn’t thought about that, but that could definitely work. 

A few hours passed, and after leaving and returning with some ingredients so we could make dinner and eat together, Ruru announced he was leaving the village in the morning to return home with Arguna. Niva professed her thanks multiple times, but she had to give her gratitude a few more times because he was the sole reason she was better. The golden Deerfolk smiled and rubbed her cloaked head.   

You’re very welcome,” he cheerfully replied before saying his goodbyes. Aello and the Dryad were the next to leave. As they were about to open the door, there came a knock. Oswell and a few of his men were on the other side, and they had come to tell me that they were also leaving in the morning since the horses were well-rested. Their schedule was thrown out of whack since they had to backtrack to Ria. He also said he came to pick up that enchanting table, which caused Aello to look at me funny. She motioned me to follow her to another room and asked if it was permittable for me to take it.   

“It’s fine, isn’t it? I’m one of the few Vredis left alive, and I promise to take utmost care of it. I must since it’s one of the few links I have left to my birth forest,” I replied, lying straight through my teeth. Aello was a naïve woman—even if she was over 200 years old. She believed every word from my mouth and even gave me her blessing by touching my head with her wings. I walked with her back to where Oswell was playing with the Dryad, and she and Aello waved goodbye and left.  

When I escorted Oswell and his men through the kitchen to where I had the enchanting table, Sekh and Tilde eyed them from head to toe. They were, after all, dead men walking. I left Sekh with them and the table while I went up with Oswell to pick out Erin’s clothes with the AI’s help. She was petite, so nothing really fit. I found a slightly oversized shirt and skirt that came down to her ankles and a pair of long socks and shoes that were too big. But the outfit was way better than tattered robes. Except there wasn’t any underwear for her. I mentally apologized, then had the AI send her a message telling her to expect some clothes. 

We walked back to the kitchen to find his men struggling with the table, so Oswell gently placed the clothes on the table and helped his men. I stated that it had to be treated with care since it was a family heirloom.  

“We understand, Lady Springfield. Rest assured, it will be treated as if I were transporting my child. It’s been six months since I last saw his cheery face. Can’t wait to treat him to the vacation he deserves,” replied Oswell. 

He’s a family man? Yeah, that’s right. His wife has a disease, and this is how he pays for the medicine. That’s a story not too uncommon amongst his men. 

---

Once they left, we returned to our room because it was finally time. It took more time than I wanted, but Niva was about to summon a spirit. With luck on our side, it’d be draconic. 

Niva gathered her shivering hands, held them together in prayer, and began to speak in a language I did not know. Her chanting lasted well over fifteen seconds. The entire time, mana consolidated in front of her. Colorless at first, it slowly changed from red to blue to white to black to orange, finally stopping at nature green while growing more intense. It almost seemed to form a portal.

No, it was a portal.

[New Skill: Mana Language] 

I managed to learn the language, but I didn’t know when because I was too focused on the scene playing out in front of me. Heart-stopping seconds passed by that felt more like hours.  

Suddenly, there was movement. The portal shook and vibrated, twisted and churning before it showed off a naturalistic wonderland, full of trees, blooming sunlight, and vines.

A moment later, someone materialized into existence. She was more naked than dressed, wearing little more than a waist covering that only covered her front. Her nipples were hidden by thin, small leaves. A branch in the shape of a wooden hair ornament covered her head, and along with her long, flowy green hair, she had twintails wrapped with vines. Those two eyes were brighter than even the most vibrant emerald.

She's pretty...

“My name is Primrose, a woodland spirit birthed from the great and powerful Eagle Yew," she said as she stepped through the portal, it closing behind her. Her voice was majestic, full of vigor and power. My eyes were perceptive enough to see the shimmer of mana radiating from her body. Though she was nearly naked with breasts slightly smaller than Sekh’s, it seemed she didn’t carry any shame. Perhaps that was because she wasn’t staring at us. No, her eyes were exclusively locked on Niva. She approached her summoner. Akin to her name, she left primrose flowers— white, yellow, purple, and red—in her wake as she stared down at a speechless Niva.  

“I ask of you. Are you my Master?”